Abstract

Invited Talk - Plenary

Tuesday, 10 September 2024, 10:00   (Aula 1&2 / virtual plenum)

The Exploration of the Optical Low-Surface-Brightness Universe

Matthias Kluge
Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik

The study of the optical low-surface-brightness (LSB) Universe has become feasible thanks to advancements in low-scatter telescope designs and data-reduction techniques that preserve faint light. The LSB realm encompasses both large-scale phenomena, such as intracluster light (ICL) in galaxy clusters and stellar halos around galaxies, as well as small-scale phenomena like ultradiffuse galaxies and stellar tidal streams. These features are direct remnants of the dynamical processes that shape the Universe's largest galaxies. The shapes and radial profiles are dictated by the host gravitational potential and, hence, trace the spatial distribution of the underlying dark matter.
This talk will summarize efforts to quantify ICL in low-redshift galaxy clusters using the Wendelstein and Euclid telescopes. An outlook will be given to investigate the ICL's redshift evolution, leveraging the well-defined galaxy cluster sample from the eROSITA all-sky survey.