Intracluster light is already abundant at redshift beyond unity

TL;DR

This study reveals that intracluster light (ICL) is already significantly present at redshifts beyond unity, challenging previous theories that predicted a rapid decrease in ICL fraction with increasing redshift.

Contribution

The paper provides new observational evidence of abundant ICL at z rac12; 1, based on deep infrared imaging of ten galaxy clusters, contradicting existing models.

Findings

ICL fraction is approximately 17% at z rac12; 1.

No significant correlation between cluster mass and ICL fraction.

ICL formation likely occurs alongside brightest cluster galaxy growth or through accretion of preprocessed stars.

Abstract

Intracluster light (ICL) is diffuse light from stars that are gravitationally bound not to individual member galaxies, but to the halo of galaxy clusters. Leading theories predict that the ICL fraction, defined by the ratio of the ICL to the total light, rapidly decreases with increasing redshift, to the level of a few per cent at z > 1. However, observational studies have remained inconclusive about the fraction beyond redshift unity because, to date, only two clusters in this redshift regime have been investigated. One shows a much lower fraction than the mean value at low redshift, whereas the other possesses a fraction similar to the low-redshift value. Here we report an ICL study of ten galaxy clusters at 1 \lesssim z \lesssim 2 based on deep infrared imaging data. Contrary to the leading theories, our study finds that ICL is already abundant at z \lesssim 1, with a mean ICL fraction of approximately 17\%. Moreover, no significant correlation between cluster mass and ICL fraction or between ICL color and cluster-centric radius is observed. Our findings suggest that gradual stripping can no longer be the dominant mechanism of ICL formation. Instead, our study supports the scenario wherein the dominant ICL production occurs in tandem with the formation and growth of the brightest cluster galaxies and/or through the accretion of preprocessed stray stars.