Low-Mass X-ray Binaries and Globular Clusters Streamers and Arcs in NGC4278

Abstract

We report significant inhomogeneities in the projected two-dimensional (2D) spatial distributions of Low-Mass X-ray Binaries (LMXBs) and Globular Clusters (GCs) of the intermediate mass elliptical galaxy NGC4278. In the inner region of NGC4278, a significant arc-like excess of LMXBs extending south of the center at ~50" in the western side of the galaxy can be associated to a similar over-density of the spatial distribution of red GCs from~Brassington et al. (2009). Using a recent catalog of GCs produced by Usher et al.(2013) and covering the whole field of the NGC4278 galaxy, we have discovered two other significant density structures outside the D25 isophote to the W and E of the center of NGC4278, associated to an over-density and an under-density respectively. We discuss the nature of these structures in the context of the similar spatial inhomogeneities discovered in the LMXBs and GCs populations of NGC4649 and NGC4261, respectively. These features suggest streamers from disrupted and accreted dwarf companions.

9 pages, 8 color figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (4)

• Neutral hydrogen in nearby elliptical and lenticular galaxies: the continuing formation of early-type galaxies
• Deep Chandra Monitoring Observations of NGC 4278: Catalog of Source Properties
• The Two-Dimensional Spatial Distributions of the Globular Clusters and Low-Mass X-Ray Binaries of NGC4649
• Arp 116: Interacting System or Chance Alignment?

Cited by in corpus (10)

• The SAGES Legacy Unifying Globulars and GalaxieS Survey (SLUGGS): Sample definition, methods, and initial results
• The Extended Spatial Distribution of Globular Clusters in the Core of the Fornax Cluster
• The Survey of Centaurus A's Baryonic Structures (SCABS). II. The Extended Globular Cluster System of NGC5128 and its Nearby Environment
• The extremely populated globular cluster system of the lenticular galaxy NGC 6861
• Spatial Structures In the Globular Cluster Distribution of the Ten Brightest Virgo Galaxies
• Footprints in the sand: What can globular clusters tell us about NGC 4753 past?
• A Trail of the Invisible: Blue Globular Clusters Trace the Radial Density Distribution of the Dark Matter -- Case Study of NGC 4278
• Globular Cluster Scale Sizes in Giant Galaxies: Orbital Anisotropy and Tidally Under-filling Clusters in M87, NGC 1399, and NGC 5128
• X-ray Binaries in External Galaxies
• Spatial Structures in the Globular Cluster Distribution of Fornax Cluster Galaxies