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The Brightest Cluster Members (BCM hereafter) are giant galaxies located
at the centre of clusters of galaxies, often surrounded by a large stellar
halo which make their luminosity profile different from that of other
ellipticals. The way these galaxies form is not yet understood. Since these
galaxies are located at the centre of clusters, they may be fed by material
cooling out from the intracluster medium by bremsstrahlung emission and
flowing inward because of the hydrostatic equlibrium ("cooling flows").
The final fate of these cooling flow material is yet to be unveiled.
Ongoing observations in the context of an ISO Guaranteed Time Project
(DEEPZCLS) of which one of us (AF) is PI, show a possible detection of
such a cooling flow end product in the central galaxy of a distant cluster.
Such a detection needs immediate confirmation and further investigation
with a sample of more easily accessible nearby BCM.
With 9 hours of ISO time we will be able to disentangle the various dust
and low-mass star components that may be formed in the cooling flows. Since
the chosen BCM are so different for what concerns the cooling flow deposition
rates, the signature of a cooling flow can be identified without doubts.