Which galaxies host bars and disks? A study of the Coma cluster

TL;DR

This study investigates the presence of bars in a wide luminosity range of galaxies within the Coma cluster using high-resolution HST images, revealing that bars are mainly found in galaxies with specific luminosities and masses, and are good tracers of stellar disks.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of bar fractions across a broad luminosity range in a galaxy cluster, highlighting the limited environmental impact on bar formation.

Findings

Bars are hosted by galaxies with specific luminosities and masses.

Bar fraction remains consistent from cluster center to outskirts.

Bars are effective tracers of cold stellar disks.

Abstract

We present a study of the bar fraction in the Coma cluster galaxies based on a sample of $\sim 190$ galaxies selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 6 (SDSS-DR6) and observed with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Survey (ACS). The unprecedented resolution of the HST-ACS images allow us to explore the presence of bars, detected by visual classification, throughout a luminosity range of 9 magnitudes ($-23 \lesssim$ M$_{r} \lesssim -14$), permitting us to study the poor known region of dwarf galaxies. We find that bars are hosted by galaxies in a tight range of both luminosities ($-22 \lesssim$ M$_{r} \lesssim -17$) and masses ($10^{9} \lesssim {\cal M_{*}}/{\cal M}_{\sun} \lesssim 10^{11}$). This result holds when comparing with a sample of bright/massive field galaxies. In addition, we find that the bar fraction does not vary significantly when going from the center to the cluster outskirts, implying that cluster environment plays a second order role in bar formation/evolution. The shape of the bar fraction distribution with respect to both luminosity and mass is well matched by the luminosity distribution of disk galaxies in Coma, indicating that bars are good tracers of cold stellar disks. We discuss the implications of our results for the formation and evolution scenarios of bars and disks.