Bibcode
DOI
Larsen, Søren S.; Brodie, Jean P.; Beasley, Michael A.; Forbes, Duncan A.; Kissler-Patig, Markus; Kuntschner, Harald; Puzia, Thomas H.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 585, Issue 2, pp. 767-774.
Advertised on:
3
2003
Journal
Citations
56
Refereed citations
52
Description
We present spectroscopy for globular clusters (GCs) in the elliptical
galaxy NGC 4365, obtained with the Low-Resolution Imaging Spectrograph
on the Keck I telescope. Previous studies have shown that the optical
color distribution of GCs in NGC 4365 lacks the bimodal structure that
is common in globular cluster systems, showing only a single broad peak.
Measurements of Balmer line indices (Hβ, Hγ, and Hδ) on
the GC spectra support recent suggestions by Puzia et al. on the basis
of optical and near-infrared photometry that some of the clusters in NGC
4365 are intermediate-age (2-5 Gyr) and metal-rich
(-0.4<~[Z/H]<~0) rather than old (~10-15 Gyr) 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.
Based on data obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated
as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of
Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration.