Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/43973

Download PDF (Author's final draft) (Adobe Acrobat PDF, -1 bytes)

Title

Imaging of the merging galaxy NGC 3597 and its population of protoglobular clusters

Author(s)

Forbes, Duncan A.;  Hau, G. K. T.

Abstract

We present wide field-of-view near-infrared imaging from the NTT and very deep optical imaging from the HST of the young merging galaxy NGC 3597. The morphology of the galaxy and the properties of the newly formed protoglobular clusters (PGCs) are examined. Our K-band data reveal the presence of a second nucleus, which provides further evidence that NGC 3597 is the result of a recent merger. Combining new K-band photometry with optical photometry, we are able for the first time to derive a unique age for the newly formed PGCs of a few Myr. This is consistent with the galaxy starburst age of less than or equal to 10 Myr. From deep HST imaging, we are able to probe the luminosity function similar to 8 magnitudes fainter than normal, old globular clusters, and confirm that the PGCs have a power-law distribution with a slope of similar to-2.

Publication type

Journal article

Source

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 312, no. 4 (Mar 2000), pp. 703-711

Publication year

2000

Keyword(s)

Discovery;  Elliptical galaxies;  GCs;  Globular clusters;  HST;  Hubble Space Telescope;  Luminosity function;  Merger remnant;  NGC 3597;  PGCs;  Protoglobular clusters;  Star clusters;  Starburst;  Young globular clusters

Publisher

Blackwell Publishing

ISSN

0035-8711

Publisher URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03175.x

Copyright

Copyright © 2000 Royal Astronomical Society. Author's final draft reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.

Full text

Peer reviewed