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Register a new userA faint extended cluster in the outskirts of NGC 5128: evidence of a low mass accretion
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We report the discovery of an extended globular cluster in a halo field in Centaurus A (NGC 5128), situated $sim 38kpc$ from the centre of that galaxy, imaged with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on board the Hubble Space Telescope. At the distance of the galaxy, the half-light radius of the cluster is r_h ~ 17pc, placing it among the largest globular clusters known. The faint absolute magnitude of the star cluster, M_(V,o)=-5.2, and its large size render this object somewhat different from the population of extended globular clusters previously reported, making it the first firm detection in the outskirts of a giant galaxy of an analogue of the faint, diffuse globular clusters present in the outer halo of the Milky Way. The colour-magnitude diagram of the cluster, covering approximately the brightest four magnitudes of the red giant branch, is consistent with an ancient, i.e., older than ~8 Gyr, intermediate-metallicity, i.e., [M/H] ~-1.0 dex, stellar population. We also report the detection of a second, even fainter cluster candidate which would have r_h ~ 9pc, and M_(V,o)=-3.4 if it is at the distance of NGC 5128. The properties of the extended globular cluster and the diffuse stellar populations in its close vicinity suggest that they are part of a low mass accretion in the outer regions of NGC 5128.
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We present a wide field census of resolved stellar populations in the northern half of M81, conducted with Suprime-Cam on the 8-m Subaru telescope and covering an area ~ 0.3 square degrees. The resulting color-magnitude diagram reaches over one magnitude below the red giant branch (RGB) tip, allowing a detailed comparison between the young and old stellar spatial distributions. The surface density of stars with ages <~ 100 Myr is correlated with that of neutral hydrogen in a manner similar to the disk-averaged Kennicutt-Schmidt relation. We trace this correlation down to gas densities of ~ 2 x 10^20 cm^{-2}, lower than typically probed with H-alpha flux. Both diffuse light and resolved RGB star counts show compelling evidence for a faint, extended structural component beyond the bright optical disk, with a much flatter surface brightness profile. The star counts allow us to probe this component to significantly fainter levels than is possible with the diffuse light alone. From the colors of its RGB stars, we estimate this component has a peak global metallicity [M/H] ~ -1.1 +/- 0.3 at deprojected radii 32 - 44 kpc assuming an age of 10 Gyr and distance of 3.6 Mpc. The spatial distribution of its RGB stars follows a power-law surface density profile, I(r) ~ r^{-gamma}, with gamma ~ 2. [Abridged]
We used a combination of Hubble Space Telescope and ground based data to probe the dynamical state of the low mass Galactic globular cluster NGC 6101. We have re-derived the structural parameters of the cluster by using star counts and we find that it is about three times more extended than thought before. By using three different indicators, namely the radial distribution of Blue Straggler Stars, that of Main Sequence binaries and the luminosity (mass) function, we demonstrated that NGC 6101 shows no evidence of mass segregation, even in the innermost regions. Indeed, both the BSS and the binary radial distributions fully resemble that of any other cluster population. In addition the slope of the luminosity (mass) functions does not change with the distance, as expected for non relaxed stellar systems. NGC 6101 is one of the few globulars where the absence of mass segregation has been observed so far. This result provides additional support to the use of the dynamical clock calibrated on the radial distribution of the Blue Stragglers as a powerful indicator of the cluster dynamical age.
We perform a detailed abundance analysis on integrated-light spectra of 20 globular clusters (GCs) in the early-type galaxy NGC 5128 (Centaurus A). The GCs were observed with X-Shooter on the VLT. The cluster sample spans a metallicity range of $-1.92 < $ [Fe/H] $< -0.13$ dex. Using theoretical isochrones we compute synthetic integrated-light spectra and iterate the individual abundances until the best fit to the observations is obtained. We measured abundances of Mg, Ca, and Ti, and find a slightly higher enhancement in NGC 5128 GCs with metallicities [Fe/H] < $-$0.75 dex, of the order of $sim$0.1 dex, than in the average values observed in the MW for GCs of the same metallicity. If this $alpha$-enhancement in the metal-poor GCs in NGC 5128 is genuine, it could hint at a chemical enrichment history different than that experienced by the MW. We also measure Na abundances in 9 out of 20 GCs. We find evidence for intra-cluster abundance variations in 6 of these clusters where we see enhanced [Na/Fe] > $+$0.25 dex. We obtain the first abundance measurements of Cr, Mn, and Ni for a sample of the GC population in NGC 5128 and find consistency with the overall trends observed in the MW, with a slight enhancement ($<$0.1 dex) in the Fe-peak abundances measured in the NGC 5128.
This paper reports the search for quiescent low-mass X-ray binaries (qLMXBs) in the globular cluster (GC) NGC 6553 using an XMM-Newton observation designed specifically for that purpose. We spectrally identify one candidate qLMXB in the core of the cluster, based on the consistency of the spectrum with a neutron star H-atmosphere model at the distance of NGC 6553. Specifically, the best-fit radius found using the three XMM European Photon Imaging Camera spectra is R_NS=6.3(+2.3)(-0.8) km (for M_NS=1.4 Msun) and the best-fit temperature is kTeff=136 (+21)(-34) eV. Both physical parameters are in accordance with typical values of previously identified qLMXBs in GC and in the field, i.e., R_NS~5-20 km and kTeff~50-150 eV. A power-law (PL) component with a photon index Gamma=2.1(+0.5)(-0.8) is also required for the spectral fit and contributes to ~33% of the total flux of the X-ray source. A detailed analysis supports the hypothesis that the PL component originates from nearby sources in the core, unresolved with XMM. The analysis of an archived Chandra observation provides marginal additional support to the stated hypothesis. Finally, a catalog of all the sources detected within the XMM field of view is presented here.
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