Bibcode
Strader, Jay; Romanowsky, Aaron J.; Brodie, Jean P.; Spitler, Lee R.; Beasley, M. A.; Arnold, Jacob A.; Tamura, Naoyuki; Sharples, Ray M.; Arimoto, Nobuo
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal Supplement, Volume 197, Issue 2, article id. 33 (2011).
Advertised on:
12
2011
Citations
162
Refereed citations
152
Description
We present the most extensive combined photometric and spectroscopic
study to date of the enormous globular cluster (GC) system around M87,
the central giant elliptical galaxy in the nearby Virgo Cluster. Using
observations from DEIMOS and the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer at
Keck, and Hectospec on the Multiple Mirror Telescope, we derive new,
precise radial velocities for 451 GCs around M87, with projected radii
from ~5 to 185 kpc. We combine these measurements with literature data
for a total sample of 737 objects, which we use for a re-examination of
the kinematics of the GC system of M87. The velocities are analyzed in
the context of archival wide-field photometry and a novel Hubble Space
Telescope catalog of half-light radii, which includes sizes for 344
spectroscopically confirmed clusters. We use this unique catalog to
identify 18 new candidate ultracompact dwarfs and to help clarify the
relationship between these objects and true GCs. We find much lower
values for the outer velocity dispersion and rotation of the GC system
than in earlier papers and also differ from previous work in seeing no
evidence for a transition in the inner halo to a potential dominated by
the Virgo Cluster, nor for a truncation of the stellar halo. We find
little kinematical evidence for an intergalactic GC population. Aided by
the precision of the new velocity measurements, we see significant
evidence for kinematical substructure over a wide range of radii,
indicating that M87 is in active assembly. A simple, scale-free analysis
finds less dark matter within ~85 kpc than in other recent work,
reducing the tension between X-ray and optical results. In general, out
to a projected radius of ~150 kpc, our data are consistent with the
notion that M87 is not dynamically coupled to the Virgo Cluster; the
core of Virgo may be in the earliest stages of assembly.