Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/11375/18116
Title: | Photometric Study of the Globular Cluster System of M49 |
Authors: | Mahmoud-Perez, Aisha |
Advisor: | Harris, William |
Department: | Physics and Astronomy |
Keywords: | globular clusters, elliptical galaxies, astronomy, physics |
Publication Date: | Nov-2015 |
Abstract: | This thesis presents deep photometry of the globular cluster system of the massive elliptical galaxy, M49. Using the C and T1 Washington filters from the MOSAIC camera on the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 4m telescope, we studied the color, metallicity and luminosity distributions of the globular cluster system. We find a strong bimodality in the color and metallicity distributions of the globular cluster system down to a magnitude of R <24, with 1718 clusters belonging to the blue population and 698 to the red population. In agreement with previous studies, the blue sequence does not exhibit a strong mass-metallicity relation. No difference is found in the mass-metallicity relation between the inner and outer clusters of M49. These results suggest that the mechanism responsible for the mass-metallicity re- lation is not local and may be affected by the galaxy’s individual dynamic history, location in the galaxy cluster and the formation of the globular cluster system itself. We suggest a mechanism based on accretion of gas by proto-clusters as they orbit within their parent dwarf galaxies. The latter would fit the observed behavior of the MMR. |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/18116 |
Appears in Collections: | Open Access Dissertations and Theses |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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mahmoudperez_aisha_2015_msc.pdf | main article | 4.59 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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