The globular cluster specific frequency in NGC 1399 and 4486: a comparative study

A two color CCD survey for globular clusters in the galactocentric range from 2 to 7 arcmin from the galaxy centers is presented for NGC 1399 and NGC 4486 (M87), two systems that, for a long time, have been considered as class archetypes of the so called "high specific frequency phenomenon". The new results, combined with previously published HST data for the inner 2 arcmin, and with a re-discussion of the surface brightness profiles, allow a new estimate of the globular cluster specific frequencies. The resulting S_N values cannot be considered as anomalously large and, rather, they are consistent with values obtained for other galaxies with similar morphologies.