We present a kinematic analysis of the globular cluster (GC) system in the giant elliptical galaxy (gE) M60 in the Virgo Cluster, using a photometric and spectroscopic database of 121 GCs (83 blue and 38 red GCs). We have found that the M60 GC system shows a significant overall rotation. The rotation amplitude of the blue GCs is slightly smaller than or similar to that of the red GCs, and the position angles of their rotation axes are similar. The velocity dispersions about the mean velocity and about the best-fit rotation curve for the red GCs are marginally larger than those for the blue GCs. Comparison of observed stellar and GC velocity dispersion profiles with those calculated from the stellar mass profile shows that the mass-to-light ratio should increase as the galactocentric distance increases, indicating the existence of an extended dark matter halo. The sample of all the GCs in M60 is found to have a tangentially biased velocity ellipsoid, unlike the GC systems in other gEs. The two subsamples appear to have different velocity ellipsoids. The blue GC system has a modestly tangentially biased velocity ellipsoid, while the red GC system has a modestly radially biased or an isotropic velocity ellipsoid. We compare the kinematic properties of the M60 GC system to those of other gEs ( M87, M49, NGC 1399, NGC 5128, and NGC 4636), and discuss the implication of these results for the formation models of the GC system in gEs.
Extensive UBVI CCD photometry has been obtained for the intermediate‐age open cluster M11 (NGC 6705). From this new photometry we derive the cluster parameters V0−MV=11.55±0.10, E(B−V)=0.428±0.027 and radius=16 arcmin] and age (log tage=8.4±0.1). We also derive density profiles and confirm the mass segregation in M11. The slope of the mass function increases systematically with increasing radius from the centre. We also confirm the existence of main‐sequence field stars having similar photometric characteristics to M11. A large population of field red giant stars is also found in the observed fields.
In a search for tidal extension features and/or streams of the probable parent satellite galaxies around the remote young globular clusters Pal 3 and Pal 4, we used wide-field VI photometry of an area a $ 1=3 Â 1=3 around Pal 3 and an area a $ 1=3 Â 0=9 around Pal 4, obtained with the CFH12K mosaic CCD. Applying the CMD-mask algorithm to stars in the vicinity of the clusters, we selected member star candidates that were used to examine the characteristics of the spatial distribution of stars around Pal 3 and Pal 4. The isodensity contours in the Gaussian-smoothed spatial stellar density maps around the clusters, and the KolmogorovSmirnov test applied to the corresponding luminosity functions, indicate tidal halos around Pal 3 at distances of up to $4r t , and around Pal 4 of up to $6r t . The stellar distribution around Pal 3 suggests north-south elongations along the directions of the Galactic center and anticenter, and a northeast extension in the direction of the cluster's proper motion. In the vicinity of Pal 4 an extension of a tail around the cluster in the opposite direction to the Galactic center and a possible extension of stars toward the Galactic center have also been detected in the isodensity maps and in the angular luminosity functions. We discuss the relevance of the spatial distribution of stars in possible streams around Pal 3 and Pal 4 to these spatial correlations and to the space orbits of the possible parent satellite galaxies.
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