Sizes of the stellar subsystems of galaxies and intracluster stars in the Virgo cluster

Abstract

Stellar photometry for three fields in the Virgo cluster of galaxies has been performed on the basis of archival Hubble Space Telescope ACS/WFC images. The densely populated red giant branches belonging to cluster galaxies are seen on the constructed Hertzsprung–Russell diagrams. The distances to eight galaxies in the Virgo cluster have been determined by the TRGB method. The sizes of the stellar subsystems and the gradients in the number density of red giants along the galactic radius have been determined for the investigated galaxies. The stellar periphery of the galaxies has been found to extend to great distances and to cover the entire area of the images used. Therefore, the stars that have previously been thought to be intracluster stars actually belong to the periphery of neighboring galaxies.