Globular Cluster Systems in the Hydra I Galaxy Cluster

Abstract

In this contribution, first results of deep VLT photometry (V,I) in the central region of the Hydra I galaxy cluster are presented. Many star clusters have been identified not only around several early-type galaxies, but also in the intra-cluster field, as far as 250 kpc from the cluster center. Outside the bulges of the central galaxies NGC 3311 and NGC 3309, the intra-cluster globular cluster system is dominated by blue clusters whose spatial distribution is similar to that of the (newly discovered) dwarf galaxies in Hydra I. The color distributions of globular clusters around NGC 3311 and NGC 3309 are multimodal, with a sharp blue peak and a slightly broader distribution of the red cluster population.