Narrow band survey for intragroup light in the Leo HI cloud

We have observed emission line objects located in a 0.26 deg^2 field in the M96 (Leo) group, coincident with the intergalactic HI cloud. The emission line objects were selected using the same procedure as used for the search for intracluster planetary nebulae in the Virgo cluster, and their m_5007 luminosity function has a bright cut-off ~1.2 magnitude fainter than for the PNLF associated with the elliptical galaxies in the M96 group.Therefore the vast majority of these emission line objects are compatible with not being intragroup planetary nebulae at the Leo group distance of 10 Mpc. Spectroscopic follow-up of two emission line objects in this Leo field showed that indeed these do not have the [OIII] doublet expected for a real PN. The brighter source is identified as a starburst object at redshift z = 3.128, because of a second emission in the near infrared, identified as FeII (\lambda 2220 AA). From these data we derive three main results: (i) from the absence of PN we can determine a more stringent upper limit to the surface brightness in any old stellar population associated with the Leo HI cloud. (ii) This translates to an upper limit of 1.6% for the fraction of luminosity in a diffuse intragroup component in the densest 3 x 2 deg area of the Leo group,relative to the light in galaxies. (iii) Using this Leo field as a blank field, we derive an average fraction of 13.6% background emission line objects that enter in surveys of Virgo intracluster PN. The small fraction confirms the validity of the selection criteria for intracluster PN candidates in Virgo.
Comment: 11 pages, in press on Astronomy & Astrophysics