An analytical description of the extended halos of cD galaxies

Author: M.S. Seigar, Alister W. Graham, Helmut Jerjen

Abstract: We have observed 6 nearby cD galaxies to a depth of 26.5 R-mag arcsec^-2 with the Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope (JKT) on La Palma. Surprisingly little is known about the structure of the extended, low surface brightness halos around such objects.

We plan to determine the most appropriate analytical model to describe cD galaxy halos, whether this be an exponential profile, a Sersic model, or some other function. We additionally intend to measure the fraction of light contained within the halo, relative to the central galaxy. To date, this has typically been done by simply assigning to the halo, any and all excess flux relative to an inner R^1/4 model.