Spectroscopy of Globular Clusters in the Fornax Dwarf Galaxy

Strader, Jay; Brodie, Jean P.; Forbes, Duncan A.; Beasley, Michael A.; Huchra, John P.
Referencia bibliográfica

The Astronomical Journal, Volume 125, Issue 3, pp. 1291-1297.

Fecha de publicación:
3
2003
Número de autores
5
Número de autores del IAC
0
Número de citas
57
Número de citas referidas
54
Descripción
We present low-resolution, integrated Keck spectra of the five globular clusters (GCs) of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy. We find a tentative age spread among the clusters, with the GC H5 younger by 2-3 Gyr than the others. The clusters generally appear to be very metal-poor ([Fe/H]~-1.8), with the cluster H4 slightly more metal-rich at [Fe/H]=-1.5. We speculate that cluster H4 is similar to the Galactic GC Ruprecht 106, which lacks the [α/Fe] enhancement typical among metal-poor GCs in the Milky Way. High-resolution spectroscopy of individual cluster and field stars will be needed to sort out the surprisingly complex history of GC formation and evolution in this galaxy.