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Scientific paper
Jul 2000
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000hst..prop.8587c&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #8587
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Hst Proposal Id #8587 Galaxies
Scientific paper
A remarkable achievement of HST has been the demonstration that the globular cluster {GC} systems of most, and possibly all, luminous galaxies show bimodal distributions in broadband color and, by implication, age and/or metallicity. Whatever its origin, this bimodality {which is observed in giant galaxies that span a wide range in Hubble Type and local environment} must hold a fundamental clue to the process of galaxy formation. Although several models for the observed bimodality have been suggested {e.g., spiral-spiral mergers, two phase collapse models, and hierarchical growth via dissipationless mergers}, a definitive test of these scenarios has proved elusive due to the lack of reliable age estimates for the two GC populations in even a single galaxy. In other words, the models make very different predictions regarding the ages of the two GC populations, but the measured broadband colors suffer from the well-known ``age-metallicity degeneracy" of old stellar systems. We propose to break this degeneracy by using WFPC2 to obtain narrow-band photometry in the Stroemgren uvby filters for 10^3 GCs in M87, the supergiant elliptical galaxy at the dynamical center of the Virgo cluster. Our technique hinges on the ability of Stroemgren photometry to decouple the effects of age and metallicity for large samples of GCs, and will provide the first strong constraints on the various galaxy formation models.
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