[Previous] | [Session 21] | [Next]
C. Palma, S.G. Zonak, S.D Hunsberger, P.R. Durrell, S.C. Gallagher, J.C. Charlton (PSU), J. English (STScI)
We present \textit{Hubble Space Telescope} images of the dense galaxy group, Seyfert's Sextet (Hickson Compact Group 79). This group includes four galaxies with concordant redshifts, a fifth background galaxy, and a bright tidal feature. From UBVI (F336W, F439W, F555W, and F814W) images, we identify globular cluster candidates (GCCs) associated with both the interacting galaxies and the lower surface brightness tidal features. The population of GCCs is compared to both stellar population models and to other interacting groups of galaxies, such as Stephan's Quintet, the Antennae, and other Toomre sequence mergers.
Few point sources are detected in the U filter, which indicates that it is unlikely for there to have been much star cluster formation within the past 100 Myr or so. However, a number of sources are detected in B, V, and I. The GCC colors are used to constrain their ages and to elicit information on the star formation history of this interacting group.
We gratefully acknowledge support from the NSF (grant AST 00-71223) and from STScI (grant HST-GO-08717.04-A).
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: cpalma@astro.psu.edu