Description
We study the mass-to-light ratio of galaxy systems from poor groups to rich clusters and present for the first time a large database for useful comparisons with theoretical predictions. We extend a previous work, where B_j_ band luminosities and optical virial masses were analyzed for a sample of 89 clusters. Here we also consider a sample of 52 more clusters, 36 poor clusters, seven rich groups, and two catalogs, of ~500 groups each, recently identified in the Nearby Optical Galaxy sample by using two different algorithms. We obtain the blue luminosity and virial mass for all systems considered. We devote a large effort to establishing the homogeneity of the resulting values, as well as to considering comparable physical regions, i.e., those included within the virial radius.
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