Related papers: Perhaps they are not Globular Clusters after all
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…
We present spectroscopic observations of ultra compact dwarf (UCD) galaxies in the Fornax and Virgo Clusters made to measure and compare their stellar populations. The spectra were obtained on the Gemini-North (Virgo) and Gemini-South…
Early-type dwarfs are the most common galaxy in the local universe, yet their origin and evolution remain a mystery. Various cosmological scenarios predict that dwarf-like galaxies in dense areas are the first to form and hence should be…
It is well known that Globular cluster systems are different among galaxies. Here we test to which degree these differences remain on the scale of galaxy clusters by comparing the globular clusters (GCs) in optical surveys of the Virgo…
Nuclear star clusters (NSCs) are the densest stellar systems in the Universe. They can be found at the center of all galaxy types, but tend to favor galaxies of intermediate stellar mass around 10$^9\,$M$_{\odot}$[1, 2]. Currently, two main…
We compare the properties of the globular clusters around NGC 1399, NGC 1404 and NGC 1380, the three brightest early-type galaxies in the center of the Fornax galaxy cluster. The globular cluster systems are qualitatively very similar,…
The fraction of stellar mass contained in globular clusters (GCs), also measured by number as the specific frequency, is a fundamental quantity that reflects both a galaxy's early star formation and its entire merging history. We present…
Observations of early-type dwarf galaxies in clusters often show that cluster dwarf members have significantly higher velocities and less symmetric distributions than cluster giant ellipticals, suggesting that these dwarfs are recently…
We studied the properties of the globular cluster systems of five early--type galaxies in the Fornax galaxy cluster: NGC 1374, NGC 1379, NGC 1387, NGC 1427, and the central giant elliptical NGC 1399. From the investigation of their number…
Dwarf galaxies can have very high globular cluster specific frequencies, and the GCs are in general significantly more metal-poor than the bulk of the field stars. In some dwarfs, such as Fornax, WLM, and IKN, the fraction of metal-poor…
The origin of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) is not yet clear. One possible formation path of UCDs is the threshing of a nucleated elliptical dwarf galaxy (dE, N), however, it remains unclear how such massive nuclear stellar systems…
We present Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopy of the first complete sample of ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) in the Virgo cluster. We select all UDGs in Virgo that contain at least 10 globular cluster (GC) candidates and are more than $2.5\sigma$…
Interacting galaxies often have complexes of hundreds of young stellar clusters of individual masses $\sim 10^{4-6}~M_\odot$ in regions that are a few hundred parsecs across. These cluster complexes interact dynamically, and their…
We studied and compared the radial profiles of globular clusters and of the stellar bulge component in three galaxies of the Fornax cluster observed with the WFPC2 of the HST. A careful comparative analysis of these distributions confirms…
In this contribution the hypothesis that the Galactic globular clusters with substantial internal [Fe/H] abundance ranges are the former nuclei of disrupted dwarf galaxies is discussed. Evidence considered includes the form of the…
The Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy has an anomalous number of globular clusters, five, for its stellar mass. There is a longstanding debate about a potential sixth globular cluster (Fornax~6) that has recently been `rediscovered' in DECam…
Recent observations have revealed that velocity dispersions of ``ultra-compact dwarf'' (UCD) galaxies are significantly smaller than those of other galaxy populations in the Fornax and the Virgo clusters of galaxies. In order to understand…
We present the combined results of two investigations: a large-scale study of the globular cluster system (GCS) around NGC 1399, the central galaxy of the Fornax cluster, and a study of the GCSs around NGC 1374, NGC 1379 and NGC 1387, three…
We present 8 bright globular clusters and/or objects of less familiar nature which we found in the course of scrutinizing the globular cluster system of NGC 1399. These objects are morphologically striking, either by their sizes or by other…
We present BVI photometry of 190 galaxies in the central region of the Fornax Cluster observed with the Michigan Curtis Schmidt Telescope. The cluster members exhibit a strong surface brightness-magnitude relation in our data: both giant…