Globular Clusters in Dwarf and Giant Galaxies

Abstract

The luminosity distribution of globular clusters shows a dramatic dependence on parent galaxy luminosity. Dwarf galaxies contain far more faint globulars than do luminous galaxies. This difference is significant at the 99.7% level. On the other hand the luminosity distribution of globular clusters in dwarf galaxies does not appear to depend strongly on their host's morphological type. The dichotomy of globular cluster masses occurs at a host galaxy mass of ~ 4 x 10^8 solar masses, which is almost two orders of magnitude lower than the onset of the dichotomy in globular color characteristics at ~ 3 x 10^10 solar masses that was recently noted by Forbes.