Brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), particularly those at the centers of cool-core clusters, can exhibit star formation over spatial extents of up to 100 kpc at inferred rates of up to 100 M yr −1 . Is their star formation also extended over time, as might be expected if fuelled by cooling of the surrounding hot intracluster gas -a residual cooling flow -as demonstrated hitherto only for the BCG in the Perseus cluster? Here, to infer the formation history of relatively young stars in the BCG of MACS J0329.7−0211, we fit model single-stellar-populations to the spectral energy distributions (spanning near-UV to near-IR) measured along different sightlines towards its young stellar population. Employing a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, we show that star formation in this BCG has persisted at a relatively constant rate of ∼ 2 M yr −1 (factors of 10-40 below the rates previously inferred using simpler methods and/or ad hoc assumptions) over the past ∼400 Myr, beyond which any star formation falls below the observational detection threshold. Such persistent star formation from a residual cooling flow can contribute up to ∼10% of the original stellar mass of this BCG if its progenitor was among the most massive red nuggets known at z ∼2 having masses of ∼ 1 × 10 11 M , but only a few percent of its overall growth in stellar mass to ∼ 8 × 10 11 M at z = 0.45. Although constituting only a minor pathway for the stellar growth of this BCG, persistent star formation from a residual cooling flow can nevertheless contribute significantly to the enormous number of globular clusters found around BCGs in the local Universe.
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