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We present a study of the intra-cluster population of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) residing in globular clusters (GC) in the central 1 $deg^2$ of the Fornax galaxy cluster. Differently from previous studies, which were restricted to the innermost regions of individual galaxies, this work is aimed at comparing the properties of the intra-cluster population of GC-LMXBs with those of the host galaxy. We use VLT Survey Telescope (VST) and Chandra observations. We identify 168 LMXBs residing in GCs and divide it into host-galaxy and intra-cluster objects based on their distance from the nearest galaxy in terms of effective radius. We found 82 intra-cluster GC-LMXBs and 86 objects that are hosted in galaxies. We perform a Gaussian mixture model to divide the population into red and blue GCs. As has been found for the innermost regions of galaxies, LMXBs tend to form in red and bright GCs in intra-cluster space as well. We find, however, that the likelihood of a red GC to host an LMXB decreases with galactocentric distance, but it remains approximately constant for the blue GC population. Investigating the X-ray properties of the LMXBs residing in GCs, we find a difference in the X-ray luminosity function between the intra-cluster and host-galaxy sample: both follow a power-law down to $\sim 8.5\times 10^{37}$ erg s$^{-1}$, which is consistent with field LMXBs for the intra-cluster sample, while the latter agree with previous estimates for LMXBs in GCs. We detect a tentative difference in the hardness ratio of two populations, where the intra-cluster GC-LMXBs appear to have harder spectra than the host-galaxy objects. We find the same trend when we compare red and blue GC-LMXBs: the spectra of the blue sample are harder spectra than those of the red sample. This result could suggest a relation between the spectral properties of LMXBs and the host GC colour and therefore its metallicity., Comment: Accepted by A&A

We investigated whether the two recently discovered nuclei in NGC7727 both host a super-massive black hole (SMBH). We used the high spatial resolution mode of the integral-field spectrograph MUSE on the VLT in adaptive optics mode to resolve the stellar kinematics within the sphere of influence of both putative black holes. We combined the kinematic data with an HST-based mass model and used Jeans models to measure their SMBH mass. We report the discovery of a dual SMBH system in NGC7727. We detect a SMBH in the photometric center of the galaxy in Nucleus 1, with a mass of $M_{\rm SMBH}=1.54^{+0.18}_{-0.15} \times10^{8}M_{\odot}$. In the second nucleus, which is 500pc offset from the main nucleus, we also find a clear signal for a SMBH with a mass of $M_{\rm BH}=6.33^{+3.32}_{-1.40}\times10^{6}M_{\odot}$. Both SMBHs are detected at high significance. The off-axis nature of Nucleus 2 makes modeling the system challenging; but a number of robustness tests suggest that a black hole is required to explain the kinematics. The SMBH in the offset Nucleus 2 makes up 3.0% of its total mass, which means its SMBH is over-massive compared to the $M_{\rm BH}-M_{\rm Bulge}$ scaling relation. This confirms it as the surviving nuclear star cluster of a galaxy that has merged with NGC7727. This discovery is the first dynamically confirmed dual SMBH system with a projected separation of less than a kiloparsec and the nearest dynamically confirmed dual SMBH at a distance of 27.4Mpc. The second Nucleus is in an advanced state of inspiral, and it will eventually result in a 1:24 mass ratio SMBH merger. Optical emission lines suggest Nucleus 2 is a Seyfert galaxy, making it a low-luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). There are likely many more quiescent SMBHs as well as dual SMBH pairs in the local Universe that have been missed by surveys that focus on bright accretion signatures., Comment: Accepted to A&A, 16 pages, 15 figures

This paper is based on the multi-band (ugri) Fornax Deep Survey (FDS) with the VLT Survey Telescope (VST). We study bright early-type galaxies (m_B 28 mag/arcsec^2). Therefore, the new FDS data allow us to explore in great detail the morphology and structure of cluster galaxies out to the region of the stellar halo. The observations suggest that the Fornax cluster is not completely relaxed inside the virial radius. The bulk of the gravitational interactions between galaxies happens in the W-NW core region of the cluster, where most of the bright early-type galaxies are located and where the intra-cluster baryons (diffuse light and GCs) are found. We suggest that the W-NW sub-clump of galaxies results from an infalling group onto the cluster, which has modified the structure of the galaxy outskirts (making asymmetric stellar halos) and has produced the intra-cluster baryons (ICL and GCs), concentrated in this region of the cluster., Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. High-resolution version of paper is available at the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ybe4tg2hbqayteh/FDS_V.ETGs.pdf?dl=0

The environmental conditions that allow optimal astronomical observations are often coupled with sites that are far away from human settlements and of difficult access, implying limited infrastructure availability that translates in excessive costs and limited bandwidth. With the availability and more affordability of optical based technologies, the astronomical scientific community, alone or joining forces with other actors, has managed in the last decade to boost the communication capability available to several of the astronomical installations in the northern Chilean region, the Atacama Desert, and to successfully increase the efficiency and effectivity of the existing Observatories and setting the basis for the coming ones. The paper, after providing a short summary of the projects developed to enable better communications and the future initiatives currently foreseen, focuses on the following show‐cases, from users that differ in size and aims, in served communities and in geographical locations: a) the observation of the First Light from Gravitational Wave Source (ESO, ALMA, et Al.); b) the use of virtual presence to bring the observer where things happen (ESO/PARANAL); c) remote operations for robotic installation (OCA); d) Contributing to develop the local environment (REUNA); e) provide the “muscle” for the current and future data challenge (ALMA). These examples, by illustrating how communication transformed the way research and education are done, demonstrate that improved communication is paramount in achieving better and, in some case, new astonishing results, both in terms of science and as well as enriching the communities, both scientific and in general.

We analyze the globular cluster (GC) systems in two very different galaxies, NGC 3115 and NGC 1399. With the papers of this series, we aim at highlighting common and different properties in the GC systems in galaxies covering a wide range of parameter space. We compare the GCs in NGC 3115 and NGC 1399 as derived from the analysis of one square degree u-, g-, and i-band images taken with the VST telescope as part of the VST early-type galaxy survey (VEGAS) and Fornax deep survey (FDS). We selected GC candidates using as reference the morpho-photometric and color properties of confirmed GCs. The surface density maps of GCs in NGC 3115 reveal a morphology similar to the light profile of field stars; the same is true when blue and red GCs are taken separately. The GC maps for NGC 1399 are richer in structure and confirm the existence of an intra-cluster GC component. We confirm the presence of a spatial offset in the NGC 1399 GC centroid and find that the centroid of the GCs for NGC 3115 coincides well with the galaxy center. Both GC systems show unambiguous color bimodality in (g − i) and (u − i); the color–color relations of the two GC systems are slightly different with NGC 3115 appearing more linear than NGC 1399. The azimuthal average of the radial density profiles in both galaxies reveals a larger spatial extent for the total GCs population with respect to the galaxy surface brightness profile. For both galaxies, the red GCs have radial density profiles compatible with the galaxy light profile, while the radial profiles for blue GCs are shallower. As for the specific frequency of GCs, SN, we find it is a factor of two higher in NGC 1399 than for NGC 3115; this is mainly the result of extra blue GCs. By inspecting the radial behavior of the specific frequency, SN(

As part of the Fornax Deep Survey with the ESO VLT Survey Telescope, we present new $g$ and $r$ bands mosaics of the SW group of the Fornax cluster. It covers an area of $3 \times 2$ square degrees around the central galaxy NGC1316. The deep photometry, the high spatial resolution of OmegaCam and the large covered area allow us to study the galaxy structure, to trace stellar halo formation and look at the galaxy environment. We map the surface brightness profile out to 33arcmin ($\sim 200$kpc $\sim15R_e$) from the galaxy centre, down to $\mu_g \sim 31$ mag arcsec$^{-2}$ and $\mu_r \sim 29$ mag arcsec$^{-2}$. This allow us to estimate the scales of the main components dominating the light distribution, which are the central spheroid, inside 5.5 arcmin ($\sim33$ kpc), and the outer stellar envelope. Data analysis suggests that we are catching in act the second phase of the mass assembly in this galaxy, since the accretion of smaller satellites is going on in both components. The outer envelope of NGC1316 still hosts the remnants of the accreted satellite galaxies that are forming the stellar halo. We discuss the possible formation scenarios for NGC1316, by comparing the observed properties (morphology, colors, gas content, kinematics and dynamics) with predictions from cosmological simulations of galaxy formation. We find that {\it i)} the central spheroid could result from at least one merging event, it could be a pre-existing early-type disk galaxy with a lower mass companion, and {\it ii)} the stellar envelope comes from the gradual accretion of small satellites., Comment: Accepeted for publication in ApJ

We present the internal kinematics of UCD3, the brightest known ultra-compact dwarf galaxy (UCD) in the Fornax cluster, making this the first UCD with spatially resolved spectroscopy. Our study is based on seeing-limited observations obtained with the ARGUS Integral Field Unit of the VLT/FLAMES spectrograph under excellent seeing conditions (0.5 - 0.67 arcsec FWHM). The velocity field of UCD3 shows the signature of weak rotation, comparable to that found in massive globular clusters. Its velocity dispersion profile is fully consistent with an isotropic velocity distribution and the assumption that mass follows the light distribution obtained from Hubble Space Telescope imaging. In particular, there is no evidence for the presence of an extended dark matter halo contributing a significant (>~33 per cent within R < 200 pc) mass fraction, nor for a central black hole more massive than ~5 per cent of the UCD's mass. While this result does not exclude a galaxian origin for UCD3, we conclude that its internal kinematics are fully consistent with it being a massive star cluster.

Various formation channels for the puzzling ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) have been proposed in the last few years. To better judge on some of the competing scenarios, we present spectroscopic [Fe/H] estimates for a sample of 26 compact objects in the central region of the Fornax cluster, covering the magnitude range of UCDs and bright globular clusters. We find a break in the metallicity distribution of compact objects at M_V ~ -11 mag (~3*10^6 M_sun): for M_V -11 mag. This metallicity break is accompanied by a change in the size-luminosity relation for compact objects, as deduced from HST-imaging: for M_V -11 mag, r_h is almost luminosity-independent. We therefore assume a limiting absolute magnitude of M_V=-11 mag between UCDs and globular clusters. The mean metallicity of five Fornax dE,N nuclei included in our study is about 0.8 dex lower than that of the UCDs, at 4.5 sigma significance. Because of this large metallicity discrepancy we disfavor the hypothesis that most of the Fornax UCDs are the remnant nuclei of tidally stripped dE,Ns. Our metallicity estimates for UCDs are closer to but slightly below those derived for young massive clusters (YMCs) of comparable masses. We therefore favor a scenario where most UCDs in Fornax are successors of merged YMCs produced in the course of violent galaxy-galaxy mergers. It is noted that in contrast to that, the properties of Virgo UCDs are more consistent with the stripping scenario, suggesting that different UCD formation channels may dominate in either cluster.

The M31 satellite galaxy M32 has long been considered an object of unique properties, being the most extreme example of the very rare compact elliptical galaxy class. Here we present the spectroscopic discovery of two M32 twins in the massive galaxy cluster Abell 1689. As these objects are so rare, this is an important step towards a better understanding of the nature of compact galaxies. The two M32 twins had first been detected within our photometric search for ultra compact dwarf galaxy (UCDs) candidates in A1689 (Mieske et al. 2004) with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Their luminosities (M_V ~ -17 mag) are very similar to M32 and their surface brightness profiles are consistent with that of M32 projected to A1689's distance. From our ACS imaging we detect several fainter compact galaxy candidates with luminosities intermediate between M32 and the Fornax UCDs. If spectroscopically confirmed as cluster members, this would almost close the gap in the magnitude-surface brightness plane between the region of UCDs and the compact ellipticals, implying a sequence of faint compact galaxies well separated from that of dwarf ellipticals., 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&A letters

Dwarf and Low Surface Brightness (LSB) galaxies are the most numerous type of galaxies in the local Universe. However ubiquitous they are, their properties remain widely unexplored. Dwarf galaxies range from Ultra Compact Objects (UCO), Dwarf Ellipticals (dE), Dwarf Spheroidals (dSph) to Dwarf Irregulars (dIrr) and are generally of low surface brightness. In this paper we focus on the relation between these objects and galaxy clusters. The discussion is centered on three main issues, the faint end of the cluster luminosity function, segregation of dwarfs in clusters and the dwarf galaxy – cluster dynamical state connection. A further analysis of the population and clustering properties of dwarf galaxies in clusters require better statistics. While concluding, we present, as well, future prospects on how to measure distances to dwarfs using the surface brightness fluctuation method so as to increase the number of confirmed dwarf member galaxies in more distant clusters.

We recently initiated a search for ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) in the Centaurus galaxy cluster (Mieske et al. 2007), resulting in the discovery of 27 compact objects with -12.2

AIMS: We analyse the photometric properties of the early-type Fornax cluster dwarf galaxy population, based on a wide field imaging study of the central cluster area in V and I. We used the instrument/telescope combination IMACS/Magellan at Las Campanas Observatory, providing much larger light collecting area and better image resolution than previous surveys. METHODS: We create a fiducial sample of Fornax cluster dwarf ellipticals (dEs) in the following three steps: (1) To verify cluster membership, we measured I-band surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) distances to candidate dEs; (2) We re-assessed morphological classifications for candidate dEs too faint for SBF detection; and (3) We searched for new candidate dEs in the size-luminosity regime close to the resolution limit of previous surveys. RESULTS: (1) We confirm cluster membership for 28 candidate dEs in the range -16.6, Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. Uses special aa.cls

We present a study of the old globular cluster (GC) population of the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 1427A using multi-wavelength VLT observations in U, B, V, I, H_alpha, J, H, and Ks bands under excellent observing conditions. We applied color and size selection criteria to select old GC candidates and made use of archival ACS images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope to reject contaminating background sources and blended objects from the GC candidates' list. The H_alpha observations were used to check for contamination due to compact, highly reddened young star clusters whose colors and sizes could mimic those of old GCs. After accounting for contamination we obtain a total number of 38+/-8 GC candidates with colors consistent with an old (~10 Gyr) and metal-poor (Z < 0.4xZ_solar) population as judged by simple stellar population models. Our contamination analysis indicates that the density distribution of GCs in the outskirts of the Fornax central cD galaxy NGC1399 may not be spherically symmetric. We derive a present-day specific frequency S_N of 1.6+/-0.23 for NGC 1427A, a value significantly larger than what is observed in the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxies and comparable with the values found for the same galaxy types in the Virgo and Fornax clusters. Assuming a universal globular cluster luminosity function turnover magnitude, we derive a distance modulus to NGC 1427A of 31.01+/-0.21 mag which places it 3.2+/-2.5(statistic)+/-1.6(systematic) Mpc in front of the Fornax central cD galaxy NGC 1399. The implications of this result for the relationship between NGC 1427A and the cluster environment are briefly discussed., 16 pages, 2 tables, 14 figures; accepted for publication in A&A

The properties of Ultra Compact Dwarf (UCD) galaxy candidates in Abell 1689 (z=0.183) are investigated, based on deep high resolution ACS images. A UCD candidate has to be unresolved, have i 26.8 mag, the radial and luminosity distribution of the UCD candidates can be explained well by Abell 1689's globular cluster (GC) system. For i

The potential of the Surface Brightness Fluctuations (SBF) method to determine the membership of dwarf elliptical galaxies (dEs) in nearby galaxy clusters is investigated. Extensive simulations for SBF measurements on dEs in the I-band for various combinations of distance modulus, seeing and integration time are presented, based on average VLT FORS1 and FORS2 zero points. These show that for distances up to 20 Mpc (Fornax or Virgo cluster distance), reliable membership determination of dEs can be obtained down to very faint magnitudes -10, Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted by A&A, replaced by version with non-abridged bottom page limit

We have discovered about 70 very faint dwarf galaxies in the Fornax Cluster. These dSphs candidates follow the same magnitude-surface brightness relation as their counterparts in the Local Group, and even extend it to fainter limits. The faintest dSph candidate in our sample has an absolute magnitude of M_V = -8.8 mag and a central surface brightness of mu_V = 27 mag/arcsec^2. There exists a tight color-magnitude relation for the early-type galaxies in Fornax that extends from the giant to the dwarf regime. The faint-end slope of the luminosity function of the early-type dwarfs is flat (alpha = -1.1+/-0.1), contrary to the results obtained by Kambas et al. (2000)., 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics (Letters)

Dynamical mass estimates of ultra-compact dwarfs galaxies and massive globular clusters in the Fornax and Virgo clusters and around the giant elliptical Cen A have revealed some surprising results: 1) above ~106M⊙ the mass-to-light (M/L) ratio increases with the objects' mass; 2) some UCDs/massive GCs show high M/L values (4 to 6) that are not compatible with standard stellar population models; and 3) in the luminosity-velocity dispersion diagram, UCDs deviate from the well-defined relation of “normal” GCs, being more in line with the Faber-Jackson relation of early-type galaxies. In this contribution, we present the observational evidences for high mass-to-light ratios of UCDs and discuss possible explanations for them.

We have measured the velocity dispersion of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 2419 to determine if a substantial amount of dark matter is present in this cluster. NGC 2419 is one of the best globular clusters to look for dark matter due to its large mass, long relaxation time and large Galactocentric distance, which makes tidal stripping of dark matter unlikely. Our results can be summarized as follows. (i) We found a global velocity dispersion of 4.14 ± 0.48 km s−1, which leads to a total cluster mass of (9.02 ± 2.22) × 105 M⊙ and implies a global mass-to-light ratio of 2.05 ± 0.50 M⊙/L⊙. (ii) Our derived mass-to-light ratio is completely consistent with the mass-to-light ratio of a standard stellar population at the metallicity and age of NGC 2419. In addition, the mass-to-light ratio of NGC 2419 does not increase towards the outer cluster parts. (iii) We can therefore rule out the presence of a dark-matter halo with a central density greater than about 0.02 M⊙ pc−3. Similar limits are found for other halo globular clusters, like Pal 14. These observations therefore indicate that NGC 2419 and other halo globular clusters did not form at the centers of dark-matter halos similar to those surrounding dwarf galaxies. Instead, an origin driven by gas-dynamical processes during mergers between galaxies or proto-galactic fragments seems to be the more likely explanation for the formation of even the lowest-metallicity globular clusters.