The late stellar assembly of massive cluster galaxies via major merging

We present multiwavelength observations of the brightest galaxies in four X-ray-luminous groups at z-0.37 that will merge to form a cluster comparable in mass to Coma. Ordered by increasing stellar mass, the four brightest group galaxies (BGGs) present a time sequence where BGG-1, 2, and 3 are in merging systems and BGG-4 is a massive remnant (M=6.7 x 10¹¹ M&o.). BGG-1 and 2 have bright, gravitationally bound companions and BGG-3 has two nuclei separated by only 2.5 kpc; thus, merging atz < 0.5 increases the BGG mass by ⊙40% (t _MGR < 2 Gyr) and V-band luminosity by-0.4 mag. The BGGs' rest-frame (B-V) colors correspond to stellar ages of >3 Gyr, and their tight scatter in (B-V) color (σ_BV p 0.032) confirms that they formed the bulk of their stars at z > 0.9. Optical spectroscopy shows no signs of recent (<1.5 Gyr) or ongoing star formation. Only two BGGs are weakly detected at 24 mm, and X-ray and optical data indicate that the emission in BGG-2 is due to an AGN. All four BGGs and their companions are early-type (bulge-dominated) galaxies, and they are embedded in diffuse stellar envelopes up to-140 kpc across. The four BGG systems must evolve into the massive, red, early-type galaxies dominating local clusters. Our results show that (1) massive galaxies in groups and clusters form via dissipationless merging and (2) the group environment is critical for this process.