Constraints on mass loss and self-enrichment scenarios for the globular clusters of the Fornax dSph

Understand

Recently, high-dispersion spectroscopy has demonstrated conclusively that four of the five globular clusters (GCs) in the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy are very metal-poor with [Fe/H]<-2.

• The remaining cluster, Fornax 4, has [Fe/H]=-1.4.
• This is in stark contrast to the field star metallicity distribution which shows a broad peak around [Fe/H]=-1 with only a few percent of the stars having [Fe/H]<-2.
• If we only consider stars and clusters with [Fe/H]<-2 we thus find an extremely high GC specific frequency, SN=400, implying by far the highest ratio of GCs to field stars known anywhere.