No Arabic abstract
We present three newly discovered globular clusters (GCs) in the Local Group dwarf irregular NGC 6822. Two are luminous and compact, while the third is a very low luminosity diffuse cluster. We report the integrated optical photometry of the clusters, drawing on archival CFHT/Megacam data. The spatial positions of the new GCs are consistent with the linear alignment of the already-known clusters. The most luminous of the new GCs is also highly elliptical, which we speculate may be due to the low tidal field in its environment.
We present nine newly discovered globular clusters in the outer halo of M31, found by a semi-automated procedure from a INT Wide Field Camera survey of the region. The sample includes a candidate at the yet largest known projected galactocentric radius from M31.
We report the first results from deep ACS imaging of ten classical globular clusters in the far outer regions (15 < R_p < 100 kpc) of M31. Eight of the clusters, including two of the most remote M31 globular clusters presently known, are described for the first time. Our F606W, F814W colour-magnitude diagrams extend ~ 3 magnitudes below the horizontal branch and clearly demonstrate that the majority of these objects are old (> 10 Gyr), metal-poor clusters. Five have [Fe/H] ~ -2.1, while an additional four have -1.9 < [Fe/H] < -1.5. The remaining object is more metal-rich, with [Fe/H] ~ -0.70. Several clusters exhibit the second parameter effect. Using aperture photometry, we estimate integrated luminosities and structural parameters for all clusters. Many, including all four clusters with projected radii greater than 45 kpc, are compact and very luminous, with -8.9 < M_V < -8.3. These four outermost clusters are thus quite unlike their Milky Way counterparts, which are typically diffuse, sub-luminous (-6.0 < M_V < -4.7) and more metal-rich (-1.8 < [Fe/H] < -1.3).
We present new abundance measurements for eleven GCs in the Local Group galaxies NGC 147, NGC 6822, and Messier 33. These are combined with previously published observations of four GCs in the Fornax and WLM galaxies. The abundances were determined from analysis of integrated-light spectra, obtained with HIRES on the Keck I telescope and with UVES on the VLT. We find that the clusters with [Fe/H]<-1.5 are all alpha-enhanced at about the same level as Milky Way GCs. Their Na abundances are also generally enhanced relative to Milky Way halo stars, suggesting that these extragalactic GCs resemble their Milky Way counterparts in containing significant fractions of Na-rich stars. For [Fe/H]>-1.5, the GCs in M33 are also alpha-enhanced, while the GCs that belong to dwarfs (NGC 6822 SC7 and Fornax 4) have closer to Solar-scaled alpha-element abundances, thus mimicking the abundance trends observed in field stars in nearby dwarf galaxies. The abundance patterns in SC7 are remarkably similar to those in the Galactic GC Ruprecht 106, including significantly sub-solar [Na/Fe] and [Ni/Fe] ratios. In NGC 147, the GCs with [Fe/H]<-2.0 account for about 6% of the total luminosity of stars in the same metallicity range, a lower fraction than those previously found in the Fornax and WLM galaxies, but substantially higher than in the Milky Way halo.
We take advantage of the high sensitivity of the IBIS/ISGRI telescope and the improvements in the data analysis software to investigate the nature of the still poorly known X-ray source AX J1910.7+0917, and search for close-by previously undetected objects. We analyze all publicly available INTEGRAL data of AX J1910.7+0917, together with a number of archival observations that were carried out in the direction of the source with Chandra, XMM-Newton, and ASCA. In the IBIS/ISGRI field-of-view around AX J1910.7+0917, we discovered three new sources: IGR J19173+0747, IGR J19294+1327 and IGR J19149+1036; the latter is positionally coincident with the Einstein source 2E 1912.5+1031. For the first two sources, we also report the results of follow-up observations carried out with Swift/XRT. AX J1910.7+0917 features a clear variability in the X-rays. Its spectrum can be well described with an absorbed (N_H~6x10^(22) cm^(-2)) power-law ({Gamma}~1.5) model plus an iron line at ~6.4 keV. We also obtained a refined position and report on possible infrared counterparts. The present data do not allow for a unique classification of the sources. Based on the property of its X-ray emission and the analysis of a likely infrared counterpart, we investigate different possibilities for the nature of AX J1910.7+0917.
We have identified three ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) hosted by globular clusters (GCs) within NGC 1316s stellar system. These discoveries bring the total number of known ULXs in GCs up to 20. We find that the X-ray spectra of the three new sources do not deviate from the established pattern of spectral behaviour of the other known GC ULXs. The consistency of the X-ray spectral behaviour for these sources points to multiple paths of formation and evolution mechanisms for these rare and unique sources. Using the now larger sample of GC ULXs, we compare the optical properties of the entire known population of GC ULXs to other GCs across five galaxies and find that the properties of clusters that host ULXs are quite different from the typical clusters. Lastly, any trend of GC ULXs being preferentially hosted by metal-rich clusters is not strongly significant in this sample.