scholarly journals The Globular Cluster Specific Frequency in NGC 1399 and 4486: A Comparative Study

2002 ◽  
Vol 207 ◽  
pp. 251-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan C. Forte ◽  
Doug Geisler ◽  
E. Kim ◽  
Myung Gyoon Lee ◽  
Pablo Ostrov
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Surface Brightness ◽  
Two Systems ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Specific Frequency

A two color CCD survey for globular clusters in the galactocentric range from 2 to 7 arcmin from the galaxy centers is presented for NGC 1399 and NGC 4486 (M87), two systems that, for a long time, have been considered as class archetypes of the so called “high specific frequency phenomenon”. The new results, combined with previously published HST data for the inner 2 arcmin, and with a re-discussion of the surface brightness profiles, allow a new estimate of the globular cluster specific frequencies. The resulting SN values cannot be considered as anomalously large and, rather, they are consistent with values obtained for other galaxies with similar morphologies.

scholarly journals Globular Cluster Specific Frequencies in Coma

2002 ◽  
Vol 207 ◽  
pp. 348-350
Author(s):  
A. Marín-Franch ◽  
A. Aparicio
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Surface Brightness ◽  
Elliptical Galaxies ◽  
Cluster Systems ◽  
La Palma ◽  
Surface Brightness Fluctuations ◽  
Specific Frequency ◽  
Individual Galaxy

Globular cluster systems (GCSs) have been observed in 17 elliptical galaxies located in Coma. Surface brightness fluctuations (SBF) and a 2.5-m ground-based telescope (INT, La Palma) have been used to determine total populations of Globular clusters (GCs) and specific frequency (SN) has been evaluated for each individual galaxy.

scholarly journals An Overview of the Globular Cluster System of the Galaxy

1988 ◽  
Vol 126 ◽  
pp. 37-48
Author(s):  
Robert Zinn
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Galactic Plane ◽  
Cluster System ◽  
Open Clusters ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Globular Cluster System ◽  
Harlow Shapley

Harlow Shapley (1918) used the positions of globular clusters in space to determine the dimensions of our Galaxy. His conclusion that the Sun does not lie near the center of the Galaxy is widely recognized as one of the most important astronomical discoveries of this century. Nearly as important, but much less publicized, was his realization that, unlike stars, open clusters, HII regions and planetary nebulae, globular clusters are not concentrated near the plane of the Milky Way. His data showed that the globular clusters are distributed over very large distances from the galactic plane and the galactic center. Ever since this discovery that the Galaxy has a vast halo containing globular clusters, it has been clear that these clusters are key objects for probing the evolution of the Galaxy. Later work, which showed that globular clusters are very old and, on average, very metal poor, underscored their importance. In the spirit of this research, which started with Shapley's, this review discusses the characteristics of the globular cluster system that have the most bearing on the evolution of the Galaxy.

scholarly journals Dynamics of Globular Cluster Systems

1983 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 359-364
Author(s):  
K. C. Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Cluster Formation ◽  
Active Phase ◽  
Chemical Abundance ◽  
Cluster Systems ◽  
Chemical Enrichment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Galaxy

In the Milky Way, the globular clusters are all very old, and we are accustomed to think of them as the oldest objects in the Galaxy. The clusters cover a wide range of chemical abundance, from near solar down to about [Fe/H] ⋍ −2.3. However there are field stars with abundances significantly lower than −2.3 (eg Bond, 1980); this implies that the clusters formed during the active phase of chemical enrichment, with cluster formation beginning at a time when the enrichment processes were already well under way.

scholarly journals The red globular-like clusters in the Magellanic Clouds

1964 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 354-357
Author(s):  
S. C. B. Gascoigne
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Spherical Symmetry ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Progress Report ◽  
Magellanic Clouds ◽  
Systematic Observation ◽  
The Galaxy

There are about 50 clusters in the Magellanic Clouds which from their spherical symmetry, integrated colours, and luminosities appear similar to the globular clusters in the Galaxy. The colour-magnitude diagrams of these clusters should give moduli for the Clouds, indications of the age and chemical composition of the clusters themselves, and perhaps some information about the evolutionary tracks of old stars generally. The first investigation of this kind was carried out by Arp on the SMC clusters NGC 361 and 419. This was followed by papers by Eggen and Sandage and by the writer on NGC 1783 in the LMC, and by Tifft (1962) on NGC 121 in the SMC. Of these four clusters only NGC 121 appeared really similar to a galactic globular cluster, the others displaying features not reproduced by any known cluster in the Galaxy. Further work was clearly needed to clarify the problems raised by these results, and a program for the systematic observation of the colour-magnitude diagrams of red clusters in the Clouds was accordingly begun here in September 1961. This contribution is a progress report on this program.

scholarly journals ROSAT Observations of Globular Clusters in the Galaxy and in M31

1996 ◽  
Vol 165 ◽  
pp. 389-400
Author(s):  
Helen M. Johnston ◽  
Frank Verbunt ◽  
Günther Hasinger ◽  
Wolfram Bunk
Keyword(s):  
Neutron Stars ◽  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Spectral Properties ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Luminosity Function ◽  
Binary Systems ◽  
X Ray ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Galactic Globular Clusters

X-ray sources in globular clusters fall into two categories: the “bright” sources, with LX ∼ 1036-1038 erg s−1, and the “dim” sources, with LX ≲ 1034.5 erg s−1. The bright sources are clearly associated with accreting neutron stars in binary systems. The nature of the dim sources, however, remains in doubt. We review recent observations of globular-cluster X-ray sources with the ROSAT satellite. ROSAT detected bright sources in M31 globular clusters and greatly increased the number of dim sources known in galactic globular clusters. We discuss what these new observations have taught us about the distribution and nature of such sources, their spectral properties, and their underlying luminosity function.

scholarly journals Short Period Variables in the Magellanic Cloud Cluster NGC 1466

1973 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 113-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. V. Norris
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Metal Content ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Magellanic Clouds ◽  
Horizontal Branch ◽  
A Value ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Magnitude Diagram ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Metal Abundance

NGC 1466 (α1950 = 3h44.m6, δ1950= -71°45’) is a globular cluster which appears to be situated between the two Magellanic Clouds. Previous estimates (Gascoigne, 1966) put it at roughly the same distance from us as the LMC, so it is regarded as a member of the Cloud system. It is globular in appearance, and its colour-magnitude diagram confirms this classification. It has a fairly well-developed horizontal branch, and was found by Wesselink (1970) to be quite rich in variables. The metallicity index, Q, (van den Bergh, 1967) has a value of -0.36 for NGC 1466 (Andrews and Lloyd Evans, 1971). This would rank it with M5 and NGC 6171 as a cluster of intermediate metal content. This comparison is consistent with the value of Δ V for the cluster, which, at 2.m6, is representative of the Δ V values of globular clusters of intermediate metal abundance in the Galaxy.

scholarly journals Measuring the GC luminosity function up to z ~ 0.2

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S266) ◽  
pp. 351-351
Author(s):  
K. A. Alamo-Martínez ◽  
R. A. González-Lópezlira ◽  
J. Blakeslee
Keyword(s):  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Surface Brightness ◽  
Luminosity Function ◽  
Elliptical Galaxy ◽  
Angular Size ◽  
Spectroscopic Studies ◽  
Stellar Systems ◽  
Surface Brightness Fluctuations ◽  
Specific Frequency

AbstractGlobular clusters (GCs) are stellar systems (~106 M⊙) with very regular symmetry, single age, and single metallicity. Spectroscopic studies have revealed very old ages, suggesting that GCs were formed in the earliest stages of galaxy formation and assembly. The aim of this work is to find out how far we can measure the GC luminosity function, specific frequency, and radial distribution, applying the surface-brightness-fluctuations (SBF) technique to deep ACS images. To this end, we apply the effects caused by higher redshift to HST/ACS images (in two optical bands, F606W and F814W) of M87, an elliptical galaxy with a very well-studied GC system. The effects involved are: (i) evolution, (ii) inverse k correction, (iii) binning of the image to smaller angular size, (iv) cosmological dimming of surface brightness, and (v) noise addition to account for different exposure times. After processing the images we detect the brightest GCs through direct photometry (e.g., with SExtractor), whereas the unresolved clusters are measured through SBFs. The above treatment is repeated for z=0.05, 0.1, 0.14, and 0.18, and the results are compared to the measurements at z=0 to estimate biases and incompleteness.

scholarly journals Dynamical study of the LMC globular cluster NGC 1978 from core velocity dispersion

1991 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
pp. 211-212
Author(s):  
G. Meylan ◽  
P. Dubath ◽  
M. Mayor
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Surface Brightness ◽  
Velocity Dispersion ◽  
Large Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Correlation Technique ◽  
Dynamical Models ◽  
Dynamical Study ◽  
Light Spectra ◽  
Cross Correlation Technique

The projected velocity dispersion in the core of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) intermediate-age globular cluster NGC 1978 is deduced from integrated light spectra. A numerical cross-correlation technique gives a projected velocity dispersion σp(core) = 5.8±1.2 km s−1. Multimass anisotropic King-Michie dynamical models are applied to the observational constraints given by the surface brightness profile and the above central projected velocity dispersion. Depending on the model, the values obtained for the total mass of the cluster range from 0.36 to 1.44 106M⊙, corresponding to mass-to-light ratios M/LV ranging from 1.2 to 4.2 (M/LV)⊙, values typical of galactic globular clusters.

scholarly journals Field/isolated lenticular galaxies with high SN values: the case of NGC 4546 and its globular cluster system

2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (2) ◽  
pp. 2253-2270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos G Escudero ◽  
Favio R Faifer ◽  
Analía V Smith Castelli ◽  
Mark A Norris ◽  
Juan C Forte
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Gaussian Mixture ◽  
Brightness Distribution ◽  
Galactic Centre ◽  
Distance Modulus ◽  
Lenticular Galaxies ◽  
Additional Group ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Colour Distribution ◽  
Specific Frequency

ABSTRACT We present a photometric study of the field lenticular galaxy NGC 4546 using Gemini/GMOS imaging in g′r′i′z′. We perform a 2D image decomposition of the surface brightness distribution of the galaxy using galfit, finding that four components adequately describe it. The subtraction of this model from our images and the construction of a colour map allow us to examine in great detail the asymmetric dust structures around the galactic centre. In addition, we perform a detailed analysis of the globular cluster (GC) system of NGC 4546. Using a Gaussian Mixture Model algorithm in the colour–colour plane, we detected hints of multiple groups of GC candidates: the classic blue and red subpopulations, a group with intermediate colours that present a concentrated spatial distribution towards the galaxy, and an additional group towards the red end of the colour distribution. We estimate a total GC population for NGC 4546 of 390 ± 60 members and specific frequency SN = 3.3 ± 0.7, which is relatively high compared to the typical value for galaxies of similar masses and environment. We suggest that the unusual GC population substructures were possibly formed during the interaction that led to the formation of the young ultra-compact dwarf (NGC 4546-UCD1) found in this system. Finally, we estimate the distance modulus of NGC 4546 by analysing its luminosity function, resulting in (m − M) = 30.75 ± 0.12 mag (14.1 Mpc).

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