Spatial Structures in the Globular Cluster Distribution of Fornax Cluster Galaxies

Abstract

Abstract We report the discovery of statistically significant spatial structures in the projected two-dimensional distributions of Globular Cluster (GC) systems of 10 galaxies that are among the brightest in the Fornax Cluster. We use a catalog of GCs extracted from the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys Fornax Cluster Survey imaging data. We characterize the size, shape, and location relative to the host galaxies of the GC structures and suggest a classification based on their morphology and location that is suggestive of different formation mechanisms. We also investigate the GC structures in the context of the positions of their host galaxies relative to the general spatial distributions of galaxies and intracluster GCs in the Fornax Cluster. We finally estimate the dynamical masses of the progenitors of some GC structures under the assumption that they are the relics of past accretion events of satellite galaxies by their hosts.