Globular Clusters as Chemodynamical Tracers of Galaxy Assembly Beyond the Local Group

University Of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will carry out a detailed study of the globular cluster (GC) populations of elliptical and lenticular galaxies in order to address key questions in galaxy structure and formation, specifically: (i) What are the masses, angular momenta, orbital structures, and metallicities of early-type galaxies? (ii) What is the distribution of dark matter associated with them? (iii) How are their inner and outer regions assembled, and are these processes decoupled? (iv) How does their assembly depend on mass and environment? (v) Do the observations agree with theoretical models of galaxy formation? And, (vi) can the primordial formation sites of GCs be identified? The study will be comprised of (1) a detailed, systematic observational survey of 25 early-type galaxies and their GC systems out to very large galactocentric radii, complemented with field star and planetary nebulae data; (2) dynamical modeling to recover mass and orbital information; and (3) comparisons to cosmological simulations of galaxy and GC formation. The project will support the work and professional mentoring of a graduate student and a postdoctoral researcher. The proposing team will release the data and survey results as a publicly accessible database, and will also continue and expand their education and public outreach partnership with the Science Buddies organization.