PALEO Astronomy: The Formation and Evolution of Fossil Groups

PALEO is an ongoing study of fossil groups designed to probe the physicalprocesses responsible for fossil group formation and the role of environment intheir evolution. At its core is the first volumelimited, complete sample offossil candidates, optically selected from the SDSS DR4. The existinglargescale spectroscopic data is being complemented with deep optical surfacebrightness observations which will probe the intragroup light component infossil groups for the first time. The Xray observations we propose here formthe essential final component of our study, allowing us to confirm their fossilnature and examine the physical and chemical state of their hot intragroupmedium. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]