The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey (NGVS). XXXI. The Kinematics of Intracluster Globular Clusters in the Core of the Virgo Cluster

Abstract

Intra-cluster (IC) populations are expected to be a natural result of the hierarchical assembly of clusters, yet their low space densities make them difficult to detect and study. We present the first definitive kinematic detection of an IC population of globular clusters (GCs) in the Virgo cluster, around the central galaxy, M87. This study focuses on the Virgo core for which the combination of NGVS photometry and follow-up spectroscopy allows us to reject foreground star contamination and explore GC kinematics over the full Virgo dynamical range. The GC kinematics changes gradually with galactocentric distance, decreasing in mean velocity and increasing in velocity dispersion, eventually becoming indistinguishable from the kinematics of Virgo dwarf galaxies at R > 320 kpc. By kinematically tagging M87 halo and intra-cluster GCs we find that 1) the M87 halo has a smaller fraction (52 ± 3%) of blue clusters with respect to the IC counterpart (77 ± 10%), 2) the (g − r ) 0 vs (i − z ) 0 color-color diagrams reveal a galaxy population that

The GALEX Ultraviolet Virgo Cluster Survey (GUViCS)

“…Within 1.5 deg, the profile remains nearly constant to a value of 0.14 ± 0.01 MJy sr −1 , and it decreases to 0.08 ± 0.01 MJy sr −1 at ∼2 deg. The general agreement with the surface brightness (SB) profiles of the X-ray gas (Simionescu et al 2017) and of the optical ICL is good (Longobardi et al 2018b) (black and purple lines, respectively). However, closer to the centre, dust may be more efficiently destroyed (see Sect.…”

A Virgo Environmental Survey Tracing Ionised Gas Emission (VESTIGE)

“…The Virgo IC stars, or IC light, have long been studied through their optical photometric and kinematic properties, showing that galaxy interactions, as well as tidal interactions between galaxies and the cluster potential, play an important role in the production of the ICL (e.g. Arnaboldi et al 2002;Aguerri et al 2005;Doherty et al 2009;Longobardi et al 2013Longobardi et al , 2015Longobardi et al , 2018aDurrell et al 2014;Hartke et al 2017;Mihos et al 2017). However, if ram-pressure actively strips gas and dust from the galaxies moving through the cluster (e.g Cortese et al 2010bCortese et al , 2012Verdugo et al 2015;Gullieuszik et al 2020;Longobardi et al 2020), it may become an additional key process that contributes to the build-up in the IC component.…”

On the Origin and Evolution of the Intra-Cluster Light: A Brief Review of the Most Recent Developments

“…GC are considered good tracers of the ICL since the contamination of the sample from background stars and foreground galaxies is almost zero. They have been extensively used in nearby clusters such as Fornax [34][35][36], Virgo [37][38][39][40], Perseus [41], Coma [42,43], A1185 [44], Abell 1689 [31], and others. As we will see below, stellar stripping is an important mechanism to form the ICL, and it is also supposed to strip GCs from their parent galaxies, forming the so-called intracluster CGs.…”