A Supra-galactic Conundrum: The Globular Clusters Colour Pattern in Virgo Galaxies

Abstract

The presence of systematic modulations in the colour distributions in composite samples of globular clusters associated with galaxies in the Virgo and Fornax clusters has been reported in a previous work. In this paper we focus on the 27 brightest galaxies in Virgo, and in particular on NGC 4486, the dominant system in terms of globular cluster population. The new analysis includes $\sim$7600 cluster candidates brighter than g =24.5 (or T1$\sim$ 23.70). The results indicate the presence of the characteristic Virgo pattern in these galaxies and that this pattern is detectable over a galactocentric range from 3 to 30 Kpc in N GC 4486. This finding gives more support to the idea that the pattern has been the result of an external, still not identified phenomenon, capable of synchronizing the cluster formation in a kind of viral process, and on supra-galactic scales (also having, presumably, an impact on the overall star formation history in the entire Virgo cluster).

arXiv comment16 pages, 39 figures

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Simulating the Spatial Distribution and Kinematics of Globular Clusters within Galaxy Clusters in Illustris
• Field/Isolated lenticular galaxies with high $S_N$ values: the case of NGC 4546 and its globular cluster system
• The complex globular cluster system of the S0 galaxy NGC 4382 in the outskirts of the Virgo Cluster
• J-PLUS: A catalogue of globular cluster candidates around the M81/M82/NGC3077 triplet of galaxies
• The Color Gradients of the Globular Cluster Systems in M87 and M49