Oral Presentation

The Frontier of Intracluster Light Studies

Author(s): Anthony Gonzalez (Florida)

Presenter: Anthony Gonzalez (University of Florida)

The intracluster light (ICL), defined as light from the diffuse population of stars no longer bound to individual galaxies, comprises a significant stellar reservoir in galaxy clusters and groups. The ICL provides a fossil record of past interactions of cluster galaxies and a tracer of the global cluster potential. Study of the ICL however but poses an observational challenge due to the low surface brightness of this stellar population. During the past decade, new observational capabilities and improvements in low surface brightness analyses have yielded significant improvements in our understanding of the origin and evolution of the ICL. Meanwhile, the current generation of simulations providing a framework for interpretation. In the next few years, new facilties including JWST, Euclid, Rubin, and Roman are poised revolutionize our ability to map this component, connect its evolution to that of the galaxy population in clusters, and use it as a tool for characterizing global cluster properties. In this talk I will present an overview of key recent results in the field, and describe what is expected to be possible with these facilities.