Other
Scientific paper
Jul 2000
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000hst..prop.8755z&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #8755
Other
Hst Proposal Id #8755 Galaxies
Scientific paper
The luminosity function of well-studied old globular cluster systems is log-normal, while that of candidate young globular cluster systems is a power-law. If some of the young clusters are to be identified as globular clusters, the luminosity function must evolve to become log-normal. Several recent theoretical calculations find that dynamical evolution naturally changes a power-law mass and luminosity function into a log-normal one through the preferential destruction of low-mass clusters. However, there is no observational evidence for evolution of cluster luminosity functions. We propose to use archival WFPC2 images of NGC 3610 to study the luminosity function of its globular cluster system, which has been recognized as having a significant intermediate age component. We will test whether the cluster luminosity function in NGC 3610 is intermediate between M87 {a quiescent elliptical} and NGC 3256 {an ongoing merger} as expected from dynamical models. Moreover, we will determine the radii of the NGC 3610 globular clusters using King model fits, applying techniques we have developed in our study of other cluster systems. The radii determined this way will provide much better input into the models of dynamical destruction of globular clusters, and therefore into model predictions for the location of a turnover in the globular cluster luminosity in the intermediate aged NGC 3610 system.
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