arXiv subjects

Kate Hartman

Publications and source records attributed to Kate Hartman.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

SED Fitting of Globular Clusters in NGC 4874: Masses and Metallicities

In most nearby galaxies, photometry of the integrated light of their globular clusters (GCs) has been obtained in only two filters, yielding just a single color index. However, NGC 4874, the brightest central galaxy in the Coma cluster, now has Hubble Space Telescope (HST) photometry available in ten filters, giving us a special opportunity to test SED fitting procedures on GCs in distant galaxies. We fitted 29 of the brightest GCs with a library of SEDs from E-MILES and calculated the best-fit metallicity and mass of each cluster. Using the fitted masses and luminosities derived from the reddest magnitudes, in the flat portion of the GC spectrum, we also calculated inferred mass-to-light ratios for our sample GCs; these were in the range (M/L) $\simeq 2 - 4$, slightly larger than the average values for Milky Way GCs but within the conventional range.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Globular Clusters in the Galaxy Cluster MACS0416 at z = 0.397

We present a photometric analysis of globular clusters (GCs) in the massive galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1-2403 (z = 0.397) using deep JWST/NIRCam imaging from the PEARLS program. PSF photometry was performed in the short wavelength filters F090W, F115W, F150W, and F200W, yielding a catalog of approximately 3 x 10^3 unresolved, point-like sources consistent with a GC population. Artificial star tests indicate 80% completeness at F200W = 30.36 mag. The color-magnitude diagrams show a narrow GC sequence well reproduced by PARSEC single-stellar-population models spanning ages of 5-9 Gyr and metallicities from [M/H] = -2.0 to +0.2, consistent with evolved GC systems at this redshift. The globular cluster luminosity function (GCLF) follows a log-normal form truncated by incompleteness at the faint end. The brightest sources extend slightly beyond the locus of classical GCs, suggesting a small number of UCD-like systems or stripped nuclei, while the bulk of the population exhibits the luminosities and colors expected for mature globular clusters at z ~ 0.4.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2024

The Effect of Age and Stellar Model Choice on Globular Cluster Color-to-Metallicity Conversions

The photometric colors of globular clusters (GCs) act as effective proxies for metallicity, since all normally used optical/IR color indices exhibit a nonlinear but monotonic relation between their integrated color and their metallicity. One color index, (g - z) or (F475W - F850LP), has been spectroscopically calibrated in several studies, providing leverage to define color-to-metallicity conversions for other indices. In this paper, building on the work of arXiv:2307.01863, we study the GC color-metallicity relation in more detail by testing the dependence of the relations on different suites of stellar models and different assumed GC ages. Though noticeable differences between models exist, we find that the net effect on the derived GCS metallicity distributions is small.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2023

Comparing Globular Cluster System Properties with Host Galaxy Environment

We present Hubble Space Telescope photometry in optical (F475X) and near-infrared (F110W) bands of the globular cluster (GC) systems of the inner halos of a sample of 15 massive elliptical galaxies. The targets are selected from the volume-limited MASSIVE survey, and chosen to sample a range of environments from sparsely populated groups to BCGs in dense clusters. We also present a quantitative model of the relation between (F475X - F110W) colour and cluster metallicity [M/H], using simulated GCs. Because much of the GC population in such galaxies is built up through accretion, the metallicity distribution of the GC systems might be expected to vary with galaxy environment. The photometry is used to create a completeness-corrected metallicity distribution for each galaxy in the sample, and to fit a double Gaussian curve to each histogram in order to model the two standard red and blue subpopulations. Finally, the properties of the GC metallicity distribution are correlated against galaxy environment. We find that almost no GCS properties and host galaxy environmental properties are correlated, with the exception of a weak but consistent correlation between blue fraction and nth-nearest neighbour surface density. The results suggest that the systemic properties of the GCS, at least in the inner to mid-halo regions, are influenced more strongly by the local environment at early times, rather than by the environmental properties we see today.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2007

The Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT): High-resolution imaging and spectroscopy in the far-infrared

We report results of a recently-completed pre-Formulation Phase study of SPIRIT, a candidate NASA Origins Probe mission. SPIRIT is a spatial and spectral interferometer with an operating wavelength range 25 - 400 microns. SPIRIT will provide sub-arcsecond resolution images and spectra with resolution R = 3000 in a 1 arcmin field of view to accomplish three primary scientific objectives: (1) Learn how planetary systems form from protostellar disks, and how they acquire their inhomogeneous composition; (2) characterize the family of extrasolar planetary systems by imaging the structure in debris disks to understand how and where planets of different types form; and (3) learn how high-redshift galaxies formed and merged to form the present-day population of galaxies. Observations with SPIRIT will be complementary to those of the James Webb Space Telescope and the ground-based Atacama Large Millimeter Array. All three observatories could be operational contemporaneously.

astro-ph↗