HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE Imaging of Globular Clusters in the Edge-on Spiral Galaxies NGC 4565 and NGC 5907

Abstract

We present a study of the globular cluster systems of two edge-on spiral galaxies, NGC 4565 and NGC 5907, from WFPC2 images in the F450W and F814W filters. The globular cluster systems of both galaxies appear to be similar to the Galactic globular cluster system. In particular, we derive total numbers of globular clusters of N_GC(4565)=204+/-38^+87_-53 and N_GC(5907)=170+/-41^+47_-72 (where the first are statistical, the second potential systematic errors) for NGC 4565 and NGC 5907, respectively. This determination is based on a comparison with the Milky Way system, for which we adopt a total number of globular clusters of 180+/-20. The specific frequency of both galaxies is S_N~=0.6, indistinguishable from the value for the Milky Way. The similarity in the globular cluster systems of the two galaxies is noteworthy, since they have significantly different thick disks and bulge-to-disk ratios. This would suggest that these two components do not play a major role in the building up of a globular cluster system around late-type galaxies.