Related papers: The Formation of Globular Cluster Systems
We studied the metal-poor globular cluster (GC) populations of a large variety of galaxies (47 galaxies spanning about 10mag in absolute brightness) and compared their mean [Fe/H] with the properties of the host galaxies. The mean [Fe/H] of…
Globular clusters are valuable fossil records of the formation and evolution of their host galaxies. The color distribution of elliptical galaxy globular cluster systems indicates an episodic formation history, consistent with a merger…
We have determined the total numbers and specific frequencies of blue, metal-poor globular clusters (GCs) in eight spiral and early-type galaxies. These data, along with five measurements from the literature, show a trend of increasing blue…
The observed characteristics of globular cluster (GC) systems, such as metallicity distributions, are commonly used to place constraints on galaxy formation models. However, obtaining reliable metallicity values is particularly difficult…
We investigate the properties of globular clusters in a galaxy cluster, using the particle tagging method with a semi-analytical approach in a cosmological context. We assume globular clusters form from dark matter halo mergers and their…
This paper addresses the questions of what we have learned about how and when dense star clusters form, and what studies of star clusters have revealed about galaxy formation and evolution. One important observation is that globular…
We first discuss recent progress in using the Milky Way globular cluster (GC) system as a `test-bed' for properties derived from integrated spectra and stellar population models. Standard techniques may give rise to spuriously high…
New VRI photometry is presented for the globular clusters in the innermost 140'' of the M87 halo. The results are used to discuss several issues concerning the formation and evolution of globular cluster systems in supergiant ellipticals…
Globular cluster systems exhibit a bewildering variety of characteristics. No single scenario appears to be able to account for the wide range of specific globular cluster frequencies that are observed in galaxies of various types. The…
The relations between the luminosities $M_{V}$, the metallicities $[Fe/H]$, the Galactocentric radii $R$, and the central concentration indices $c$ of Galactic globular clusters are discussed. It is found that the most luminous clusters…
A brief overview of the properties of massive star clusters in early-type galaxies is given. All ellipticals (with only one known exception) host massive star clusters in the form of globular clusters, suggesting that their formation is…
We derive structural parameters for ~2000 globular clusters in the giant Virgo elliptical M87 using extremely deep Hubble Space Telescope images in F606W (V) and F814W (I) taken with the ACS/WFC. The cluster scale sizes (half-light radii…
There is now strong evidence that the metal-rich globular clusters (GC) near the center of our Galaxy are associated with the Galactic bulge rather than the disk as previously thought. Here we extend the concept of bulge GCs to the GC…
This paper reviews some of the observational properties of globular cluster systems, with a particular focus on those that constrain and inform models of the formation and dynamical evolution of globular cluster systems. I first discuss the…
Growing evidence for the existence of two classes of ellipticals calls for a comparison of the properties of their globular cluster systems. I compiled information on the properties of over 50 globular cluster systems of faint and bright…
Globular clusters in most large galaxies are a mixture of metal-poor and metal-rich (bimodal), but the halo stars are almost entirely metal-rich. This and other lines of evidence argue that the metal-poor globular clusters formed within…
It has been a long-standing open question why observed globular cluster (GC) populations of different metallicities differ in their ages and spatial distributions, with metal-poor GCs being the older and radially more extended of the two.…
In a series of three papers, we introduced a novel cluster formation model that describes the formation, growth, and disruption of star clusters in high-resolution cosmological simulations. We tested this model on a Milky Way-sized galaxy…
The radial distribution of globular clusters in our Galaxy, M31 and M87 is studied and compared with that of halo stars. The globular cluster distributions seem significantly flatter than those of the stars bulge. Assuming this is a…
Properties of 53 globular cluster systems are investigated. Strong correlations are found between parent galaxy luminosity and both the slope of the radial density profile for clusters and the width of the cluster color (metallicity)…