The intracluster light and its role in galaxy evolution in clusters

Understand

The diffuse light in clusters of galaxies, or intracluster light, has attracted a lot of attention lately due to its potential in describing the assembly history of galaxy clusters and to explain the observed growth of the brightest cluster galaxy with time.

• The properties of this light (color, stellar populations, extent) give clues about its formation and, consequently, the processes that shape the cluster.
• Here, I will present a review on intracluster light, its history, properties and the particular observational problems and limitations associated with the study of this diffuse component in integrated light.