Globular cluster Observations for Luminosity-dispersion Distances (GOLD): Project description and velocity catalogue
Abstract
We introduce and describe the Globular cluster Observations for Luminosity-Dispersion distances (GOLD) project, which has the principal aim of determining independent distances based on the globular cluster (GC) absolute magnitude-velocity dispersion (MV − σ) relation calibrated with Milky Way GCs with Gaia distances. The project comprises observations of GCs in 19 early- and late-type galaxies taken with FLAMES/GIRAFFE on ESO's Very Large Telescope. So far, 17 galaxies have been observed. The spectra cover the wavelength range 8483-9000 AA, including the calcium triplet region at a spectral resolution of R∼18,000. The spectra provide line-of-sight velocities with typical uncertainties of Δv = 1−2 km s−1. Using primarily velocities to separate extragalactic sources from foreground stars, we present here our initial sample of 1062 GCs and 101 ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs). For more than 650 of these objects we present the first velocity measurement. We discuss the available photometry and size measurements, and show that our velocities are in good agreement with previous studies. Our velocity catalogues are made publicly available. Beyond the principal aim of obtaining precision distances, additional science to be explored with these data includes host galaxy halo dynamics and clustering analysis, mass-to light ratios of GCs and UCDs in the sample, the stellar initial mass function and black hole occupation fraction of the GCs, and chemical abundances from high-dispersion spectra.
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BibTeX
@misc{fahrion2026globular,
title = {{Globular cluster Observations for Luminosity-dispersion Distances (GOLD): Project description and velocity catalogue}},
author = {K. Fahrion and M. A. Beasley and A. Gvozdenko and I. Ortega-Casas and A. Ferre-Mateu and F. I. Aros and D. Dold and T. Jerabkova and S. S. Larsen and O. Müller and M. Rejkuba and K. L. Rhode and G. van de Ven},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.14181},
eprint = {2610.14181},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.14181},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Globular cluster Observations for Luminosity-dispersion Distances (GOLD): Project description and velocity catalogue
AU - K. Fahrion
AU - M. A. Beasley
AU - A. Gvozdenko
AU - I. Ortega-Casas
AU - A. Ferre-Mateu
AU - F. I. Aros
AU - D. Dold
AU - T. Jerabkova
AU - S. S. Larsen
AU - O. Müller
AU - M. Rejkuba
AU - K. L. Rhode
AU - G. van de Ven
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.14181
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.14181
AB - We introduce and describe the Globular cluster Observations for Luminosity-Dispersion distances (GOLD) project, which has the principal aim of determining independent distances based on the globular cluster (GC) absolute magnitude-velocity dispersion (M_V − σ) relation calibrated with Milky Way GCs with Gaia distances. The project comprises observations of GCs in 19 early- and late-type galaxies taken with FLAMES/GIRAFFE on ESO's Very Large Telescope. So far, 17 galaxies have been observed. The spectra cover the wavelength range 8483-9000 AA, including the calcium triplet region at a spectral resolution of R∼18,000. The spectra provide line-of-sight velocities with typical uncertainties of Δv = 1−2 km s^−1. Using primarily velocities to separate extragalactic sources from foreground stars, we present here our initial sample of 1062 GCs and 101 ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs). For more than 650 of these objects we present the first velocity measurement. We discuss the available photometry and size measurements, and show that our velocities are in good agreement with previous studies. Our velocity catalogues are made publicly available. Beyond the principal aim of obtaining precision distances, additional science to be explored with these data includes host galaxy halo dynamics and clustering analysis, mass-to light ratios of GCs and UCDs in the sample, the stellar initial mass function and black hole occupation fraction of the GCs, and chemical abundances from high-dispersion spectra.
ER -