2021/07/08 by Emanuele Contini, Contini, Emanuele · 5 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #FOS: Physical sciences #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2107.04180
openalex publication_date 2021/07/08 · openalex created_date 2022/07/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Not all the light in galaxy groups and clusters comes from stars that are\nbound to galaxies. A significant fraction of it constitutes the so-called\nintracluster or diffuse light (ICL), a low surface brightness component of\ngroups/clusters generally found in the surroundings of the brightest cluster\ngalaxies and intermediate/massive satellites. In this review, I will describe\nthe mechanisms responsible for its formation and evolution, considering the\nlarge contribution given to the topic in the last decades by both the\ntheoretical and observational sides. Starting from the methods that are\ncommonly used to isolate the ICL, I will address the remarkable problem given\nby its own definition, which still makes the comparisons among different\nstudies not trivial, to conclude by giving an overview of the most recent works\nthat take advantage of the ICL as a luminous tracer of the dark matter\ndistribution in galaxy groups and clusters.\n