ترغب بنشر مسار تعليمي؟ اضغط هنا

Probing the Intermediate-Age Globular Clusters in NGC 5128 from Ultraviolet Observations

107   0   0.0 ( 0 )
 نشر من قبل Yongbeom Kang
 تاريخ النشر 2009
  مجال البحث فيزياء
والبحث باللغة English




اسأل ChatGPT حول البحث

We explore the age distribution of the globular cluster (GC) system of the nearby elliptical galaxy NGC 5128 using ultraviolet (UV) photometry from Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) observations, with UV - optical colors used as the age indicator. Most GCs in NGC 5128 follow the general trends of GCs in M31 and Milky Way in UV - optical color-color diagram, which indicates that the majority of GCs in NGC 5128 are old similar to the age range of old GCs in M31 and Milky Way. A large fraction of spectroscopically identified intermediate-age GC (IAGC) candidates with ~ 3-8 Gyr are not detected in the FUV passband. Considering the nature of intermediate-age populations being faint in the far-UV (FUV) passband, we suggest that many of the spectroscopically identified IAGCs may be truly intermediate in age. This is in contrast to the case of M31 where a large fraction of spectroscopically suggested IAGCs are detected in FUV and therefore may not be genuine IAGCs but rather older GCs with developed blue horizontal branch stars. Our UV photometry strengthens the results previously suggesting the presence of GC and stellar subpopulation with intermediate age in NGC 5128. The existence of IAGCs strongly indicates the occurrence of at least one more major star formation episode after a starburst at high redshift.



قيم البحث

اقرأ أيضاً

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 $-1.9 2 < $ [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.
We present the results of combining Hubble Space Telescope optical photometry with ground-based Ks-band photometry from the Gemini imagers NIRI and FLAMINGOS-I to study the globular-cluster populations in four early-type galaxies that are candidate r emnants of recent mergers (NGC1700, NGC2865, NGC4382, and NGC7727). These galaxies were chosen based on their blue colors and fine structure, such as shells and ripples that are indicative of past interactions. We fit the combined VIKs globular-cluster data with simple toy models of mixed cluster populations that contain three subpopulations of different age and metallicity. The fits, done via Chi-square mapping of the parameter space, yield clear evidence for the presence of intermediate-age clusters in each galaxy. We find that the ages of 1-2 Gyr for these globular-cluster subpopulations are consistent with the previously estimated merger ages for the host galaxies.
104 - S.K. Yi 2004
We present the results of our analysis of the photometric data of globular clusters in the elliptical galaxy NGC 5128 (Cen A). We show that the integrated colour U-B can be an effective metallicity indicator for simple stellar populations. This is be cause it is sensitive to metallicity via the opacity effect but relatively insensitive to the effective main sequence turn-off temperature of the population (and thus to age) when Teff ~ 7000-12000K, that is, when the Balmer Jump is strong. This flat U-B vs Teff relation is a result of the fact that the blueing effect of the optical continuum with increasing temperature is temporarily stopped by the Balmer Jump which becomes greater with temperature in this range. In this study we use U-B and B-V as metallicity and age indicators, respectively. We first show that the use of the U-B vs B-V two-colour diagram roughly yields the metallicities and ages of the Milky Way globular clusters independently determined, and then apply the technique to the clusters in NGC 5128. There is a large range in U-B, which corresponds to [Fe/H] of -2.0 through over +0.3. The large uncertainties from the data and the models currently prevent us from pinning down their ages and metallicities. Although a constant age for all these clusters cannot be ruled out, there is a hint of the metal-rich clusters being younger. Significance of these results and caveats of the analysis are discussed.
117 - R. Kotulla , U. Fritze , P. Anders 2008
Globular Cluster Systems (GCSs) of most early-type galaxies feature two peaks in their optical colour distributions. Blue-peak GCs are believed to be old and metal-poor, whereas the ages, metallicities, and the origin of the red-peak GCs are still be ing debated. We obtained deep K-band photometry and combined it with HST observations in g and z to yield a full SED from optical to near-infrared. This now allows us to break the age-metallicity degeneracy. We used our evolutionary synthesis models GALEV for star clusters to compute a large grid of models with different metallicities and a wide range of ages. Comparing these models to our observations revealed a large population of intermediate-age (1-3 Gyr) and metalrich (~ solar metallicity) globular clusters, that will give us further insights into the formation history of this galaxy.
68 - S. S. Larsen 2002
We present spectroscopy for globular clusters (GCs) in the elliptical galaxy NGC 4365, obtained with the LRIS spectrograph on the Keck I telescope. Previous studies have shown that the optical color distribution of GCs in NGC 4365 lacks the bimodal s tructure that is common in globular cluster systems, showing only a single broad peak. Measurements of Balmer line indices (Hbeta, Hgamma and Hdelta) on the GC spectra support recent suggestions by Puzia et al., based on optical and near-infrared photometry, that some of the clusters in NGC 4365 are intermediate-age (2-5 Gyrs) and metal-rich (-0.4<[Z/H]<0) rather than old (~10-15 Gyrs) and metal-poor. We also find some genuinely metal-poor, old clusters, suggesting that the ages and metallicities of the two populations conspire to produce the single broad distribution observed in optical colors.
التعليقات
جاري جلب التعليقات جاري جلب التعليقات
سجل دخول لتتمكن من متابعة معايير البحث التي قمت باختيارها
mircosoft-partner

هل ترغب بارسال اشعارات عن اخر التحديثات في شمرا-اكاديميا