NGC5846-UDG1: A galaxy formed mostly by star formation in massive, extremely dense clumps of gas

Abstract

It has been shown that ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) have higher specific frequencies of globular clusters on average than other dwarf galaxies with similar luminosities. The UDG NGC5846-UDG1 is among the most extreme examples of globular cluster-rich galaxies found so far. Here we present new Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations and analysis of this galaxy and its globular cluster system. We find that NGC5846-UDG1 hosts $54\pm 9$ globular clusters, three to four times more than any previously known galaxy with a similar luminosity, and higher than reported in previous studies. With a galaxy luminosity of $L_{V,\mathrm{gal}}\approx 6\times 10^7{\mathrm{L}}_{\odot }$ ($M_{\star }\approx 1.2\times 10^8{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot }$) and a total globular cluster luminosity of $L_{V,\mathrm{GCs}}\approx 7.6\times 10^6{\mathrm{L}}_{\odot }$, we find that the clusters currently comprise $\sim 13\%$ of the total light. Taking into account the effects of mass loss from clusters during their formation and throughout their lifetime, we infer that most of the stars in the galaxy likely formed in globular clusters, and very little to no "normal" low-density star formation occurred. This result implies that the most extreme conditions during early galaxy formation promoted star formation in massive and dense clumps, in contrast to the dispersed star formation observed in galaxies today.

arXiv commentSubmitted to ApJL. Figure 1 shows the Hubble Space Telescope image of the galaxy, and Figure 5 shows the modeling results. Comments are very welcome!

References in corpus (48)

• Measuring Reddening with SDSS Stellar Spectra and Recalibrating SFD
• Star Formation in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies
• Overview of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys
• The Galaxy in Context: Structural, Kinematic and Integrated Properties
• Star Clusters Across Cosmic Time
• Forty-Seven Milky Way-Sized, Extremely Diffuse Galaxies in the Coma Cluster
• Cosmicflows-3
• Second Data Release of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program
• On the fraction of star formation occurring in bound stellar clusters
• Globular clusters as the relics of regular star formation in 'normal' high-redshift galaxies
• A Catalog of Globular Cluster Systems: What Determines the Size of a Galaxy's Globular Cluster Population?
• Imfit: A Fast, Flexible New Program for Astronomical Image Fitting
• Galaxy Groups within 3500 km s${}^{-1}$
• Evidence for Wide-Spread AGN Driven Outflows in the Most Massive z~1-2 Star Forming Galaxies
• Globular cluster formation in the context of galaxy formation and evolution
• Extensive Globular Cluster Systems Associated with Ultra Diffuse Galaxies in the Coma Cluster
• Globular Cluster Formation and Evolution in the Context of Cosmological Galaxy Assembly: Open Questions
• The Globular Cluster Systems of Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies in the Coma Cluster
• The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey III. Chandra and HST Observations of Low-Mass X-Ray Binaries and Globular Clusters in M87
• The Physics of Star Cluster Formation and Evolution
• Constraints on mass loss and self-enrichment scenarios for the globular clusters of the Fornax dSph
• Mass loss rates and the mass evolution of star clusters
• The Globular Cluster Luminosity Function and Specific Frequency in Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies
• Globular clusters indicate ultra diffuse galaxies are dwarfs
• The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey (NGVS). XXX. Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies and their Globular Cluster Systems
• A Rich Globular Cluster System in Dragonfly 17: Are Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies Pure Stellar Halos?
• An enigmatic population of luminous globular clusters in a galaxy lacking dark matter
• Globular cluster luminosity function as distance indicator
• A unified model for the maximum mass-scales of molecular clouds, stellar clusters, and high-redshift clumps
• Globular Clusters in Coma Cluster Ultra Diffuse Galaxies (UDGs): Evidence for Two Types of UDG?
• The NGC 5846 Group: Dynamics and the Luminosity Function to M_R=-12
• Star cluster formation in the most extreme environments: Insights from the HiPEEC survey
• The SLUGGS Survey: The globular cluster systems of three early-type galaxies using wide-field imaging
• The number of globular clusters around the iconic UDG DF44 is as expected for dwarf galaxies
• A spectroscopic study of MATLAS-2019 with MUSE: an ultra-diffuse galaxy with an excess of old globular clusters
• Dwarf galaxies in the MATLAS survey: Hubble Space Telescope observations of the globular cluster system in the ultra-diffuse galaxy MATLAS-2019
• Using Surface Brightness Fluctuations to Study Nearby Satellite Galaxy Systems: Calibration and Methodology
• An Ultra diffuse Galaxy in the NGC 5846 group from the VEGAS survey
• A Complex Luminosity Function for the Anomalous Globular Clusters in NGC1052-DF2 and NGC1052-DF4
• Dynamical cluster disruption and its implications for multiple population models in the E-MOSAICS simulations
• Measuring distances to low-luminosity galaxies using surface brightness fluctuations
• An Excess of Globular Clusters in UDGs Formed Through Tidal Heating
• Stellar Velocity Dispersion and Dynamical Mass of the Ultra-Diffuse Galaxy NGC 5846_UDG1 from the Keck Cosmic Web Imager
• Young star cluster populations in the E-MOSAICS simulations
• Constraining the formation of NGC1052-DF2 from its unusual globular cluster population
• Hyper Suprime-Cam Low Surface Brightness Galaxies II: A Hubble Space Telescope Study of the Globular Cluster Systems of Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies in Groups
• A model for the minimum mass of bound stellar clusters and its dependence on the galactic environment
• Multi-resolution filtering: an empirical method for isolating faint, extended emission in Dragonfly data and other low resolution images

Cited by in corpus (36)

• Systematically Measuring Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies (SMUDGes). V. The Complete SMUDGes Catalog and the Nature of Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies
• Origin and evolution of ultra-diffuse galaxies in different environments
• The globular clusters and star formation history of the isolated, quiescent ultra-diffuse galaxy DGSAT I
• The stellar populations of quiescent ultra-diffuse galaxies from optical to mid-infrared spectral energy distribution fitting
• The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey (NGVS). XXXV. First Kinematical Clues of Overly-Massive Dark Matter Halos in Several Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster
• Gas-rich, field ultra-diffuse galaxies host few globular clusters
• A Photometric Survey of Globular Cluster Systems in Brightest Cluster Galaxies
• Monochromatic globular clusters as a critical test of formation models for the dark matter deficient galaxies NGC1052-DF2 and NGC1052-DF4
• Prospects for Detecting Fast Radio Bursts in Globular Clusters of Nearby Galaxies
• Radial velocities and stellar population properties of 56 MATLAS dwarf galaxies observed with MUSE
• Euclid: Early Release Observations -- Globular clusters in the Fornax galaxy cluster, from dwarf galaxies to the intracluster field
• Beyond Ultra-diffuse Galaxies. I. Mass--Size Outliers among the Satellites of Milky Way Analogs
• Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies as Extreme Star-forming Environments I: Mapping Star Formation in HI-Rich UDGs
• Keck Spectroscopy of the Coma Cluster Ultra-Diffuse Galaxy Y358: Dynamical Mass in a Wider Context
• Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies as Extreme Star-forming Environments II: Star Formation and Pressure Balance in HI-Rich UDGs
• Looking into the faintEst WIth MUSE (LEWIS): Exploring the nature of ultra-diffuse galaxies in the Hydra-I cluster II. Stellar kinematics and dynamical masses
• All Puffed Up: Exploring Ultra-diffuse Galaxy Origins through Galaxy Interactions
• Dynamical friction in globular cluster-rich ultra-diffuse galaxies: the case of NGC5846-UDG1
• An Unexplained Origin for the Unusual Globular Cluster System in the Ultra-diffuse Galaxy FCC 224
• The Disturbed and Globular Cluster-Rich Ultra-diffuse Galaxy UGC 9050-Dw1
• Light from the Darkness: Detecting Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies in the Perseus Cluster through Over-densities of Globular Clusters with a Log-Gaussian Cox Process
• Looking into the faintEst WIth MUSE (LEWIS): Exploring the nature of ultra-diffuse galaxies in the Hydra I cluster III. Untangling UDG 32 from the stripped filaments of NGC 3314A with multi-wavelength data
• Discovery of Two Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies with Unusually Bright Globular Cluster Luminosity Functions via a Mark-Dependently Thinned Point Process (MATHPOP)
• Revisiting the globular clusters of NGC1052-DF2
• GAMA 526784: the progenitor of a globular cluster-rich ultra-diffuse galaxy? I. Star clusters, stellar body and ionised gas properties
• Candidate Dark Galaxy-2: Validation and Analysis of an Almost Dark Galaxy in the Perseus Cluster
• Deep HST/UVIS imaging of the candidate dark galaxy CDG-1
• Dwarf galaxies in the MATLAS Survey: Hubble Space Telescope observations of nuclear star clusters
• Poisson Cluster Process Models for Detecting Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies
• Looking into the faintEst WIth MUSE (LEWIS): on the nature of ultra-diffuse galaxies in the Hydra I cluster. V. Integrated stellar population properties
• Zangetsu: A Candidate of Isolated, Quiescent, and Backsplash Ultra-Diffuse Galaxy in the COSMOS Field
• GAMA 526784: the progenitor of a globular cluster-rich ultra-diffuse galaxy? II. Molecular gas, neutral gas and environment
• Radial velocities and stellar populations for a sample of MATLAS survey dwarfs
• The mysterious Globular Cluster population of MATLAS-2019
• Distinguishing Dark Matter Cusps from Cores using Globular Clusters
• SHARP(ening the) view of unresolved globular clusters in ultra diffuse galaxies