Bibcode
DOI
Marín-Franch, A.; Aparicio, A.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 585, Issue 2, pp. 714-721.
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3
2003
Journal
Citations
11
Refereed citations
11
Description
The existence of an intergalactic globular cluster population in the
Coma cluster of galaxies has been tested using surface brightness
fluctuations. The main result is that the intergalactic globular cluster
surface density (NIGC) does not correlate with the distance
to the center of Coma and hence with the environment. Furthermore,
comparing these results with different Coma mass distribution model
predictions, it is suggested that NIGC must in fact be zero
all over Coma. On the other hand, the results for NIGC and
the faint end of the galaxy number counts (beyond mR=23.5)
are connected. So NIGC=0 settles the slope of this function,
which turns out to be γ=0.36+/-0.01 down to mR=26.5.
The fact that NIGC=0 all over Coma suggests that globular
clusters were formed only, or almost only, from protogalactic clouds.
None, or perhaps very few, could have formed in isolated regions. It
also seems inappropriate to advocate a relationship between
intergalactic globular clusters and dark matter distributions, although
it is true that the relationship could still exist but not be strong
enough to have been detected. Finally, since our conclusion is that
intergalactic globular clusters do not exist in Coma, accretion of
intergalactic globular clusters might not be significant in galaxy
formation and evolutionary processes in the Coma galaxies.