# Mid-Infrared Emission from E+A Galaxies in the Coma Cluster

## 1 Introduction

A subset ($`30\%`$) of the members of moderate redshift galaxy clusters have abnormally blue colors (e.g. Butcher & Oemler (1978); Butcher & Oemler (1984); Couch & Sharples (1987); Dressler & Gunn (1982)), coined the “Butcher-Oemler effect”. Spectroscopy (e.g. Dressler & Gunn (1983)) of these galaxies confirms cluster membership and shows spectral features such as Balmer absorption lines, indicating the presence of a post starburst population, or/and strong narrow emission lines, indicating ongoing active star formation or an AGN. Elliptical or S0 galaxies with strong Balmer absorption features in their spectra are commonly denoted E+A galaxies. Both for the Butcher-Oemler clusters (Couch et al. (1998)) and more distant ones (Dressler et al. (1994); Rakos & Schombert (1995)) many of the blue galaxies are spirals, a population which is relatively rare in nearby rich clusters. The discovery (Vigroux, Boulade & Rose (1989), Caldwell et al. (1993)) of E+A and non-spiral emission line galaxies in the Coma cluster, but at a redshift of only $`z=0.023`$ rather than the $`0.20.5`$ of the Butcher-Oemler clusters, makes it possible to study in greater detail the processes resulting in star formation in clusters.

The mid and far infrared luminosity is a particularly useful measure in the study of galaxy evolution because it is a diagnostic of recent or ongoing star formation. The ISO satellite (Kessler et al. (1996))<sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) is an ESA project funded by ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom) with the participation of ISAS and NASA has allowed us to observe the mid-infrared outputs of galaxies in nearby clusters. Of the 182 early-type galaxies surveyed with spectroscopy from the Coma cluster (by Caldwell et al. (1993) and Caldwell & Rose (1997)), 20 showed Balmer absorption features or narrow emission lines. In this paper we present ISO observations at $`12\mu `$m of seven of these 20 galaxies and include one control or ‘normal’ cluster galaxy lacking these spectral features. One additional late-type galaxy (D100) appears in the same field as one of the post starburst or E+A galaxies (D99).

Ultimately the rate of star formation in any environment must be related to the availability of cold gas from which stars can form. The hierarchical picture of cluster formation holds that this reservoir of gas is replenished by spiral galaxies coming into the cluster. Merging of subclusters or infalling galaxy groups would then result in a period of elevated star formation in the cluster galaxies. Star formation in individual galaxies is triggered by the cluster tidal field, perturbations from nearby galaxies (also referred to as galaxy harrassment; Moore et al. (1996)), or interactions with the intracluster medium. Incoming galaxies are expected to have an initial burst of star formation, after which galaxy harrassment and the cluster tidal field result in stripping, heating of the stellar velocity dispersion, and possibly a lower level of continuing star formation over a longer timescale (e.g. Moore, Lake & Katz (1998)).

These processes are expected to take place in high redshift clusters. However, even if major mergers of gas rich subclusters are common in the higher redshift clusters, it would be difficult to separate individual cluster infall events. Evidence for such a merger is present in the Coma cluster: it has two major ellipticals and two peaks in the X-ray flux density and radio source counts (Kim et al. 1994a ), one of which is associated with a number of galaxies with E+A and emission line spectral characteristics (Caldwell et al. (1993)). Kinematic differences observed in the galaxy populations can be interpreted in terms of interactions between the subcluster and the main body of the cluster and the later infall of field galaxies (Colless & Dunn (1996)). The association of E+A galaxies with cluster sub-structure would be consistent with an initial star formation burst period beginning about a Gyr ago when the subclusters first began to interact. The possibility of a merger can be probed further by examining the star formation histories of these individual “abnormal” Coma galaxies.

By comparing current star formation rates estimated with our ISO observations with those $`1`$ Gyr ago estimated from the Balmer absorption lines we can study the recent star formation histories in these galaxies. Our sample consists of a representative group of Coma cluster galaxies with “abnormal” spectral features such as Balmer absorption lines or/and emission lines. From their star formation histories we can estimate timescales for star formation in the cluster associated with a triggering event such as the infall of a sub-cluster.

IRAS and ISO studies of clusters have resulted in detection of extended far infrared emission (Hu (1992), Stickel et al. (1998), Wise et al. (1993)). Part of this emission has been attributed to intracluster dust, as modeled by Dwek et al. (1990) to be consistent with reports of possible extinction through the Coma cluster. The spatial resolutions of IRAS and ISO were not sufficient to determine whether the cluster far infrared emission is smoothly distributed, as expected from intracluster dust, or associated with individual galaxies. Recent observational surveys of the Coma cluster in the radio (Kim et al. 1994a ) and H$`\alpha `$ emission (Gavazzi et al. (1998)) and the compiled IRAS identifications of Wang et al. (1991) make it possible to determine the infrared luminosity function and estimate the cluster luminosity. Here we investigate the possibility that galaxies in the cluster are the dominant source of infrared emission and could result in the color signature that has been attributed to intracluster dust (e.g. Stickel et al. (1998)).

This paper is organized as follows. In §2 we present the 12$`\mu `$m ISO observations of the galaxies. To determine whether the 12$`\mu `$m flux density is above that expected from a quiescent old stellar population we also observed these galaxies at K band (2.2$`\mu `$m). The 12 and 2.2$`\mu `$m flux densities are compared in §3.1 and the set of galaxies with enhanced 12$`\mu `$m emission is identified. In §3.2 we check our estimates for the far infrared luminosities by comparing the 12$`\mu `$m flux densities of our brightest galaxies to IRAS or radio flux densities.

In §4.1 star formation histories for these galaxies are discussed. We compare the current star formation rate estimated from the infrared emission to that derived from H$`\alpha `$ emission. We then compare the current star formation rates to the past rates inferred from the Balmer absorption lines. We identify two groups of galaxies in our sample: those having current star formation rates that are substantially lower than that required to form their $`1`$ Gyr old populations and those with significant ongoing star formation or/and AGN activity. We then compare the spatial and velocity distribution of the two groups. In §4.2 by considering number counts of radio sources, IRAS identifications and H$`\alpha `$ detections we constrain the form of the far infrared luminosity function of galaxies in the cluster. We then estimate the total far infrared luminosity of the Coma cluster. In §4.3 we discuss the complications in measuring emission by intracluster dust because of the large contribution by cluster galaxies. In §4.4 we re-examine the luminosity evolution of cluster galaxies using measurements of distant clusters from Kelly & Rieke (1990).

## 2 Observations

Throughout this paper, we refer to galaxies by NGC number or, when they have none, by their Dressler (1980) catalog or D number. We adopt a Hubble constant of $`H_0=75`$ km s<sup>-1</sup> Mpc<sup>-1</sup>.

### 2.1 ISOCAM imaging at 12$`\mu `$m

Images of 9 fields each centered on a Coma cluster galaxy were taken with ISOCAM (Césarsky et al. (1996)) in the imaging mode with $`6.0^{\prime \prime }`$ per pixel and using the LW10 filter (8.6-14.4$`\mu `$m). Each field was observed for a total of 115 exposures each 5.04s long, taken in a $`3\times 3`$ raster on the sky, offsetting by $`36^{\prime \prime }`$ between points. Each point was observed for a total of $`50`$ seconds with additional time for stabilization on the first position. The total integration time per galaxy was 9.7 minutes.

In each set of observations, we discarded the first 15 of 115 exposures because the array had not yet stabilized. Based on the subsequent flat level of the sky, we judged the array to be stabilized after this time. Cosmic ray glitches were removed using the ‘MM’ multi-resolution spatial and temporal routine in the CAM Interactive Analysis (CIA) package.<sup>2</sup><sup>2</sup>2CAM Interactive Analysis is a joint development by the ESA astrophysics division and the ISOCAM consortium Because of the extended total integration time, low frequency noise was observed in each pixel. To suppress this noise, we removed slowly varying third order polynomials in time from each pixel signal, excluding locations of bright source emission. Following this procedure, flat fields were constructed from the images themselves using an interpolator program to fit a smooth function of time to the entire data cube. The final mosaic was then constructed from the nine mosaic positions with a least-squares fit to each pixel in the images, after shifting them according to position on the sky. The final images are shown in Figure 1. 

Images were flux calibrated using sensitivity parameters listed in later versions of the ISOCAM data pipeline that are probably accurate to within $`\pm 20\%`$ (Césarsky et al. (1996)). Since the images used were observed after the array stabilized, the calibration should be accurate to this level. The resulting images have a pixel to pixel standard deviation of $`0.04`$ mJy per $`6^{\prime \prime }`$ pixel in the central $`25\times 25`$ pixels. By removing some of the low frequency noise from the images we decreased the pixel to pixel standard deviation by a factor of $`5`$ from the Automatic Analysis product.

### 2.2 Near-infrared J and K imaging

Near-infrared J and K<sub>s</sub> broad band images were obtained on May 8, 1998 at the 90<sup>′′</sup> (2.3m) Bok Telescope on Kitt Peak with a $`256\times 256`$ NICMOS3 near-infrared camera. On source total exposure times in each filter were 8 minutes for NGC 4865, 4 minutes for NGC 4853 and 9 minutes for the remaining galaxies. Observing conditions were photometric so images were calibrated by comparing to standards from Elias et al. (1982). Aperture photometry is listed in Table 1. $`9.6^{\prime \prime }`$ diameter apertures were used to measure the J-K color. K band magnitudes were measured in a larger $`36^{\prime \prime }`$ aperture, with nearby stars and galaxies removed, to compare to the flux densities observed at 12$`\mu `$m. The near-IR J-K colors are typical of normal galaxies, except in the case of D45 which is significantly bluer than the other galaxies, indicating the presence of younger stellar population or a lower metallicity.

## 3 Results

### 3.1 Galaxies detected at 12 microns

In the 12$`\mu `$m images (displayed in Fig. 1), 6 of 9 galaxies are clearly detected at a level of greater than a mJy. We also observed the control (or normal) galaxy, NGC 4865, as well as a bright E+A galaxy which had been detected at longer wavelengths with IRAS, NGC 4853. Detected galaxies were seen at different locations in the data cube so we are confident that we are not misinterpreting cosmic ray hits. Because of the remarkable pointing performance of ISO (absolute pointing error less than a few arcsecs, Kessler et al. (1996)) we are confident that the images are centered at the positions of the galaxies. All detected galaxies except for D99 and D100 were located at the center of the image. The galaxies D99 and D100 are $`20^{\prime \prime }`$ apart and so can be viewed in the same image, which is centered on D99. However the bright source detected in the 12$`\mu `$m image is to the north-west of the center of the image and so at the expected location of D100 not D99. This source is therefore probably D100, which has narrow emission lines indicating active ongoing star-formation as well as Balmer absorption features, rather than the more quiescent post starburst D99, which has only Balmer absorption features (Caldwell et al. (1996)). Fluxes at 12$`\mu `$m measured from these images are tabulated in Table 1.

The brighter sources at 12$`\mu `$m (D16, D100, NGC 4865 and NGC 4853) are clearly extended even at the resolution of our $`6^{\prime \prime }`$ pixels. To illustrate, we have included a point source in Fig. 1 for comparison to the galaxies. The fainter galaxies (in B band; all but NGC 4865 and NGC 4853) have scale lengths (measured in B band images) of $`1.5`$ kpc or a few arcseconds whereas NGC 4853 has a larger scale length of $`10^{\prime \prime }`$ (Caldwell et al. (1996)). Thus, the galaxies have similar extent in the mid infrared and blue.

### 3.2 Comparison of galaxies with and without narrow emission lines

D16, D44, D45, D94, D99, D100 and D112 all have similar luminosities in B band (see Table 1). Of this group, the galaxies with narrow emission lines (D16, D44, D45 and D100) as well as Balmer absorption features were clearly detected at 12$`\mu `$m. The brighter galaxy, NGC 4853, also has faint narrow emission lines as well as Balmer absorption features (Caldwell et al. (1996)) and is detected at 12$`\mu `$m. Of the galaxies lacking emission lines (the purely post starburst E+A galaxies D94, D99, and D112), none were clearly detected. Bright pixels at the expected location of these latter galaxies are observed in all three images; however the detection is statistically significant only for D112. A bright pixel coincident with this galaxy was observed in more than one place in the data cube and the net signal in the final image is 3 times above the standard deviation of the pixel to pixel noise fluctuations in the central $`10\times 10`$ pixels. We tentatively say we have detected D112 at the level of 0.4 mJy and we have not detected D99 and D94 with upper limits on the flux densities of 0.3 mJy.

To determine if the galaxies have excess 12$`\mu `$m emission, we compare the $`2.2\mu `$m to $`12\mu `$m flux density ratio with that expected from an old quiescent stellar population. NGC 4865 is a control galaxy for our sample and has no Balmer absorption features (Caldwell et al. (1993)); it has a flux density ratio $`F_{2.2\mu \mathrm{m}}/F_{12\mu \mathrm{m}}6`$, which is typical of early-type galaxies (Impey et al. (1986)). NGC 4853, D16, D44, D45 and D100 are significantly brighter at 12$`\mu `$m (compared to their 2.2$`\mu `$m flux densities) than such galaxies. Much of the UV emission exciting the low ionization narrow emission lines in these galaxies appears to be reradiated by dust at longer (infrared) wavelengths.

D16 has high excitation narrow emission lines, no Balmer absorption features and a broad H$`\alpha `$ component, and so is likely to be a Seyfert 1 galaxy (Caldwell et al. (1993); Caldwell et al. (1996)). Its luminosity at 12$`\mu `$m would probably support this interpretation; however, the 12$`\mu `$m emission is extended so it is likely that there is some active star formation occurring in this galaxy as well. D44 is intermediate in emission line characteristics, between a LINER and a Seyfert 2 (Caldwell et al. (1996)), and is not bright enough that we can determine whether it is extended at 12$`\mu `$m.

The pure post starburst galaxies D94, D99 and D112 (lacking narrow emission lines) have 2.2 to 12$`\mu `$m flux density ratios (or limits in the case of D94 and D99) consistent with expectations for old stellar populations. In such galaxies, the 12$`\mu `$m emission scales with the $`2.2\mu `$m emission and so likely originates from thick dusty interstellar envelopes that form around red giant stars due to mass loss (Soifer et al. (1986); Knapp et al. (1992); Impey et al. (1986)). Thus, the pure E+A phase corresponds to a later (or post) starburst phase where the brightest, most massive stars have already left the main sequence and correspondingly the reradiated infrared flux is low.

### 3.3 Comparison with IRAS and radio flux densities for NGC 4853 and D100

The Coma cluster E+A galaxy NGC 4853 was detected with IRAS with $`F_{60\mu \mathrm{m}}=0.65`$ Jy, and $`F_{100\mu \mathrm{m}}=1.48`$ Jy, giving $`F_{60\mu \mathrm{m}}/F_{100\mu \mathrm{m}}0.44`$. It was not detected at shorter wavelengths, but from our observed 12$`\mu `$m flux density, we find that $`F_{12\mu \mathrm{m}}/F_{60\mu \mathrm{m}}=0.061\pm 0.01`$. This comparison with IRAS is valid, since the galaxy scale length is $`10^{\prime \prime }`$ (Caldwell et al. (1996)) and we expect little extended emission past what we see in our 12$`\mu `$m image. The ratio $`F_{12\mu \mathrm{m}}/F_{60\mu \mathrm{m}}=0.06`$ is also consistent with the mean value of the IRAS bright galaxy sample (Soifer et al. (1989)) and the 12$`\mu `$m normal galaxy sample of Spinoglio et al. (1995). Thus, both the mid and far infrared colors of NGC 4853 are typical of a normal spiral galaxy.

NGC 4853 and D100 are included in the list of optical identifications of radio sources in the Coma cluster (of Kim et al. 1994a ). At 1.4GHz, the flux densities are $`2.9\pm 0.3`$mJy and $`1.6\pm 0.4`$mJy, respectively (Kim et al. 1994a ). The ratio of far-infrared to radio flux densities for NGC 4853 is comparable (but at the high end of the distribution) of that seen from the infrared to radio correlation (for the IRAS galaxies of Helou et al. (1985)), and our predicted ratio for D100 coincides with the mean of the distribution. Thus, D100 and NGC 4853 have infrared to radio flux density ratios that are typical of normal galaxies and not particularly low as found for some spiral galaxies in rich clusters (Anderson & Owen (1995)).

### 3.4 Far-infrared luminosities

We estimate the far infrared luminosities for the Coma cluster galaxies as $`\nu F_\nu `$ at $`60\mu `$m assuming a flux density ratio of $`F_{12\mu \mathrm{m}}/F_{60\mu \mathrm{m}}=0.06`$ (consistent with observations of NGC 4853). The resulting luminosity, $`L_{IR}`$, is approximately equal to the parameter $`L_{FIR}`$ of Helou et al. (1988) based on the 60 and 100$`\mu `$m flux densities for a galaxy with a typical ratio $`F_{60\mu \mathrm{m}}/F_{100\mu \mathrm{m}}=0.5`$. Infrared luminosities (Table 1) have only been estimated for galaxies with enhanced 12$`\mu `$m emission compared to their $`2.2\mu `$m flux densities. Most of the galaxies have low infrared to optical flux density ratios and moderate far infrared luminosities. The infrared to optical flux density ratios are similar to those of optically selected galaxies, which have log$`(L_{IR}/L_{opt})0.3`$ for Shapely-Ames galaxies (DeJong et al. (1984), where $`L_{opt}`$ is computed as $`\nu F_\nu `$ at B band). There is no obvious correlation between this ratio and the infrared flux density (as observed in the IRAS bright galaxy sample; Soifer et al. (1989)). The lack of correlation may result from our small sample and the decaying star formation rates in most of these galaxies (Caldwell et al. (1996)).

## 4 Discussion

### 4.1 Star formation histories

Here we compare star formation rates estimated from elevated 12$`\mu `$m emission to those estimated from H$`\alpha `$ emission and a previous epoch inferred from the presence of Balmer absorption lines. We first consider the more quiescent galaxies. From optical absorption lines, Caldwell et al. (1996) estimated that D94, D99 and D112 have $`60\%`$ of their light at $`4000\AA `$ from a starburst population $`0.81.3`$ Gyr old. Assuming a Saltpeter IMF, a few times $`10^9M_{}`$ stars were formed during this episode of star formation (e.g., using mass-to-light ratios given in Worthey (1993)). These values correspond very approximately to star formation at a rate of $``$ 5 M/yr averaged over a Gyr. The absence of observed line emission restricts the current star formation rates to less than $`0.1M_{}`$/yr (using a conversion from Kennicutt (1983)). However, the lack of 12$`\mu `$m emission, corresponding to $`L_{IR}10^8L_{}`$ (using conversion factors discussed in Leitherer & Heckman (1995) and Devereux & Young (1990)), limits the current star formation rate even more, $`0.03M_{}`$/yr. NGC 4853 has a star formation rate (estimated from the H$`\alpha `$ flux) of $`1M_{}`$/yr (Caldwell et al. (1996)), which is consistent with the far-infrared luminosity of $`7\times 10^9L_{}`$ estimated from the $`12\mu `$m emission. Caldwell et al. (1996) and Sparke, Kormendy & Spinrad (1980) estimated an age of $`0.9`$ Gyr for a population contributing $`60\%`$ of the light at $`4000\AA `$, which implies that $`10^{10}M_{}`$ stars were formed during this burst, i.e., a rate of $`10M_{}`$/yr or higher averaged over a Gyr. Thus, the current star formation rates in NGC 4853, D94, D99 and D112 are well below those required to form the $`1`$ Gyr old burst populations responsible for their Balmer absorption features.

D44, on the other hand, has an E+A spectrum as well as emission lines characteristic of an AGN. The galaxy is too faint at 12$`\mu `$m to determine if the emission is resolved. D44 has absorption lines similar to those of NGC 4853 suggesting that a population of a few times $`10^9M_{}`$ was formed about a Gyr ago. However its H$`\alpha `$ emission (which is primarily due to an AGN) restricts its star formation rate to less than $`0.2M_{}`$/yr. The 12$`\mu `$m emission level restricts its current star formation to less than $`0.1M_{}`$/yr. This suggests that this galaxy is less active now than during the time when it formed its $`1`$ Gyr old burst population responsible for its Balmer absorption features.

D100 has an emission line spectrum similar to HII regions, suggesting active ongoing star formation. The emission line fluxes correspond to a star formation rate of $`1M_{}`$/yr. The optical absorption lines indicate a $``$ $`0.5`$ Gyr old population, contributing $`50\%`$ of the light at $`4000\AA `$ (Caldwell et al. (1996)) similar to the other galaxies and containing a few times $`10^9M_{}`$ stars. The far infrared flux density predicted from the 12$`\mu `$m emission (as described above) is a factor of a few lower than predicted from the H$`\alpha `$ luminosity but within the scatter observed by Devereux & Young (1990) for the correlation of H$`\alpha `$ to infrared luminosities. The higher current star-formation rate and younger post-star burst population in D100 suggest the current star formation rate is similar to that required to form its $`0.5`$ Gyr old burst population.

D45 has optical absorption spectral features similar to those of D94, D99, and D112 (Caldwell et al. (1993)) and so probably has a similar young population of a few times $`10^9M_{}`$ and of age $`0.51.3`$ Gyr old. However this galaxy is irregular, very blue in optical and near-infrared colors (B-K $`2`$) and has H$`\alpha `$ emission flux consistent with a star formation rate of $`0.2M_{}`$/yr (Caldwell et al. (1996)) which roughly corresponds to the far infrared flux density predicted from its 12$`\mu `$m flux density. As in the case of D100, the star formation rate of D45 is not necessarily significantly below that required to form its 1 Gyr old burst population.

We observe that the 12$`\mu `$m emission in D16, which contains an AGN, is extended and so the galaxy is probably also forming stars. At least $`50\%`$ of the 12$`\mu `$m flux density is resolved in the image. Assuming that $`50\%`$ of the 12$`\mu `$m flux density is due to star formation regions we estimate a star formation rate of $`0.1M_{}`$/yr. Since D16 does not display Balmer absorption features its activity is probably recent.

Based on these individual star formation histories we can divide our sample galaxies into two groups: 1) those that have current star formation rates that are substantially lower than that required to form their $`1`$ Gyr old populations (NGC 4853, D94, D99, D112, and D44) and 2) those with significant ongoing star formation (D100, D45) or/and AGN activity (D16) compared to that occurring $`1`$ Gyr ago. We note no difference in the distribution on the sky between these two groups. In fact, D99 and D100 are within the same ISOCAM imaging field and near the cluster center. However we do notice a difference these two groups when we consider their systemic velocities. The galaxies with ongoing activity have systemic velocities below the cluster mean velocity, $`V=6989`$ km/s (Caldwell et al. (1993)), and the galaxies from the more quiescent first group have velocities above this mean (see Table 1). Caldwell et al. (1993) noted that the galaxies with strong Balmer absorption lines have a mean velocity about 200 km/s above the cluster mean velocity. Late type galaxies, on the other hand, have a much higher velocity dispersion than the early type galaxies (Colless & Dunn (1996)). Our first group of galaxies is kinematically consistent with the the E+A galaxies of Caldwell et al. (1993), whereas our second group of galaxies would be consistent with the kinematic properties of the late-type galaxies. This would be consistent with the interpretation of Colless & Dunn (1996) that the E+A galaxies (lacking significant ongoing activity), in the first group, are part of a complex which entered the cluster environment $`1`$ Gyr ago. Galaxies in the second group, with ongoing and more recent activity, are likely to have entered the cluster as part of different complexes and at later times. The kinematic differences between the two groups suggest that star formation triggered by the cluster decays on a timescale of order a Gyr (consistent with simulations of Moore, Lake & Katz (1998)).

### 4.2 Contributions to the total far infrared flux of the Coma cluster

Recent surveys conducted in the region of the Coma cluster make it possible to place constraints on the far infrared luminosity function of galaxies in the cluster and so better compute the integrated far infrared luminosity of the Coma cluster. We consider three magnitude limited samples: IRAS, H$`\alpha `$ and radio.

The total far infrared luminosity of of a nearby rich cluster such as the Coma cluster can be estimated from the total number of galaxies that are detected at a particular limiting luminosity and integrating the far-infrared luminosity function (e.g., Kelly & Rieke (1990)). To apply this method, we need to constrain the slope of the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function. Kelly & Rieke (1990) adopted a luminosity function in the form of two power laws and a slope at the low luminosity end of $`0.8`$. They derived a total integrated flux density at $`z=0.05`$ of 2250 mJy at $`60\mu `$m for a typical rich cluster. However, more recent studies have suggested that the field galaxy luminosity function has a low end slope near $`0.1`$ (Saunders et al. (1990)). The optical luminosity function in rich clusters has a slope of about $`0.25`$ at its low end (e.g., Dressler (1984)). It therefore appears likely that the value adopted by Kelly and Rieke is too steep. Slopes of either $`0.1`$ or $`0.25`$ would yield an average $`60\mu `$m flux density for a rich cluster at $`z=0.05`$ of $`800`$ mJy, calculated by correcting the entry of 2250 mJy in Table 2 of Kelly & Rieke (1990).

We can test this value by integrating the luminosity function and comparing the result to measurements of the observed (by IRAS) total far-infrared emission of nearby rich clusters. Hu (1992) estimated a 100$`\mu `$m emission of $`310\pm 110`$ mJy for six clusters at a similar average redshift of $`z=0.05`$ but through a $`10^{}`$ diameter aperture. This measurement corresponds to a 60$`\mu `$m flux density of $`174\pm 62`$ mJy (assuming the far infrared colors typical of a normal galaxy). In the study of Wise et al. (1993) the 27 clusters of richness class 1 or greater (with an average of $`z0.05`$) have an average $`60\mu `$m flux density of $`201\pm 157`$ mJy in a $`10^{}`$ diameter beam. To compare directly with the luminosity function based estimates from the Kelly & Rieke (1990) work, we would need measurements in a larger beam, $``$ $`30^{}`$. However, it is impossible to obtain IRAS measurements with larger beams because noise caused by confusion with the infrared cirrus increases with diameter more rapidly than does the signal from the galaxy cluster. Nonetheless, it is difficult to reconcile the $`2250`$ mJy predicted in a 30’ aperture by Kelly & Rieke (1990) assuming a low end slope of -0.8 with the $`200`$ mJy measured by Hu (1992) and Wise et al. (1993) in a 10’ aperture. For example, if such a steep aperture dependence held, the clusters would be more readily detectable in a $`30^{}`$ beam by Wise et al. (1993). In addition, Kim et al. (1994a) show the Coma cluster is centrally concentrated in the radio source counts. Finally, Kelly & Rieke (1990) find the 60$`\mu `$m flux density of rich clusters at $`z0.4`$ to be approximately point-like in the $``$ $`2^{}`$ effective IRAS addscan beam. Therefore, the data of Hu (1992) and Wise et al. (1993) appear to be in better agreement with the corrected flux densities of $``$ 800 mJy for low end slopes of $`0.1`$ or $`0.25`$ than with that of $`0.8`$ in Kelly & Rieke (1990). In the following, we adopt a slope in this former range.

Wang et al. (1991) identify 5 galaxies detected with IRAS within 3 Mpc (2 degrees) of the Coma cluster center with $`L_{IR}>10^{10}L_{}`$. Normalizing the cluster luminosity function to these five galaxies and using Eqns. 4 and 5 from Kelly & Rieke (1990) to integrate it, we estimate that the total cluster luminosity is $`L_{IR}2\times 10^{11}L_{}`$.

Since we expect a correlation between the H$`\alpha `$ emission and far infrared luminosity we can compare the above total luminosity to that predicted from the cluster galaxies with measured H$`\alpha `$ luminosities. Gavazzi et al. (1998) measured H$`\alpha `$ luminosities for a sample of late-type galaxies with photographic magnitudes brighter than $`m_p=15.4`$. The 13 late-type galaxies within a degree of the cluster center observed by them have H$`\alpha `$ luminosities of $`5\times 10^{40}`$ erg/s corresponding to star formation rates of $`0.5M_{}`$/yr and far infrared luminosities of $`2\times 10^9L_{}`$. Assuming this luminosity as a limiting far infrared magnitude and a total of 13 late-type galaxies we derive a total cluster luminosity of $`1.0\times 10^{11}L_{}`$, similar to but somewhat lower than that estimated from the IRAS identifications. This sample should give only a lower limit to the total cluster luminosity because it only covers late type galaxies with $`m_p<16`$ and consists only of optically bright spirals and so may be missing optically faint but star forming late-type galaxies (such as D45) as well as earlier-type galaxies. Some, but not all, of the IRAS detected galaxies of Wang et al. (1991) are detected with bright H$`\alpha `$ emission by Gavazzi et al. (1998), emphasizing that the H$`\alpha `$ data give a lower limit to the infrared luminosity.

The deep VLA study of Kim et al. (1994a) is complete to a level of 1.2mJy at 1.4GHz and covers a square degree centered on the center of the Coma cluster. They estimate that there are $`36\pm 5`$ galaxies with flux densities above 3mJy in excess of the expected background radio source counts. At this level the radio source counts should be dominated by S0 and later type galaxies undergoing star formation rather than radio elliptical galaxies (e.g., Ledlow & Owen (1996)). Assuming a typical far infrared to radio flux density ratio of 1/120 (Helou et al. (1985)) the flux density limit of 3mJy at 1.4GHz corresponds to a limiting luminosity of $`3.4\times 10^9L_{}`$. If we assume that 36 galaxies are in the cluster with luminosities above this level, then the total luminosity of the cluster would be $`4.5\times 10^{11}L_{}`$. This value should be taken as an upper limit for a number of reasons. For example, 50% of the possible radio detections are not optically identified and so have $`m_p>19`$; their nature requires further investigation. A fraction of the radio luminous galaxies are radio ellipticals and so should not have been included in this tally because their radio emission may be dominated by sources not associated with recent star formation. Also the derived total cluster luminosity may be an upper limit if the average FIR/radio ratio is lower than normal for galaxies in dense clusters (Anderson & Owen (1995)).

In extrapolating to low luminosities, we have assumed that there is no unique infrared emitting population that would cause the luminosity function to differ from that in the field. To test this assumption, we compare our estimates for the total cluster luminosity to that which could be contributed from early type galaxies such as the E+A ones studied here. Our target galaxies were drawn from the Caldwell et al. (1993) and Caldwell & Rose (1997) survey of 182 early-type Coma cluster galaxies out of which 18 had Balmer absorption, 3 had AGN-like characteristics and 2 had emission lines typical of recent star formation. 20 galaxies total had abnormal spectral features since some had both types of features. The sample was drawn from the complete (to B=20) sample of Godwin, Metcalfe & Peach (1983) of $`800`$ galaxies and was color and morphology selected to include all early-type (E and S0) galaxies.

Our sample of early-type galaxies with weak on-going star formation has a limiting flux density $`1`$ mJy at 12$`\mu `$m. Using a typical ratio of $`F_{12\mu \mathrm{m}}/F_{60\mu \mathrm{m}}=0.06`$ this flux density corresponds to a limiting luminosity at $`60\mu `$m of $`L_{60\mu \mathrm{m}}=1\times 10^8L_{}`$. We can assume the galaxies (6/8) detected at 12$`\mu `$m with abnormal spectral features would have far infrared flux densities greater than this limit. We then estimate that 15 galaxies would been found to have flux densities greater than this limit if we could have surveyed the entire list of 20 galaxies with abnormal spectral features. If we assume that this 20 represents all the relatively luminous early-type galaxies in the Coma cluster with abnormal spectral features, then there would be 15 galaxies total with $`L_{IR}1\times 10^8L_{}`$. Using Eqns 4 and 5 of Kelly & Rieke (1990) but with a luminosity function with a slope at the faint end ranging from $`0.1`$ to $`0.25`$ we derive a total luminosity of $`L_{IR}=23\times 10^{10}L_{}`$ for these galaxies, only a fraction of that predicted above for the full cluster. We conclude that early-type galaxies with weak ongoing star formation are probably not major contributors to the total far infrared cluster luminosity.

Typical nearby rich clusters contain less than 4% of blue late-type galaxies (Rakos & Schombert (1995)). However, the fraction of late-type galaxies in Coma is estimated to be 14% (Dressler (1980)). The SW field contains most of the galaxies with abnormal spectral features and is coincident with a peak in X-ray emission (and radio source counts; Kim et al. 1994b ) suggesting that a merger of subclusters has taken place (Caldwell et al. (1993)). Since galaxies associated with this merger probably make a significant contribution to the total cluster far infrared flux density, the Coma cluster luminosity should be higher than that of a typical rich nearby cluster.

### 4.3 Origin of the far infrared emission of rich clusters

Dwek et al. (1990) modeled the distribution of dust that might be responsible for the reported extinction through the Coma cluster and found that the cluster would emit at $`100\mu `$m a flux density of 0.2 MJy/sr, due to heating of this intergalactic dust by the hot cluster gas. Stickel et al. (1998) have reported detection of a surface brightness of 0.1 MJy/sr at 120$`\mu `$m, which they take to confirm this prediction. The technique used by Stickel et al. is based on a small (3%) change in the ratio of 120$`\mu `$m to 185$`\mu `$m flux densities. Their data are not extensive enough to assess the variations in this ratio from Galactic infrared cirrus alone, which constitute the “noise” in their technique. In fact, their scan at PA 36<sup>o</sup> appears to be too noisy for an independent detection of the cluster. Thus, the reality of their detection is difficult to assess on simple signal to noise considerations.

Moreover, in this paper we have found that the cluster galaxies themselves are likely to be a significant source of far infrared emission. It is noteworthy that we find roughly consistent estimates of the 60 $`\mu `$m cluster luminosity in galaxies through three independent estimates: from the H$`\alpha `$ emission, we find a lower limit of $`1\times 10^{11}L_{}`$; from the radio emission of individual galaxies, we find an upper limit of $`4.5\times 10^{11}L_{}`$; and finally, directly from the infrared measurements of cluster galaxies, we deduce a luminosity of $`2\times 10^{11}L_{}`$. Assuming a luminosity of $`2\times 10^{11}L_{}`$ in the central square degree of the cluster, and that the far infrared flux density ratios are as in NGC 4853, we estimate a surface brightness of 0.06 MJy/sr at 100$`\mu `$m, which is similar to the excess source measured by Stickel et al. (1998). Thus, if the far infrared spectra of the Coma cluster galaxies are slightly hotter in 120/185 $`\mu `$m color than is the Galactic infrared cirrus, these galaxies could also be the cause of the apparent detection by Stickel et al. (1998).

We conclude that the surface brightness due to heating of the intergalactic dust is not convincingly detected and may be substantially lower than predicted by the model of Dwek et al. (1990).

Wise et al. (1993) detected five of 56 clusters in the IRAS far infrared data. In two cases, the emission was possibly extended and they concluded it might arise in the intracluster medium. In other cases, the detected flux density could be attributed to individual galaxies. Hu (1992) measured a modest level of extinction in cooling flow clusters and argued that a far infrared emission of $`0.5`$ Jy at 100$`\mu `$m was expected due to heating of the intergalactic dust responsible for this extinction. She found an average flux density of 0.3 Jy from the IRAS data, in agreement with this prediction.

In both these cases, we have shown that the far infrared emission of the clusters is in reasonably good agreement with the flux densities that Kelly & Rieke (1990) found for similar clusters, if we update their result with an improved galaxy luminosity function. Because the flux densitiess of Kelly & Rieke (1990) were obtained by summing the output of individual galaxies, this agreement suggests, as we found for Coma, that much of the far infrared emission of these clusters arises from their member galaxies and not from the intergalactic dust.

### 4.4 Luminosity evolution

We now compare the typical 60$`\mu `$m cluster flux density of 800 mJy at $`z=0.05`$, (corrected from Kelly & Rieke (1990)) to the measurement of Kelly & Rieke (1990) of an average flux density of 28 mJy at $`z=0.4`$ for the distant cluster sample. At 60$`\mu `$m the K correction between these two redshifts is about a factor of $`0.6`$ (Kelly & Rieke (1990)), so the predicted 60$`\mu `$m flux density at $`z=0.4`$ would be 7.5mJy assuming no luminosity evolution. By comparing the measurements at the two redshifts we find a nominal luminosity evolution that is proportional to $`(1+z)^{3.9}`$. The uncertainties in this estimate remain large because of the problems in estimating the far infrared luminosity of the nearby clusters. Saunders et al. (1997) find a far infrared density evolution for field galaxies in the IRAS data of $`(1+z)^{(3.7\pm 1.2)}`$, which is equivalent to a luminosity evolution of about $`(1+z)^2`$. Thus, if the far infrared emission from rich clusters arises primarily from their member galaxies, as we argue in the previous section, then we infer that the luminosity evolution of these galaxies is similar to, or perhaps somewhat stronger than, the evolution of field galaxies.

## 5 Conclusions

We have presented broad band 12$`\mu `$m images of 9 Coma cluster galaxies, 8 of which show either E+A characteristics or/and narrow emission lines. We have detected 7 galaxies, 5 with narrow emission lines (including 2 AGNs), one bright control galaxy lacking abnormal spectral characteristics, and one pure E+A galaxy lacking narrow emission lines but detected at the low flux density of 0.4 mJy. The remaining two E+A galaxies (lacking narrow emission lines) were not detected with an upper limit of 0.3 mJy. We use these data and information from the literature to conclude:

1.) Only galaxies with emission lines have significantly enhanced 12$`\mu `$m flux densities compared to their 2.2 micron flux densities. The E+A phase (lacking emission lines) appears to be truly a post starburst phase with little on-going star formation.

2.) The one galaxy in our sample also detected by IRAS, NGC 4853, has similar mid and far-infrared colors similar to those of a normal spiral galaxy. This behavior lets us estimate far infrared outputs for galaxies with enhanced 12$`\mu `$m flux densities.

3) By comparing the current star formation rates with previous rates estimated from the Balmer absorption features we divide the galaxies into two groups: those having current star formation rates that are substantially lower than that required to form their $`1`$ Gyr old populations (NGC 4853, D94, D99, D44 and D112) and those with significant ongoing star formation or/and AGN activity (D45, D100, and D16). We note no strong difference in the spatial distribution on the sky between these two groups, however they have distinct ranges for their systemic velocities. The first group has velocities above the mean cluster velocity and the second group has velocities well below it. This would be consistent with the interpretation of Colless & Dunn (1996) that the different populations in the Coma cluster originate from distinct cluster infall events. The kinematic differences between the two groups suggests that star formation triggered by the cluster decays on a timescale of order a Gyr.

4.) Using the IRAS identifications in the Coma cluster (Wang et al. (1991)), the H$`\alpha `$ survey of late-type galaxies by Gavazzi et al. (1998) and the radio survey of Kim et al. (1994a), and summing the indicated the far infrared luminosity function, we estimate that the total far infrared luminosity of the Coma cluster is $`2\times 10^{11}L_{}`$.

5.) The early-type galaxies with abnormal spectral features (Balmer absorption or narrow line emission) contribute only a small fraction of the total luminosity. Late type galaxies, such as those that tend to be infrared bright in the field, dominate the Coma cluster galaxian luminosity. Their integrated luminosity is a substantial portion, probably the majority, of the far infrared luminosity of the cluster.

6.) The far infrared emission of the Coma cluster intergalactic medium is not yet reliably detected. A complication in measuring this emission in large beam observations that do not resolve the individual galaxies is the potentially dominant role of the galaxies in the integrated cluster far infrared emission.

7.) Previous indications of very little far infrared cosmic luminosity evolution in rich clusters probably are incorrect because of an overestimate of the average luminosity of nearby clusters. Using an updated galaxy luminosity function, we find that the cluster evolution is as fast as, or perhaps even faster than, that of field galaxies. This result remains uncertain because of the difficulties in determining integrated luminosities for nearby rich clusters.

We acknowledge helpful discussions and correspondence with Frazer Owen, Wayne Barkhaus and Doug Kelly. We thank D. van Buren, M. Seh, K. Ganga, R. Hurt, L. Hermans and the ISO team at IPAC for help with the data reduction of the ISOCAM images. We also acknowledge support from NSF grant AST-9529190 and NASA project no. NAG-53359.