| Issue |
A&A
Volume 705, January 2026
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | A254 | |
| Number of page(s) | 12 | |
| Section | Extragalactic astronomy | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202555280 | |
| Published online | 23 January 2026 | |
The spatial distribution of dwarf and giant galaxies in and around the Virgo cluster
1
Instituto de Astronomía y Ciencias Planetarias, Universidad de Atacama Copayapu 485 Copiapó, Chile
2
Departamento de Física, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María Av. Vicuña Mackenna 3939 8940897 San Joaquín Santiago, Chile
3
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias E-38200 La Laguna Tenerife, Spain
4
Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n 38206 La Laguna Tenerife, Spain
5
Millenium Nucleus for Galaxies (MINGAL) Valparaíso, Chile
★ Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Received:
24
April
2025
Accepted:
22
October
2025
The Virgo cluster is one of the closest clusters to us where we can further study the evolution of galaxies, with several infalling substructures and several filaments around it that have been reported. Therefore, it makes this cluster and its surrounding area an interesting place to study the spatial distribution of the population of dwarf and bright giant galaxies. We analysed the dwarf fraction (DF) in different regions of the cluster, inside the virial radius, in its surrounding area, and in the filamentary structure surrounding it using available catalogues with the aim of measuring whether the DF changes in different environments. Although the total dwarf fraction within the cluster is ∼0.8, significant local variations are measured throughout the cluster; there are regions with a relatively higher concentration of giant or dwarf galaxies. The fact that Virgo is embedded in a rich environment surrounded by several filaments that feed the cluster with new substructures could imply changes in the DF locally. When we analysed the DF variation at further distances from the cluster we observe some regions with few or no giant galaxies at all, with a local DF ranging from 0.8−1.0. Additionally, when comparing the dwarf fraction in different environments, overall the DF is larger in regions further away from denser regions such as the Virgo cluster and its filamentary structure surrounding it. When comparing the filament and the cluster area, the DF is slightly higher in the filaments, but from filament to filament, the DF changes depending on the presence of groups.
Key words: galaxies: clusters: general / galaxies: dwarf / galaxies: clusters: individual: Virgo
© The Authors 2026
Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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