Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2004-04-29
Astrophys.J. 608 (2004) L33-L36
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
4 pages. To appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letters
Scientific paper
10.1086/422251
A major uncertainty in the spectroscopic dating of extragalactic globular clusters concerns the degenerate effect that age and horizontal branch morphology have on the strength of Balmer lines. In this Letter we show that the ratio between the equivalent widths of Hdelta and Hbeta is far more sensitive to horizontal branch morphology than to age, thus making it possible to break the degeneracy. We show that it is possible to distinguish intermediate-age globular clusters from those whose Balmer lines are strengthened by the presence of blue horizontal branch stars, purely on the basis of the clusters' integrated spectra. The degeneracy between age and horizontal branch morphology can be lifted with Hbeta and Hdelta line strengths from spectra with S/N >= 30 per Angstrom, which is typical of current studies of integrated spectroscopy of extragalactic globular clusters.
Courteau Stephane
MacArthur Lauren
Rose James A.
Schiavon Ricardo P.
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