TY - JOUR
T1 - The acs virgo cluster survey. IX. The color distributions of globular cluster systems in early-type galaxies
AU - Peng, Eric W.
AU - Jordán, Andrés
AU - Côté, Patrick
AU - Blakeslee, John P.
AU - Ferrarese, Laura
AU - Mei, Simona
AU - West, Michael J.
AU - Merritt, David
AU - Milosavljević, Milos
AU - Tonry, John L.
PY - 2006/3/1
Y1 - 2006/3/1
N2 - We present the color distributions of globular cluster (GC) systems for 100 early-type galaxies observed in the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey, the deepest and most homogeneous survey of this kind to date. On average, galaxies at all luminosities in our study (-22 < MB < -15) appear to have bimodal or asymmetric GC color distributions. Almost all galaxies possess a component of metal-poor GCs, with the average fraction of metal-rich GCs ranging from 15% to 60% and increasing with luminosity. The colors of both subpopulations correlate with host galaxy luminosity and color, with the red GCs having a steeper slope. To convert color to metallicity, we introduce a preliminary (g - z)-[Fe/H] relation calibrated to Galactic, M49, and M87 GCs. This relation is nonlinear, with a steeper slope for [Fe/H] ≲ -0.8. As a result, the metallicities of the metal-poor and metal-rich GCs vary similarly with respect to galaxy luminosity and stellar mass, with relations of [Fe/H]MP ∝ L0.16±0.04 ∝ M*0.17±0.04 and [Fe/H]MR ∝ L 0.26±0.03 ∝ M*0.22±0.03 respectively. Although these relations are shallower than the mass-metallicity relation predicted by wind models and observed for dwarf galaxies, they are very similar to the relation observed for star-forming galaxies in the same mass range. The offset between the two GC populations is approximately 1 dex across 3 orders of magnitude in mass, suggesting a nearly universal amount of enrichment between the formation of the two populations of GCs. We also find that although the metal-rich GCs show a larger dispersion in color, it is the metal-poor GCs that have an equal or larger dispersion in metallicity. The similarity in the M*-[Fe/H] relations for the two populations implies that the conditions of GC formation for metal-poor and metal-rich GCs could not have been too different. Like the color-magnitude relation, these relations derived from globular clusters present stringent constraints on the formation and evolution of early-type galaxies.
AB - We present the color distributions of globular cluster (GC) systems for 100 early-type galaxies observed in the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey, the deepest and most homogeneous survey of this kind to date. On average, galaxies at all luminosities in our study (-22 < MB < -15) appear to have bimodal or asymmetric GC color distributions. Almost all galaxies possess a component of metal-poor GCs, with the average fraction of metal-rich GCs ranging from 15% to 60% and increasing with luminosity. The colors of both subpopulations correlate with host galaxy luminosity and color, with the red GCs having a steeper slope. To convert color to metallicity, we introduce a preliminary (g - z)-[Fe/H] relation calibrated to Galactic, M49, and M87 GCs. This relation is nonlinear, with a steeper slope for [Fe/H] ≲ -0.8. As a result, the metallicities of the metal-poor and metal-rich GCs vary similarly with respect to galaxy luminosity and stellar mass, with relations of [Fe/H]MP ∝ L0.16±0.04 ∝ M*0.17±0.04 and [Fe/H]MR ∝ L 0.26±0.03 ∝ M*0.22±0.03 respectively. Although these relations are shallower than the mass-metallicity relation predicted by wind models and observed for dwarf galaxies, they are very similar to the relation observed for star-forming galaxies in the same mass range. The offset between the two GC populations is approximately 1 dex across 3 orders of magnitude in mass, suggesting a nearly universal amount of enrichment between the formation of the two populations of GCs. We also find that although the metal-rich GCs show a larger dispersion in color, it is the metal-poor GCs that have an equal or larger dispersion in metallicity. The similarity in the M*-[Fe/H] relations for the two populations implies that the conditions of GC formation for metal-poor and metal-rich GCs could not have been too different. Like the color-magnitude relation, these relations derived from globular clusters present stringent constraints on the formation and evolution of early-type galaxies.
KW - Galaxies: elliptical and lenticular, cD
KW - Galaxies: evolution
KW - Galaxies: star clusters
KW - Globular clusters: general
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33645011147&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1086/498210
DO - 10.1086/498210
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:33645011147
SN - 0004-637X
VL - 639
SP - 95
EP - 119
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
IS - 1 I
ER -