Infrared luminosity function of the Coma Cluster

Using mid-IR and optical data, we deduce the total infrared (IR) luminosities of galaxies in the Coma Cluster and present their IR luminosity function (LF). The shape of the overall Coma IR LF does not show significant differences from the IR LFs of the general field, which indicates the general independence of global galaxy star formation from environment up to densities ∼40 times greater than in the field (we cannot test such independence above LIR ≈10⁴⁴ ergs s^-1). However, a shallower faint-end slope and a smaller L_IR* are found in the core region (where the densities are still higher) compared to the outskirt region of the cluster, and most of the brightest IR galaxies are found outside the core region. The IR LF in the NGC 4839 group region does not show any unique characteristics. By integrating the IR LF, we find a total star formation rate in the cluster of about 97.0 M⊙ yr^-1. We also studied the contributions of early- and late-type galaxies to the IR LF. The late-type galaxies dominate the bright end of the LF, and the early-type galaxies, although only making up a small portion (≈15%) of the total IR emission of the cluster, contribute greatly to the number counts of the LF at L_IR < 10⁴³ ergs s ^-1.