Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T02:43:48.324Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

M31 Globular Cluster Metallicities and Ages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2017

Pauline Barmby*
Affiliation:
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Mailstop 10, Cambridge MA 02138, USA

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Globular cluster ages are more than just lower limits to the age of the universe; the distribution of ages constraints the timescales for galaxy formation and chemical evolution. Globular cluster populations with different metallicities have now been detected in many galaxies, and understanding how these populations formed requires knowing their relative ages. We examined the relative ages of the two M31 globular cluster populations using their color and luminosity distributions and found that the metal-rich clusters could be up to 50% younger than the metal-poor clusters. While a small delay in the formation of metal-rich clusters might be imposed by chemical enrichment timescales, a large age gap demands a more detailed explanation. I outline several possibilities and their promises and problems.

Type
Part 1. The Star Clusters of Local Group Galaxies
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2002 

References

Ashman, K. M. & Zepf, S. E. 1992, ApJ, 384, 50 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashman, K. M., Conti, A. & Zepf, S. E. 1995, AJ, 110, 1164 Google Scholar
Barmby, P. & Huchra, J. P. 2000, ApJ, 531, L29 Google Scholar
Barmby, P., Huchra, J. P., & Brodie, J. P. 2001, AJ, 121, 1482 Google Scholar
Barmby, P., Huchra, J. P., Brodie, J. P., Forbes, D. A., Schroder, L. L. & Grillmair, C. J. 2000, AJ, 119, 727 Google Scholar
Brodie, J. P. & Huchra, J. P. 1990, ApJ, 362, 503 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, W. 1996, AJ, 112, 1487 Google Scholar
Kurth, O. M., Fritze-von Alvensleben, U. & Fricke, K. J. 1999, A&AS, 138, 19 Google Scholar
Leitherer, C. et al. 1996, PASP, 108, 996 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostriker, J. P. & Gnedin, O. 1997, ApJ, 487, 667 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rich, R. M. & Neill, J. D. 1999, BAAS, 194, 712 Google Scholar
Sarajedini, A., Geisler, D., Schommer, R. & Harding, P. 2000, AJ, 120, 2437 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Secker, J. & Harris, W. E. 1993, AJ, 105, 1358 Google Scholar
Tripicco, M. J. 1989, AJ, 97, 735 CrossRefGoogle Scholar