• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.38.2-38.2
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• 2019

S0 galaxies are mostly known to be formed in dense environments from spiral progenitors. Recently, however, a new formation scenario has been suggested that field S0s can be formed from elliptical progenitors. The Sombrero galaxy (M104, NGC 4594) is a massive disk galaxy located in the field environment, and its morphological type has been controversial from Sa to E. Thus, it is an ideal target to test the new scenario. We trace the giant halo of M104 with globular clusters to test this scenario. From the wide images obtained with CFHT/MegaCam, we find a large number of globular clusters in this galaxy. We also confirm their membership by measuring the radial velocities from the spectra obtained with MMT/Hectospec. The color distribution of these globular clusters is bimodal, and blue (metal-poor) globular clusters are more spatially widely spread than red (metal-rich) globular clusters. This indicates that M104 hosts a giant metal-poor halo as well as an inner metal-rich halo. Combining this result with the fact that M104 is unusually massive and brighter than other spiral galaxies, we infer that M104 was indeed a massive elliptical galaxy that had formed a metal-rich halo by gas-rich mergers and a metal-poor halo by gas-poor mergers. In addition, we find young star clusters around the disk of M104, which shows that the disk formed after the spheroidal halos had formed. In conclusion, we suggest that M104 was originally a massive elliptical galaxy and was transformed to a lenticular galaxy by acquiring its disk later.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.34.1-34.1
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• 2015

Deep archival V and I image data taken with Hubble Space Telescope have been used to investigate compact stellar objects in an anemic spiral galaxy NGC 4921 in the Coma cluster. We resolve a significant fraction of globular clusters based on the reconstructed master drizzled image data. The color distribution of globular clusters (GCs) shows a clear bimodal distribution. The blue and red GC populations show significantly different radial number density profiles. We derive the turnover magnitudes of globular cluster luminosity functions (GCLFs) for the blue and red GCs in the bulge and halo of NGC 4921. We also derive the GCLFs of two Coma cD galaxies, NGC 4874 and NGC 4889, and one coma S0 galaxy, NGC 4923. Turnover magnitudes of GCs in four galaxies agree well within uncertainties. A mean distance of four Coma galaxies is derived from turnover magnitudes of GCLFs. A value of the Hubble constant is determined from this distance estimate and radial velocity of the Coma. We discuss implications of our results in relation with the recent determinations of the Hubble constant.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.135-139
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• 2010

We present the result of our investigation on the impact of the low Solar abundance of Asplund and collaborators (2004) on the derived ages for the oldest star clusters based on isochrone fittings. We have constructed new stellar models and corresponding isochrones using this new solar mixture with a proper Solar calibration. We have found that the use of the Asplund et al. (2004) metallicity causes the typical ages for old globular clusters in the Milky Way to be increased roughly by 10%. Although this may appear small, it has a significant impact on the interpretation for the formation epoch of Milky Way globular clusters. The Asplund et al. (2004) abundance may not necessarily threaten the current concordance cosmology but would suggest that Milky Way globular clusters formed before the reionization epoch and before the main galaxy body starts to build up. This is in contrast to the current understanding on the galaxy formation.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.489-490
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• 2015

We present population synthesis models for the calcium II triplet (CaT), currently the most popular metallicity indicator, based on high-resolution empirical spectral energy distributions (SEDs). Our new CaT models, based on empirical SEDs, show a linear correlation below [Fe/H] ~ -0.5, but the linear relation breaks down in the metal-rich regime by converging to the same equivalent width. This relation shows good agreement with the observed CaT of globular clusters (GCs) in NGC 1407 and the Milky Way. However, a model based on theoretical SEDs does not show this feature of the CaT and fails to reproduce observed GCs in the metal-rich regime. This linear relation may cause inaccurate metallicity determination for metal-rich stellar populations. We have also confirmed that the effect of horizontal-branch stars on the CaT is almost negligible in models based on both empirical and theoretical SEDs. Our new empirical model may explain the difference between the color distributions and CaT distributions of GCs in various early-type galaxies. Based on our model, we claim that the CaT is not a good metallicity indicator for simple stellar populations in the metal-rich regime.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.71-84
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• 2012

We present a photometric study of the globular clusters (GCs) in the Virgo giant elliptical galaxy M86 based on Washington $CT_1$ images. The colors of the GCs in M86 show a bimodal distribution with a blue peak at ($C-T_1$) = 1.30 and a red peak at ($C-T_1$) = 1.72. The spatial distribution of the red GCs is elongated similar to that of the stellar halo, while that of the blue GCs is roughly circular. The radial number density profile of the blue GCs is more extended than that of the red GCs. The radial number density profile of the red GCs is consistent with the surface brightness profile of the M86 stellar halo. The GC system has a negative radial color gradient, which is mainly due to the number ratio of the blue GCs to the red GCs increasing as galactocentric radius increases. The bright blue GCs in the outer region of M86 show a blue tilt: the brighter they are, the redder their mean colors get. These results are discussed in comparison with other Virgo giant elliptical galaxies.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.151-160
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• 2011

We present a study searching for globular cluster systems (GCSs) of two face-on low surface bright- ness galaxies (LSBGs), UGC 5981 and UGC 6614. Based on HSTWFPC2 images of F555Wand F814W filters, we detect 12 and 18 GC candidates for UGC 5981 and UGC 6614, respectively. Although these two LSBGs have very different bulge properties, they have very similar specific frequencies ($S_N$) of 0.1. However, $S_N$ ~ 0.1 is quite small even for their late morphological types, albeit within errors. This suggests that LSBGs have had star formation histories lacking dominant initial starburst events while accumulating their stellar masses through sporadic star formation activities.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.45.3-46
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• 2015

We present a spectroscopic study of globular clusters in the M81 group that is one of the ideal laboratories for understanding mass assembly and evolution of galaxies, such as M81, the twin galaxy of the Milky Way, and the starburst galaxy M82, in the group environments. Spectra of about 800 globular cluster candidates are obtained using MMT/Hectospec, and about one hundred globular clusters are confirmed by their radial velocities. Based on the kinematics derived from the spectra, we have found that most globular clusters rotate around M81. We have also discovered more than ten globular clusters belonging to M82, and that their kinematics is different from that of young star clusters in the disk of M82. There are few candidates of intra-group globular clusters. We will discuss the implications of these results.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.59-64
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• 2010

The core and global properties of the early-type ("red sequence") galaxies in the Virgo and Fornax clusters are examined using high-quality HST/ACS imaging for 143 galaxies. Rather than dividing neatly into disparate populations having distinct formation and/or evolution histories, many of the core and global properties of these galaxies show smooth and systematic variations along the galaxy luminosity function. The few examples of the rare class of compact elliptical galaxies in our sample all show properties that are strongly suggestive of tidal stripping by massive galaxies; if so, then these systems should not be viewed as populating the low-luminosity extension of so-called "normal" elliptical sequences. These results demonstrate that complete and/or unbiased samples are a pre-requisite for identifying the physical mechanisms that gave rise to the early-type galaxies we observe locally, and how these mechanisms varied with mass and environment.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.30.2-30.2
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• 2015

Abell 2744 is a giant merging cluster, called the Pandora's Cluster, at the redshift of z=0.308 (corresponding to a distance of 1270 Mpc). Taking the advantage of the deep high resolution images in the Hubble Frontier Field program, we study the properties of compact stellar systems including globular clusters and ultracompact dwarfs (UCDs) as well as dwarf galaxies in this cluster. We find a rich population of globular clusters and UCDs in Abell 2744. The spatial distribution of these objects is consistent with the mass map derived from lensing analysis, while showing a significant offset from the X-ray map of hot gas. The faint end of the luminosity function of the galaxies in the red sequence is fit by a flat slope, showing no faint upturn. We discuss these finding in relation with the origin of UCDs, formation of red sequence dwarf galaxies, and formation of the Pandora's cluster.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.67.1-67.1
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• 2011

Recent observations and modeling of globular clusters with multiple populations strongly indicate the presence of super helium-rich subpopulations in old stellar systems. Motivated by this, we have constructed new population synthesis models with and without helium-enhanced subpopulations to investigate their impact on the UV-upturn phenomenon of quiescent early-type galaxies. We find that our models with helium-enhanced subpopulations can naturally reproduce the strong UV-upturns observed in giant elliptical galaxies assuming an age similar to that of old globular clusters in the Milky Way. The major source of far-UV (FUV) flux, in this model, is relatively metal-poor and helium-enhanced hot horizontal branch stars and their progeny. The Burstein et al. (1988) relation of the FUV - V color with metallicity is also explained either by the variation of the fraction of helium-enhanced subpopulations or by the spread in mean age of stellar populations in early-type galaxies.