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Register a new userGemini/GMOS Spectra of Globular Clusters in the Leo Group Elliptical NGC 3379
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Michael Pierce
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We have obtained Gemini/GMOS spectra for 22 GCs associated with NGC 3379. We derive ages, metallicities and alpha-element abundance ratios from simple stellar population models using the multi-index chi^2 minimisation method of Proctor & Sansom (2002). All of these GCs are found to be consistent with old ages, i.e. >10 Gyr, with a wide range of metallicities. A trend of decreasing alpha-element abundance ratio with increasing metallicity is indicated. The projected velocity dispersion of the GC system is consistent with being constant with radius. Non-parametric, isotropic models require a significant increase in the mass-to-light ratio at large radii. This result is in contrast to that of Romanowsky et al. (2003) who find a decrease in the velocity dispersion profile as determined from planetary nebulae. Our constant dispersion requires a normal sized dark halo, although without anisotropic models we cannot rigorously determine the dark halo mass. A two-sided chi^2 test over all radii, gives a 2 sigma difference between the mass profile derived from our GCs compared to the PN-derived mass model of Romanowsky et al. (2003). However, if we restrict our analysis to radii beyond one effective radius and test if the GC velocity dispersion is consistently higher, we determine a >3 sigma difference between the mass models, and hence favor the conclusion that NGC 3379 does indeed have dark matter at large radii in its halo. (abridged)
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NGC 4649 (M60) is one of a handful of giant Virgo ellipticals. We have obtained Gemini/GMOS spectra for 38 GCs associated with this galaxy. Applying the multi-index chi^2 minimisation technique of Proctor & Sansom (2002) with the single stellar population models of Thomas, Maraston & Korn (2004) we derive ages, metallicities and alpha-element abundance ratios. We find several young (2--3 Gyr old) super-solar metallicity GCs, while the majority are old (>10 Gyrs), spanning a range of metallicities from solar to [Z/H]=-2. At least two of these young GCs are at large projected radii of 17-20 kpc. The galaxy itself shows no obvious signs of a recent starburst, interaction or merger. A trend of decreasing alpha-element ratio with increasing metallicity is found.
We present Sloan g and i imaging from the GMOS instrument on the Gemini North telescope for the globular cluster (GC) system around the Virgo galaxy NGC 4649 (M60). Our three pointings, taken in good seeing conditions, cover an area of about 90 sq. arcmins. We detect 2,151 unresolved sources. Applying colour and magnitude selection criteria to this source list gives 995 candidate GCs that is greater than 90% complete to a magnitude of i = 23.6, with little contamination from background galaxies. We find fewer than half a dozen potential Ultra Compact Dwarf galaxies around NGC 4649. Foreground extinction from the nearby spiral NGC 4647 is limited to be A_V < 0.1. We confirm the bimodality in the GC colour distribution found by earlier work using HST/WFPC2 imaging. As is commonly seen in other galaxies, the red GCs are concentrated towards the centre of the galaxy, having a steeper number density profile than the blue GC subpopulation. The varying ratio of red-to-blue GCs with radius can largely explain the overall GC system colour gradient. The underlying galaxy starlight has a similar density profile slope and colour to the red GCs. This suggests a direct connection between the galaxy field stars and the red GC subpopulation. We estimate a total GC population of 3700 +/- 900, with the uncertainty dominated by the extrapolation to larger radii than observed. This total number corresponds to a specific frequency S_N = 4.1 +/- 1.0. Future work will present properties derived from GMOS spectra of the NGC 4649 GCs.
We present a technique to extract ultra-deep diffuse-light spectra from the standard multi-object spectroscopic observations used to investigate extragalactic globular cluster (GC) systems. This technique allows a clean extraction of the spectrum of the host galaxy diffuse light from the same slitlets as the GC targets. We show the utility of the method for investigating the kinematics and stellar populations of galaxies at radii much greater than usually probed in longslit studies, at no additional expense in terms of telescope time. To demonstrate this technique we present Gemini/GMOS spectroscopy of 29 GCs associated with the elliptical galaxy NGC 3923. We compare the measured stellar population parameters of the GC system with those of the spheroid of NGC 3923 at the same projected radii, and find the GCs to have old ages (> 10 Gyr), [alpha/Fe]~0.3 and a range of metallicities running from [Z/H] = -1.8 to +0.35. The diffuse light of the galaxy is found to have ages, metallicities and [alpha/Fe] abundance ratios indistinguishable from those of the red GCs.
We present wide-field spectroscopy of globular clusters around the Leo I group galaxies NGC 3379 and NGC 3384 using the FLAMES multi-fibre instrument at the VLT. We obtain accurate radial velocities for 42 globular clusters (GCs) in total, 30 for GCs around the elliptical NGC 3379, eight around the lenticular NGC 3384, and four which may be associated with either galaxy. These data are notable for their large radial range extending from 07 to 145 (2 to 42 kpc) from the centre of NGC 3379, and small velocity uncertainties of about 10 km/s. We combine our sample of 30 radial velocities for globular clusters around NGC 3379 with 8 additional GC velocities from the literature, and find a projected velocity dispersion of 175(+24/-22) km/s at R < 5 and 147(+44/-39) at R > 5. These velocity dispersions are consistent with a dark matter halo around NGC 3379 with a concentration in the range expected from a LCDM cosmological model and a total mass of ~ 6 x 10^11 Msun. Such a model is also consistent with the stellar velocity dispersion at small radii and the rotation of the HI ring at large radii, and has a M/L_B that increases by a factor of five from several kpc to 100 kpc. Our velocity dispersion for the globular cluster system of NGC 3379 is somewhat higher than that found for the planetary nebulae (PNe) in the inner region covered by the PN data, and we discuss possible reasons for this difference. For NGC 3384, we find the GC system has a rotation signature broadly similar to that seen in other kinematic probes of this SB0 galaxy. This suggests that significant rotation may not be unusual in the GC systems of disc galaxies.
The central regions of the three brightest members of the Leo I galaxy group -- NGC 3368, NGC 3379, and NGC 3384 -- are investigated by means of 2D spectroscopy. In all three galaxies we have found separate circumnuclear stellar and gaseous subsystems -- more probably, disks -- whose spatial orientations and spins are connected to the spatial orientation of the supergiant intergalactic HI ring reported previously by Schneider et al. (1983) and Schneider (1985, 1989). In NGC 3368 the global gaseous disk seems also to be inclined to the symmetry plane of the stellar body, being probably of external origin. Although the rather young mean stellar age and spatial orientations of the circumnuclear disks in NGC 3379, NGC 3384, and NGC 3368 could imply their recent formation from material of the intergalactic HI cloud, the time scale of these secondary formation events, of order 3 Gyr, does not support the collision scenario of Rood & Williams (1985), but is rather in line with the ideas of Schneider (1985, 1989) regarding tidal interactions of the galaxies with the HI cloud on timescales of the intergroup orbital motions.
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