Study of intracluster diffuse light within the Fornax cluster

CIFUENTES CÁRDENAS, A.; CELLONE, S. A.; FORTE, J. C.

Santiago, Chile

Workshop; 2005 ESO Workshop: "Groups of galaxies in the nearby Universe"; 2005

European Southern Observatory

Studies of the globular cluster system of the elliptical galaxy NGC 1399, the central galaxy in the Fornax cluster, suggest that many globulars may be associated with the cluster of galaxies potencial, not being bound to any single galaxy but with a diffuse intergalactic medium. However, the galaxies themselves are diffuse objects without any defined edge; this raises a question: is there a true "intergalactic medium"? The goal of this work in to quantify the contribution to the "intergalactic" surface brightness due to the outermost zones of each galaxy in the Fornax cluster and, at the same time, to quantify the surface density of globular clusters associated with this diffuse component.