Large Scale Distribution of Globular Clusters in the Coma Cluster

Coma cluster (Abell 1656) is one of the most massive local galaxy clusters such as Virgo, Fornax, and Perseus, which holds a large collection of globular clusters. Globular cluster systems (GCSs) in a galaxy cluster tell us a history of hierarchical cluster assembly and intracluster GCs (ICGCs) are known to trace the gravitational potential of the galaxy cluster. Previous studies of GCSs in Coma mainly utilized data obtained using Hubble Space Telescope (HST) with high spatial resolution. However, most of the data were based on narrow-field pointing observations. In this study we present the widest survey of GCSs in the Coma cluster using the archival Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) g and r images, supplemented with the archival HST images. The Coma GCSs are largely extended in E-W and SW direction, along the general direction of Coma-Abell 1367 filament. This global structure of the GCSs is consistent with the spatial distribution of the intracluster light (ICL). ICGC spatial distribution is largely extended to almost ~50% of the virial radius. Most of these ICGCs are blue and metal-poor, which supports the scenario that ICGCs are mainly originated from dwarf galaxies and some proportion from brighter galaxies. Implications of the results will be discussed.