  The brightest, or first-ranked, galaxies (BCGs) in rich clusters show a very
small dispersion in luminosity, making them excellent standard candles. This
small dispersion has raised questions about the nature of BCGs. Are they simply
the extremes of normal galaxies formed via a stochastic process, or do they
belong to a special class of atypical objects? Arguments have been proposed on
both sides of the debate. Bhavsar (1989) suggested that the distribution in
magnitudes can only be explained by a two-population model. Thus, a new
controversy has arisen. Do first-ranked galaxies consist of one or two
populations of objects? We examine an older and newer data set and present our
results. Two-population models do better than do one-population models. A
simple model where a random boost in the magnitude of a fraction of bright
normal galaxies forms a class of atypical galaxies best describes the observed
distribution of BCG magnitudes. Moreover, the parameters that describe the
model and the parameters of the boost have a strong physical basis.
