Mass-to-light ratios of nearby groups of galaxies

The application of a probability density function gives the possibility of determining groups of galaxies and membership probabilities of the galaxies in a reliable unbiased way. For the five nearest groups so defined, the mean mass-to-light ratio was derived using the concept of negative energy. These groups have a mass-to- light ratio of 16 M/sub (.)//L/sub (.)/. The probability function gives also the possibility of deriving masses of groups in a direct and independent way. (22 refs).