Lamp Posts in the Dark: Globular Clusters as Tracers of the Halo in M101

Details Lamp Posts in the Dark: Globular Clusters as Tracers of the Halo in M101 Lamp Posts in the Dark: Globular Clusters as Tracers of the Halo in M101

Feb 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007noao.prop..382c&link_type=abstract

NOAO Proposal ID #2007A-0382

Computer Science

Scientific paper

As some of the earliest objects to form, metal-poor globular clusters provide crucial clues to the formation history of halos in spiral galaxies. We propose to obtain high S/N, integrated light spectroscopy for > 50 ancient star clusters in M101, one of the closest massive late-type (Scd) spirals. Using line index measurements in the well-known Lick system, we will derive accurate velocity, age, and chemical abundance measurements. Our immediate goals are to: (i) measure the kinematic properties (i.e. velocity dispersion, rotation) of ancient clusters in M101; (ii) estimate the age and metallicity distribution of the halo cluster system; and (iii) pursue a study of the chemistry (i.e., (alpha)/Fe ratios) of these clusters to understand their formation timescales. Our broader goal is to establish whether there is a correlation between the metallicity distributions of spiral halo GC systems and host galaxy mass, as has been recently observed from field star colors in spirals. This will be accomplished by comparing the proposed measurements for M101 GCs with similar ones for their counterparts in M33. M33 is also an Scd galaxy, but significantly less massive than M101. The presence or absence of such a correlation will help discriminate between different galaxy formation scenarios.

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