Wandering Globular Clusters: the First Dwarf Galaxies in the Universe?

E-ISSN： 1638-1963|48|issue|243-248

ISSN： 1633-4760

Source： EAS Publications Series, Vol.48, Iss.issue, 2011-07, pp. : 243-248

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Abstract

In the last decade we witness an advent of new types of dwarf stellar systems including ultra-compact dwarfs, ultra-faint dwarf spheroidals, and exotic globular clusters, breaking the old simple paradigm for dwarf galaxies and globular clusters. These objects be- come more intriguing, and understanding of these new findings becomes more challenging. Recently we discovered a new type of large scale structure in the Virgo cluster of galaxies: it is composed of globular clusters. Globular clusters in Virgo are found wandering between galaxies (intracluster globular clusters) as well as in galaxies. These intracluster globular clusters fill a significant fraction in the area of the Virgo cluster and they are dominated by blue globular clusters. These intracluster globular clusters may be closely related with the first dwarf galaxies in the universe.