THE RICH GLOBULAR CLUSTER SYSTEM OF ABELL 1689 AND THE RADIAL DEPENDENCE OF THE GLOBULAR CLUSTER FORMATION EFFICIENCY

Journal Article · Fri Sep 20 04:00:00 EDT 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/775/1/20· OSTI ID:22270907

Alamo-Martínez, K. A.; González-Lópezlira, R. A. ^[1]; Blakeslee, J. P.; Côté, P.; Ferrarese, L. ^[2]; Jee, M. J. ^[3]; Jordán, A. ^[4]; Meurer, G. R. ^[5]; Peng, E. W. ^[6]

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1. Centro de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia 58090 (Mexico)
2. Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council of Canada, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7 (Canada)
3. Department of Physics, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616 (United States)
4. Departamento de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 7820436 Macul, Santiago (Chile)
5. International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009 (Australia)
6. Department of Astronomy and Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China)

We study the rich globular cluster (GC) system in the center of the massive cluster of galaxies Abell 1689 (z = 0.18), one of the most powerful gravitational lenses known. With 28 Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys orbits in the F814W bandpass, we reach a magnitude I{sub 814} = 29 with ∼>90% completeness and sample the brightest ∼5% of the GC system. Assuming the well-known Gaussian form of the GC luminosity function (GCLF), we estimate a total population of N{sup total}{sub GC}= 162,850{sup +75,450}{sub -51,310} GCs within a projected radius of 400 kpc. As many as half of the GCs may comprise an intracluster component. Even with the sizable uncertainties, which mainly result from the uncertain GCLF parameters, this system is by far the largest GC population studied to date. The specific frequency S{sub N} is high, but not uncommon for central galaxies in massive clusters, rising from S{sub N} ≈ 5 near the center to ∼12 at large radii. Passive galaxy fading would increase S{sub N} by ∼20% at z = 0. We construct the radial mass profiles of the GCs, stars, intracluster gas, and lensing-derived total mass, and we compare the mass fractions as a function of radius. The estimated mass in GCs, M{sub GC}{sup total} = 3.9 × 10{sup 10} M{sub ☉}, is comparable to ∼80% of the total stellar mass of the Milky Way. The shape of the GC mass profile appears intermediate between those of the stellar light and total cluster mass. Despite the extreme nature of this system, the ratios of the GC mass to the baryonic and total masses, and thus the GC formation efficiency, are typical of those in other rich clusters when comparing at the same physical radii. The GC formation efficiency is not constant, but varies with radius, in a manner that appears similar for different clusters; we speculate on the reasons for this similarity in profile.

• OSTI ID: 22270907
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 775; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS
BARYONS
CAMERAS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
GALAXY CLUSTERS
GRAVITATIONAL LENSES
LUMINOSITY
MASS
MILKY WAY
ORBITS
SPACE
STARS
TELESCOPES
VISIBLE RADIATION