Steven Crawford
The Density, Distribution, and Characteristics of Luminous
Compact Blue Galaxies in Intermediate Redshift Galaxy Clusters
Luminous Compact Blue Galaxies (LCBGs) are intense star forming galaxies
at intermediate redshifts that form a link between local HII galaxies and
high redshift Lyman Break galaxies. We present results of a search for
LCBGs in two galaxies clusters, MS0451 at z=0.53 and CL1604 at z=0.90.
LCBGs are identified through their photometric characteristics as measured
from WIYN ground based broad- and narrow-band imaging as part of the WIYN
Long Term Variability study. Improved measurements of their structural
characteristics are provided through HST WFPC2 and ACS Archive imaging of
the cluster cores. We find LCBGs primarily reside outside of the core
radius in both clusters. In these outer regions, LCBGs compose a
significant portion of the Butcher-Oemler populations and are undergoing
intense star formation. We explore what the density, distribution, and
characteristics of LCBGs imply for this class of objects as a progenitor
population.