The Surface Brightness Fluctuation method has been shown to be a powerful distance indicator for dwarf elliptical galaxies to very low surface brightness levels. It is applicable to stellar systems that are out of reach for classical indicators requiring resolved stellar populations such as the tip magnitude of the red giant branch. I briefly discuss a few results from recent SBF studies of dEs to demonstrate the significance of the SBF method to address longstanding issues related to cosmography, dark matter in galaxy groups, substructures in clusters, and the discrepancy between the mass function of collapsed objects and the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function. For the analysis of the large number of galaxy images that need to be processed as part of such SBF studies we are currently developing a fast, semi-automatic reduction pipeline that will be made readily available to the astronomical community.

The evidence is becoming strong that the luminosity function of galaxies varies with environment. Higher density, more dynamically evolved regions appear to have more dwarfs per giant. The situation is becoming clearer as a result of wide field imaging surveys with the Canada-France-Hawaii and Subaru telescopes and spectroscopy of faint dwarfs with the Keck telescope. We report here on extensive observations of the small but dense NGC 5846 Group. The faint end of the luminosity function rises relatively steeply in this case.

The starlight coming from the intergalactic space in galaxy clusters and groups witnesses the violent tidal interactions that galaxies experience in these dense environments. Such interactions may be (at least partly) responsible for the transformation of normal star-forming galaxies into passive dwarf ellipticals (dEs).

In this contribution we present the first systematic study of the IntraCluster Light (ICL) for a statistically representative sample (Zibetti et al. 2005), which comprises 683 clusters selected between $z=0.2$ and 0.3 from ${\sim}1500 \deg^2$ in the SDSS. Their ICL is studied by stacking the images in the $g$-, $r$-, and $i$-band after masking out all galaxies and polluting sources. In this way a very uniform background illumination is obtained, that allows us to measure surface brightnesses as faint as 31 mag arcsec$^{-2}$ and to trace the ICL out to 700 kpc from the central galaxy. We find that the local fraction of light contributed by intracluster stars rapidly decreases as a function of the clustercentric distance, from $\sim$40% at 100 kpc to $\sim$5% at 500 kpc. By comparing the distribution and colours of the ICL and of the clusters galaxies, we find indication that the main source of ICL are the stars stripped from galaxies that plunge deeply into the cluster potential well along radial orbits. Thus, if dEs are the remnants of these stripped progenitors we should expect similar radial orbital anisotropies and correlations between the dE luminosity function and the amount of ICL in different clusters.

The diffuse emission we measure is contaminated by faint unresolved galaxies: this makes our flux estimate depend to some extent on the assumed luminosity function, but, on the other hand, allows us to constrain the number of faint galaxies. Our present results disfavour steep ($\alpha<-1.35$) faint-end powerlaw slopes.

Until very recently, our knowledge of the local peculiar velocity field has been severely hampered by the lack of reliable distance measurements. HST has dramatically changed this situation, allowing astronomers to obtain accurate distances to more than 150 nearby galaxies. This number could easily reach 400 if enough observing time would be dedicated to snapshot observation of the objects in the catalog of Karachentsev et al (2004). Such a dense grid of objects correctly placed in their 3D position would provide key information on the amplitude of peculiar motions, the radial domain of bound groups, the clustering and morphological segregation properties of galaxies, and the incidence of extreme dwarfs galaxies. The key instrument to measure distances with HST is the Tip of the Red Giant Branch technique. The full exploitation of this powerful distance estimator requires a deeper understanding of the possible sources of errors and biases, such as the absolute calibration of the I-band magnitude of the tip and its dependency on age and metallicity of the underlying population, the possible contamination by AGB stars, the breakdown of the methodology in sparsely populated colour-magnitude diagrams and when the tip is close to the photometric limit.

We analyze the Luminosity Functions (LFs) of a subsample of 69 clusters from the RASS-SDSS galaxy cluster catalog. The cluster LFs are computed within the physical sizes of the galaxy systems, $r_{500}$ and $r_{200}$. When calculated within the cluster physical sizes, all the cluster LFs appear to have the same shape, well fitted by a composite of two Schechter functions with a marked upturn and a steepening at the faint-end.

We determine the composite LF for early- and late-type galaxies, where the typing is based on the galaxy $u-r$ colors. The late-type LF is well fitted by a single Schechter function with a steep slope. The early-type LF instead cannot be fitted by a single Schechter function, and a composite of two Schechter functions is needed. The faint-end upturn of the global cluster LF is due to the early-type cluster galaxies. The shape of the bright-end tail of the early-type LF does not seem to depend upon the local galaxy density or the distance from the cluster center. The late-type LF shows a significant variation only very near the cluster center. On the other hand, the faint-end tail of the early-type LF shows a significant and continuous variation with the environment.

We study the faint end of the HI mass function (HIMF) in order to test the predictions of the CDM theory on the number density of objects with small (dark) masses. The neutral hydrogen is much better tracer of the underlying mass distribution compared to the luminous matter and can be used to test the existence of a population of small galaxies in which the star formation has been partially or completely suppressed during cosmic evolution. Due to technical limitations, the existing HI surveys are not very sensitive on masses below 10$^8$ HI $M_{\odot}$. We designed a blind HI survey to be sensitive for objects with small HI masses. The surveyed area is in the Canis Venatici groups of galaxies and covers in total $\approx$86 deg$^2$ of sky, with the observed velocities in the range $-350 < cz < 1400$ km s$^{-1}$. We detected 69 objects, 22 of them for the first time in HI. All new HI detections fall in the lower part of the mass-histogram, confirming our ability to detect galaxies with small HI masses. The calculated HIMF is flat in the faint end regime ($\alpha {\sim}{-}$1), different from the steep rise predicted by CDM models. Possible effects of the environment on the estimated HIMF parameters are discussed.

We obtained velocity dispersion and line strength index measurements for 69 faint early–type galaxies in the core of the Coma cluster. The full sample spanning $-22.0 < M_R < -17.5$ mag includes 36 dE/dS0 galaxies. We examine the $L$–$\sigma$ relation and compare it to that of bright ellipticals from the literature. The slope defined by the faint early–type galaxies including dEs/dS0s is significantly shallower, $L \propto \sigma^{2.01\pm0.36}$, than that defined by luminous elliptical galaxies, $L \propto \sigma^{4}$. Moreover, there is no evidence for a change of slope at the typical division between dwarfs and ordinary elliptical galaxies at $M_B=-18$ mag; rather, the change in slope appears at $M_B=-20.5$ mag. We show that rotation in the fainter galaxies cannot be solely responsible for the change of slope in the $L$–$\sigma$ relation. We also plot metallicity and age-dependent line strength indices in diagnostic diagrams and find that our galaxies span a wide range in both age and metallicity.

Setting constraints on the evolutionary history of a galaxy requires informations about the age and metallicity of its stellar content. However, outside the Local Group of galaxies representative surveys on the age and metallicity of stellar populations in galaxies of different types (e.g. luminosity, environment) can only be performed with photometry. The latter requires special care in order to overcome the age- metallicity degeneracy of broad band colors. Combining optical and near-infrared observations of globular clusters is a powerful tool in this respect, using the different sensitivity of broad band colors regarding both parameters. Based on Single Stellar Population (SSP) models we derive the cumulative age distribution for various globular cluster systems and compare it to simulated systems with a known age distribution. So far this method has been tested successfully on various early-type galaxies, revealing a second generation of globular clusters in two galaxies in a sample of eight with convincing reliability.

Large volumes of CCD imaging data that will become available from wide-field cameras at telescopes such as the CFHT, SUBARU, VST, or VISTA in the near future are highly suitable for systematic distance surveys of early-type galaxies using the Surface Brightness Fluctuation (SBF) method. For the efficient processing of such large data sets, we are developing the first semi-automatic SBF analysis pipeline named SAPAC. After a brief description of the SBF method we discuss the image quality needed for a successful distance measurement and give some background information on SAPAC.

We are conducting a survey of 44 early-type galaxies in the Fornax Cluster using the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telecope: the ACS Fornax Cluster Survey. We briefly describe the survey, the selection of the target galaxies and some of the scientific objectives.

Using a sample of over 100 nucleated Virgo cluster dEs from the SDSS we show that interchanging nucleus and galaxy colours does not alter the colour-magnitude relation. No significant difference is found between nuclei and their parent galaxies in a multicolour comparison except for a weak tendency that some nuclei are slightly redder than their hosts.

Until recently, dwarf elliptical galaxies (dEs) were mostly believed to be gas-less systems, having lost their interstellar medium (ISM) through a galactic wind or through ram pressure stripping in the dense cluster environment. However, recent H$\alpha$ and HI surveys indicate that some dEs in cluster environments are able to retain part of their gas (Drinkwater et al. (2001), Conselice et al. (2001)). In a detailed observational study of the ISM of a sample of Fornax dEs, we detected genuine dEs containing warm and cold gas (De Rijcke et al. (2003), Michielsen et al. (2004), Buyle et al. (2005)).

Using an N-body/SPH code, we explore the two gas-removing scenarios in order to assess their efficiency in removing the ISM from dEs. We simulated dEs subjected to ram pressure stripping by the intracluster medium (ICM) and found that, while small dEs are instantaneously stripped, more massive dEs are able to retain part of their ISM over long time-scales. Isolated dEs on the other hand are expected to lose their gas through a galactic wind. Our simulations show that supernova explosions can blow (super)bubbles in the ISM, thereby ejecting part, though not all, of the ISM.

We present preliminary results of a search for candidate dwarf galaxies in the NGC 3665 galaxy group. A $0.1 \times 0.1$ Mpc$^2$ field around the dominant early-type galaxy NGC 3665 was investigated using BRI images from the 2.5m INT WFC archive. A search with the SExtractor yielded 148 dwarf galaxy candidates in the range $-12 > M_B > -16$. The resulting luminosity function for the group can be described by a standard Schechter function.

We present Surface Brightness Fluctuation (SBF) distances of fifteen early-type dwarf galaxies and the S0 galaxy NGC 4150 in the Local Volume based on deep $B$- and $R$-band CCD images obtained with the 2.56 metre Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT). Distances have been determined from Fourier analysed fields selected from optimal locations on the galaxies. Distances were found to range from 3 to 16 Mpc.

The SBF method has been demonstrated to efficiently measure relatively accurate distances from the ground with mid-aperture telescopes. The SBF method to measure distances to dwarf elliptical (dE) galaxies has also been empirically calibrated using three dEs with known tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) distances.

Dwarf galaxies are the most numerous type of galaxy in the local universe and are extremely important in the understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. A better understanding of the physics of dwarf galaxies is central to several current issues in observational cosmology. For example, simulations of galaxy evolution based on the Cold-Dark-Matter (CDM) model predict far more dwarfs than are observed locally. In the last 20 years there has been a huge amount of interest in the study of dwarf galaxies, partly due to these unanswered puzzles and also because of the improvements in the technology available.

The structural properties of a sample of 50 dEs in the Virgo cluster are here derived from Near InfraRed (NIR, H-band 1.65 $\mu$m) surface photometry and analysed. One-dimensional surface brightness (SB) profiles are extracted using elliptical isophote fitting. They are characterised by means of structural parameters, namely the half light radius $R_e$, the average surface brightness within $R_e$ ($\mu_e$), and a concentration index ($c_{31}$). We show that typical dEs have close-to-exponential NIR SB distributions.

The relations between dEs and giant ellipticals (Es) are investigated by comparing the NIR structural parameters of 273 Es in nearby clusters. Further analysis is conducted using the optical-NIR colour $B-H$ and by studying the relationships between structural and dynamical parameters (fundamental plane) for the two classes of galaxies. The transition between the two regimes is smooth and no dichotomy is seen.

Globular clusters (GCs) and nuclei in dEs are important probes for for studying cosmology and galaxy evolution. GCs and nuclei are usually formed in the high pressures of starbursts, therefore resolved stellar color-magnitude diagrams and integrated colors, magnitudes, or spectra yield ages and metallicities which are snapshots of the conditions during the most violent and important star forming episodes of the galaxies. Most are older, more metal-poor, and more enriched in $\alpha$-elements than the underlying dE field stars. About 25% have formed within the last $\sim$6~Gyr from enriched gas. Many nuclei have the properties of brights GCs but some can be distinguished by large sizes and composite stellar populations. The relatively large numbers of GCs in dEs shows that they are an important source of GCs to galaxies that accrete them.

We present a new technique to determine age and metallicity of old stellar populations (globular clusters and elliptical galaxies) using an iterative principal component analysis on narrow band (Strömgren) colors. Our technique is capable of reproducing globular cluster [Fe/H] values to 0.02 dex and CMD ages to 1.0 Gyrs. We also present preliminary results on the application of our technique to a sample of high mass, field ellipticals and low mass, cluster dwarf ellipticals. We confirm the results of earlier studies which find that globular clusters increase in metallicity with age and that age and metallicity increase with galaxy mass. However, we find that dwarf ellipticals deviate from the elliptical sequence by having little to no correlation between age and metallicity.

We recently reported the discovery of a new galaxy type, ultra-compact dwarf (UCD) galaxies, in both the Fornax and Virgo clusters. Here we present new detections of a larger population of UCDs in the Fornax Cluster, as well as the first detections of UCDs in two galaxy groups. We extended our original survey of the Fornax Cluster 1 magnitude fainter, finding a further 46 new compact objects. This means that UCDs outnumber normal galaxies in the central region of the Fornax Cluster. We used this large UCD sample to test the tidal stripping model: simulations indicate that only about half of the UCD population may have formed by disruption of the observed population of nucleated dwarf galaxies. As the UCDs are strongly clustered towards the cluster centre, we conclude that the remaining UCDs must be associated with the much earlier assembly of the central galaxy.

We review some properties of ultra compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) in Fornax and of their brighter counterparts in Abell 1689, among which are two M32 twins, and discuss various possible UCD formation scenarios. We note that it is indispensable to carefully take into account the bright end of the globular cluster luminosity function when estimating the number density of UCDs. It is suggested that the search for more luminous UCDs in dense and rich galaxy clusters is the best way towards establishing UCDs as a new class of galaxies.