J/ApJS/171/101 Globular clusters in the ACS Virgo cluster survey (Jordan+, 2007)
The ACS Virgo cluster survey.
XII. The luminosity function of globular clusters in early-type galaxies.
Jordan A., McLaughlin D.E., Cote P., Ferrarese L., Peng E.W., Mei S.,
Villegas D., Merritt D., Tonry J.L., West M.J.
<Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser., 171, 101-145 (2007)>
=2007ApJS..171..101J 2007ApJS..171..101J
ADC_Keywords: Clusters, globular ; Surveys
Keywords: galaxies: elliptical and lenticular, cD - galaxies: star clusters -
globular clusters: general
Abstract:
We analyze the luminosity function of the globular clusters (GCs)
belonging to the early-type galaxies observed in the ACS Virgo Cluster
Survey. We have obtained maximum likelihood estimates for a Gaussian
representation of the globular cluster luminosity function (GCLF) for
89 galaxies. We have also fit the luminosity functions with an
"evolved Schechter function", which is meant to reflect the
preferential depletion of low-mass GCs, primarily by evaporation due
to two-body relaxation, from an initial Schechter mass function
similar to that of young massive clusters in local starbursts and
mergers. We find a highly significant trend of the GCLF dispersion
σ with galaxy luminosity, in the sense that the GC systems in
smaller galaxies have narrower luminosity functions. The GCLF
dispersions of our Galaxy and M31 are quantitatively in keeping with
this trend, and thus the correlation between σ and galaxy
luminosity would seem more fundamental than older notions that the
GCLF dispersion depends on Hubble type. We show that this narrowing of
the GCLF in a Gaussian description is driven by a steepening of the
cluster mass function above the classic turnover mass, as one moves to
lower luminosity host galaxies. In a Schechter function description,
this is reflected by a steady decrease in the value of the exponential
cutoff mass scale. We argue that this behavior at the high-mass end of
the GC mass function is most likely a consequence of systematic
variations of the initial cluster mass function rather than long-term
dynamical evolution.
Description:
A sample of 100 early-type galaxies in the Virgo Cluster was observed
for the ACSVCS (Cote et al., 2004ApJS..153..223C 2004ApJS..153..223C).
Each galaxy was imaged in F475W (∼Sloan g) and F850LP (∼Sloan z)
bandpasses for a total of 750 and 1210s, respectively, and reductions
were performed as described in Jordan et al., 2004ApJS..154..509J 2004ApJS..154..509J).
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
galaxies.dat 49 84 Galaxies studied
table1.dat 92 1596 Luminosity Function Histograms for Globular
Clusters and Expected Contaminants
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See also:
J/AJ/90/1681 : The Virgo Cluster Catalog (VCC) (Binggeli+, 1985)
J/A+A/343/86 : Virgo cluster radio luminosity function. I. (Gavazzi+ 1999)
J/MNRAS/333/423 : Luminosity function of the Virgo Cluster (Trentham+, 2002)
J/ApJS/153/223 : ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. I. (Cote+, 2004)
J/ApJS/154/509 : ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. II. (Jordan+, 2004)
J/ApJ/613/279 : ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. III. M87 (Jordan+, 2004)
J/ApJS/164/334 : ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. VI. (Ferrarese+, 2006)
J/ApJ/655/144 : ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. XIII. (Mei+, 2007)
J/ApJ/681/197 : ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. XV. (Peng+, 2008)
J/ApJS/180/54 : ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. XVI. (Jordan+, 2009)
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: galaxies.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 3 A3 --- --- [VCC]
5- 8 I4 --- VCC VCC galaxy number
10- 11 I2 h RAh Simbad Hour of Right Ascension (J2000.0)
13- 14 I2 min RAm Simbad Minute of Right Ascension (J2000.0)
16- 19 F4.1 s RAs Simbad Second of Right Ascension (J2000.0)
21 A1 --- DE- Simbad Sign of the Declination (J2000.0)
22- 23 I2 deg DEd Simbad Degree of Declination (J2000.0)
25- 26 I2 arcmin DEm Simbad Arcminute of Declination (J2000.0)
28- 29 I2 arcsec DEs Simbad Arcsecond of Declination (J2000.0)
33- 37 F5.2 mag Bmag ? Simbad B band magnitude
39- 43 F5.2 mag Vmag ? Simbad V band magnitude
45- 49 A5 --- MType Simbad morphological type
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: table1.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 4 I4 --- VCC The Virgo Cluster Catalog number
6- 9 F4.1 mag z1 Mean z band magnitude of bin (1)
11- 13 F3.1 mag hz1 [0.4] Width of the z band bin (1)
15- 17 I3 --- Nz1 Total number of objects in the z bin (1)
19- 21 F3.1 --- Cz1 Expected number of contaminants in the z bin (1)
23- 26 F4.2 --- fz1 GC completeness fraction in the z bin (1)
28- 31 F4.1 mag g1 Mean g band magnitude of bin (1)
33- 35 F3.1 mag hg1 [0.4] Width of the g band bin (1)
37- 39 I3 --- Ng1 Total number of objects in the g bin (1)
41- 43 F3.1 --- Cg1 Expected number of contaminants in the g bin (1)
45- 48 F4.2 --- fg1 GC completeness fraction in the g bin (1)
50- 53 F4.1 mag z2 Mean z band magnitude of bin (2)
55- 57 F3.1 mag hz2 [0.4] Width of the z band bin (2)
59- 61 I3 --- Nz2 Total number of objects in the z bin (2)
63- 65 F3.1 --- Cz2 Expected number of contaminants in the z bin (2)
67- 70 F4.2 --- fz2 GC completeness fraction in the z bin (2)
72- 75 F4.1 mag g2 Mean g band magnitude of bin (2)
77- 79 F3.1 mag hg2 [0.4] Width of the g band bin (2)
81- 83 I3 --- Ng2 Total number of objects in the g bin (2)
85- 87 F3.1 --- Cg2 Expected number of contaminants in the g bin (2)
89- 92 F4.2 --- fg2 GC completeness fraction in the g bin (2)
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Note (1): For the sample with probability pGC≥0.5 of being a
globular cluster.
Note (2): For the globular cluster sample constructed by applying cuts in
magnitude (z2mag<25.15 or g2mag<26.35) and half-light radius Rh
(Rh<0.064"), rather than by selecting on the basis of pGC.
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History:
From electronic version of the journal
References:
Cote et al., Paper I 2004ApJS..153..223C 2004ApJS..153..223C, Cat. J/ApJS/153/223
Jordan et al. , Paper II 2004ApJS..154..509J 2004ApJS..154..509J, Cat. J/ApJS/154/509
Jordan et al., Paper III 2004ApJ...613..279J 2004ApJ...613..279J, Cat. J/ApJ/613/279
Mei et al., Paper IV 2005ApJS..156..113M 2005ApJS..156..113M
Mei et al., Paper V 2005ApJ...625..121M 2005ApJ...625..121M
Ferrarese et al., Paper VI 2006ApJS..164..334F 2006ApJS..164..334F, Cat. J/ApJS/164/334
Hasegan et al., Paper VII 2005ApJ...627..203H 2005ApJ...627..203H
Cote et al., Paper VIII 2006ApJS..165...57C 2006ApJS..165...57C
Peng et al., Paper IX 2006ApJ...639...95P 2006ApJ...639...95P
Jordan et al., Paper X 2005ApJ...634.1002J 2005ApJ...634.1002J
Peng et al., Paper XI 2006ApJ...639..838P 2006ApJ...639..838P
Mei et al., Paper XIII 2007ApJ...655..144M 2007ApJ...655..144M
Mieske et al., Paper XIV 2006ApJ...653..193M 2006ApJ...653..193M
Peng et al., Paper XV 2008ApJ...681..197P 2008ApJ...681..197P, Cat. J/ApJ/681/197
Jordan et al., Paper XVI 2009ApJS..180...54J 2009ApJS..180...54J, Cat. J/ApJS/180/54
(End) Greg Schwarz [AAS], Emmanuelle Perret [CDS] 15-Apr-2009