The Structural Parameters of Globular Clusters in Massive Galaxies (Kristin Woodley, University of British Columbia)

Globular clusters are powerful tools for the exploration of massive galaxy formation. These objects are generally old, forming along with the major starbursting events in their host galaxy, can survive for a Hubble time, and are bright, allowing their observation out to great distances.  Their properties and in particular, the spatial distribution of their stars, can provide important insights into their initial formation conditions as well as their dynamical evolution.  In this talk, I will focus on the structural parameters of globular clusters in massive galaxies, where we have sample sizes of hundreds of objects for which sizes, concentrations, and ellipticities have been measured.  In particular, I will show new results from our spiral neighbour M31 as well as the nearest giant elliptical NGC 5128, both of which are ideal systems to study because of their close proximity and large globular cluster populations.  More specifically, I will discuss the parameters of globular clusters as a function of their mass, metallicity, and projected position within their host system and examine the dependence of these properties on galaxy environment to help constrain our understanding of galaxy formation.