List of galaxies with richest globular cluster systems explained

This is a list of galaxies with richest known globular cluster systems. As of 2019, the galaxy NGC 6166 has the richest globular cluster system, with 39 000 globular clusters.[1] Other galaxies with rich globular cluster systems are NGC 4874, NGC 4889, NGC 3311 and Messier 87. For comparison, the Milky Way has a poor globular cluster system, with only 150-180 globular clusters.

Galaxy ImageNumber of globular clustersNotes
NGC 616639 000 ± 2000 Richest known globular cluster system
NGC 487418 700 ± 2260[2] Richest globular cluster system in Coma cluster
NGC 331116 500 ± 2000[3] Richest globular cluster system in southern part of the sky and in Hydra cluster
Messier 8712 000 ± 800[4] Richest globular cluster system in Virgo Supercluster and richest in Messier Catalog. Also richest within 100 million light-years. Data from 2006 survey
NGC 488911 000 ± 1340[5] Largest galaxy in this list (diameter is about 1050 000 light-years)
IC 40516700 ± 530Richest globular cluster system in IC catalog
NGC 13956000 ± 1100 Richest globular cluster system in Eridanus Cluster, divided into two populations (red and blue)
NGC 13996000 ± 600 Richest globular cluster system in Fornax Cluster, most clusters are given
5900
5100[6]
Messier 863800 Richest globular cluster system in Markarian's Chain
NGC 68613000 ± 300[7]
NGC 16002850
Messier 592200
Messier 892000 Data from 2006 survey
Messier 841775 ± 150
Sombrero Galaxy1600 ± 400 Richest globular cluster system around named galaxy
Centaurus A1450 ± 160[8]
NGC 4278
NGC 49261300 ± 300
Maffei 11100 Closest galaxy in this list (distance is about 11 000 000 light-years)

Notes and References

  1. Harris. William E.. Blakeslee. John P.. Whitmore. Bradley C.. Gnedin. Oleg Y.. Geisler. Douglas. Rothberg. Barry. January 2016. The Astrophysical Journal. 817. 1. 58. 10.3847/0004-637X/817/1/58. 0004-637X. 1511.08493. Globular Cluster Systems in Brightest Cluster Galaxies. Ii. NGC 6166. 2016ApJ...817...58H . 118501801 . free .
  2. Web site: Galaxies in a swarm of star clusters. www.spacetelescope.org.
  3. The Globular Cluster Systems around NGC 3311 and NGC 3309. Kristin A.. Woodley. Barry. Rothberg. Bradley C.. Whitmore. William E.. Harris. Elizabeth M. H.. Wehner. July 10, 2008. The Astrophysical Journal. 681. 2. 1233. 10.1086/587433. 0802.1723 . 2008ApJ...681.1233W . free.
  4. Tamura. N.. Sharples. R. M.. Arimoto. N.. Onodera. M.. Ohta. K.. Yamada. Y.. 2006-12-01. A Subaru/Suprime-Cam wide-field survey of globular cluster populations around M87 - I. Observation, data analysis and luminosity function. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 373. 2. 588–600. 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.11067.x. astro-ph/0609067. 2006MNRAS.373..588T . 0035-8711. free.
  5. Harris. William E.. Kavelaars. J. J.. Hanes. David A.. Pritchet. Christopher J.. Baum. W. A.. 2009-02-01. The Astronomical Journal. 137. 2. 3314–3328. 10.1088/0004-6256/137/2/3314. 0004-6256. The Globular Cluster Systems in the Coma Ellipticals. Iv: Wfpc2 Photometry for Five Giant Ellipticals. 0811.1437 . 2009AJ....137.3314H . free.
  6. Web site: Messier Object 60. www.messier.seds.org.
  7. Web site: The extremely populated globular cluster system of the lenticular galaxy NGC 6861. ResearchGate.
  8. 10.3847/1538-4357/abf63c. NGC 5128 Globular Cluster Candidates Out to 150 KPC: A Comprehensive Catalog from Gaia and Ground-based Data. 2021. Hughes. Allison K.. Sand. David J.. Seth. Anil. Strader. Jay. Voggel. Karina. Dumont. Antoine. Crnojević. Denija. Caldwell. Nelson. Forbes. Duncan A.. Simon. Joshua D.. Guhathakurta. Puragra. Toloba. Elisa. The Astrophysical Journal. 914. 1. 16. 2104.02719. 2021ApJ...914...16H. 233168727 . free .

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