Morphological fractions of galaxies in WINGS clusters: revisiting the morphology-density paradigm.

We present the morphology-density and morphology-radius relations (T-∑ and T-R, respectively) obtained from the WIde-field Nearby Galaxy-cluster Survey (WINGS) data base of galaxies in nearby clusters. Aiming to achieve the best statistics, we exploit the whole sample of galaxies brighter than M_V=-19.5 (5504 objects), stacking up the 76 clusters of the WINGS survey altogether. Using this global cluster sample, we find that the T-∑ relation holds only in the inner cluster regions (R < 1/3 R₂₀₀), while the T-R relation keeps almost unchanged over the whole range of local density. A couple of tests and two sets of numerical simulations support the robustness of these results against the effects of the limited cluster area coverage of the WINGS imaging. The above mentioned results hold for all cluster masses (X-ray luminosity and velocity dispersion) and all galaxy stellar masses (M*). The strength of the T-∑ relation (where present) increases with increasing M_*, while this effect is not found for the T-R relation. Noticeably, the absence/presence of subclustering determines the presence/absence of the T-∑ relation outside the inner cluster regions, leading us to the general conclusion that the link between morphology and local density is preserved just in dynamically evolved regions. We hypothesize that some mechanism of morphological broadening/redistribution operates in the intermediate/outer regions of substructured ('non-relaxed') clusters, producing a strong weakening of the T-∑ relation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]