Deep HST/UVIS imaging of the candidate dark galaxy CDG-1

Abstract

CDG-1 is a tight grouping of four likely globular clusters in the Perseus cluster, and a candidate dark galaxy with little or no diffuse light. Here we provide new constraints on the luminosity of any underlying stellar emission, using HST/UVIS F200LP imaging. No diffuse emission is detected, with a 2$\sigma$ upper limit of F200LP>28.1 mag/arcsec$^2$ on the 5'' scale of CDG-1. This surface brightness limit corresponds to a 2$\sigma$ lower limit of >0.5 for the fraction of the total luminosity that is in the form of globular clusters. The most likely alternative, although improbable, is that CDG-1 is a chance grouping of four globular clusters in the halo of the Perseus galaxy IC312.