Distribution of Blue Galaxies in a Merging Cluster of Galaxies Abell 168

The fraction of star-forming galaxies in rich clusters of galaxies increases rapidly with the redshift. This is interpreted as the result of a rapid evolution of cluster galaxies, though its mechanism is not yet clear. One hypothesis is that if galaxies run into the dense intracluster medium (ICM) regions, starbursts can be induced due to compression of molecular clouds in the galaxies by a raised "external" ICM pressure. In a merging cluster, there would be dense ICM regions and some galaxies may experience a rapid increase of external pressure. Thus, if the mechanism works, starbursts would occur in such galaxies. Such a situation is considered to be realized in Coma cluster, and galaxies showing a recent starburst have a characteristic spatial distribution; they populate an elongated region between two sub-clusters. We examined the above hypothesis by measuring the spatial distribution of blue galaxies, regarded as star-forming galaxies in Abell~168 to check whether a case like Coma is realized in this recently merging cluster. However, we could not find an enhanced blue-galaxy distribution between two sub-clusters. We discuss the causes of our result, including possibilities of surviving the hypothesis.