TY - JOUR
T1 - Structural parameters of seven small magellanic cloud intermediate-age and old star clusters
AU - Glatt, Katharina
AU - Grebel, Eva K.
AU - Gallagher, John S.
AU - Nota, Antonella
AU - Sabbi, Elena
AU - Sirianni, Marco
AU - Clementini, Gisella
AU - Da Costa, Gary
AU - Tosi, Monica
AU - Harbeck, Daniel
AU - Koch, Andreas
AU - Kayser, Andrea
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - We present structural parameters for the seven intermediate-age and old star clusters NGC121, Lindsay1, Kron3, NGC339, NGC416, Lindsay38, and NGC419 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We fit King profiles and Elson, Fall, and Freeman profiles to both surface-brightness and star-count data taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. Clusters older than ∼ 1Gyr show a spread in cluster core radii that increases with age, while the youngest clusters have relatively compact cores. No evidence for post-core-collapse clusters was found. We find no correlation between core radius and distance from the SMC center, although consistent with other studies of dwarf galaxies, some relatively old and massive clusters have low densities. The oldest SMC star cluster, the only globular NGC121, is the most elliptical object of the studied clusters. No correlation is seen between ellipticity and distance from the SMC center. The structures of these massive intermediate-age (1-8 Gyr) SMC star clusters thus appear to primarily result from internal evolutionary processes.
AB - We present structural parameters for the seven intermediate-age and old star clusters NGC121, Lindsay1, Kron3, NGC339, NGC416, Lindsay38, and NGC419 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We fit King profiles and Elson, Fall, and Freeman profiles to both surface-brightness and star-count data taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. Clusters older than ∼ 1Gyr show a spread in cluster core radii that increases with age, while the youngest clusters have relatively compact cores. No evidence for post-core-collapse clusters was found. We find no correlation between core radius and distance from the SMC center, although consistent with other studies of dwarf galaxies, some relatively old and massive clusters have low densities. The oldest SMC star cluster, the only globular NGC121, is the most elliptical object of the studied clusters. No correlation is seen between ellipticity and distance from the SMC center. The structures of these massive intermediate-age (1-8 Gyr) SMC star clusters thus appear to primarily result from internal evolutionary processes.
KW - Galaxies
KW - Star clusters Magellanic Clouds
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=70350589087&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/0004-6256/138/5/1403
DO - 10.1088/0004-6256/138/5/1403
M3 - Article
SN - 0004-6256
VL - 138
SP - 1403
EP - 1416
JO - Astronomical Journal
JF - Astronomical Journal
IS - 5
ER -