Globular Clusters in nearby Galaxy Cluster
Abstract
The discovery of a large population of intra-cluster star clusters in the central region of the Hydra I and Centaurus galaxy clusters is presented. Based on deep VLT photometry (V,I), many star clusters have been identified not only around the early-type galaxies, but also in the intra-cluster field, as far as 250 kpc from the galaxy centres. These intra-cluster globulars are predominantly blue, with a siginificant fraction being even bluer than the metal-poor halo clusters around massive galaxies. When interpreted as a metallicity effect they would have iron abundances around [Fe/H] = -2 dex. However, they might also be relatively young clusters which could have formed in tidal tails during recent interactions of the central galaxies.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0210466,
title = {Globular Clusters in nearby Galaxy Cluster},
author = {Michael Hilker},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0210466},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
6 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Proceedings of the ESO Workshop on "Extragalactic Globular Cluster Systems", ed. M. Kissler-Patig, Springer Verlag (2002)