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arXiv 0811.1437astro-ph
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后发椭圆星系中的球状星团系统。IV:五个巨型椭圆体的WFPC2光度测定

The Globular Cluster Systems in the Coma Ellipticals. IV: WFPC2 Photometry for Five Giant Ellipticals

W. E. Harris, J. J. Kavelaars, D. A. Hanes, C. J. Pritchet, W. A. Baum

摘要:

我们分析了后发座星系团中五个巨型椭圆星系(NGC 4874、4881、4889、4926和IC 4051)中球状星团(GC)系统的V和I测光数据。我们发现GC光度函数彼此非常相似,在V = 27.71 +-0.07(M_V = -7.3)处由9,000多个GC的复合样本导出的转换。简单的高斯曲线和演化的谢克特函数都同样适合GCLF的亮半部分,尽管Coma GCLF比任何处女座巨星都更宽并且具有更高的“截止质量”(M_c ~ 3 x 10^6 M_Sun)。这5个后发座的GC比频率变化范围很大,从NGC 4881的SN = 0.7到IC 4051和NGC 4874的SN = 12。没有一个单一的形成场景似乎能够解释这些差异,否则类似的星系。超巨星NGC 4874拥有已知最丰富的球状星团系统,可能拥有超过30,000个星团;它的真实范围尚未确定,可能会延伸到后发座势阱。对于三个最大的GC系统(NGC 4874,4889,IC 4051),所有三个种群都由红色,富金属的星系团主导。它们的金属丰度分布也可能都具有正常的双峰形式,两个序列的预期平均颜色<V-I>(蓝色)= 0.98和<V-I>(红色)= 1.15。然而,富金属星系团的颜色分布和相对数量显示了Peng等人2008年(ApJ 681,197)为处女座星系建立的趋势的有趣反例。在以后发座超巨星为代表的密度最高、质量最大的区域,富含金属的星系团的形成似乎特别有利。

英文摘要:

We analyze photometric data in V and I for the globular cluster (GC) systems in five of the giant ellipticals in the Coma Cluster: NGC 4874, 4881, 4889, 4926, and IC 4051. We find that the GC luminosity functions are quite similar to one another, with a turnover derived from a composite sample of more than 9,000 GCs at V = 27.71 +- 0.07 (M_V = -7.3). Both a simple Gaussian curve and an evolved Schechter function fit the bright half of the GCLF equally well, though the Coma GCLF is broader and has a higher ``cutoff mass'' (M_c ~ 3 x 10^6 M_Sun) than in any of the Virgo giants. These five Coma members exhibit a huge range in GC specific frequency, from a low of S_N = 0.7 for NGC 4881 up to 12 for IC 4051 and NGC 4874. No single formation scenario appears able to account for these differences in otherwise-similar galaxies. The supergiant NGC 4874 has the richest globular cluster system known, probably holding more than 30,000 clusters; its true extent is not yet determined and may extend well out into the Coma potential well. For the three biggest GC systems (NGC 4874, 4889, IC 4051), all three populations are dominated by red, metal-rich clusters. Their metallicity distributions also may all have the normal bimodal form, with the two sequences at the expected mean colors <V-I>(blue) = 0.98 and <V-I>(red) = 1.15. However, the color distributions and relative numbers of metal-rich clusters show intriguing counterexamples to a trend established by Peng et al. 2008 (ApJ 681, 197) for the Virgo galaxies. At the very highest-density and most massive regimes represented by the Coma supergiants, formation of metal-rich clusters seems to have been especially favored.

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