Tracing the Giant Metal-poor Halo Around the Sombrero

  • Kang, Jisu (Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Lee, Myung Gyoon (Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Jang, In Sung (Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Ko, Youkyung (Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Sohn, Jubee (Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Hwang, Narae (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute)
  • 발행 : 2016.10.12

초록

M104 (NGC 4594, the Sombrero) is an intriguing disk galaxy classified as an elliptical galaxy nowadays. It hosts a luminous bulge and a massive disk, but it is still mysterious how M104 acquired such peculiar structures. Globular clusters are an useful tracer to investigate the formation history of early-type galaxies. In this study we present a wide field imaging study of the globular clusters in M104. Using wide ($1^{\circ}{\times}1^{\circ}$) and deep ugi images of M104 obtained with the CFHT/MegaCam observations, we detect a large number of globular clusters. The color distribution of these globular clusters shows that there are two subpopulations: a metal-poor system and a metal-rich system. The radial number density of the metal-poor globular clusters shows a long tail reaching R ~ 30' (~ 80 kpc), indicating clearly the existence of a giant metal-poor halo in M104. This result is consistent with the previous studies on the dual halos of massive early-type galaxies. We will discuss implications of these results in relation with the formation history of M104.

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