Spatial Configuration of Stars around Metal-Poor Globular Clusters in the Galactic Bulge

We present extra-tidal features of spatial configuration of stars around three metal-poor globular clusters (NGC 6273, NGC 6266, NGC 6681) located in the Galactic bulge. The accurate wide-field photometric data were obtained in BVI bands with the MOSAICII camera at CTIO Blanco 4m telescope. The derived color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) covered a total $71'\times71'$ area including a cluster and its surrounding field outside of the tidal radius of the cluster. Applying the statistical technique of the CMD-mask algorithm, we minimized the field star contaminations on the obtained CMDs and chose properly the cluster's member stars. On the spatial stellar density maps around the target clusters, we found overdensity features beyond the tidal radii of the clusters. We also found that the radial density profiles of the clusters show departures from the best-fit King model for the outer region of clusters. The results add further observational evidence that the observed metal-poor bulge clusters would be originated from accreted satellite systems, indicative of the merging scenario of the formation of the Galaxy.