The ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. X. New Determinations of Centers for 65 Clusters
Abstract
We present new measurements of the centers for 65 Milky Way globular clusters. Centers were determined by fitting ellipses to the density distribution within the inner 2' of the cluster center, and averaging the centers of these ellipses. The symmetry of clusters was also analyzed by comparing cumulative radial distributions on opposite sides of the cluster across a grid of trial centers. All of the determinations were done with stellar positions derived from a combination of two single-orbit Advanced Camera for Surveys images of the core of the cluster in F606W and F814W. We find that the ellipse-fitting method provides remarkable accuracy over a wide range of core sizes and density distributions, while the symmetry method is difficult to use on clusters with very large cores or low density. The symmetry method requires a larger field or a very sharply peaked density distribution.
- Publication:
-
The Astronomical Journal
- Pub Date:
- December 2010
- DOI:
- 10.1088/0004-6256/140/6/1830
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1008.2755
- Bibcode:
- 2010AJ....140.1830G
- Keywords:
-
- astrometry;
- catalogs;
- globular clusters: general;
- methods: data analysis;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
- E-Print:
- 17 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in AJ, supplementary material will be available upon publication