The properties of galaxies are known to be modified by their environment, and this is particularly visible in galaxy clusters, where ram pressure stripping (RPS) by the hot intracluster medium may occur. I will present recent searches for RPS galaxies in clusters at intermediate redshifts (between 0.4 and 0.9) based on HST images, concentrating particularly on two clusters at z=0.5 for which a detailed study of their stellar properties (masses, ages, star formation rates) was possible.
Interestingly, RPS candidates with spectroscopic and with photometric redshifts have comparable stellar properties, suggesting that large samples of RPS galaxies could be gathered based on multi-band photometry only, a promising result in view of the very large imaging surveys planned in the coming years (DES, Euclid, LSST, etc.).
I will also discuss the properties of brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), the influence of intracluster light on these galaxies, and the link of BCGs with the cosmic web.
jean-françois Lestrade
