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Stellar populations in brightest cluster galaxies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2010

S. I. Loubser ,
P. Sánchez-Blázquez ,
I. K. Soechting  and
A. E. Sansom
S. I. Loubser
Affiliation:
Physics Department, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, 7535, South Africa email: iloubser@uwc.ac.za
P. Sánchez-Blázquez
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Via Lactea S/N, 38205, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
I. K. Soechting
Affiliation:
Oxford Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UK
A. E. Sansom
Affiliation:
Jeremiah Horrocks Institute for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK
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Abstract

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We present the results of an investigation of a large sample of brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), their kinematic and stellar population properties and the relationships between these and the properties of the host clusters. We have obtained high signal-to-noise, long-slit spectra of 49 BCGs in the nearby Universe with the Gemini and WHT telescopes. From this, we have measured the radial velocity and velocity dispersion profiles, and used the Lick system of absorption indices to derive Single Stellar Population (SSP)-equivalent ages, metallicities and α-abundance ratios. The results were systematically compared with those of large samples of ordinary elliptical galaxies in the same mass range. In addition, the derived properties were tested for possible correlations with the internal properties of the galaxies (mass, rotation and luminosity) and the properties of the host clusters (density, mass, distance to X-ray peak and cooling flows). We address the following questions: how the kinematic and stellar population properties differ from those of ordinary giant elliptical galaxies; and whether these properties are more influenced by the internal parameters of the BCGs or the properties of the clusters.

Keywords

galaxies: formationgalaxies: elliptical and lenticularcDgalaxies: stellar content
Type
Poster Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 5 , Symposium S262: Stellar Populations – Planning for the Next Decade , August 2009 , pp. 374 - 375
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2010

References

Loubser, S. I., Sansom, A. E., Sánchez-Blázquez, P., Soechting, I. K., & Bromage, G., 2008, MNRAS, 391, 1009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loubser, S. I., Sánchez-Blázquez, P., Sansom, A. E., & Soechting, I. K., 2009, MNRAS, 398, 133CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sánchez-Blázquez, P., Gorgas, J., Cardiel, N., & González, J. J., 2006, A&A, 457, 787Google Scholar
Thomas, D., Maraston, C., Bender, R., & de Oliviera, C. M., 2005, ApJ, 621, 673CrossRefGoogle Scholar