Bibcode
Sharples, Ray; Beasley, Mike; Bridges, Terry; Faifer, Favio; Forbes, Duncan; Forte, Juan; Gebhardt, Karl; Hanes, Dave; Norris, Mark; Zepf, Steve
Bibliographical reference
NOAO Proposal ID #2007B-0122
Advertised on:
8
2007
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
Globular Clusters (GCs) provide crucial constraints on theories of the
formation of galaxies as well as the amount and distribution of Dark
Matter (DM) found in galaxies. We request time to extend our survey of
nearby elliptical galaxies in high density and low density environments
with observations of the globular cluster system of the nearby isolated
elliptical galaxy NGC 720. Recent Chandra observations of NGC 720 have
suggested that this galaxy has a highly flattened, triaxial dark matter
halo, whilst stellar population studies of the integrated light suggest
that it may also be an unequal mass merger remnant with an age 4Gyr. We
will independently probe the halo mass distribution and measure the halo
specific angular momentum to test merger models. We will also determine
whether there is evidence for a younger component in the age/metallicity
distribution of the globular clusters.