The Luminosity Function of 81 Abell Clusters from the Cronario Catalogues

We present the composite luminosity function (hereafter LF) of galaxies for 81 Abell clusters studied in our survey of the Northern Hemisphere, using DPOSS data processed by the CRoNaRio collaboration. The derived LF is very accurate due to the use of homogeneous data both for the clusters and the control fields and to the local estimate of the background, which takes into account the presence of large-scale structures and of foreground clusters and groups. The global composite LF is quite flat down to M * + 5 has a slope α ∼ −1.0 ± 0.2 with minor variations from blue to red filters, and M * ∼ −21.8, −22.0, −22.3 mag (H0 = 50 km s −1 Mpc −1) in the g, r and i filters, respectively (errors are detailed in the text). We find a significant difference between rich and poor clusters thus arguing in favour of a dependence of the LF on the properties of the environment.