Intracluster Globular Clusters

Formation of intracluster globular clusters

We first present the results of numerical simulations on formation processes and physical properties of old globular clusters (GCs) located within clusters of galaxies (“intracluster GCs”) and in between clusters of galaxies (“intercluster GCs”). Our high-resolution cosmological simulations with models of GC formation at high redshifts (z > 6) show that about 30 % of all GCs in a rich cluster c...

Detection of a large-scale structure of intracluster globular clusters in the Virgo cluster.

Globular clusters are usually found in galaxies, and they are excellent tracers of dark matter. Long ago it was suggested that intracluster globular clusters (IGCs) may exist that are bound to a galaxy cluster rather than to any single galaxy. Here we present a map showing the large-scale distribution of globular clusters over the entire Virgo cluster. It shows that IGCs are found out to 5 mill...

Binaries in Globular Clusters

Binary stars in a globular cluster (hereafter, GC) may be primordial (i.e. formed along with the cluster), or the result of cluster dynamics. “Dynamical” binaries can result from conservative threebody encounters (e.g. Spitzer, 1987) if a third star can carry away enough kinetic energy to leave two others bound, or from dissipative two-body encounters, if two stars happen to pass within a few s...

Mergers of Globular Clusters

Modelling individual globular clusters

Astronomers have constructed models of globular clusters for over 100 years. These models mainly fall into two categories: (i) static models, such as King’s model and its variants, and (ii) evolutionary models. Most attention has been given to static models, which are used to estimate mass-to-light ratios and mass segregation, and to combine data from proper motions and radial velocities. Evolu...