1999/04/26 by C. J. Pritchet, Sidney van den Bergh, S. van den Bergh · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/300977
13 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal. Figure 2 replaced, conclusion based on this figure changed
arxiv created 1999/04/26 · openalex publication_date 1999/08/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
From a rediscussion of Local Group membership and of distances to individual galaxies, we obtain M V values for 35 probable and possible Local Group members. The luminosity function of these objects is well fitted by a Schechter function with faint-end slope α = -1.1 ± 0.1. The probability that the luminosity distribution of the Local Group is a single Schechter function with α steeper than -1.3 is less than 1%. However, more complicated luminosity functions, such as multicomponent Schechter functions with steep faint-end slopes, cannot be ruled out. There is some evidence that the luminosity distribution of dwarf spheroidal galaxies in the Local Group is steeper than that of dwarf irregular galaxies.