The GALEX Ultraviolet Virgo Cluster Survey (GUViCS)^⋆

I. The UV luminosity function of the central 12 sq. deg

¹ Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille, UMR 6110 CNRS, 38 rue F. Joliot-Curie, 13388 Marseille France
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² European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild Str. 2, 85748 Garching bei Muenchen, Germany
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³ School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Queens Buildings The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
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⁴ INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, via Tiepolo 11, 34143 Trieste, Italy
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⁵ Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council of Canada, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC V8X 4M6, Canada
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⁶ Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Space Sciences Bldg., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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⁷ Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Universiteit Gent, Krijgslaan 281 S9, 9000 Gent, Belgium
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⁸ GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Univ. Paris Diderot, 5 place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon, France
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⁹ The Wise Observatory and the Florence and Raymoond Sackler Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
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¹⁰ Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
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¹¹ University of Crete, Department of Physics and Institute of Theoretical & Computational Physics, 71003 Heraklion, Greece
¹² IESL/Foundation for Research & Technology-Hellas, 71110 Heraklion, Greece
¹³ Chercheur Associé, Observatoire de Paris, 75014 Paris, France
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¹⁴ INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
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¹⁵ School of Astronomy, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), PO Box 19395-5746, Tehran, Iran
¹⁶ INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi, 5, 50125, Firenze, Italy
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¹⁷ Laboratoire AIM Paris-Saclay, CNRS/INSU CEA/Irfu Université Paris Diderot, 91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France
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¹⁸ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH 44512 USA
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¹⁹ Université Lyon 1, Observatoire de Lyon, Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon and Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 9 avenue Charles André, 69230 Saint-Genis Laval, France
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²⁰ Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Auf dem Hügel 71, 53121 Bonn, Germany
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²¹ ESO, Alonso de Cordova 3107, Vitacura, Santiago, Chile
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²² Universita’ di Milano-Bicocca, piazza della Scienza 3, 20100 Milano, Italy
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²³ CAAUL, Observatório Astronómico de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada de Ajuda, 1349-018, Lisboa, Portugal
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²⁴ Departamento de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 7820436 Macul, Santiago, Chile
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²⁵ Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
²⁶ Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 475 N. Charter St, Madison WI 53706, USA
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²⁷ Université Paris Diderot, 75205 Paris Cedex 13, France
²⁸ Jansky Fellow of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22901, USA
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²⁹ Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y Experimental, UNC-CONICET, Cordoba, Argentina
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³⁰ Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, UMR 7550, 11 rue de l’Université, 67000 Strasbourg, France
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³¹ Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 1A1, Canada
³² National Radio Astronomy Observatory, PO Box O, Socorro, NM 87801, USA
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³³ Saint Mary’s College of California, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Moraga, 94575 CA, USA
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³⁴ Departament d’Astronomia i Meteorologia and Institut de Ciències del Cosmos, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
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³⁵ Royal Military College of Canada, PO Box 17000, Station Forces, Kingston, Ontario, K7K 7B4, Canada
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³⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L1W7 Canada
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³⁷ Departamento de Astronomia, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 36-D, Santiago, Chile
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³⁸ Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxa and Vas. Pavlou, P. Penteli, 15236 Athens, Greece
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Received: 22 December 2010
Accepted: 2 February 2011

Abstract

The GALEX Ultraviolet Virgo Cluster Survey (GUViCS) is a complete blind survey of the Virgo cluster covering  ~40 sq. deg in the far UV (FUV, λ_eff = 1539   Å, Δλ = 442   Å) and  ~120 sq. deg in the near UV (NUV, λ_eff = 2316   Å, Δλ = 1060   Å). The goal of the survey is to study the ultraviolet (UV) properties of galaxies in a rich cluster environment, spanning a wide luminosity range from giants to dwarfs, and regardless of prior knowledge of their star formation activity. The UV data will be combined with those in other bands (optical: NGVS; far-infrared – submm: HeViCS; HI: ALFALFA) and with our multizone chemo-spectrophotometric models of galaxy evolution to make a complete and exhaustive study of the effects of the environment on the evolution of galaxies in high density regions. We present here the scientific objectives of the survey, describing the observing strategy and briefly discussing different data reduction techniques. Using UV data already in-hand for the central 12 sq. deg we determine the FUV and NUV luminosity functions of the Virgo cluster core for all cluster members and separately for early- and late-type galaxies and compare it to the one obtained in the field and other nearby clusters (Coma, A1367). This analysis shows that the FUV and NUV luminosity functions of the core of the Virgo clusters are flatter (α ~  −1.1) than those determined in Coma and A1367. We discuss the possible origin of this difference.