Sign on

SAO/NASA ADS Astronomy Abstract Service

· Find Similar Abstracts (with default settings below)
· Electronic Refereed Journal Article (HTML)
· Full Refereed Journal Article (PDF/Postscript)
· arXiv e-print (arXiv:0810.3660)
· On-line Data
· References in the article
· Citations to the Article (7) (Citation History)
· Refereed Citations to the Article
· SIMBAD Objects (74)
· Also-Read Articles (Reads History)
·
· Translate This Page
Title:
Globular cluster systems in nearby dwarf galaxies - I. HST/ACS observations and dynamical properties of globular clusters at low environmental density
Authors:
Georgiev, Iskren Y.; Puzia, Thomas H.; Hilker, Michael; Goudfrooij, Paul
Affiliation:
AA(Argelander Institut für Astronomie der Universität Bonn, Auf dem Hügel 71, D-53121 Bonn, Germany; Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA), AB(Herzberg Institute for Astrophysics, 5071 Saanich Road, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada), AC(European Southern Observatory, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany), AD(Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA)
Publication:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 392, Issue 2, pp. 879-893. (MNRAS Homepage)
Publication Date:
01/2009
Origin:
MNRAS
MNRAS Keywords:
galaxies: dwarf , galaxies: irregular , galaxies: star clusters
DOI:
10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14104.x
Bibliographic Code:
2009MNRAS.392..879G

Abstract

We investigate the old globular cluster (GC) population of 68 faint (MV > -16mag) dwarf galaxies located in the halo regions of nearby (<~12Mpc) loose galaxy groups and in the field environment based on archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) images in F606W and F814W filters. The combined colour distribution of 175 GC candidates peaks at (V - I) = 0.96 +/- 0.07mag and the GC luminosity function turnover for the entire sample is found at MV,TO = -7.6 +/- 0.11mag, similar to the old metal-poor Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) GC population. Our data reveal a tentative trend of MV,TO becoming fainter from late- to early-type galaxies. The luminosity and colour distributions of GCs in dIrrs show a lack of faint blue GCs (bGCs). Our analysis reveals that this might reflect a relatively younger GC system than typically found in luminous early-type galaxies. If verified by spectroscopy, this would suggest a later formation epoch of the first metal-poor star clusters in dwarf galaxies. We find several bright (massive) GCs which reside in the nuclear regions of their host galaxies. These nuclear clusters have similar luminosities and structural parameters as the peculiar Galactic clusters suspected of being the remnant nuclei of accreted dwarf galaxies, such as M54 and ωCen. Except for these nuclear clusters, the distribution of GCs in dIrrs in the half-light radius versus cluster mass plane is very similar to that of Galactic young halo clusters, which suggests comparable formation and dynamical evolution histories. A comparison with theoretical models of cluster disruption indicates that GCs in low-mass galaxies evolve dynamically as self-gravitating systems in a benign tidal environment.
Bibtex entry for this abstract   Preferred format for this abstract (see Preferences)
   

Find Similar Abstracts:

Use: Authors
Title
Keywords (in text query field)
Abstract Text
Return: Query Results Return    items starting with number
Query Form
Database: Astronomy
Physics
arXiv e-prints