Color bimodality in M87 globular clusters

Abstract

We present an analysis of a 50 orbit Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) observation of the M87 globular cluster system. We use the extraordinary depth of this data set to test whether the colors and magnitudes show evidence for a mass-metallicity relation in globular cluster populations. We find only a weak or absent relation between the colors and magnitudes of the metal-poor subpopulation of globular clusters. The weakness or absence of a color-magnitude relation is established over a wide range of luminosity from MV = -11 to MV = -6, encompassing most of the M87 globular clusters. The constancy of the colors of the metal-poor subpopulation seen in our 50 orbit observation is in contrast to suggestions from single orbit ACS data that the metal-poor globular clusters in M87 and several other galaxies show a "blue tilt." The formal best fit for the mass-metallicity relation for the metal-poor subpopulation in our much deeper data is Z M 0.08±0.05. Our analysis of these data also shows a possible small "red tilt" in the metal-rich globular cluster subpopulation. While either of these small tilts may be real, they may also illustrate the limit to which mass-metallicity relations can be determined, even in such extraordinarily deep data. We specifically test for a wide range of systematic effects and find that while small tilts cannot be confirmed or rejected, the data place a strong upper limit to any tilt of |0.20| ± 0.05. This upper limit is much smaller than some earlier claims from single orbit data, and strongly limits self-enrichment within globular clusters. This mass-metallicity relation for globular clusters is also shallower than the relation for galaxies, suggesting that the formation mechanisms for these two types of objects are different. © 2009. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..