论文标题
球状簇的非线性色素关系。 ix。蓝色和红色簇之间的不同径向数密度分布
Nonlinear Color-Metallicity Relations of Globular Clusters. IX. Different Radial Number Density Profiles between Blue and Red Clusters
论文作者
论文摘要
在大多数大型早期型星系中,球状簇(GC)的光学色是双峰的。蓝色和红色GC在其表面数密度的径向谱图上显示出急剧的差异,因为红色GC比蓝色GC更集中。即时解释是,存在两个不同的GC子系统,具有不同的径向分布。然而,这种观点受到一种情况的挑战,在这种情况下,由于GC金属到颜色的非线性性质,旧的($ \ gtrsim $ 10 Gyr)GCS的GCS,因此广泛的非型号金属差异可以表现出双峰色分布。 Here we show, by simulating the radial trends in the GC color distributions of the four nearby giant elliptical galaxies (M87, M49, M60, and NGC 1399), that the difference in the radial profile between blue and red GCs stems naturally from the metallicity-to-color nonlinearity plus the well-known radial metallicity gradient of GC systems.该模型建议GC年龄的径向变化或小径向变化,甚至$ \ sim $ 20 $ {r} _ {\ rm eff} $。我们的结果为蓝色和红色GC的独特径向曲线提供了更简单的解决方案,这不一定会引起两个GC子系统的存在,并进一步强化了GC颜色双重性现象的非线性场景。
The optical colors of globular clusters (GCs) in most large early-type galaxies are bimodal. Blue and red GCs show a sharp difference in the radial profile of their surface number density in the sense that red GCs are more centrally concentrated than blue GCs. An instant interpretation is that there exist two distinct GC subsystems having different radial distributions. This view, however, was challenged by a scenario in which, due to the nonlinear nature of the GC metallicity-to-color transformation for old ($\gtrsim$10 Gyr) GCs, a broad unimodal metallicity spread can exhibit a bimodal color distribution. Here we show, by simulating the radial trends in the GC color distributions of the four nearby giant elliptical galaxies (M87, M49, M60, and NGC 1399), that the difference in the radial profile between blue and red GCs stems naturally from the metallicity-to-color nonlinearity plus the well-known radial metallicity gradient of GC systems. The model suggests no or little radial variation in GC age even out to $\sim$20${R}_{\rm eff}$. Our results provide a simpler solution to the distinct radial profiles of blue and red GCs that does not necessarily invoke the presence of two GC subsystems and further fortify the nonlinearity scenario for the GC color bimodality phenomenon.