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Session 110 - Imaging of Cluster Galaxies.
Display session, Thursday, January 18
North Banquet Hall, Convention Center
We have imaged the central 2\times2 Mpc of Abell 496 in the near-infrared K band. This rich cluster at z=0.032 has X-ray properties suggesting that it is characteristic of rich clusters: it has T_x = 3.9, as compared with the very massive Coma, T_x = 8.1, and the relatively poor Virgo, T_x = 2.4. Our K-band data reach K=18, or K < -18.5 in absolute magnitude. This is more than 7 magnitudes below m^\star, an unprecedented depth for a K-band luminosity function. This luminosity function is especially interesting as K-band measurements are more directly related to mass than B-band. Our luminosity function should therefore be a good estimate of the mass function of galaxies in this cluster, a cluster that is representative of the rich cluster population.
