Ellipticities of “Blue” and “Red” Globular Clusters in the SMC

Abstract

Isodensity contours are used to determine the projected ellipticities of 24 'disk' and 'halo' globular clusters of various ages and compositions in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The ellipticities derived from B and V plates that were scanned with an isodensitometer indicate that the globular clusters of the SMC are more elliptical than their counterparts in the Large Magellanic Cloud, as well as those of the Galaxy; since the comparison of the observed distribution of the ellipticities for both cluster types, disks and haloes, do not show a statistically significant difference, the observations are held not to support age dependence. Results also show that the ellipticities of the inner part of the clusters are greater than those of the outer parts.