2005/06/13 by Jay Strader, Jean P. Brodie, A. J. Cenarro +2 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Accretion (finance) #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Context (archaeology) #Elliptical galaxy #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy formation and evolution #Geology #Globular cluster #Paleontology #Physics #Redshift #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/432717
published as Astron.J.130:1315-1323,2005 · 21 pages, 1 figure. Accepted to AJ
arxiv created 2005/06/13 · openalex publication_date 2005/09/21 · arxiv updated 2019/08/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We present the results of a meta-analysis of Keck spectra of extragalactic globular clusters (GCs) in a sample of eight galaxies, ranging from dwarf galaxies to massive elliptical galaxies. We infer ages for the metal-poor and metal-rich GCs in these galaxies through comparisons to Galactic GCs. Both subpopulations appear to be no younger than their Galactic counterparts, with ages ≳10 Gyr. This is the largest sample of galaxies for which ages have been constrained spectroscopically. Our results support the formation of most GCs in massive galaxies at high redshift. We propose a scenario for the formation of GC subpopulations that synthesizes aspects of both accretion and in situ approaches in the context of galaxy formation through hierarchical merging.