No Arabic abstract
We present a comprehensive catalog of 700 confirmed star clusters in the field of M31 compiled from three major existing catalogs. We detect 418 and 257 star clusters in Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) near-ultraviolet (NUV) and far-ultraviolet (FUV) imaging, respectively. Our final catalog includes photometry of star clusters in up to 16 passbands ranging from FUV to NIR as well as ancillary information such as reddening, metallicity, and radial velocities. In particular, this is the most extensive and updated catalog of UV integrated photometry for M31 star clusters. Ages and masses of star clusters are derived by fitting the multi-band photometry with model spectral energy distribution (SED); UV photometry enables more accurate age estimation of young clusters. Our catalog includes 182 young clusters with ages less than 1 Gyr. Our estimated ages and masses of young clusters are in good agreement with previously determined values in the literature. The mean age and mass of young clusters are about 300 Myr and 10^4 M_sun, respectively. We found that the compiled [Fe/H] values of young clusters included in our catalog are systematically lower (by more than 1 dex) than those from recent high-quality spectroscopic data and our SED fitting result. We confirm that most of the young clusters kinematics show systematic rotation around the minor axis and association with the thin disk of M31. The young clusters distribution exhibits a distinct peak in the M31 disk around 10 - 12 kpc from the center and follow a spatial distributions similar to other tracers of disk structure such as OB stars, UV star-forming regions, and dust. Some young clusters also show concentration around the ring splitting regions found in the southern part of the M31 disk and most of them have systematically younger (< 100 Myr) ages.
We present ultraviolet (UV) photometry of M31 globular clusters (GCs) found in 23 Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) images covering the entirety of M31. We detect 485 and 273 GCs (and GC candidates) in the near-ultraviolet (NUV; 2267 A) and far-ultraviolet (FUV; 1516 A), respectively. Comparing M31 data with those of Galactic GCs in the UV with the aid of population models, we find that the age ranges of old GCs in M31 and the Galactic halo are similar. Three metal-rich ([Fe/H]>-1) GCs in M31 produce significant FUV flux making their FUV-V colors unusually blue for their metallicities. These are thought to be analogs of the two peculiar Galactic GCs NGC 6388 and NGC 6441 with extended blue HB stars. Based on the models incorporating helium enriched subpopulations in addition to the majority of the population that have a normal helium abundance, we suggest that even small fraction of super-helium-rich subpopulations in GCs can reproduce the observed UV bright metal-rich GCs. Young clusters in M31 show distinct UV and optical properties from GCs in Milky Way. Population models indicate that their typical age is less than ~ 2 Gyrs. A large fraction of young GCs have the kinematics of the thin, rapidly rotating disk component. However, a subset of the old GCs also shares the thin-disk kinematics of the younger clusters. The existence of young GCs on the outskirts of M31 disk suggests the occurrence of a significant recent star formation in the thin-disk of M31. Old thin-disk GCs may set constraints on the epoch of early formation of the M31 thin-disk. We detect 12 (10) intermediate-age GC candidates in NUV (FUV). We suggest that some of spectroscopically identified intermediate-age GCs may not be truly intermediate in age, but rather older GCs that possess developed HB.
We present ultraviolet photometry for globular clusters (GCs) in M31 from 15 square deg of imaging using the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). We detect 200 and 94 GCs with certainty in the near-ultraviolet (NUV; 1750 - 2750 Angstroms) and far-ultraviolet (FUV; 1350 - 1750 Angstroms) bandpasses, respectively. Our rate of detection is about 50% in the NUV and 23% in the FUV, to an approximate limiting V magnitude of 19. Out of six clusters with [Fe/H]>-1 seen in the NUV, none is detected in the FUV bandpass. Furthermore, we find no candidate metal-rich clusters with significant FUV flux, because of the contribution of blue horizontal-branch (HB) stars, such as NGC 6388 and NGC 6441, which are metal-rich Galactic GCs with hot HB stars. We show that our GALEX photometry follows the general color trends established in previous UV studies of GCs in M31 and the Galaxy. Comparing our data with Galactic GCs in the UV and with population synthesis models, we suggest that the age range of M31 and Galactic halo GCs are similar.
We analyze our accurate kinematical data for the old clusters in the inner regions of M31. These velocities are based on high S/N Hectospec data (Caldwell et al 2010). The data are well suited for analysis of M31s inner regions because we took particular care to correct for contamination by unresolved field stars from the disk and bulge in the fibers. The metal poor clusters show kinematics which are compatible with a pressure-supported spheroid. The kinematics of metal-rich clusters, however, argue for a disk population. In particular the innermost region (inside 2 kpc) shows the kinematics of the x2 family of bar periodic orbits, arguing for the existence of an inner Lindblad resonance in M31.
In this paper, we present photometry for young star clusters in M31, which are selected from Caldwell et al. These star clusters have been observed as part of the Beijing--Arizona--Taiwan--Connecticut (BATC) Multicolor Sky Survey from 1995 February to 2008 March. The BATC images including these star clusters are taken with 15 intermediate-band filters covering 3000--10000 AA. Combined with photometry in the {sl GALEX} far- and near-ultraviolet, broad-band $UBVRI$, SDSS $ugriz$, and infrared $JHK_{rm s}$ of Two Micron All Sky Survey, we obtain their accurate spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from 1538-20000 AA. We derive these star clusters ages and masses by comparing their SEDs with stellar population synthesis models. Our results are in good agreement with previous determinations. The mean value of age and mass of young clusters ($<2$ Gyr) is about 385 Myr and $2times 10^4 {M_odot}$, respectively. There are two distinct peaks in the age distribution, a highest peak at age $sim$ 60 Myr and a secondary peak around 250 Myr, while the mass distribution shows a single peak around $10^4 {M_odot}$. A few young star clusters have two-body relaxation times greater than their ages, indicating that those clusters have not been well dynamically relaxed and therefore have not established the thermal equilibrium. There are several regions showing aggregations of young star clusters around the 10 kpc ring and the outer ring, indicating that the distribution of the young star clusters is well correlated with M31s star-forming regions. The young massive star clusters (age $leq 100$ Myr and mass $geq 10^4 {M_odot}$) show apparent concentration around the ring splitting region, suggesting a recent passage of a satellite galaxy (M32) through M31 disk.
We present the photometry of 30 globular clusters (GCs) and GC candidates in 15 intermediate-band filters covering from ~3000 to ~10000 AA using the archival CCD images of M31 observed as part of the Beijing - Arizona - Taiwan - Connecticut (BATC) Multicolour Sky Survey. We transform these intermediate-band photometric data to the photometry in the standard UBVRI broad-bands. These M31 GC candidates are selected from the Revised Bologna Catalogue (RBC V.3.5), and most of these candidates do not have any photometric data. Therefore the present photometric data are supplement to RBC V.3.5. We find that 4 out of 61 GCs and GC candidates in RBC V.3.5 do not show any signal on the BATC images at their locations. By linear fit of the distribution in colour-magnitude diagram of blue GCs and GC candidates using the data from RBC V.3.5, and in this study we find the ``blue-tilt of blue M31 GCs with a high confidence at 99.95% or 3.47 sigma for the confirmed GCs, and >99.99% or 4.87 sigma for GCs and GC candidates.