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S. P. Boughn (Haverford College), J. M. Uson (National Radio Astronomy Observatory), C. D. Blount (Haverford College), G. Gupta (Middlebury College)
I-band observations of the rich cluster of galaxies, Abell 2218, reveal the presence of a considerable amount of diffuse, intergalactic light. This diffuse component, which comprises 25% of the total cluster light, is presumably due to stars that have been tidally stripped from the galaxies in the cluster. Using the lensing mass model of Kneib et al. (ApJ 471, 643), we find that, on average, the diffuse light traces the dark matter in the cluster with a mass to light ratio, M/L = 450h in solar I-band units (h is Hubble's constant in units of 100 km/s/Mpc).
This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation and the W. M. Keck Foundation through the Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium.