Detecting metal-rich intermediate-age globular clusters inNGC4570 using K-band photometry

Globular cluster systems (GCSs) of most early-type galaxies feature two peaks in their optical colour distributions. Blue-peak globular clusters (GCs) are believed to be old and metal-poor, whereas the ages, metallicities, and the origin of the red-peak GCs are still being debated. We obtained deep...

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Veröffentlicht in:Astrophysics and space science 2009-12, Vol.324 (2-4), p.347-350
Hauptverfasser: Kotulla, Ralf, Fritze, Uta, Anders, Peter
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Globular cluster systems (GCSs) of most early-type galaxies feature two peaks in their optical colour distributions. Blue-peak globular clusters (GCs) are believed to be old and metal-poor, whereas the ages, metallicities, and the origin of the red-peak GCs are still being debated. We obtained deep K-band photometry and combined it with Hubble Space Telescope observations in g and z to yield a full spectral energy distribution from the optical to the 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 (1-3Gyr) and metal-rich (-solar-metallicity) GCs, that will give us further insights into the formation history of this galaxy.
ISSN:0004-640X
1572-946X
DOI:10.1007/s10509-009-0093-8