The ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. X. New Determinations of Centers for 65 Clusters

TL;DR

This paper provides new center measurements for 65 Milky Way globular clusters using ellipse-fitting and symmetry analysis, improving accuracy in dense stellar environments.

Contribution

It introduces a robust method for determining cluster centers using stellar positions from ACS images, with a comparative analysis of ellipse-fitting and symmetry techniques.

Findings

Ellipse-fitting yields high accuracy across various cluster types.

Symmetry method is less effective for large-core or low-density clusters.

New center positions improve understanding of cluster structures.

Abstract

We present new measurements of the centers for 65 Milky Way globular clusters. Centers were determined by fitting ellipses to the density distribution within the inner $2\arcmin$ of the cluster center, and averaging the centers of these ellipses. The symmetry of clusters was also analyzed by comparing cumulative radial distributions on opposite sides of the cluster across a grid of trial centers. All of the determinations were done with stellar positions derived from a combination of two single-orbit ACS images of the core of the cluster in $F606W$ and $F814W$. We find that the ellipse-fitting method provides remarkable accuracy over a wide range of core sizes and density distributions, while the symmetry method is difficult to use on clusters with very large cores, or low density. The symmetry method requires a larger field, or a very sharply peaked density distribution.