2002/10/21 by M. Hilker, Michael Hilker · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/10857603_28
6 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Proceedings of the ESO Workshop on "Extragalactic Globular Cluster Systems", ed. M. Kissler-Patig, Springer Verlag (2002)
arxiv created 2002/10/21 · openalex publication_date 2006/02/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The discovery of a large population of intra-cluster star clusters in the central region of the Hydra I and Centaurus galaxy clusters is presented. Based on deep VLT photometry (V,I), many star clusters have been identified not only around the early-type galaxies, but also in the intra-cluster field, as far as 250 kpc from the galaxy centres. These intra-cluster globulars are predominantly blue, with a siginificant fraction being even bluer than the metal-poor halo clusters around massive galaxies. When interpreted as a metallicity effect they would have iron abundances around [Fe/H] = -2 dex. However, they might also be relatively young clusters which could have formed in tidal tails during recent interactions of the central galaxies.