Connection Between Dwarf Galaxies and Globular Clusters: Insights from the Perseus Cluster Using Subaru Imaging and Keck Spectroscopy

TL;DR

This study analyzes 189 dwarf galaxies in the Perseus cluster, revealing correlations between globular cluster systems and galaxy properties, and highlighting the importance of wide-field imaging and spectroscopy for understanding galaxy evolution.

Contribution

It provides the largest combined imaging and spectroscopic dataset of dwarf galaxies and their GCs in a single cluster, revealing new insights into their properties and evolutionary links.

Findings

Anti-correlation between GC specific mass and galaxy stellar mass.

Dwarfs with lower surface brightness or larger radii are more GC-rich.

Weak correlation between GC richness and axis ratio in Perseus.

Abstract

We present a systematic study of 189 dwarf galaxies and their globular cluster (GC) systems in the Perseus cluster, based on deep Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam imaging and Keck spectroscopy, supplemented by literature data. This constitutes the largest sample of dwarfs in a single galaxy cluster to date with simultaneous deep imaging, spectroscopic coverage, and GC measurements, while uniquely spanning a broad and continuous range of galaxy properties. We find an anti-correlation between GC specific mass and galaxy stellar mass for dwarfs in Perseus similar to observations in other clusters. At fixed stellar mass, dwarfs with lower surface brightness or larger effective radius tend to be more GC-rich -- suggesting either high GC formation efficiency in an earlier compact-galaxy phase, or less efficient GC disruption. The correlation between GC richness and axis ratio in Perseus is weaker than in other environments. We find some connection between GC richness and infall time, but not with the clear correlations found in Virgo, Coma, and cosmological simulations. More complete observations are needed to test for cluster-to-cluster variations in galaxy and GC evolutionary histories. This work demonstrates the potential of new wide-field imaging and spectroscopy surveys for understanding GCs and dwarf galaxies, and highlights the need for further work in theoretical modeling.