A SLUGGS and Gemini/GMOS combined study of the elliptical galaxy M60: Wide-field photometry and kinematics of the globular cluster system

Vincenzo Pota; Jean P. Brodie; Terry Bridges; Jay Strader; Aaron J. Romanowsky; Alexa Villaume; Zach Jennings; Favio R. Faifer; Nicola Pastorello; Duncan A. Forbes; Ainsley Campbell; Christopher Usher; Caroline Foster; Lee R. Spitler; Nelson Caldwell; Juan C. Forte; Mark A. Norris; Stephen E. Zepf; Michael A. Beasley; Karl Gebhardt; David A. Hanes; Ray M. Sharples; Jacob A. Arnold

doi:10.1093/mnras/stv677

A SLUGGS and Gemini/GMOS combined study of the elliptical galaxy M60: Wide-field photometry and kinematics of the globular cluster system

Vincenzo Pota^*, Jean P. Brodie, Terry Bridges, Jay Strader, Aaron J. Romanowsky, Alexa Villaume, Zach Jennings, Favio R. Faifer, Nicola Pastorello, Duncan A. Forbes, Ainsley Campbell, Christopher Usher, Caroline Foster, Lee R. Spitler, Nelson Caldwell, Juan C. Forte, Mark A. Norris, Stephen E. Zepf, Michael A. Beasley, Karl GebhardtDavid A. Hanes, Ray M. Sharples, Jacob A. Arnold

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

We present new wide-field photometry and spectroscopy of the globular clusters (GCs) around NGC 4649 (M60), the third brightest galaxy in the Virgo cluster. Imaging of NGC 4649 was assembled from a recently obtained Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys mosaic, and new Subaru/Suprime-Cam and archival Canada-France- Hawaii Telescope/MegaCam data. About 1200 sources were followed up spectroscopically using combined observations from three multi-object spectrographs: Keck/Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph, Gemini/Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph and Multiple Mirror Telescope/Hectospec. We confirm 431 unique GCs belonging to NGC 4649, a factor of 3.5 larger than previous data sets and with a factor of 3 improvement in velocity precision. We confirm significant GC colour bimodality and find that the red GCs are more centrally concentrated, while the blue GCs are more spatially extended. We infer negative GC colour gradients in the innermost 20 kpc and flat gradients out to large radii. Rotation is detected along the galaxy major axis for all tracers: blue GCs, red GCs, galaxy stars and planetary nebulae. We compare the observed properties of NGC 4649 with galaxy formation models. We find that formation via amajor merger between two gas-poor galaxies, followed by satellite accretion, can consistently reproduce the observations of NGC 4649 at different radii. We find no strong evidence to support an interaction between NGC 4649 and the neighbouring spiral galaxy NGC 4647. We identify interesting GC kinematic features in our data, such as counter-rotating subgroups and bumpy kinematic profiles, which encode more clues about the formation history of NGC 4649.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1962-1983
Number of pages	22
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	450
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv677
Publication status	Published - 21 Jun 2015

Bibliographical note

Copyright 2015 The Authors. First published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 450(2), 1962-1983. The original publication is available at http://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv677, published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

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Pota, V., Brodie, J. P., Bridges, T., Strader, J., Romanowsky, A. J., Villaume, A., Jennings, Z., Faifer, F. R., Pastorello, N., Forbes, D. A., Campbell, A., Usher, C., Foster, C., Spitler, L. R., Caldwell, N., Forte, J. C., Norris, M. A., Zepf, S. E., Beasley, M. A., ... Arnold, J. A. (2015). A SLUGGS and Gemini/GMOS combined study of the elliptical galaxy M60: Wide-field photometry and kinematics of the globular cluster system. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 450(2), 1962-1983. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv677

@article{ff78d6616038404a841f17baf7a4c837,

title = "A SLUGGS and Gemini/GMOS combined study of the elliptical galaxy M60: Wide-field photometry and kinematics of the globular cluster system",

abstract = "We present new wide-field photometry and spectroscopy of the globular clusters (GCs) around NGC 4649 (M60), the third brightest galaxy in the Virgo cluster. Imaging of NGC 4649 was assembled from a recently obtained Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys mosaic, and new Subaru/Suprime-Cam and archival Canada-France- Hawaii Telescope/MegaCam data. About 1200 sources were followed up spectroscopically using combined observations from three multi-object spectrographs: Keck/Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph, Gemini/Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph and Multiple Mirror Telescope/Hectospec. We confirm 431 unique GCs belonging to NGC 4649, a factor of 3.5 larger than previous data sets and with a factor of 3 improvement in velocity precision. We confirm significant GC colour bimodality and find that the red GCs are more centrally concentrated, while the blue GCs are more spatially extended. We infer negative GC colour gradients in the innermost 20 kpc and flat gradients out to large radii. Rotation is detected along the galaxy major axis for all tracers: blue GCs, red GCs, galaxy stars and planetary nebulae. We compare the observed properties of NGC 4649 with galaxy formation models. We find that formation via amajor merger between two gas-poor galaxies, followed by satellite accretion, can consistently reproduce the observations of NGC 4649 at different radii. We find no strong evidence to support an interaction between NGC 4649 and the neighbouring spiral galaxy NGC 4647. We identify interesting GC kinematic features in our data, such as counter-rotating subgroups and bumpy kinematic profiles, which encode more clues about the formation history of NGC 4649.",

author = "Vincenzo Pota and Brodie, {Jean P.} and Terry Bridges and Jay Strader and Romanowsky, {Aaron J.} and Alexa Villaume and Zach Jennings and Faifer, {Favio R.} and Nicola Pastorello and Forbes, {Duncan A.} and Ainsley Campbell and Christopher Usher and Caroline Foster and Spitler, {Lee R.} and Nelson Caldwell and Forte, {Juan C.} and Norris, {Mark A.} and Zepf, {Stephen E.} and Beasley, {Michael A.} and Karl Gebhardt and Hanes, {David A.} and Sharples, {Ray M.} and Arnold, {Jacob A.}",

note = "Copyright 2015 The Authors. First published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 450(2), 1962-1983. The original publication is available at http://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv677, published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.",

year = "2015",

month = jun,

day = "21",

doi = "10.1093/mnras/stv677",

language = "English",

volume = "450",

pages = "1962--1983",

journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society",

issn = "0035-8711",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "2",

}

Pota, V, Brodie, JP, Bridges, T, Strader, J, Romanowsky, AJ, Villaume, A, Jennings, Z, Faifer, FR, Pastorello, N, Forbes, DA, Campbell, A, Usher, C, Foster, C, Spitler, LR, Caldwell, N, Forte, JC, Norris, MA, Zepf, SE, Beasley, MA, Gebhardt, K, Hanes, DA, Sharples, RM & Arnold, JA 2015, 'A SLUGGS and Gemini/GMOS combined study of the elliptical galaxy M60: Wide-field photometry and kinematics of the globular cluster system', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 450, no. 2, pp. 1962-1983. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv677

TY - JOUR

T1 - A SLUGGS and Gemini/GMOS combined study of the elliptical galaxy M60

T2 - Wide-field photometry and kinematics of the globular cluster system

AU - Pota, Vincenzo

AU - Brodie, Jean P.

AU - Bridges, Terry

AU - Strader, Jay

AU - Romanowsky, Aaron J.

AU - Villaume, Alexa

AU - Jennings, Zach

AU - Faifer, Favio R.

AU - Pastorello, Nicola

AU - Forbes, Duncan A.

AU - Campbell, Ainsley

AU - Usher, Christopher

AU - Foster, Caroline

AU - Spitler, Lee R.

AU - Caldwell, Nelson

AU - Forte, Juan C.

AU - Norris, Mark A.

AU - Zepf, Stephen E.

AU - Beasley, Michael A.

AU - Gebhardt, Karl

AU - Hanes, David A.

AU - Sharples, Ray M.

AU - Arnold, Jacob A.

N1 - Copyright 2015 The Authors. First published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 450(2), 1962-1983. The original publication is available at http://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv677, published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

PY - 2015/6/21

Y1 - 2015/6/21

N2 - We present new wide-field photometry and spectroscopy of the globular clusters (GCs) around NGC 4649 (M60), the third brightest galaxy in the Virgo cluster. Imaging of NGC 4649 was assembled from a recently obtained Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys mosaic, and new Subaru/Suprime-Cam and archival Canada-France- Hawaii Telescope/MegaCam data. About 1200 sources were followed up spectroscopically using combined observations from three multi-object spectrographs: Keck/Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph, Gemini/Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph and Multiple Mirror Telescope/Hectospec. We confirm 431 unique GCs belonging to NGC 4649, a factor of 3.5 larger than previous data sets and with a factor of 3 improvement in velocity precision. We confirm significant GC colour bimodality and find that the red GCs are more centrally concentrated, while the blue GCs are more spatially extended. We infer negative GC colour gradients in the innermost 20 kpc and flat gradients out to large radii. Rotation is detected along the galaxy major axis for all tracers: blue GCs, red GCs, galaxy stars and planetary nebulae. We compare the observed properties of NGC 4649 with galaxy formation models. We find that formation via amajor merger between two gas-poor galaxies, followed by satellite accretion, can consistently reproduce the observations of NGC 4649 at different radii. We find no strong evidence to support an interaction between NGC 4649 and the neighbouring spiral galaxy NGC 4647. We identify interesting GC kinematic features in our data, such as counter-rotating subgroups and bumpy kinematic profiles, which encode more clues about the formation history of NGC 4649.

AB - We present new wide-field photometry and spectroscopy of the globular clusters (GCs) around NGC 4649 (M60), the third brightest galaxy in the Virgo cluster. Imaging of NGC 4649 was assembled from a recently obtained Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys mosaic, and new Subaru/Suprime-Cam and archival Canada-France- Hawaii Telescope/MegaCam data. About 1200 sources were followed up spectroscopically using combined observations from three multi-object spectrographs: Keck/Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph, Gemini/Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph and Multiple Mirror Telescope/Hectospec. We confirm 431 unique GCs belonging to NGC 4649, a factor of 3.5 larger than previous data sets and with a factor of 3 improvement in velocity precision. We confirm significant GC colour bimodality and find that the red GCs are more centrally concentrated, while the blue GCs are more spatially extended. We infer negative GC colour gradients in the innermost 20 kpc and flat gradients out to large radii. Rotation is detected along the galaxy major axis for all tracers: blue GCs, red GCs, galaxy stars and planetary nebulae. We compare the observed properties of NGC 4649 with galaxy formation models. We find that formation via amajor merger between two gas-poor galaxies, followed by satellite accretion, can consistently reproduce the observations of NGC 4649 at different radii. We find no strong evidence to support an interaction between NGC 4649 and the neighbouring spiral galaxy NGC 4647. We identify interesting GC kinematic features in our data, such as counter-rotating subgroups and bumpy kinematic profiles, which encode more clues about the formation history of NGC 4649.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84938153269&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stv677

DO - 10.1093/mnras/stv677

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84938153269

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 450

SP - 1962

EP - 1983

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 2

ER -

A SLUGGS and Gemini/GMOS combined study of the elliptical galaxy M60: Wide-field photometry and kinematics of the globular cluster system

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