Abstract
Globular clusters are among the first objects used to establish the distance scale of the Universe. In the 1970-ies it has been recognized that the differential magnitude distribution of old globular clusters is very similar in different galaxies presenting a peak at M V ∼−7.5. This peak magnitude of the so-called Globular Cluster Luminosity Function has been then established as a secondary distance indicator. The intrinsic accuracy of the method has been estimated to be of the order of ∼0.2 mag, competitive with other distance determination methods. Lately the study of the Globular Cluster Systems has been used more as a tool for galaxy formation and evolution, and less so for distance determinations. Nevertheless, the collection of homogeneous and large datasets with the ACS on board HST presented new insights on the usefulness of the Globular Cluster Luminosity Function as distance indicator. I discuss here recent results based on observational and theoretical studies, which show that this distance indicator depends on complex physics of the cluster formation and dynamical evolution, and thus can have dependencies on Hubble type, environment and dynamical history of the host galaxy. While the corrections are often relatively small, they can amount to important systematic differences that make the Globular Cluster Luminosity Function a less accurate distance indicator with respect to some other standard candles.
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Acknowledgements
I thank Soeren Larsen, Andrés Jordán, Diederik Kruijssen, and Daniela Villegas for permission to reproduce figures from their papers. Permissions of the AAS and A&A to reproduce material from their journals is acknowledged. I am grateful to Michael Hilker, Bill Harris, Tom Richtler, and Markus Kissler-Patig for careful reading and many comments which improved this paper. This paper originates from the invited review at the conference “Fundamental Cosmic Distance Scale: State of the Art and the Gaia Perspective”. I thank the conference organizers for a very enjoyable meeting and for financial support.
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Rejkuba, M. Globular cluster luminosity function as distance indicator. Astrophys Space Sci 341, 195–206 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-012-0986-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-012-0986-9