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The missing bulge globular clusters in M31 - New optical candidatesA new method to attack the question of the 'missing' globular clusters in the bulge of M31 is used. Image-processing techniques were used on 13 videocamera fields to obtain an accurate photometric census of stellar objects in M31's bulge down to a limiting B magnitude of 21. This luminosity distribution is compared with the Bahcall-Soneira model of galactic foreground stars. A statistically significant excess of bright images in the luminosity range of globular clusters at M31's distance is found. If the optical candidates considered prove to be globular clusters, they would double the number of known globular clusters in the surveyed region. The colors of a subsample of the candidates are the same as those of the known globular clusters. It is concluded that the previously observed flattening away from a de Vaucouleurs law in the radial distribution of M31 may be an observational selection effect. As an offshoot of this analysis, no evidence is found for very luminous stars in the inner bulge of M31. The lack of such stars indicates that there has not been active star formation (with a normal IMF) in the recent past. Coupled with the existence of many planetary nebulae in the bulge, this may strengthen the case for a galactic wind in M31's bulge.
Document ID
19850046018
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Wirth, A.
(Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, AZ; Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA; Illinois, University Urbana, IL, United States)
Smarr, L. L.
(Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, AZ; Illinois, University Urbana, IL, United States)
Bruno, T. L.
(USAF, Rome Air Development Center Bedford, MA; Illinois, University, Urbana, IL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1985
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 1
Volume: 290
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
85A28169
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AST-79-09977
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSG-7653
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF PHY-80-01496
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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