The Color Gradients of the Globular Cluster Systems in M87 and M49

TL;DR

This study analyzes the color gradients of globular cluster systems in M87 and M49, revealing significant negative gradients extending to large radii, and links these gradients to galaxy formation processes involving satellite accretion.

Contribution

It extends previous analyses of GC color gradients to larger radii using combined survey data, providing insights into galaxy assembly history.

Findings

Significant negative color gradients extend to ~15 R_e.

Gradients are driven mainly by the decreasing ratio of red to blue GCs.

Satellite galaxies closer to the host are redder, supporting the accretion-based formation scenario.

Abstract

Combining data from the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey (ACSVCS) and the Next Generation Virgo cluster Survey (NGVS), we extend previous studies of color gradients of the globular cluster (GC) systems of the two most massive galaxies in the Virgo cluster, M87 and M49, to radii of $\sim 15~R_e$ ($\sim 200$ kpc for M87 and $\sim 250$ kpc for M49). We find significant negative color gradients, i.e., becoming bluer with increasing distance, out to these large radii. The gradients are driven mainly by the outwards decrease of the ratio of red to blue GC numbers. The color gradients are also detected out to $\sim 15~R_e$ in the red and blue sub-populations of GCs taken separately. In addition, we find a negative color gradient when we consider the satellite low-mass elliptical galaxies as a system, i.e., the satellite galaxies closer to the center of the host galaxy usually have redder color indices, both for their stars and GCs. According to the "two phase" formation scenario of massive early-type galaxies, the host galaxy accretes stars and GCs from low-mass satellite galaxies in the second phase. So the accreted GC system naturally inherits the negative color gradient present in the satellite population. This can explain why the color gradient of the GC system can still be observed at large radii after multiple minor mergers.