scholarly journals Asymptotic kinematics of globular clusters: The emergence of a Tully–Fisher relation

2019 ◽  
Vol 491 (1) ◽  
pp. 272-280
Author(s):  
X Hernandez ◽  
A J Lara-D I

ABSTRACT Using a recent homogeneous sample of 40 high-quality velocity dispersion profiles for Galactic globular clusters, we study the regime of low gravitational acceleration relevant to the outskirts of these systems. We find that a simple empirical profile having a central Gaussian component and a constant large-radius asymptote, σ∞, accurately describes the variety of observed velocity dispersion profiles. We use published population synthesis models, carefully tailored to each individual cluster, to estimate mass-to-light ratios from which total stellar masses, M, are inferred. We obtain a clear scaling, reminiscent of the galactic Tully–Fisher relation of $\sigma _{\infty }[\, \mathrm{km \, s}^{-1}]= 0.084^{+0.075}_{-0.040} (\mathrm{{\it M}/M}_{\odot })^{0.3 \pm 0.051}$, which is interesting to compare to the deep modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) limit of $\sigma _{\infty } [\mathrm{km \, s}^{-1}]=0.2(\mathrm{{\it M}/M}_{\odot })^{0.25}$. Under a Newtonian interpretation, our results constitute a further restriction on models where initial conditions are crafted to yield the outer flattening observed today. Within a modified gravity scheme, because the globular clusters studied are not isolated objects in the deep MOND regime, the results obtained point towards a modified gravity where the external field effect of MOND does not appear, or is significantly suppressed.

2021 ◽  
Vol 502 (4) ◽  
pp. 5185-5199
Author(s):  
Hamidreza Mahani ◽  
Akram Hasani Zonoozi ◽  
Hosein Haghi ◽  
Tereza Jeřábková ◽  
Pavel Kroupa ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Some ultracompact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) have elevated observed dynamical V-band mass-to-light (M/LV) ratios with respect to what is expected from their stellar populations assuming a canonical initial mass function (IMF). Observations have also revealed the presence of a compact dark object in the centres of several UCDs, having a mass of a few to 15 per cent of the present-day stellar mass of the UCD. This central mass concentration has typically been interpreted as a supermassive black hole, but can in principle also be a subcluster of stellar remnants. We explore the following two formation scenarios of UCDs: (i) monolithic collapse and (ii) mergers of star clusters in cluster complexes as are observed in massively starbursting regions. We explore the physical properties of the UCDs at different evolutionary stages assuming different initial stellar masses of the UCDs and the IMF being either universal or changing systematically with metallicity and density according to the integrated Galactic IMF theory. While the observed elevated M/LV ratios of the UCDs cannot be reproduced if the IMF is invariant and universal, the empirically derived IMF that varies systematically with density and metallicity shows agreement with the observations. Incorporating the UCD-mass-dependent retention fraction of dark remnants improves this agreement. In addition, we apply the results of N-body simulations to young UCDs and show that the same initial conditions describing the observed M/LV ratios reproduce the observed relation between the half-mass radii and the present-day masses of the UCDs. The findings thus suggest that the majority of UCDs that have elevated M/LV ratios could have formed monolithically with significant remnant-mass components that are centrally concentrated, while those with small M/LV values may be merged star cluster complexes.


1988 ◽  
Vol 126 ◽  
pp. 663-664
Author(s):  
G. Meylan

The southern sky gives us the great opportunity to observe two among the brightest and nearest globular clusters of the Galaxy: ω Cen and 47 Tuc. For these giant clusters, we present the comparison between observations and King-Michie multi-mass dynamical models with anisotropy in the velocity dispersion. A more comprehensive description of this work is to be published (Meylan 1986a,b).


2021 ◽  
Vol 503 (1) ◽  
pp. 1490-1506
Author(s):  
Maximilian Häberle ◽  
Mattia Libralato ◽  
Andrea Bellini ◽  
Laura L Watkins ◽  
Jörg-Uwe Pott ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present an astrometric study of the proper motions (PMs) in the core of the globular cluster NGC 6441. The core of this cluster has a high density and observations with current instrumentation are very challenging. We combine ground-based, high-angular-resolution NACO@VLT images with Hubble Space Telescope ACS/HRC data and measure PMs with a temporal baseline of 15 yr for about 1400 stars in the centremost 15 arcsec of the cluster. We reach a PM precision of ∼30 µas yr−1 for bright, well-measured stars. Our results for the velocity dispersion are in good agreement with other studies and extend already existing analyses of the stellar kinematics of NGC 6441 to its centremost region never probed before. In the innermost arcsecond of the cluster, we measure a velocity dispersion of (19.1 ± 2.0) km s−1 for evolved stars. Because of its high mass, NGC 6441 is a promising candidate for harbouring an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH). We combine our measurements with additional data from the literature and compute dynamical models of the cluster. We find an upper limit of $M_{\rm IMBH} \lt 1.32 \times 10^4\, \textrm{M}_\odot$ but we can neither confirm nor rule out its presence. We also refine the dynamical distance of the cluster to $12.74^{+0.16}_{-0.15}$ kpc. Although the hunt for an IMBH in NGC 6441 is not yet concluded, our results show how future observations with extremely large telescopes will benefit from the long temporal baseline offered by existing high-angular-resolution data.


2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (4) ◽  
pp. 5293-5297
Author(s):  
Duncan A Forbes ◽  
Bililign T Dullo ◽  
Jonah Gannon ◽  
Warrick J Couch ◽  
Enrichetta Iodice ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Using deep g, r, i imaging from the VST Early-type GAlaxy Survey (VEGAS), we have searched for ultradiffuse galaxies (UDGs) in the IC 1459 group. Assuming they are group members, we identify nine galaxies with physical sizes and surface brightnesses that match the UDG criteria within our measurement uncertainties. They have mean colours of g − i = 0.6 and stellar masses of ∼108 M⊙. Several galaxies appear to have associated systems of compact objects, e.g. globular clusters. Two UDGs contain a central bright nucleus, with a third UDG revealing a remarkable double nucleus. This appears to be the first reported detection of a double nucleus in a UDG – its origin is currently unclear.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (S351) ◽  
pp. 524-527
Author(s):  
Maria A. Tiongco ◽  
Enrico Vesperini ◽  
Anna Lisa Varri

AbstractWe present several results of the study of the evolution of globular clusters’ internal kinematics, as driven by two-body relaxation and the interplay between internal angular momentum and the external Galactic tidal field. Via a large suite of N-body simulations, we explored the three-dimensional velocity space of tidally perturbed clusters, by characterizing their degree of velocity dispersion anisotropy and their rotational properties. These studies have shown that a cluster’s kinematical properties contain distinct imprints of the cluster’s initial structural properties, dynamical history, and tidal environment. Building on this fundamental understanding, we then studied the dynamics of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters, with attention to the largely unexplored role of angular momentum.


2005 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 199-199
Author(s):  
Terry Bridges ◽  
Steve Zepf ◽  
Katherine Rhode ◽  
Ken Freeman

AbstractWe have found 56 new globular clusters in M104 from 2dF multi-fiber spectroscopy, doubling the number of confirmed clusters, and extending the spatial coverage to 50 kpc radius. We find no significant rotation in the total sample, or for subsets split by color or radius. However, there are hints that the blue clusters have a higher rotation than the red clusters, and for counter-rotation of clusters at large radius. We find a total mass of M ~ 1 × 1012M⊙ and a (M/L)B =30 out to 50 kpc radius, which is strong evidence for a dark matter halo in M104.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (S321) ◽  
pp. 290-290
Author(s):  
A. Cortesi ◽  
C. Mendes de Oliveira

AbstractThe stellar kinematics of the discs of S0 galaxies (as obtained using planetary nebulae, PNe, and integrated stellar light data) is comparable to that of spiral galaxies, with similar flat rotation curves and falling velocity dispersion profiles, but they present a larger amount of random motions. The only other tracer available to probe the kinematics of individual early-type galaxies are globular clusters (GCs). GCs’ formation is intimately connected to a galaxy major star forming event(s) and GCs are, therefore, good proofs of galaxy formation histories. We directly compare a sample of PNe, GCs, and stellar velocities out to 4 effective radii, in the S0 galaxies NGC 2768 and NGC 1023. In particular, we test a new method for studying GC properties and we find that these two lenticular galaxies are consistent with being formed through different formation mechanisms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 650 ◽  
pp. A113
Author(s):  
Margot M. Brouwer ◽  
Kyle A. Oman ◽  
Edwin A. Valentijn ◽  
Maciej Bilicki ◽  
Catherine Heymans ◽  
...  

We present measurements of the radial gravitational acceleration around isolated galaxies, comparing the expected gravitational acceleration given the baryonic matter (gbar) with the observed gravitational acceleration (gobs), using weak lensing measurements from the fourth data release of the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS-1000). These measurements extend the radial acceleration relation (RAR), traditionally measured using galaxy rotation curves, by 2 decades in gobs into the low-acceleration regime beyond the outskirts of the observable galaxy. We compare our RAR measurements to the predictions of two modified gravity (MG) theories: modified Newtonian dynamics and Verlinde’s emergent gravity (EG). We find that the measured relation between gobs and gbar agrees well with the MG predictions. In addition, we find a difference of at least 6σ between the RARs of early- and late-type galaxies (split by Sérsic index and u − r colour) with the same stellar mass. Current MG theories involve a gravity modification that is independent of other galaxy properties, which would be unable to explain this behaviour, although the EG theory is still limited to spherically symmetric static mass models. The difference might be explained if only the early-type galaxies have significant (Mgas ≈ M⋆) circumgalactic gaseous haloes. The observed behaviour is also expected in Λ-cold dark matter (ΛCDM) models where the galaxy-to-halo mass relation depends on the galaxy formation history. We find that MICE, a ΛCDM simulation with hybrid halo occupation distribution modelling and abundance matching, reproduces the observed RAR but significantly differs from BAHAMAS, a hydrodynamical cosmological galaxy formation simulation. Our results are sensitive to the amount of circumgalactic gas; current observational constraints indicate that the resulting corrections are likely moderate. Measurements of the lensing RAR with future cosmological surveys (such as Euclid) will be able to further distinguish between MG and ΛCDM models if systematic uncertainties in the baryonic mass distribution around galaxies are reduced.


2021 ◽  
Vol 922 (2) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Raymond G. Carlberg ◽  
Carl J. Grillmair

Abstract The proper motions of stars in the outskirts of globular clusters are used to estimate cluster velocity dispersion profiles as far as possible within their tidal radii. We use individual color–magnitude diagrams to select high-probability cluster stars for 25 metal-poor globular clusters within 20 kpc of the Sun, 19 of which have substantial numbers of stars at large radii. Of the 19, 11 clusters have a falling velocity dispersion in the 3–6 half-mass radii range, 6 are flat, and 2 plausibly have a rising velocity dispersion. The profiles are all in the range expected from simulated clusters that started at high redshift in a zoom-in cosmological simulation. The 11 clusters with falling velocity dispersion profiles are consistent with no dark matter above the Galactic background. The six clusters with approximately flat velocity dispersion profiles could have local dark matter, but are ambiguous. The two clusters with rising velocity dispersion profiles are consistent with a remnant local dark matter halo, but need membership confirmation and detailed orbital modeling to further test these preliminary results.


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