AAS Meeting #194 - Chicago, Illinois, May/June 1999
Session 40. Extragalactic Star Clusters: From Ancient Globulars to Young Star Clusters
Topical, Oral, Tuesday, June 1, 1999, 8:30-10:00am, 10:45am-12:30pm, 2:30-4:00pm, 4:15-6:00pm, Continental Ballroom A

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[40.02] The Globular Cluster Systems of the Fornax and Sagittarius dSph Galaxies

R. J. Zinn (Yale University)

The properties of the globular clusters in the Fornax and Sagittarius dSph galaxies are reviewed with an emphasis on what they reveal about the cluster and star formation histories of these very low-mass galaxies. In both galaxies, the majority of the globular clusters are very old and identical in age to globular clusters of similar metal abundance in the halo of the Milky Way. This suggests that there may a universal epoch for the first ignition of star and cluster formation in galaxies. In both systems, there is one cluster that is several Gyrs. younger than the rest, indicating that cluster formation spanned several Gyrs. but at a declining rate. In Fornax, relatively few field stars formed during the same period as its clusters, and star formation occurred in spurts until less than 1 Gyr. ago.

This research was supported by NSF grant AST-9803071.

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