In Moby Dick, Herman Melville wondered how - or what - whales see with eyes on opposite sides of their heads. It is plain that he can never see an object which is exactly ahead... Is his brain so much more comprehensive, combining and subtle than man
s that he can at the same moment of time attentively examine two distinct prospects, one on one side of him, and the other in an exactly opposite direction? he asked. Its a good question. But if Melville were alive today he might have pondered something perhaps even more intriguing: Can whales see the stars?
We examine the properties of a previously discovered population of globular clusters in the heart of the rich galaxy cluster Abell 1185 that might be intergalactic in nature. Deep images obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard Hubb
le Space Telescope (HST) confirm the presence of ~ 1300 globular clusters brighter than I_{F814W} = 27.3 mag in a field devoid of any large galaxies. The luminosities and colors of these objects are found to be similar to those of metal-poor globular clusters observed in many galaxies to date. Although a significant fraction of the detected globular clusters undoubtedly reside in the outer halos of galaxies adjacent to this field, detailed modeling of their distribution suggests that the majority of these objects are likely to be intergalactic, in the sense that they are not gravitationally bound to any individual galaxy. We conclude that the true nature and origin of the globular cluster population in the core of A1185 -- galactic residents or intergalactic wanderers -- remains uncertain, and suggest how future observation could resolve this ambiguity.
Societys view of astronomers has changed over time and from culture to culture. This review discusses some of the many ways that astronomers have been perceived by their societies and suggests ways that astronomers can influence public perception of ourselves and our profession in the future.
