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3-Gyr-old Globular Clusters in the Merger Remnant NGC 1316: Implications for the Fate of Globular Clusters Formed During Gas-rich Galaxy Mergers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2017

Paul Goudfrooij*
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, U.S.A.

Abstract

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The giant early-type merger remnant galaxy NGC 1316 is an ideal probe for studying the long-term effects of a major merger on its globular cluster (GC) system, given its spectroscopically derived merger age of ∼3 Gyr which we reported in a recent paper. Here we report several pieces of photometric evidence showing that the second-generation GCs in NGC 1316 are at an evolutionary phase in between that of luminous GCs found in younger merger remnants such as (e.g.) NGC 7252 and that of ‘red’ GCs found in ‘normal, old’ ellipticals. The observation that massive, second-generation GCs formed during major mergers can survive for at least 3 Gyr provides strong evidence that these clusters can have ‘normal’ mass functions including low-mass stars, and hence that they can survive to reach ‘old age’ similar to those of ‘normal’ ellipticals.

Type
Part 2. Globular Cluster Systems of Distant Galaxies
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2002 

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