9208(  1) - 12/20/00 23:42  - [  1]

    PROPOSAL FOR HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS   ST ScI Use Only
                                                       ID:      9208
                                                       Version: 1
                                                       Check-in Date: 20-Dec-2000
                                                                      23:36:18

1.Proposal Title:
The Dynamical Evolution of the Globular Cluster System of M87
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2. Proposal For  3. Cycle
AR               10
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4. Investigators
                                                                                     Contact?
    PI: Arunav Kundu                      Yale University
   CoI: Dr. Keith Ashman                  University of Kansas                          N
   CoI: Dr. Stephen Zepf                  Yale University                               N

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5. Abstract

We propose to undertake a comprehensive, global analysis of the globular cluster
luminosity function (GCLF) of the M87 system using the large amounts of high
quality, archival WFPC2 data available in the V (F555W, F606W) and I-bands (F814W).
The data set includes both primary WFPC2 programs with a broad range of science
goals, and a large component of deep, parallel data. We propose to accurately
determine the parameters of the GCLF, continuously from the core of the galaxy out
to a galactocentric radius of 75 Kpc. This will allow us to sensitively test for the
radial variation in GCLF properties predicted by various destruction mechanisms. By
virtue of the very large database of observations and the richness of the M87
globular cluster system (GCS), our analysis will provide an observational sample
that it at least an order of magnitude more sensitive to radial changes in the GCLF
than existing data sets. It will almost certainly become the de facto standard
against which current and future evolutionary models of cluster systems are tested.
Our proposed study will also allow us to quantify the usefulness of the GCLF as a
distance indicator. The accurate determination of the radial profile of the cluster
system density function will significantly improve the estimate of the total cluster
population, and hence the theoretically important cluster formation efficiency in
M87.
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                                                9208(  1) - 12/20/00 23:42  - [  2]

            Summary Form for Proposal  9208

  Item                         Used in this proposal
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  Proposal Category            AR
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