Low Surface Brightness Galaxies in the Core of the Coma Cluster

We present the results of a search for low surface brightness galaxies (hereafter LSBs) in the Coma cluster. Bernstein et al. [AJ, 110, 1507(1995)] report on deep CCD observations in R of a ~7.5' x 7.5' region in the core of the Coma cluster, and we extend this work by finding and measuring 36 LSBs within this field. We report both R and B_j_ results. The average magnitude based on the best fit exponential to the images is 22.5 (R) and the typical exponential scale is 1.3". The range of exponential scales is 0.4 to 1.2 kpc (distance modulus 34.89), and the range of central surface brightnesses is 24 to 27.4 R mag per square arcsecond. Many of these objects are similar in terms of scale length and central surface brightness to those found by others in nearby clusters such as Fornax [Bothun et al., ApJ, 376, 404 (1991)], as well as in the low luminosity end of the dwarfs cataloged in the review of Ferguson & Binggeli [A&A Rev. 6,67(1994)]. We find no evidence for a dependence of color on central surface brightness or on distance from the D galaxies or the X-ray center of Coma. We also find that these LSBs make a small contribution to the overall mass of the cluster. We discuss these results in terms of possible scenarios of LSB formation and evolution.