Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004hst..prop10227g&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #10227
Physics
Hst Proposal Id #10227 Galaxies
Scientific paper
Mergers seem to have played a major role in determining the shapes and dynamics of elliptical galaxies. A few galactic mergers still occur and offer valuable clues to past evolutionary processes. Young globular clusters formed during mergers hold strong promise for age-dating such events, besides helping shed light on the cluster-formation process itself. With young globulars in ongoing mergers and 0.5 Gyr old remnants now well studied {NGC 4038/39, 3256, 7252, and 3921}, we propose to observe 4 bona fide ellipticals featuring ripples, tidal tails as well as post-starburst spectra {E+A galaxies: strong Balmer absorption}, which are obvious candidates for having undergone a dissipative merger 1-4 Gyr ago. If the globulars formed during mergers are formed with a normal IMF, they should still be around in large numbers in intermediate-age systems. If that is indeed the case, it would constitute strong evidence in favor of the scenario in which metal-rich globulars in 'normal' ellipticals are formed in merging events. We plan to use these ACS observations to {1} measure high-accuracy {g-I error of 0.1 mag} colors for clusters as faint as the peak of the luminosity function {LF} of old globulars, {2} use these colors to separate first- and second-generation clusters, and {3} determine the LFs of the two kinds of clusters down to 1.5 mag past the LF peak for old globulars. Deep dithered g&I-band images form a crucial part of our observing strategy. When combined with previous HST studies of globulars in mergers, this study will yield about a dozen globular cluster systems with age estimates, enough to make meaningful statements about the influence of mergers in creating "red'', metal-rich globulars in giant E's and the evolution of the specific frequency of globular clusters during galactic mergers.
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