Published June 1, 2021 | Version v1
Journal article

NGC 5128 Globular Cluster Candidates Out to 150 kpc: A Comprehensive Catalog from Gaia and Ground-based Data

  • 1. Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
  • 2. Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States)
  • 3. Center for Data Intensive and Time Domain Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States)
  • 4. Universite de Strasbourg, CNRS, Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg, UMR 7550, F-67000 Strasbourg (France)
  • 5. University of Tampa, 401 West Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33606 (United States)
  • 6. Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
  • 7. Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn VIC 3122 (Australia)
  • 8. Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States)
  • 9. UCO/Lick Observatory, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
  • 10. Department of Physics, University of the Pacific, 3601 Pacific Avenue, Stockton, CA 95211 (United States)

Description

We present a new catalog of 40,502 globular cluster (GC) candidates in NGC 5128 out to a projected radius of ∼150 kpc based on data from the Panoramic Imaging Survey of Centaurus and Sculptor, the Gaia Data Release 2, and the NOAO Source Catalog. Ranking these candidates based on the likelihood that they are true GCs, we find that approximately 1900 belong to our top two ranking categories and should be the highest priority for spectroscopic follow-up for confirmation. Taking into account our new data and a vetting of previous GC catalogs, we estimate a total GC population of 1450 ± 160 GCs. We show that a substantial number of sources previously argued to be low-velocity GCs are instead foreground stars, reducing the inferred GC velocity dispersion. This work showcases the power of Gaia to identify slightly extended sources at the ∼4 Mpc distance of NGC 5128, enabling accurate identification of GCs throughout the entire extended halo, not just the inner regions that have been the focus of most previous work.

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abf63c

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Astrophysical Journal
Journal Volume
914
Journal Issue
1
Journal Page Range
[23 p.]
ISSN
0004-637X
CODEN
ASJOAB

INIS

Country of Publication
United Kingdom
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
53069376
Subject category
S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
Descriptors DEI
CATALOGS; STAR CLUSTERS; STARS
Descriptors DEC
DOCUMENT TYPES