Journal articles on the topic 'Globular clusters'
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1
Grebel, Eva K. "Globular Clusters in the Local Group." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 10, S312 (August 2014): 157–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921315008078.
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AbstractOnly twelve of the > 76 Local Group galaxies contain globular clusters, showing a broad range of specific frequencies. Here we summarize the properties of these globular cluster systems. Many host galaxies contain very old globulars, but in some globular cluster formation may have been delayed. An age range of several Gyr is common. Except for the inner regions of the spirals, old globular clusters tend to be metal-poor. Increasingly, light element variations and hints of multiple stellar populations are being found also in extragalactic globulars. There is ample evidence for globular cluster accretion from dwarfs onto massive galaxies, but its magnitude has yet to be quantified. Caution is needed to avoid overinterpreting indirect evidence.
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Zepf, Stephen E. "Formation Scenarios for Globular Clusters and Their Host Galaxies." Symposium - International Astronomical Union 207 (2002): 653–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0074180900224492.
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This review focuses on how galaxies and their globular cluster systems form. I first discuss the now fairly convincing evidence that some globular clusters form in galaxy starbursts/mergers. One way these observations are valuable is they place important constraints on the physics of the formation of globular clusters. Moreover, it is natural to associate the typically metal-rich clusters forming in mergers with the substantial metal-rich population of globulars around ellipticals, thereby implying an important role for galaxy mergers in the evolution of elliptical galaxies. I also highlight some new observational efforts aimed at constraining how and when elliptical galaxies and their globular cluster systems formed. These include systematic studies of the number of globular clusters around galaxies as a function of morphological type, studies of the kinematics of globular cluster populations in elliptical galaxies, and a variety of observational programs aimed at constraining the relative ages of globular clusters within galaxies as a function of cluster metallicity. The understanding of the formation of globular cluster systems and their host galaxies has grown dramatically in recent years, and the future looks equally promising.
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Usher, Christopher, Jean P. Brodie, Duncan A. Forbes, Aaron J. Romanowsky, Jay Strader, Joel Pfeffer, and Nate Bastian. "The SLUGGS survey: measuring globular cluster ages using both photometry and spectroscopy." Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 490, no. 1 (September 25, 2019): 491–501. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz2596.
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ABSTRACT Globular cluster ages provide both an important test of models of globular cluster formation and a powerful method to constrain the assembly history of galaxies. Unfortunately, measuring the ages of unresolved old stellar populations has proven challenging. Here, we present a novel technique that combines optical photometry with metallicity constraints from near-infrared spectroscopy in order to measure ages. After testing the method on globular clusters in the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies, we apply our technique to three massive early-type galaxies using data from the SAGES Legacy Unifying Globulars and GalaxieS (SLUGGS) survey. The three SLUGGS galaxies and the Milky Way show dramatically different globular cluster age and metallicity distributions, with NGC 1407 and the Milky Way showing mostly old globular clusters, while NGC 3115 and NGC 3377 show a range of globular ages. This diversity implies different galaxy formation histories and that the globular cluster optical colour–metallicity relation is not universal as is commonly assumed in globular cluster studies. We find a correlation between the median age of the metal-rich globular cluster populations and the age of the field star populations, in line with models where globular cluster formation is a natural outcome of high-intensity star formation.
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Elmegreen, Bruce G. "The nature and nurture of star clusters." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 5, S266 (August 2009): 3–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921309990809.
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AbstractStar clusters have hierarchical patterns in space and time, suggesting formation processes in the densest regions of a turbulent interstellar medium. Clusters also have hierarchical substructure when they are young, which makes them all look like the inner mixed parts of a pervasive stellar hierarchy. Young field stars share this distribution, presumably because some of them came from dissolved clusters and others formed in a dispersed fashion in the same gas. The fraction of star formation that ends up in clusters is apparently not constant, but may increase with interstellar pressure. Hierarchical structure explains why stars form in clusters and why many of these clusters are self-bound. It also explains the cluster mass function. Halo globular clusters share many properties of disk clusters, including what appears to be an upper cluster cutoff mass. However, halo globulars are self-enriched and often connected with dwarf galaxy streams. The mass function of halo globulars could have initially been like the power-law mass function of disk clusters, but the halo globulars have lost their low-mass members. The reasons for this loss are not understood. It could have happened slowly over time as a result of cluster evaporation, or it could have happened early after cluster formation as a result of gas loss. The latter model explains best the observation that the globular cluster mass function has no radial gradient in galaxies.
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Forbes, Duncan A. "Globular Clusters in Elliptical Galaxies: Constraints on Mergers." Symposium - International Astronomical Union 186 (1999): 181–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0074180900112495.
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There exists a relationship between globular cluster mean metallicity and parent galaxy luminosity (e.g. Brodie & Huchra 1991; Forbes et al. 1996), which appears to be similar to that between stellar metallicity and galaxy luminosity. The globular cluster relation has a similar slope but is offset by about 0.5 dex to lower metallicity. The similarity of these relations suggests that both the globular cluster system and their parent galaxy have shared a common chemical enrichment history. If we can understand the formation and evolution of the globulars, we will also learn something about galaxy formation. With this aim in mind we have created the SAGES (Study of the Astrophysics of Globular clusters in Extragalactic Systems) project. Project members include Brodie, Elson, Forbes, Freeman, Grillmair, Huchra, Kissler–Patig and Schroder. We are using HST Imaging and Keck spectroscopy to study extragalactic globular cluster systems. Further details are given at http://www.ucolick.org/~mkissler/Sages/sages.html.
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Grindlay, Jonathan E. "On the Origin of Neutron Stars in Globular Clusters." Symposium - International Astronomical Union 125 (1987): 173–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s007418090016070x.
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The formation of neutron stars in globular clusters is discussed in light of a number of recent results and, in particular, studies of the origin and evolution of the high luminosity x-ray binaries found in globular clusters. We argue that the neutron stars most probably arise from the accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs in compact binary systems, themselves detectable as low luminosity cluster x-ray sources. The white dwarfs which can collapse are probably the remnants of relatively more massive stars than those presently found in globulars. This can account for the predominant occurrence of the high luminosity cluster sources in clusters of relatively high metallicity, since those clusters have recently been found to probably have flatter mass functions of their component stars.
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Lee, Myung Gyoon, Sang Chul Kim, Ho Seong Hwang, Hong Soo Park, Doug Geisler, Ata Sarajedini, and William E. Harris. "A new era for the globular cluster system in M31." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 5, S266 (August 2009): 117–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921309990950.
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AbstractThe globular cluster system in M31 is an ideal laboratory for studying the formation and evolution of M31 as well as the globular clusters themselves. There have been numerous surveys and studies of the globular clusters in M31. However, only recently has the entire body of M31 been searched for globular clusters using wide-field CCD images by our group. A new era for the M31 globular cluster system has begun with the advent of wide-field CCD surveys of M31. We have discovered more than 100 new globular clusters in M31. Our catalog currently includes more than 500 globular clusters confirmed either based on spectra or HST images, many more than in the Milky Way. We present the structure, kinematics and chemical abundance of the M31 globular cluster system based on this large sample, and the implications for the formation and evolution of M31.
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Morrison, Heather, Paul Harding, Denise Hurley-Keller, and Kathy Perrett. "M31’s Disk System of Globular Clusters." Highlights of Astronomy 13 (2005): 165–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s153929960001546x.
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AbstractGlobular cluster systems are often thought to be associated with violent formation events such as galaxy mergers or the formation of large bulges. However, formation in relatively ordered regions such as thin disks may also be an important process which has been overlooked.Recent high-quality spectroscopic studies of the M31 globulars show that a significant number of the clusters projected on its disk belong to a rapidly rotating thin disk. This contrasts strongly with the Milky Way system, which is composed of a halo and thick disk system and has no known thin disk globulars. It is also likely that M31 has experienced no minor mergers since the globular cluster formation epoch, as such a merger would have heated the globulars into a thick disk system. The metallicity distributions of the disk and non-disk clusters are quite similar.
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Ishchenko, Maryna, Peter Berczik, and Margarita Sobolenko. "Milky Way globular clusters on cosmological timescales." Astronomy & Astrophysics 683 (March 2024): A146. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202347990.
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Context. The present epoch of the Gaia success gives us a possibility to predict the dynamical evolution of our Solar System in the global Galactic framework with high precision. Aims. We statistically investigated the total interaction of globular clusters with the Solar System during six billion years of look-back time. We estimated the gravitational influence of globular clusters’ flyby onto the Oort cloud system. Methods. To perform the realistic orbital dynamical evolution for each individual cluster, we used our own high-order parallel dynamical N-body φ-GPU code that we developed. To reconstruct the orbital trajectories of clusters, we used five external dynamical time variable galactic potentials selected from the IllustrisTNG-100 cosmological database and one static potential. To detect a cluster’s close passages near the Solar System, we adopted a simple distance criteria of below 200 pc. To take into account a cluster’s measurement errors (based on Gaia DR3), we generated 1000 initial positions and velocity randomisations for each cluster in each potential. Results. We found 35 globular clusters that have had close passages near the Sun in all the six potentials during the whole lifetime of the Solar System. We can conclude that at a relative distance of 50 pc between a GC and the SolS, we obtain on average ∼15% of the close passage probability over all six billion years, and at dR = 100 pc, we get on average ∼35% of the close passage probability over all six billion years. The globular clusters BH 140, UKS 1, and Djorg 1 have a mean minimum relative distance to the Sun of 9, 19, and 17 pc, respectively. We analysed the gravitational energetic influence on the whole Oort cloud system from the closest selected globular cluster flyby. We generally found that a globular cluster with a typical mass above a few times 105 M⊙ and with deep close passages in a 1–2 pc immediately results in the ejection more than ∼30% of particles from the Oort cloud system. Conclusions. We can assume that a globular cluster with close passages near the Sun is not a frequent occurrence but also not an exceptional event in the Solar System’s lifetime.
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P. Bassino, Lilia, Sergio A. Cellone, and Juan C. Forte. "A Search for Globular Clusters in the Surroundings of Dwarf Galaxies in Fornax: Intracluster Globulars?" Symposium - International Astronomical Union 207 (2002): 345–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0074180900224030.
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We present the results of a search for globular clusters in the surroundings of 15 low surface brightness dwarf galaxies in the Fornax cluster, on CCD images in the C and T1 bands. Globular cluster candidates show a clear bimodal color distribution. Their surface density distribution shows no concentration towards the respective dwarf galaxies but it does show concentration towards the center of the Fornax cluster. We suggest that the potential globular clusters might not be bound to the dwarf galaxies, but might instead belong to the intra-cluster medium.
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West, Michael J., Patrick Côté, Henry C. Ferguson, Michael D. Gregg, Andrés Jordán, Ronald O. Marzke, Nial R. Tanvir, and Ted von Hippel. "Intergalactic Globular Clusters." Highlights of Astronomy 13 (2005): 175–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1539299600015513.
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AbstractWe confirm and extend our previous detection of a population of intergalactic globular clusters in Abell 1185, and report the first discovery of an intergalactic globular cluster in the nearby Virgo cluster of galaxies. The numbers, colors and luminosities of these objects can place constraints on their origin, which in turn may yield new insights to the evolution of galaxies in dense environments.
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Zepf, Stephen E. "The Formation and Evolution of Star Clusters and Galaxies." Highlights of Astronomy 13 (2005): 347–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1539299600015938.
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AbstractThis 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 clusters are observed to form in galaxy mergers and starbursts in the local universe, which both provides constraints on models of globular cluster formation, and suggests that similar physical conditions existed when most early-type galaxies and their globular clusters formed in the past. A second important observation is that globular cluster systems typically have bimodal color distributions. This was predicted by merger models, and indicates an episodic formation history for elliptical galaxies. A third and very recent result is the discovery of large populations of intermediate age globular clusters in several elliptical galaxies through the use of optical to near-infrared colors. These provide an important link between young cluster systems observed in starbursts and mergers and old cluster systems. This continuum of ages of the metal-rich globular cluster systems also indicates that there is no special age or epoch for the formation of the metal-rich globular clusters, which comprise about half of the cluster population. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of recent results on the globular cluster – low-mass X-ray binary connection.
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De Souza–Rossetto, E. A., and H. J. Rocha–Pinto. "No relation between the vertical velocity component and the absolute magnitude among globular clusters." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 5, S266 (August 2009): 380–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921309991402.
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AbstractThe globular cluster luminosity function distribution shows a peak at MV ≈ −7.5 mag. There are some indications that the kinematic parameters are correlated with luminosity. In particular, Alfaro et al. (2001) have studied the properties of the Galactic globular cluster system and they found a correlation between spatial-velocity component and globular cluster absolute magnitude. The authors assumed that the globular clusters can be separated into two groups. The first is composed of globular clusters with MV < −7.5 mag and moving preferentially towards the north Galactic pole, while the faintest globular clusters, composing the second group, move towards the Galactic disk. We have selected a sample of globular clusters using the same criteria as Alfaro et al. (2001) and have checked that this apparent relation indeed exists. Nevertheless, we decided to investigate whether it could be a fortuitous relation or an intrinsic property by checking its validity for eight different epochs at past and future times. The orbital parameters for the globular clusters at these eight epochs were found by orbital integration using a typical Galactic potential. We show that this relation between the vertical velocity component and the absolute magnitude among globular clusters is not coherent with time and the velocity distribution does not support the hypothesis of Alfaro et al. for the existence of two dynamical groups of globular clusters.
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Huchra, John P., Stephen M. Kent, and Jean P. Brodie. "Extragalactic globular clusters. II - The M31 globular cluster system." Astrophysical Journal 370 (April 1991): 495. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/169836.
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Gyoon Lee, Myung, Sang Chul Kim, Doug Geisler, Juan Seguel, Ata Sarajedini, and William Harris. "New CCD Survey of Globular Clusters in M31." Symposium - International Astronomical Union 207 (2002): 46–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0074180900223358.
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We present a progress report of our wide field CCD survey of globular clusters in M31. We have covered a 3 deg × 3 deg area centered on M31, using the KPNO 0.9m and Washington CMT1 filters. Our survey is much deeper and more sensitive than previous surveys. We have found several hundred new globular cluster candidates in M31 in addition to confirming previously known globular clusters, and also have found a number of interlopers among previous globular cluster catalogs. We have also obtained spectra of about 500 objects among these candidates using HYDRA at the WIYN 3.5m telescope, which are used for classification and measuring the radial velocity of the candidate objects. When completed, a new master catalog of globular clusters in M31 will be made, combining the new globular clusters with the known globular clusters.
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King, Ivan R. "Globular Clusters." Scientific American 252, no. 6 (June 1985): 78–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0685-78.
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Caputo, F. "Globular clusters." Reports on Progress in Physics 48, no. 9 (September 1, 1985): 1235–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0034-4885/48/9/001.
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Menzies, J. W. "Globular clusters." Astrophysics and Space Science 230, no. 1-2 (August 1995): 187–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/bf00658179.
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M. Lotz, Jennifer, Bryan W. Miller, Henry C. Ferguson, Massimo Stiavelli, and Rosemary Telford. "Dynamical Friction in dE Globular Cluster Systems." Symposium - International Astronomical Union 207 (2002): 593–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0074180900224418.
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The dynamical friction timescale for globular clusters to sink to the center of a dwarf elliptical galaxy (dE) is significantly less than a Hubble time if the halos have isothermal profiles and the globular clusters formed with the same radial density profile as the underlying stellar population. We examine the summed radial distribution of the entire globular cluster systems and the bright globular cluster candidates in 65 Virgo and Fornax Cluster dEs for evidence of dynamical friction processes. We find that the bright dE nuclei could have been formed from the merger of orbitally decayed massive clusters, but the faint nuclei are several magnitudes fainter than expected. These faint nuclei are found primarily in MV > −14 dEs which have high globular cluster specific frequencies and extended globular cluster systems. In these galaxies, the formation of new star clusters, high central dark matter densities, extended dark matter halos, or tidal interactions may act to prevent dynamical friction from collapsing the entire globular cluster population into a bright nucleus.
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Marino, Anna F. "Chemical abundances of multiple stellar populations in massive globular clusters." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 12, S316 (August 2015): 267–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921315009485.
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AbstractMultiple stellar populations in the Milky Way globular clusters manifest themselves with a large variety. Although chemical abundance variations in light elements, including He, are ubiquitous, the amount of these variations is different in different globulars. Stellar populations with distinct Fe, C+N+O and slow-neutron capture elements have been now detected in some globular clusters, whose number will likely increase. All these chemical features correspond to specific photometric patterns. I review the chemical+photometric features of the multiple stellar populations in globular clusters and discuss how the interpretation of data is being more and more challenging. Very excitingly, the origin and evolution of globular clusters is being a complex puzzle to compose.
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Kim, J. W., H. I. Kim, and Y. J. Sohn. "Red-giant branch morphology of metal-poor globular clusters in the Galactic bulge." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 3, S245 (July 2007): 363–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921308018139.
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AbstractUsing the (J − K, K) color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of 16 metal-poor globular clusters in the Galactic bulge, we investigate the morphological properties of their red-giant branch (RGB), comparing with those of metal-rich clusters in the Galactic bulge and metal-poor clusters in the Galactic halo. The RGB morphological parameters, such as colors at fixed magnitudes, magnitudes at a fixed color, the RGB slope, and a difference of color indices at two fixed magnitudes have been derived from the near-IR CMDs for each cluster. Metal-poor Galactic bulge clusters follow the previous empirical relations between colors at fixed magnitudes and magnitudes at a fixed color of the RGB and the cluster's metallicity. However, the RGB slope and the color difference parameters of some bulge clusters deviate slightly from the previous empirical linear relations for the other globular clusters, implying that the metal-poor bulge clusters may have different formation origin from the other globular clusters in the Galaxy.
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Voggel, Karina, Michael Hilker, and Tom Richtler. "Globular cluster clustering around ultra compact dwarf galaxies in the halo of NGC 1399." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 11, S317 (August 2015): 365–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921315007152.
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AbstractWe tested the spatial distribution of UCDs and GCs in the halo of NGC 1399 in the Fornax cluster. In particular we tried to find out if globular clusters are more abundant in the vicinity of UCDs than what is expected from their global distribution. A local overabundance of globular clusters was found around UCDs on a scale of 1 kpc compared to what is expected from the large scale distribution of globulars in the host galaxy. This effect is stronger for the metal-poor blue GCs and weaker for the red GCs. An explanation for these clustered globulars is either that they are the remains of a GC system of an ancestor dwarf galaxy before it was stripped to its nucleus, which appears as UCD today. Alternatively these clustered GCs could have been originally part of a super star cluster complex.
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Woodley, K. A., and M. Gómez. "The Globular Cluster System of NGC 5128: Ages, Metallicities, Kinematics and Structural Parameters." Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia 27, no. 4 (2010): 379–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/as09059.
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AbstractWe review our recent studies of the globular cluster system of NGC 5128. First, we have obtained low-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectroscopy of 72 globular clusters using Gemini-S/GMOS to obtain the ages, metallicities, and the level of alpha enrichment of the metal-poor and metal-rich globular cluster subpopulations. Second, we have explored the rotational signature and velocity dispersion of the galaxy's halo using over 560 globular clusters with radial velocity measurements. We have also compared the dependence of these properties on galactocentric distance and globular cluster age and metallicity. Using globular clusters as tracer objects, we have analyzed the mass, and mass-to-light ratio of NGC 5128. Last, we have measured the structural parameters, such as half-light radii, of over 570 globular clusters from a superb 1.2-square-degree Magellan/IMACS image. We will present the findings of these studies and discuss the connection to the formation and evolution of NGC 5128.
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Kulkarni, S. R., and S. B. Anderson. "Pulsars in Globular Clusters." Symposium - International Astronomical Union 174 (1996): 181–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0074180900001510.
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Since the discovery of the first globular cluster pulsar in M28 (Lyne et al. 1987) a total of 33 pulsars have been found to reside within 13 seperate clusters. Many (but not all) of the cluster pulsars have properties similar to the millisecond pulsars in the disk: short period, binarity and low magnetic field strength. The common understanding is that these pulsars are primordial neutron stars (i.e. the remnants of massive stars in clusters) which have been spun up by accretion of matter from a companion. Therefore, in this framework, the cluster pulsars are descendents of Low Mass X-ray Binaries (LMXBs) (Alpar et al. 1982). This hypothesis is by no means accepted by all workers (e.g. Michel 1987, Ray & Kluzniak 1990, Romani 1990, Bailyn & Grindlay 1993). These workers have argued that at least some (if not all) cluster pulsars could be formed by accretion induced collapse of massive white dwarfs. In either case, it is clear from the sensitivity limits of current cluster searches, and the luminosity of field pulsars, that there are currently O(103) extant radio pulsars in the Galactic globular cluster system.In this review, specifically targeted for astronomers working in the field of globular clusters, not pulsar astronomers, we argue that cluster pulsars have provided us with a new window into the population of long-dead massive stars and the physics of tidal capture. The precision with which pulsars can be timed has created new diagnostics: measurement of the mass distribution in the dense cores, measurement of orbital evolution on short timescales and precise determination of orbital characteristics. It is fair to say that all these diagnostics are unique, and not obtainable by other observations. Despite this, it is our assessment that the typical astronomer who works in the field of globular clusters is apparently unaware of these relevant contributions. Hopefully this review will bridge this gap. A complete copy of the review article may be found at http://astro.caltech.edu/~srk.
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Zhongqun, CHENG. "Black Holes in Globular Clusters." Chinese Physics Review 1, no. 1 (September 28, 2023): 1–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.48014/cpr.20230527001.
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Black holes are the laboratory for extreme physics research in the universe, and the detection of black holes is one of the most cutting-edge international scientific goals at present. Globular clusters are old, self-gravity-bound object systems in the Milky Way that contain millions of stars with a high stellar densities inside. Hundreds of pulsar objects have been observed in globular clusters, but the existence of black holes in globular clusters remains an unsolved mystery. A globular cluster may have an intermediatemass black hole at its centre, with masses ranging from 1, 000 to 10, 000 times solar masses. At the same time, there may be a large number of stellar black holes in globular clusters, which will affect the evolution of globular clusters and form. some special objects in globular clusters, which can be observed and confirmed by astronomical observation equipment. This paper will focus on the possible observational features of the presence of black holes in globular clusters and their effects on the properties of globular clusters. Black holes are coupled with their host globular clusters through dynamics, which are important sites for the formation of black hole X-ray binaries and gravitational wave sources, and black holes change the dynamical structure and evolutionary processes of their host clusters. Therefore, searching for X-ray sources, detecting gravitational wave signals, and studying the characteristics of globular clusters are important astronomical evidence for detecting black holes in globular clusters.
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Moreno, Edmundo, José G. Fernández-Trincado, Angeles Pérez-Villegas, Leonardo Chaves-Velasquez, and William J. Schuster. "Orbits of globular clusters computed with dynamical friction in the Galactic anisotropic velocity dispersion field." Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 510, no. 4 (December 24, 2021): 5945–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab3724.
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ABSTRACT We present a preliminary analysis of the effect of dynamical friction on the orbits of part of the globular clusters in our Galaxy. Our study considers an anisotropic velocity dispersion field approximated using the results of studies in the literature. An axisymmetric Galactic model with mass components consisting of a disc, a bulge, and a dark halo is employed in the computations. We provide a method to compute the dynamical friction acceleration in ellipsoidal, oblate, and prolate velocity distribution functions with similar density in velocity space. Orbital properties, such as mean time-variations of perigalactic and apogalactic distances, energy, and z-component of angular momentum, are obtained for globular clusters lying in the Galactic region R ≲ 10 kpc, |z| ≲ 5 kpc, with R, z cylindrical coordinates. These include clusters in prograde and retrograde orbital motion. Several clusters are strongly affected by dynamical friction, in particular Liller 1, Terzan 4, Terzan 5, NGC 6440, and NGC 6553, which lie in the Galactic inner region. We comment on the more relevant implications of our results on the dynamics of Galactic globular clusters, such as their possible misclassification between the categories ‘halo’, ‘bulge’, and ‘thick disc’, the resulting biasing of globular-cluster samples, the possible incorrect association of the globulars with their parent dwarf galaxies for accretion events, and the possible formation of ‘nuclear star clusters’.
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Martell, Sarah L. "Rediscovering the origins of the stellar halo with chemical tagging." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 13, S334 (July 2017): 38–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921317007487.
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AbstractThe Galactic halo has a complex assembly history, which can be seen in its wealth of kinematic and chemical substructure. Globular clusters lose stars through tidal interactions with the Galaxy and cluster evaporation processes, meaning that they are inevitably a source of halo stars. These “migrants” from globular clusters can be recognized in the halo field by the characteristic light element abundance anticorrelations that are commonly observed only in globular cluster stars, and the number of halo stars that can be chemically tagged to globular clusters can be used to place limits on the formation pathways of those clusters.
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Piatti, Andrés E. "Different sodium enhancements among multiple populations of Milky Way globular clusters." Astronomy & Astrophysics 643 (November 2020): A77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202039128.
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We searched for clues to understand the different Na abundances measured in first and second generation stars of ancient Milky Way globular clusters. For that purpose, from the recent literature, we gathered the aforementioned Na abundances, orbital parameters, and structural and internal dynamical properties and ages in a homogeneous scale of 28 globular clusters. We found that the intra-cluster Na enrichment, which is measured by the difference of Na abundances between first and second generation stars, exhibits a trend as a function of the Na abundances of first generation stars, in the sense that the more Na-poor the first generation stars are, the larger the Na enrichment is. By using the inclinations of the globular clusters’ orbits, the analyzed Na enrichments also hinted at a boundary at ∼0.3 dex to differentiate globular clusters with an accreted or in situ origin, the accreted globular clusters having larger Na enrichments. Because relatively larger intra-cluster Na enhancements are seen in accreted globular clusters and small Na enhancements are observed in globular clusters formed in situ, although not exclusively, we speculate that the amplitude of the Na enrichment may be linked with the building block paradigm. Globular clusters at the time of formation of first and second generation stars would seem to keep a memory of this hierarchical galaxy formation process.
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C. Seguel, Juan, Doug Geisler, Myung Gyoon Lee, Sang Chul Kim, Ata Sarajedini, and William E. Harris. "Search Methods for Globular Cluster Candidates in M31." Symposium - International Astronomical Union 207 (2002): 146–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0074180900223565.
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Searching for globular cluster candidates in nearby galaxies such as M31 is the first step to study the characteristics of extragalactic globular cluster systems. Previous searches for M31 globular clusters were mostly based on visual inspection of photograpic plates. We have selected globular cluster candidates from a wide-field Washington CCD survey of M31, using various methods: color-magnitude diagrams, color-color diagrams, point spread function subtraction and visual inspection of the objects. The efficiency and accuracy of these methods for finding globular clusters are presented.
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Schweizer, François. "Evolution of Globular Clusters Formed in Mergers." Symposium - International Astronomical Union 207 (2002): 630–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0074180900224467.
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Globular clusters formed in galactic mergers (e.g., The Antennae) can now be studied at different stages of their evolution. In young merger remnants (e.g., NGC 7252) these “second-generation” globulars appear by the hundreds as young halo clusters of roughly solar metallicity. While at first bluer and much more luminous than old metal-poor globulars, they become redder after 1–1.5 Gyr and can then be observed as still overluminous red clusters of intermediate age in perturbed-looking E and S0 galaxies (e.g., NGC 1316, 1700, 3610). There is evidence from the color distributions, projected radial distributions, and perhaps also luminosity functions that these clusters eventually assume the properties of red metal-rich globulars observed in many giant ellipticals. Studies of globular clusters in ongoing mergers and young remnants suggest that second-generation globulars form from giant molecular clouds shocked by the rapid pressure increase in the merger-induced starburst. This pressure-induced formation lends credence to Cen's (2001) argument that the general pressure increase during cosmological reionization at z ≈ 7–15 triggered the near-simultaneous formation of the universal population of first-generation metal-poor globulars observed in galaxies of all types.
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Dauphole, B., J. Colin, M. Geffert, M. Odenkirchen, and H. J. Tucholke. "The Mass Distribution of the Milky Way Deduced from Globular Cluster Dynamics." Symposium - International Astronomical Union 169 (1996): 697–702. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0074180900230593.
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We present here a new analytical Galactic potential. We used the constraint of galactic globular cluster dynamics compared to their spatial distribution. This was done with the help of the globular clusters' proper motions. The result for the clusters dynamics show a better agreement between orbital parameters and statistical distribution of the studied globular clusters than in previous published potentials. The globular cluster dynamics constrain the mass distribution on a large scale, until 40 kpc from the centre. In this model, the total mass for the Milky Way is 7.9 1011 M⊙.
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Anders, Peter, Uta Fritze –. v. Alvensleben, and Richard de Grijs. "Young Star Clusters: Progenitors of Globular Clusters!?" Highlights of Astronomy 13 (2005): 366–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1539299600015987.
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AbstractStar cluster formation is a major mode of star formation in the extreme conditions of interacting galaxies and violent starbursts. Young clusters are observed to form in a variety of such galaxies, a substantial number resembling the progenitors of globular clusters in mass and size, but with significantly enhanced metallicity. From studies of the metal-poor and metal-rich star cluster populations of galaxies, we can therefore learn about the violent star formation history of these galaxies, and eventually about galaxy formation and evolution. We present a new set of evolutionary synthesis models of our GALEV code, with special emphasis on the gaseous emission of presently forming star clusters, and a new tool to compare extensive model grids with multi-color broad-band observations to determine individual cluster masses, metallicities, ages and extinction values independently. First results for young star clusters in the dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 1569 are presented. The mass distributions determined for the young clusters give valuable input to dynamical star cluster system evolution models, regarding survival and destruction of clusters. We plan to investigate an age sequence of galaxy mergers to see dynamical destruction effects in process.
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Shara, Michael M. "Searches for Cataclysmic Variables in Globular Cluster Cores." Symposium - International Astronomical Union 174 (1996): 49–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0074180900001376.
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Close binaries are widely believed to exist in large numbers in the cores of globular clusters. If present, these binaries are critical sources and sinks of energy that drive the dynamical evolution of their host clusters. I report on HST searches for binaries (based on variability) in the outskirts and cores of several globular clusters; dwarf novae should be particularly easy to find. Dense and loose clusters have been thoroughly searched on timescales ranging from minutes to years. Detailed simulations demonstrate that virtually all binaries with M < 8, amplitudes > 0.1 mag and periods of 2–20 hours should have been found. This includes virtually all known contact binaries. At least 1/3 of all dwarf novae present in several globulars should also have been seen (very easily!) in eruption at M = 4 − 6.Simple tidal capture theory predicts that dozens of interacting binaries should have been found in our searches; the observed number is typically one or two objects per cluster. Unless tidal capture cataclysmic binaries are rapidly destroyed, ejected, or much fainter than most of their Galactic counterparts, we must conclude that very close binaries in globular cores are rare, and that their total influence on cluster dynamical evolution is less than currently claimed.
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Zepf, Stephen E. "Observational Constraints on the Formation and Evolution of Globular Cluster Systems." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 3, S246 (September 2007): 394–402. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921308016037.
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AbstractThis 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 observational determination of the globular cluster luminosity and mass function. I show results from new very deep HST data on the M87 globular cluster system, and discuss how these constrain models of evaporation and the dynamical evolution of globular clusters. The second subject of this review is the question of how to account for the observed constancy of the globular cluster mass function with distance from the center of the host galaxy. The problem is that a radial trend is expected for isotropic cluster orbits, and while the orbits are observed to be roughly isotropic, no radial trend in the globular cluster system is observed. I review three extant proposals to account for this, and discuss observations and calculations that might determine which of these is most correct. The final subject is the origin of the very weak mass-radius relation observed for globular clusters. I discuss how this strongly constrains how globular clusters form and evolve. I also note that the only viable current proposal to account for the observed weak mass-radius relation naturally effects the globular cluster mass function, and that these two problems may be closely related.
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Chaboyer, B. "Distances and ages of globular clusters." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 3, S248 (October 2007): 440–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921308019777.
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AbstractAs the oldest objects whose ages can be accurately determined, Galactic globular clusters can be used to establish the minimum age of the universe (and hence, to constrain cosmological models) and to study the early formation history of the Milky Way. The largest uncertainty in the determination of globular cluster ages is the distance scale. The current uncertainty in the distances to globular clusters is ~ 6%, which leads to a 13% uncertainty in the absolute ages of globular clusters. I am the PI on a SIM-Planetquest key project to determine the distances of 21 globular clusters with an accuracy of ranging from 1 to 4%. This will lead to age determinations accurate to 5 − 9%. The mean age of the oldest, most metal-poor globular clusters will be determined with an accuracy of ±3%.
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Dias, Bruno, Beatriz Barbuy, Ivo Saviane, Enrico V. Held, Gary Da Costa, Sergio Ortolani, and Marco Gullieuszik. "The GOTHAM survey: chemical evolution of Milky Way globular clusters." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 13, S334 (July 2017): 25–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921317007086.
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AbstractMilky Way globular clusters are excellent laboratories for stellar population detailed analysis that can be applied to extragalactic environments with the advent of the 40m-class telescopes like the ELT. The globular cluster population traces the early evolution of the Milky Way which is the field of Galactic archaeology. We present our GlObular clusTer Homogeneous Abundance Measurement (GOTHAM) survey. We derived radial velocities, Teff, log(g), [Fe/H], [Mg/Fe] for red giant stars in one third of all Galactic globular clusters that represent well the Milky Way globular cluster system in terms of metallicity, mass, reddening, and distance. Our method is based on low-resolution spectroscopy and is intrinsically reddening free and efficient even for faint stars. Our [Fe/H] determinations agree with high-resolution results to within 0.08 dex. The GOTHAM survey provides a new metallicity scale for Galactic globular clusters with a significant update of metallicities higher than [Fe/H] > -0.7. We show that the trend of [Mg/Fe] with metallicity is not constant as previously found, because now we have more metal-rich clusters. Moreover, peculiar clusters whose [Mg/Fe] does not match Galactic stars for a given metallicity are discussed. We also measured the CaII triplet index for all stars and we show that the different chemical evolution of Milky Way open clusters, field stars, and globular clusters implies different calibrations of calcium triplet to metallicity.
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Mastrobuono-Battisti, Alessandra, Sergey Khoperskov, Paola Di Matteo, and Misha Haywood. "Globular cluster tidal interactions and mergers in the Galactic disc." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 14, S351 (May 2019): 442–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921319007853.
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AbstractThe Galactic globular cluster system went and is still going through dynamical processes that require to be explored in detail. Here we illustrate how primordial massive globular clusters born in the Milky Way’s disc evolved by stripping material from each other or even merging very early during their lives. These processes might explain the puzzling presence of star-by-star spreads in iron content observed in massive globular clusters and should be taken into account when studying globular cluster stellar populations. In this context, we show how the direct comparison between the predictions provided by our direct N-body simulations and observations can shed light on the origin and chemo-dynamical evolution of globular clusters.
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Rejkuba, M., P. Dubath, D. Minniti, and G. Meylan. "Masses and M/L Ratios of Bright Globular Clusters in NGC 5128." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 3, S246 (September 2007): 418–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921308016074.
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AbstractWe present an analysis of the radial velocities and velocity dispersions for 27 bright globular clusters in the nearby elliptical galaxy NGC 5128 (Centaurus A). For 22 clusters we combine our new velocity dispersion measurements with the information on the structural parameters, either from the literature when available or from our own data, in order to derive the cluster masses and mass-to-light (M/L) ratios. The masses range from 1.2 × 105M⊙, typical of Galactic globular clusters, to 1.4 × 107M⊙, similar to more massive dwarf globular transition objects (DGTOs) or ultra compact dwarfs (UCDs) and to nuclei of nucleated dE galaxies. The average M/LV is 3±1, larger than the average M/LV of globular clusters in the Local Group galaxies. The correlations of structural parameters, velocity dispersion, masses and M/LV for the bright globular clusters extend the properties established for the most massive Local Group clusters towards those characteristic of dwarf elliptical galaxy nuclei and DGTOs/UCDs. The detection of the mass-radius and the mass-M/LV relations for the globular clusters with masses greater than ~ 2 × 106M⊙ provides the link between “normal” old globular clusters, young massive clusters, and evolved massive objects.
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Chun, Mun-Suk. "Inhomogeneities in Globular Clusters." Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia 9, no. 1 (1991): 37–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1323358000024826.
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AbstractInhomogeneities in globular clusters are reviewed with the observational evidence for chemical abundance variations from star to star in individual clusters and the large-scale structural variation of clusters. The reality of the radial colour gradient is tested in 47 Tuc (NGC 104). The result shows that the observed radial colour gradient comes from the integration of the calculated colours of individual stars. The cause of this radial colour variation is the result of the concentration of evolved stars and the reddening of the main sequence in the central region. We propose that the CNO abundance gradient in the early stage of a cluster’s formation is the interpretation of the observed radial colour gradient.
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Chernoff, David F., and Stuart L. Shapiro. "Tidal Heating of Globular Clusters." Symposium - International Astronomical Union 126 (1988): 283–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0074180900042546.
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The influence of tidal heating on the evolution of globular clusters (GC's) in circular orbits about the Galactic center is studied. Giant Molecular Clouds (GMC's) stretch a globular cluster in a direction transverse to its orbit through the disk. The variation in acceleration with height in the disk compresses the cluster in a longititudinal direction. Numerical and analytic calculations of heating and mass loss for GC's, represented by King models, show that disk heating dominates. We apply the results to calculate GC evolution prior to core collapse or tidal disruption using a three parameter (energy, mass, and tidal radius) sequence of King models. The changes in the parameters are calculated for tidal perturbations, relaxation and evaporation. Clusters close to the Galactic center (less than 3 kpc) undergo core collapse in a Hubble time. The effect of tidal perturbations on energy and mass loss of the cluster is strongest between 3 and 5 kpc where it can substantially effect the evolution of the cluster. Here, depending upon their initial concentration, clusters are either tidally heated and dissolved, or forced towards a gravothermal catastrophe in times that are a fraction of a Hubble time. These inner regions of the Galaxy should be fertile territory for the search for post-collapsed clusters.
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Chiboucas, Kristin, Peter Ferguson, R. Brent Tully, David Carter, Steven Phillipps, and Eric Peng. "The UCD Population of the Coma Cluster." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 12, S316 (August 2015): 253–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921315008893.
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AbstractUCDs are super massive star clusters found largely in dense regions but have also been found around individual galaxies and in smaller groups. Their origin is still under debate but consensus is that they formed either during major galaxy mergers as mergers of super massive star clusters, are simply the high mass end of the globular cluster luminosity function and formed in the same way as globular clusters, or that they formed from the threshing of galaxies and are remnant nuclear star clusters, which themselves may have formed from the mergers of globular star clusters within galaxies. We are attempting to disentangle these competing formation scenarios with a large survey of UCDs in the Coma cluster. Using ACS two-passband imaging from the HST/ACS Coma Cluster Treasury Survey, we are using colors and sizes to identify the UCD cluster members. With a large sample within the core region of the Coma cluster, we will use the population size, properties, and spatial distribution, and comparison with the Coma globular cluster and nuclear star cluster populations to discriminate between the threshing and globular cluster scenarios. In particular, previously we have found a possible correlation of UCD colors with host galaxy and a possible excess of UCDs around a non-central giant galaxy with an unusually large globular cluster population, both suggestive of a globular cluster origin. With a larger sample size, we are investigating whether the color correlation with host persists and whether the UCD population is consistent with, or in excess of, the bright end of the GCLF. We present initial results from the survey.
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Piatti, Andrés E. "Discovery of rotation axis alignments in Milky Way globular clusters." Astronomy & Astrophysics 638 (June 2020): L12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202038494.
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There is an increasing number of recent observational results that show that some globular clusters exhibit internal rotation while they travel along their orbital trajectories around the Milky Way center. Based on these findings, we searched for any relationship between the inclination angles of the globular cluster orbits with respect to the Milky Way plane and those of their rotation. We discovered that the relative inclination, in the sense of inclination of the rotation axis to orbit axis, is a function of the orbit inclination of the globular cluster. Rotation and orbit axes are aligned for an inclination of ∼56°, while the rotation axis inclination is far from the orbit inclination between ∼20° and −20° when the latter increases from 0° up to 90°. We further investigated the origin of this linear relationship and found no correlation with the semimajor axes and eccentricities of the globular cluster orbits, nor with the internal rotation strength, the globular cluster sizes, actual and tidally disrupted masses, or half-mass relaxation times, among others. The uncovered relationship will affect the development of numerical simulations of the internal rotation of globular clusters, our understanding of the interaction of globular clusters with the gravitational field of the Milky Way, and the observational campaigns made to increase the number of globular clusters with detected internal rotation.
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Webb, Jeremy J., and Raymond G. Carlberg. "The likelihood of undiscovered globular clusters in the outskirts of the Milky Way." Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 502, no. 3 (February 9, 2021): 4547–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab353.
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ABSTRACT The currently known Galactic globular cluster population extends out to a maximum galactocentric distance of ∼145 kpc, with the peculiarity that the outermost clusters predominantly have an inward velocity. Orbit averaging finds that this configuration occurs by chance about $6{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the time, suggesting that several globular clusters with positive radial velocities remain undiscovered. We evaluate the expected number of undiscovered clusters at large distances under the assumption that the cluster population has a smooth radial distribution and is in equilibrium within the Milky Way’s virial radius. By comparing the present day kinematic properties of outer clusters to random orbital configurations of the Galactic globular cluster system through orbit averaging, we estimate a likelihood of $73{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of there being at least one undiscovered globular cluster within the Milky Way. This estimate assumes the current population is complete out to 50 kpc, and increases to $91{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ if the population is complete out to 150 kpc. The likelihood of there being two undiscovered clusters is between $60$ and $70{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, with the likelihood of there being three undiscovered clusters being on the order of $50{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. The most likely scenario is that the undiscovered clusters are moving outwards, which results in the outer cluster population being consistent with an equilibrium state. Searches for distant and possibly quite low concentration and very low metallicity globular clusters will be enabled with upcoming deep imaging surveys.
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Tiongco, Maria A., Enrico Vesperini, and Anna Lisa Varri. "Kinematical evolution of Globular Clusters." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 14, S351 (May 2019): 524–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921319009207.
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AbstractWe present several results of the study of the evolution of globular clusters’ internal kinematics, as driven by two-body relaxation and the interplay between internal angular momentum and the external Galactic tidal field. Via a large suite of N-body simulations, we explored the three-dimensional velocity space of tidally perturbed clusters, by characterizing their degree of velocity dispersion anisotropy and their rotational properties. These studies have shown that a cluster’s kinematical properties contain distinct imprints of the cluster’s initial structural properties, dynamical history, and tidal environment. Building on this fundamental understanding, we then studied the dynamics of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters, with attention to the largely unexplored role of angular momentum.
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Ashman, Keith M. "Globular Clusters and Dark Clusters." Symposium - International Astronomical Union 130 (1988): 590. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0074180900137167.
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Fall and Rees have suggested that thermal instability in the collapsing gas of a protogalaxy gives rise to cool clouds embedded in a hot medium. They argue that the temperature of the clouds cannot fall below 104K, since metals and molecular coolants are absent. Clouds with masses exceeding 106M⊙ are gravitationally unstable and are identified as the precursors of globular clusters. This model has difficulty in explaining high-metallicity globular clusters, since metals provide cooling down to ∼102K or below, thus considerably reducing the cloud Jeans mass. The same problem arises if H2 cooling occurs.
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Grindlay, Jonathan E. "X-Ray Binaries in Globular Clusters." Symposium - International Astronomical Union 126 (1988): 347–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0074180900042595.
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X-ray binaries in globular clusters provide a powerful tool for the exploration of the evolution of compact binaries and their host globular clusters. Recent x-ray and optical studies of these systems have yielded long-sought binary periods and fundamental properties for two sources (in NGC 6624 and M 15). It appears that tidal capture formation of compact binaries in globular clusters can proceed by several different routes and lead to exotic systems such as the white dwarf-neutron star binary with an 11-minute period recently discovered in NGC 6624. Combined with previously reported long-term periods for several globular cluster (and field) x-ray sources, this suggests again that many of these systems may in fact be hierarchical triple systems. The prospects for forming these in the dense cores of clusters undergoing core collapse is discussed, and searches for color gradients in the cores of globular clusters showing cusps in their central surface brightness distribution are presented. A program to test for the high central density of binaries (and triples) expected in cusp clusters by searching for diffuse line emission from their constituent cataclysmic variables is briefly described. Finally, the case for globular cluster disruption and the formation of galactic x-ray burst source is reviewed in light of recent developments.
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Danieli, Shany, Pieter van Dokkum, Sebastian Trujillo-Gomez, J. M. Diederik Kruijssen, Aaron J. Romanowsky, Scott Carlsten, Zili Shen, et al. "NGC 5846-UDG1: A Galaxy Formed Mostly by Star Formation in Massive, Extremely Dense Clumps of Gas." Astrophysical Journal Letters 927, no. 2 (March 1, 2022): L28. http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac590a.
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Abstract It has been shown that ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) have higher specific frequencies of globular clusters, on average, than other dwarf galaxies with similar luminosities. The UDG NGC 5846-UDG1 is among the most extreme examples of globular cluster–rich galaxies found so far. Here we present new Hubble Space Telescope observations and analysis of this galaxy and its globular cluster system. We find that NGC 5846-UDG1 hosts 54 ± 9 globular clusters, three to four times more than any previously known galaxy with a similar luminosity and higher than reported in previous studies. With a galaxy luminosity of L V,gal ≈ 6 × 107 L ⊙ (M ⋆ ≈ 1.2 × 108 M ⊙) and a total globular cluster luminosity of L V,GCs ≈ 7.6 × 106 L ⊙, we find that the clusters currently comprise ∼13% of the total light. Taking into account the effects of mass loss from clusters during their formation and throughout their lifetime, we infer that most of the stars in the galaxy likely formed in globular clusters, and very little to no “normal” low-density star formation occurred. This result implies that the most extreme conditions during early galaxy formation promoted star formation in massive and dense clumps, in contrast to the dispersed star formation observed in galaxies today.
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Zinn, Robert. "An Overview of the Globular Cluster System of the Galaxy." Symposium - International Astronomical Union 126 (1988): 37–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0074180900042376.
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Harlow Shapley (1918) used the positions of globular clusters in space to determine the dimensions of our Galaxy. His conclusion that the Sun does not lie near the center of the Galaxy is widely recognized as one of the most important astronomical discoveries of this century. Nearly as important, but much less publicized, was his realization that, unlike stars, open clusters, HII regions and planetary nebulae, globular clusters are not concentrated near the plane of the Milky Way. His data showed that the globular clusters are distributed over very large distances from the galactic plane and the galactic center. Ever since this discovery that the Galaxy has a vast halo containing globular clusters, it has been clear that these clusters are key objects for probing the evolution of the Galaxy. Later work, which showed that globular clusters are very old and, on average, very metal poor, underscored their importance. In the spirit of this research, which started with Shapley's, this review discusses the characteristics of the globular cluster system that have the most bearing on the evolution of the Galaxy.
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Piatti, Andrés E. "Dark Energy Camera photometry reveals extra-tidal stars around the Milky Way globular cluster NGC 6864 (M75)." Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 509, no. 3 (November 10, 2021): 3709–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab3238.
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ABSTRACT Globular clusters are prone to lose stars while moving around the Milky Way. These stars escape the clusters and are distributed throughout extended envelopes or tidal tails. However, such extra-tidal structures are not observed in all globular clusters, and yet there are no structural or dynamical parameters that can predict their presence or absence. NGC 6864 is an outer halo globular cluster with reported no observed tidal tails. We used Dark Energy Camera photometry reaching ∼4 mag underneath its main-sequence turnoff to confidently detect an extra-tidal envelope, and stellar debris spread across the cluster outskirts. These features emerged once robust field star filtering techniques were applied to the fainter end of the observed cluster main sequence. NGC 6864 is associated to the Gaia-Enceladus dwarf galaxy, among others 28 globular clusters. Up-to-date, nearly 64${{\ \rm per\,cent}}$ of them have been targeted looking for tidal tails and most of them have been confirmed to exhibit tidal tails. Thus, the present outcomes allow us to speculate on the possibility that Gaia-Enceladus globular clusters share a common pattern of mass loss by tidal disruption.
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Bianchini, P., A. L. Varri, G. Bertin, and A. Zocchi. "ROTATING GLOBULAR CLUSTERS." Astrophysical Journal 772, no. 1 (July 8, 2013): 67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/772/1/67.
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