A morphological study of galaxies in ZwCl0024+1652, a galaxy cluster at redshift z ∼ 0.4

Abstract

The well-known cluster of galaxies ZwCl0024+1652 at z ∼ 0.4 lacks an in-depth morphological classification of its central region. While previous studies provide a visual classification of a patched area, we used the public code called galaxy Support Vector Machine (GALSVM) and HST/ACS data as well as the WFP2 master catalogue to automatically classify all cluster members up to 1 Mpc. GALSVM analyses galaxy morphologies through support vector machine (SVM). From the 231 cluster galaxies, we classified 97 as early types (ETs) and 83 as late types (LTs). The remaining 51 stayed unclassified (or undecided). By cross-matching our results with the existing visual classification, we found an agreement of 81 per cent. In addition to previous Zwcl0024 morphological classifications, 121 of our galaxies were classified for the first time in this work. In addition, we tested the location of classified galaxies on the standard morphological diagrams, colour–colour and colour–magnitude diagrams. Out of all cluster members, ∼20 per cent are emission-line galaxies, taking into account previous GLACE results. We have verified that the ET fraction is slightly higher near the cluster core and decreases with the clustercentric distance, while the opposite trend has been observed for LT galaxies. We found a higher fraction of ETs (54 per cent) than LTs (46 per cent) throughout the analysed central region, as expected. In addition, we analysed the correlation between the five morphological parameters (Abraham concentration, Bershady–Concelice concentration, asymmetry, Gini, and M20 moment of light) and the clustercentric distance, without finding a clear trend. Finally, as a result of our work, the morphological catalogue of 231 galaxies containing all the measured parameters and the final classification is available in the electronic form of this paper.