2014/12/29 by Yutong Shan, M. McDonald, Michael McDonald +2
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Brightest cluster galaxy #Cluster (spacecraft) #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy cluster #Photometry (optics) #Physics #Redshift #Sky #Star formation #Stars #Stellar mass #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.GA
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/800/2/122
16 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ
arxiv created 2014/12/29 · openalex publication_date 2015/02/18 · arxiv updated 2015/06/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present a detailed investigation of the cluster stellar mass-to-light ( M */ L ) ratio and cumulative stellar masses, derived on a galaxy-by-galaxy basis, for 12 massive ( M 500 ∼ 10 14 –10 15 M ☉ ), nearby clusters with available optical imaging data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 10 and X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory . Our method involves a statistical cluster membership using both photometric and spectroscopic redshifts when available to maximize completeness while minimizing contamination effects. We show that different methods of estimating the stellar mass-to-light ratio from observed photometry result in systematic discrepancies in the total stellar masses and average mass-to-light ratios of cluster galaxies. Nonetheless, all conversion methodologies point to a lack of correlation between M */ L i and total cluster mass, even though low-mass groups contain relatively more blue galaxies. We also find no statistically significant correlation between M */ L i and the fraction of blue galaxies ( g − i < 0.85). For the mass range covered by our sample, the assumption of a Chabrier initial mass function (IMF) yields an integrated M */ L i ≃ 1.7 ± 0.2 M ☉ / L i , ☉ , a lower value than used in most similar studies, though consistent with the study of low-mass galaxy groups by Leauthaud et al. A light (diet) Salpeter IMF would imply a ∼60% increase in M */ L i .