Star Clusters in Interacting and Cooling Flow Galaxies

Abstract

Two interacting galaxies and four central galaxies in cooling flow clusters were observed with the Hubble Space Telescope to look for young compact massive star clusters. The two interacting galaxies, NGC 3597 and NGC 6052, show clear evidence for resolved bright blue clusters that are likely to be comparable in mass to Galactic globulars based on their colors and brightnesses. In NGC 3597, the clusters have physical sizes comparable to Galactic globulars. In NGC 6052, there are a few compact clusters, but most appear more extended. No such objects were seen in three of the four cooling flow galaxies. The central galaxy in Abell 1795 may have several massive blue clusters, but its distance prevents us from knowing how compact they are.

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