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Abstract: An enigmatic component present in galaxy clusters is the
intracluster light (ICL), made up of stars that are not bound to any
particular galaxy but drift freely between galaxies in the
cluster. Thought to form by the stripping of satellite galaxies as
they fall into the cluster, characterizing the ICL is key to
understand the assembly mechanisms occurring inside galaxy
clusters. Despite its importance, little is known about this light as
it is very difficult to observe due to its low surface brightness. In
this sense, multi-wavelength deep observations provide valuable
information about the progenitors of the ICL. In this talk, I will
present the latest advances in the understanding of the ICL. Using
multi-wavelength observations provided by the Hubble Frontier Fields,
we have analyzed the ICL of 6 clusters at z~0.4, an interesting time
to explore as it is predicted that the ICL forms at z<1. Our results
suggest that the ICL of these massive (> 10^15 Msol) clusters is
formed by the stripping of MW-like objects that have been accreted at
z<1, in agreement with current simulations. Furthermore, we have found
that the ICL follows the shape of its underlying dark matter halo, in
agreement with the idea that this light is the result of the
hierarchical assembly of the cluster.
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