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Description
We present a spectrophotometric analysis of the galaxy population in the area of the merging cluster Abell 3921 at z=0.093. We investigate the impact of the complex cluster environment on galaxy properties such as morphology or star formation rate. We combine multi-object spectroscopy from the Two Degree Field (2dF) spectrograph with optical imaging taken with the ESO Wide Field Imager. We carry out a redshift analysis and determine cluster velocity dispersions using biweight statistics. Applying a Dressler-Shectman test we seek evidence for cluster substructure. Cluster and field galaxies are investigated with respect to [OII] and H{alpha} equivalent width, star formation rate and morphological descriptors such as concentration index and Gini coefficient. We study these cluster galaxy properties as a function of clustercentric distance and investigate the spatial distribution of various galaxy types. Applying the Dressler-Shectman test we find a third component (A3921-C) in addition to the two main subclusters (A3921-A and A3921-B) already known. The re-determined mass ratio between the main components A and B is ~2:1. Similar to previous studies of galaxy clusters, we find that a large fraction of the disk galaxies close to the cluster core show no detectable star formation. These are likely systems that are quenched due to ram pressure stripping. Interestingly, we also find quenched spirals at rather large distances of 3-4Mpc from the cluster core.
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