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The COld STream finder Algorithm (COSTA) is a novel algorithm to find streams in the phase space of planetary nebulae (PNe) and globular cluster (GCs) populations. COSTA isolates groups of particles with small velocity dispersion, using an iterative sigma-clipping over a defined number of neighbor particles. We have applied COSTA to a catalog of about 2000 PNe and GCs from the Fornax Cluster VLT Spectroscopic Survey (FVSS), within 200 kpc from the cluster core, to detect cold substructures and characterize their kinematics. We have found 13 cold substructures, with velocity dispersion ranging from 20 to 100 kms^{-1}, which are likely associated either to large galaxies or to ultra-compact dwarf (UCD) galaxies in the Fornax core. These streams show a clear correlation of their luminosity with the internal velocity dispersion, and their surface brightness with size and distance from the cluster center that are compatible with dissipative processes producing them. However, we cannot exclude that some of these substructures have formed by violent relaxation of massive satellites finally merged into the central galaxy. Among these substructures we have: a stream connecting NGC1387 to the central galaxy, NGC1399, previously reported in literature; a new giant stream produced by the interaction of NGC1382 with NGC1380 and possibly NGC1381; a series of streams kinematically connected to nearby ultra compact dwarf galaxies; clumps of tracers with no clear kinematical association to close cluster members. We show evidence for a variety of cold substructure predicted in simulations. Most of the streams are kinematically connected to UCDs, supporting the scenario that they can be remnants of disrupted dwarf systems. [abridged], 27 Pages, 15 Figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

In this work, we extend the catalog of low-surface brightness (LSB) galaxies, including ultra-diffuse galaxy (UDG) candidates, within ≈0.4Rvir of the Hydra I cluster of galaxies based on deep images from the VST Early-type GAlaxy Survey (VEGAS). The new galaxies were found by applying an automatic detection tool and carrying out additional visual inspections of g and r band images. This led to the detection of 11 UDGs and 8 more LSB galaxies. For all of them, we assessed the cluster membership using the color–magnitude relation derived for early-type giant and dwarf galaxies in Hydra I. The UDGs and new LSB galaxies found in Hydra I span a wide range of central surface brightness (22.7 ≲ μ0, g ≲ 26.5 mag arcsec⁻²), effective radius (0.6 ≲ Re ≲ 4.0 kpc), and color (0.4 ≤ g − r ≤ 0.9 mag), and have stellar masses in the range ∼5 × 10⁶ − 2 × 10⁸ M⊙. The 2D projected distribution of both galaxy types is similar to the spatial distribution of dwarf galaxies, with over-densities in the cluster core and north of the cluster center. They have similar color distribution and comparable stellar masses to the red dwarf galaxies. Based on photometric selection, we identify a total of nine globular cluster (GC) candidates associated to the UDGs and four to the LSB galaxies, with the highest number of candidates in an individual UDG being three. We find that there are no relevant differences between dwarfs, LSB galaxies, and UDGs: the structural parameters (i.e., surface brightness, size, color, and n-index) and GC content of the three classes have similar properties and trends. This finding is consistent with UDGs being the extreme LSB tail of the size–luminosity distribution of dwarfs in this environment.

Context: Galaxies either live in a cluster, a group, or in a field environment. In the hierarchical framework, the group environment bridges the field to the cluster environment, as field galaxies form groups before aggregating into clusters. In principle, environmental mechanisms, such as galaxy–galaxy interactions, can be more efficient in groups than in clusters due to lower velocity dispersion, which lead to changes in the properties of galaxies. This change in properties for group galaxies before entering the cluster environment is known as preprocessing. Whilst cluster and field galaxies are well studied, the extent to which galaxies become preprocessed in the group environment is unclear. Aims: We investigate the structural properties of cluster and group galaxies by studying the Fornax main cluster and the infalling Fornax A group, exploring the effects of galaxy preprocessing in this showcase example. Additionally, we compare the structural complexity of Fornax galaxies to those in the Virgo cluster and in the field. Methods: Our sample consists of 582 galaxies from the Fornax main cluster and Fornax A group. We quantified the light distributions of each galaxy based on a combination of aperture photometry, Sérsic+PSF (point spread function) and multi-component decompositions, and non-parametric measures of morphology. From these analyses, we derived the galaxy colours, structural parameters, non-parametric morphological indices (Concentration C; Asymmetry A, Clumpiness S; Gini G; second order moment of light M₂₀), and structural complexity based on multi-component decompositions. These quantities were then compared between the Fornax main cluster and Fornax A group. The structural complexity of Fornax galaxies were also compared to those in Virgo and in the field. Results: We find significant (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test p-value < α = 0.05) differences in the distributions of quantities derived from Sérsic profiles (g′−r′, r′−i′, Re, and μ̄e,r′), and non-parametric indices (A and S) between the Fornax main cluster and Fornax A group. Fornax A group galaxies are typically bluer, smaller, brighter, and more asymmetric and clumpy. Moreover, we find significant cluster-centric trends with r′−i′, Re, and μ̄e,r′, as well as A, S, G, and M₂₀ for galaxies in the Fornax main cluster. This implies that galaxies falling towards the centre of the Fornax main cluster become fainter, more extended, and generally smoother in their light distribution. Conversely, we do not find significant group-centric trends for Fornax A group galaxies. We find the structural complexity of galaxies (in terms of the number of components required to fit a galaxy) to increase as a function of the absolute r′-band magnitude (and stellar mass), with the largest change occurring between −14 mag ≲Mr′ ≲ −19 mag (7.5 ≲ log₁₀(M*/M⊙) ≲ 9.7). This same trend was found in galaxy samples from the Virgo cluster and in the field, which suggests that the formation or maintenance of morphological structures (e.g., bulges, bar) are largely due to the stellar mass of the galaxies, rather than the environment they reside in.

Context: We present the study of the south-west group in the Fornax cluster centred on the brightest group galaxy (BGG) Fornax A, which was observed as part of the Fornax Deep Survey (FDS). This includes the analysis of the bright group members (mB

Context: A possible pathway for understanding the events and the mechanisms involved in galaxy formation and evolution is an in-depth investigation of the galactic and inter-galactic fossil sub-structures with long dynamical timescales: stars in the field and in stellar clusters. Aims: This paper continues the Fornax Deep Survey (FDS) series. Following previous studies dedicated to extended Fornax cluster members, we present the catalogs of compact stellar systems in the Fornax cluster, as well as extended background sources and point-like sources. Methods: We derived ugri photometry of ∼1.7 million sources over the ∼21 square degree area of FDS centered on the bright central galaxy NGC 1399. For a wider area, of ∼27 square degrees extending in the direction of NGC 1316, we provided gri photometry for ∼3.1 million sources. To improve the morphological characterization of sources, we generated multi-band image stacks by coadding the best-seeing gri-band single exposures with a cut at full width at half maximum (FWHM) ≤ 0.″9. We used the multi-band stacks as master detection frames, with a FWHM improved by ∼15% and a FWHM variability from field to field reduced by a factor of ∼2.5 compared to the pass-band with the best FWHM, namely the r-band. The identification of compact sources, in particular, globular clusters (GC), was obtained from a combination of photometric (e.g., colors, magnitudes) and morphometric (e.g., concentration index, elongation, effective radius) selection criteria, also taking as reference the properties of sources with well-defined classifications from spectroscopic or high-resolution imaging data. Results: Using the FDS catalogs, we present a preliminary analysis of GC distributions in the Fornax area. The study confirms and extends further previous results that were limited to a smaller survey area. We observed the inter-galactic population of GCs, a population of mainly blue GCs centered on NGC 1399, extending over ∼0.9 Mpc, with an ellipticity ϵ ∼ 0.65 and a small tilt in the direction of NGC 1336. Several sub-structures extend over ∼0.5 Mpc along various directions. Two of these structures do not cross any bright galaxy; one of them appears to be connected to NGC 1404, a bright galaxy close to the cluster core and particularly poor in GCs. Using the gri catalogs, we analyze the GC distribution over the extended FDS area and do not find any obvious GC sub-structure bridging the two brightest cluster galaxies, namely, NGC 1316 and NGC 1399. Although NGC 1316 is more than twice as bright of NGC 1399 in optical bands, using gri data, we estimate a GC population that is richer by a factor of ∼3−4 around NGC 1399, as compared to NGC 1316, out to galactocentric distances of ∼40’ or ∼230 kpc.

Context: Dwarf galaxies are the most common type of galaxies in galaxy clusters. Due to their low mass, they are more vulnerable to environmental effects than massive galaxies, and are thus optimal for studying the effects of the environment on galaxy evolution. By comparing the properties of dwarf galaxies with different masses, morphological types, and cluster-centric distances we can obtain information about the physical processes in clusters that play a role in the evolution of these objects and shape their properties. The Fornax Deep Survey Dwarf galaxy Catalog (FDSDC) includes 564 dwarf galaxies in the Fornax cluster and the in-falling Fornax A subgroup. This sample allows us to perform a robust statistical analysis of the structural and stellar population differences in the range of galactic environments within the Fornax cluster. Aims: By comparing our results with works concerning other clusters and the theoretical knowledge of the environmental processes taking place in galaxy clusters, we aim to understand the main mechanisms transforming galaxies in the Fornax cluster. Methods: We have exploited the FDSDC to study how the number density of galaxies, galaxy colors and structure change as a function of the cluster-centric distance, used as a proxy for the galactic environment and in-fall time. We also used deprojection methods to transform the observed shape and density distributions of the galaxies into the intrinsic physical values. These measurements are then compared with predictions of simple theoretical models of the effects of harassment and ram pressure stripping on galaxy structure. We used stellar population models to estimate the stellar masses, metallicities and ages of the dwarf galaxies. We compared the properties of the dwarf galaxies in Fornax with those in the other galaxy clusters with different masses. Results: We present the standard scaling relations for dwarf galaxies, which are the size-luminosity, Sérsic n-magnitude and color-magnitude relations. New in this paper is that we find a different behavior for the bright dwarfs (−18.5 mag < Mr′ < −16 mag) as compared to the fainter ones (Mr′ gt −16 mag): While considering galaxies in the same magnitude-bins, we find that, while for fainter dwarfs the g′−r′ color is redder for lower surface brightness objects (as expected from fading stellar populations), for brighter dwarfs the color is redder for the higher surface brightness and higher Sérsic n objects. The trend of the bright dwarfs might be explained by those galaxies being affected by harassment and by slower quenching of star formation in their inner parts. As the fraction of early-type dwarfs with respect to late-types increases toward the central parts of the cluster, the color-surface brightness trends are also manifested in the cluster-centric trends, confirming that it is indeed the environment that changes the galaxies. We also estimate the strength of the ram-pressure stripping, tidal disruption, and harassment in the Fornax cluster, and find that our observations are consistent with the theoretically expected ranges of galaxy properties where each of those mechanisms dominate. We furthermore find that the luminosity function, color–magnitude relation, and axis-ratio distribution of the dwarfs in the center of the Fornax cluster are similar to those in the center of the Virgo cluster. This indicates that in spite of the fact that the Virgo is six times more massive, their central dwarf galaxy populations appear similar in the relations studied by us. This article has an erratum: https://www.aanda.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201935231e

[Aims]: We aim to study the variability properties of bright hard X-ray selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the redshift range between 0.3 and 1.6 detected in the Chandra Deep Field South (XMM-CDFS) by a long (∼3 Ms) XMM observation. [Methods]: Taking advantage of the good count statistics in the XMM CDFS, we search for flux and spectral variability using the hardness ratio (HR) techniques. We also investigate the spectral variability of different spectral components (photon index of the power law, column density of the local absorber, and reflection intensity). The spectra were merged in six epochs (defined as adjacent observations) and in high and low flux states to understand whether the flux transitions are accompanied by spectral changes. [Results]: The flux variability is significant in all the sources investigated. The HRs in general are not as variable as the fluxes, in line with previous results on deep fields. Only one source displays a variable HR, anti-correlated with the flux (source 337). The spectral analysis in the available epochs confirms the steeper when brighter trend consistent with Comptonisation models only in this source at 99% confidence level. Finding this trend in one out of seven unabsorbed sources is consistent, within the statistical limits, with the 15% of unabsorbed AGN in previous deep surveys. No significant variability in the column densities, nor in the Compton reflection component, has been detected across the epochs considered. The high and low states display in general different normalisations but consistent spectral properties. [Conclusions]: X-ray flux fluctuations are ubiquitous in AGN, though in some cases the data quality does not allow for their detection. In general, the significant flux variations are not associated with spectral variability: Photon index and column densities are not significantly variable in nine out of the ten AGN over long timescales (from three to six and a half years). Photon index variability is found only in one source (which is steeper when brighter) out of seven unabsorbed AGN. The percentage of spectrally variable objects is consistent, within the limited statistics of sources studied here, with previous deep samples., S.F. acknowledges the Swedish National Space Board and the Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation. F.J.C. acknowledges financial support through grant AYA2015-64346-C2-1P (MINECO/FEDER).

We present the first results of the spectroscopy of distant, obscured AGN as obtained with the ultra-deep (≈3.3 Ms) XMM-Newton survey in the Chandra deep field South. One of the primary goals of the project is to characterize the X-ray spectral properties of obscured and heavily obscured Compton-thick AGN over the range of redhifts and luminosities that are relevant in terms of their contribution to the X-ray background. The ultra-deep exposure, coupled with the XMM detector’s spectral throughput, allowed us to accumulate good quality X-ray spectra for a large number of X-ray sources and, in particular, for heavily obscured AGN at cosmological redshifts. Specifically we present the X-ray spectral properties of two high-redshift – z = 1.53 and z = 3.70 – sources. The XMM spectra of both are very hard, with a strong iron Kα line at a rest-frame energy of ~6.4 keV. A reflection-dominated continuum provides the best description of the X-ray spectrum of the z = 1.53 source, while the intrinsic continuum of the z = 3.70 AGN is obscured by a large column NH ≈ 1024 cm-2 of cold gas. Compton-thick absorption, or close to it, is unambiguously detected in both sources. Interestingly, these sources would not be selected as candidate Compton thick AGN by some multiwavelength selection criteria based on the mid-infrared to optical and X-ray to optical flux ratios., Support from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) under the contracts ASI-INAF I/088/06/0 and I/009/10/0 is acknowledged. A.C. acknowledges the NASA grant NNX09AQ05G to visit CfA, where part of this work was written. I.G. and A.C. acknowledge the Marie Curie fellowship FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008 Prop. 235285. X.B. and F.J.C. acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación under project AYA2009-08059. M.B. acknowledges support by the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, DLR project numbers 50 OR 0207 and 50 OR 0405. F.C., F.N. and M.B. acknowledge NASA grants NNX08AX51G and NNX09AQ05G. F.C. acknowledges support from the Blanceflor Boncompagni Ludovisi Foundation. J.D.S. is supported by World Premier International (WPI) Research Center Initiative , MEXT, Japan. W.N.B. acknowledges NASA grant SV0-80004 and NASA ADP grant NNX10AC99G. F.E.B. cknowledges the support of CONICYT, Chile, under grants FONDECYT 1101024 and FONDAP (CATA) 15010003.

We present the first results of the spectroscopy of distant, obscured AGN as obtained with the ultra-deep (≈3.3 Ms) XMM-Newton survey in the Chandra deep field South. One of the primary goals of the project is to characterize the X-ray spectral properties of obscured and heavily obscured Compton-thick AGN over the range of redhifts and luminosities that are relevant in terms of their contribution to the X-ray background. The ultra-deep exposure, coupled with the XMM detector’s spectral throughput, allowed us to accumulate good quality X-ray spectra for a large number of X-ray sources and, in particular, for heavily obscured AGN at cosmological redshifts. Specifically we present the X-ray spectral properties of two high-redshift – z = 1.53 and z = 3.70 – sources. The XMM spectra of both are very hard, with a strong iron Kα line at a rest-frame energy of ~6.4 keV. A reflection-dominated continuum provides the best description of the X-ray spectrum of the z = 1.53 source, while the intrinsic continuum of the z = 3.70 AGN is obscured by a large column NH ≈ 1024 cm-2 of cold gas. Compton-thick absorption, or close to it, is unambiguously detected in both sources. Interestingly, these sources would not be selected as candidate Compton thick AGN by some multiwavelength selection criteria based on the mid-infrared to optical and X-ray to optical flux ratios. Support from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) under the contracts ASI-INAF I/088/06/0 and I/009/10/0 is acknowledged. A.C. acknowledges the NASA grant NNX09AQ05G to visit CfA, where part of this work was written. I.G. and A.C. acknowledge the Marie Curie fellowship FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008 Prop. 235285. X.B. and F.J.C. acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación under project AYA2009-08059. M.B. acknowledges support by the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, DLR project numbers 50 OR 0207 and 50 OR 0405. F.C., F.N. and M.B. acknowledge NASA grants NNX08AX51G and NNX09AQ05G. F.C. acknowledges support from the Blanceflor Boncompagni Ludovisi Foundation. J.D.S. is supported by World Premier International (WPI) Research Center Initiative , MEXT, Japan. W.N.B. acknowledges NASA grant SV0-80004 and NASA ADP grant NNX10AC99G. F.E.B. cknowledges the support of CONICYT, Chile, under grants FONDECYT 1101024 and FONDAP (CATA) 15010003.