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J/ApJ/483/745       NGC 4478 globular clusters (Neilsen+ 1997)
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The surface brightness fluctuations and globular cluster population of NGC 4478.
       Neilsen E.H., Tsvetanov Z.I., Ford H.C.
      <Astrophys. J. 483, 745 (1997)>
      =1997ApJ...483..745N      (SIMBAD/NED BibCode)
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ADC_Keywords: Clusters, globular ; Photometry
Keywords: galaxies: distances - galaxies: individual (NGC 4478) -
          galaxies: star clusters

Abstract:
    We calculate the distance to NGC 4478, a neighbor of the giant Virgo
    elliptical M87, using the surface brightness fluctuations method on
    parallel data from the HST WFPC2 camera. The exposures considered were
    taken through the F814W filter, which approximates the Johnson I, and
    through the F606W filter, which is effectively a broad V filter. We
    describe the use of Fourier methods for separation of the fluctuations
    due to statistical variations in the projected number of stars per
    pixel (used to determine the distance) from fluctuations from other
    sources, which include photon noise, foreground stars, cosmic rays,
    and the variations due to the overall structure of the galaxy. The
    mean apparent magnitude of stars responsible for the measured
    fluctuations is m_I_{bar}=29.78+/-0.03, with an additional systematic
    uncertainty of 0.05mag. Using the latest calibration of Tonry
    (1997ApJ...475..399T), we obtain a distance of 15.6+/-1.0Mpc, which is
    consistent with the distance determined through the use of this method
    in the infrared K band by Pahre & Mould (1994ApJ...433..567P). We
    discuss the globular cluster (GC) luminosity function and color
    distribution, based on the ~130 candidates identified in the field. We
    find a roughly Gaussian luminosity function centered at
    m_v_=23.82+/-0.38 with {sigma}=1.16+/-0.21. The GC color distribution
    is also roughly Gaussian, centered at V-I=0.91+/-0.03, with
    {sigma}=0.20+/-0.03, and it is coincident to within the error bars
    with the blue peak of the bimodal color distribution found in M87.
    Comparing our data with recent evaluations of the GC color
    distribution at two different locations in M87 we find a trend of the
    red peak disappearing with radial distance. We speculate that this
    could be understood if the blue portion of the M87 GC population were
    acquired from its smaller companions. The specific frequency of
    globular clusters is among the lowest for elliptical galaxies,
    comparable only to the value found in M32. In both cases this may be a
    result of tidal truncation by a giant neighbor. This further indicates
    that clusters have been stripped from NGC 4478 by M87 and likely now
    are part of its globular cluster population.

File Summary:
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  FileName      Lrecl  Records   Explanations
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ReadMe             80        .   This file
table3.dat         39      132   Globular cluster candidate catalog
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: table3.dat
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   Bytes Format Units   Label     Explanations
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   1-  3  I3    ---     NTF97     [1/132]+ Sequential number
   5-  6  I2    h       RAh       Right ascension (2000)
   8-  9  I2    min     RAm       Right ascension (2000)
  11- 15  F5.2  s       RAs       Right ascension (2000)
      17  A1    ---     DE-       Declination sign
  18- 19  I2    deg     DEd       Declination (2000)
  21- 22  I2    arcmin  DEm       Declination (2000)
  24- 28  F5.2  arcsec  DEs       Declination (2000)
  30- 34  F5.2  mag     Vmag      V magnitude
  36- 39  F4.2  mag     V-I       V-I colour index
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History: Prepared via OCR at CDS.
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(End)                           James Marcout, Patricia Bauer [CDS]  12-May-1998