Structural Analysis of Brightest Cluster Galaxies in Poor and Rich Clusters

TL;DR

This study analyzes the structural properties of 1685 brightest cluster galaxies across different environments and redshifts, revealing environmental influences on galaxy size and structural relations without significant size evolution since z~1.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of BCG structural parameters in rich and poor clusters over a wide redshift range using surface brightness profile fitting.

Findings

BCGs in rich clusters are statistically larger than in poor clusters.

The study offers linear regressions for key structural relations.

No significant size evolution of BCGs observed since z~1.

Abstract

Studying structural parameters of brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) provides important clues to understand their formation and evolution. We present the results of the surface brightness profile fitting of 1685 brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) drawn from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey in the redshift range of $0.1 < z < 1.0$. We fit $r$-band images of BCGs with a single S\'ersic profile. The sample is splitted into two groups based on the host cluster richness to investigate the impact of the environment. Our results suggest that BCGs in rich clusters are statistically larger than their counterparts in poor clusters. We provide best-fit linear regressions for the Kormendy, the $log \ R_e - log \ n$, and the size-luminosity relations. In addition, we examined the evolution of the structural parameters, however the BCGs in our sample do not show a significant size change since z$\sim$1.