Based on the SDSS catalog, we have found new close quasar-galaxy pairs. We analyze the radial distribution of quasars from pairs around galaxies of different types. We show that the quasars from pairs follow the density profile of halo globular clusters. This is new observational evidence that the quasars projected onto the halos of galaxies are magnified by gravitational lensing by halo globular clusters.
We present a determination of the two-dimensional shape parameters of the blue and red globular cluster systems (GCSs) in a large number of elliptical galaxies and lenticular galaxies (early-type galaxies, called ETGs). We use a homogeneous data set of the globular clusters in 23 ETGs obtained from the HST/ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. The position angles of both blue and red GCSs show a correlation with those of the stellar light distribution, showing that the major axes of the GCSs are well aligned with those of their host galaxies. However, the shapes of the red GCSs show a tight correlation with the stellar light distribution as well as with the rotation property of their host galaxies, while the shapes of the blue GCSs do much less. These provide clear geometric evidence that the origins of the blue and red globular clusters are distinct and that ETGs may have dual halos: a blue (metal-poor) halo and a red (metal-rich) halo. These two halos show significant differences in metallicity, structure, and kinematics, indicating that they are formed in two distinguishable ways. The red halos might have formed via dissipational processes with rotation, while the blue halos are through accretion.
We have used WFPC2 on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to obtain F450W and F814W images of four cD galaxies (NGC 541 in Abell 194, NGC 2832 in Abell 779, NGC 4839 in Abell 1656, and NGC 7768 in Abell 2666) in the range 5400km/s<cz<8100km/s. For NGC 541, the HST data are supplemented by ground-based B and I images obtained with FORS1 on the Very Large Telescope.
We investigate the age and metallicity distributions of bright globular clusters (GCs) in the candidate intermediate-age early-type galaxies NGC 3610, 584 and 3377 using a combination of new Gemini's Near InfraRed Imager and Spectrometer K'-band imaging and existing optical VI photometry from Hubble Space Telescope data.
In this paper, we present deep high-quality photometry of globular cluster systems (GCSs) belonging to five early-type galaxies, covering a range of mass and environment. Photometric data were obtained with the Gemini North and Gemini South telescopes in the filter passbands g', r' and i'. The combination of these filters with good seeing conditions allows an excellent separation between globular cluster (GC) candidates and unresolved field objects.
Images from the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for surveys are used to carry out a new photometric study of the globular clusters (GCs) in M104, the Sombrero galaxy. The primary focus of our study is the characteristic distribution function of linear sizes [size distribution function (SDF)] of the GCs. We measure the effective radii for 652 clusters with point spread function-convolved King and Wilson dynamical model fits. The SDF is remarkably similar to those measured for other large galaxies of all types, adding strong support to the view that it is a 'universal' feature of GC systems. We use the Sombrero and Milky Way data and the formation models of Baumgardt & Kroupa (2007MNRAS.380.1589B) to develop a more general interpretation of the SDF for GCs.
We have used the data from the DIRECT project to search for new globular cluster candidates in the M31 and M33 galaxies. We have found 67 new objects in M31 and 35 in M33 and confirmed 38 and 16 previously discovered ones. A VI and BVI photometry has been obtained for all clusters in M31 and M33, respectively. Luminosity functions have been constructed for the clusters in each galaxy and compared with that of the Milky Way.
The Milky Way system and the Andromeda galaxy experienced radically different evolutionary histories. Nevertheless, it is found that these two galaxies ended up with globular cluster systems in which individual clusters have indistinguishable distributions of half-light radii. Furthermore, globulars in both M31 and the Galaxy are found to have radii that are independent of their luminosities. In this respect, globular clusters differ drastically from early-type galaxies in which half-light radius and luminosity are tightly correlated. Metal-rich globular clusters in M31 occupy a slightly larger volume than do those in the Galaxy. The specific globular cluster frequency in the Andromeda galaxy is found to be significantly higher than it is in the Milky Way system. The present discussion is based on the 107 Galactic globular clusters, and 200 putative globulars in M31, for which UBV photometry was available.
We investigate the relationship between low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) and globular clusters (GCs) using United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) observations of M31 and existing Chandra, XMM-Newton and ROSAT catalogues. By fitting King models to these data, we have estimated the structural parameters and stellar collision rates of 239 of its GCs. We show a highly significant trend between the presence of a LMXB and the stellar collision rate of a cluster. The stellar collision rate is found to be a stronger predictor of which clusters will host LMXBs than the host cluster mass. We argue that our results show that the stellar collision rate of the clusters is the fundamental parameter related to the production LMXBs. This is consistent with the formation of LMXBs through dynamical interactions with little direct dependence on the neutron star retention fraction or cluster mass.
We investigate the old globular cluster (GC) population of 68 faint (M_V_>−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.
