paper

Keck Spectroscopy of Young and Old Star Clusters in NGC 1023

arXiv:astro-ph/0111542 · doi:10.1086/338900

Abstract

We present Keck/LRIS spectra for 11 old globular clusters in the S0-type galaxy NGC 1023 and 2 young blue clusters in the nearby companion NGC 1023A. Analysis of the spectra of 7 old clusters with sufficient S/N shows generally good agreement between spectroscopic and previous photometric metallicity estimates, but the integrated colors of two clusters are too blue for their spectroscopic metallicities. Although the cluster ages are not well constrained, they are most likely similar to those of Milky Way globular clusters and certainly older than about 5 Gyr. The brightest GC in the sample shows enhanced cyanogen, possibly indicating an abundance anomaly similar to that observed in some M31 globular clusters. For the two blue clusters in NGC 1023A we estimate ages between 125 and 500 Myr, based on their strong Balmer lines. The total masses are about 80000 Msun and 60000 Msun for a Miller-Scalo IMF and Z=0.004, making these objects similar to the young populous clusters in the LMC. It is suggested that the two young clusters might have formed during a period of enhanced star formation activity in NGC 1023A, stimulated by a close encounter with NGC 1023.

32 pages, including 7 figures and 6 tables. Accepted for publication in AJ

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