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Andrew C. Phillips

Publications and source records attributed to Andrew C. Phillips.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The Stellar Mass Tully-Fisher Relation to z=1.2 from AEGIS

We combine newly measured rotation velocities, velocity dispersions, and stellar masses to construct stellar mass Tully-Fisher relations (M*TFRs) for 544 galaxies with strong emission lines at 0.1<z<1.2 from the All Wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey (AEGIS) and the Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe 2 Survey (DEEP2). The conventional M*TFR using only rotation velocity (Vrot) shows large scatter (~1.5 dex in velocity). The scatter and residuals are correlated with morphology in the sense that disturbed, compact, and major merger galaxies have lower velocities for their masses. We construct an M*TFR using the kinematic estimator S_0.5 which is defined as sqrt(0.5Vrot^2 + sigma_g^2) and accounts for disordered or non-circular motions through the gas velocity dispersion (sigma_g). The new M*TFR, termed S_0.5/M*TFR, is remarkably tight over 0.1<z<1.2 with no detectable evolution of its intercept or slope with redshift. The average best fit relation has 0.47 dex scatter in stellar mass, corresponding to ~1.2 'magnitudes,' assuming a constant mass-to-light ratio. Interestingly, the S_0.5/M*TFR is consistent with the absorption-line based stellar mass Faber-Jackson relation for nearby elliptical galaxies in terms of slope and intercept, which might suggest a physical connection between the two relations.

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A Survey of Galaxy Kinematics to z ~ 1 in the TKRS/GOODS-N Field. I. Rotation and Dispersion Properties

We present kinematic measurements of a large sample of galaxies from the TKRS Survey in the GOODS-N field. We measure line-of-sight velocity dispersions from integrated emission for 1089 galaxies with median z=0.637, and spatially resolved kinematics for a subsample of 380 galaxies. This is the largest sample of galaxies to z ~ 1 with kinematics to date, and allows us to measure kinematic properties without morphological pre-selection. Emission linewidths provide kinematics for the bulk of blue galaxies. To fit the spatially resolved kinematics, we fit models with both line-of-sight rotation amplitude and velocity dispersion. Integrated linewidth correlates well with a combination of the rotation gradient and dispersion, and is a robust measure of galaxy kinematics. The spatial extents of emission and continuum are similar and there is no evidence that linewidths are affected by nuclear or clumpy emission. The measured rotation gradient depends strongly on slit PA alignment with galaxy major axis, but integrated linewidth does not. Even for galaxies with well-aligned slits, some have kinematics dominated by dispersion (V/sigma<1) rather than rotation. These are probably objects with disordered velocity fields, not dynamically hot stellar systems. About 35% of the resolved sample are dispersion dominated; galaxies that are both dispersion dominated and bright exist at high redshift but appear rare at low redshift. This kinematic morphology is linked to photometric morphology in HST/ACS images: dispersion dominated galaxies include a higher fraction of irregulars and chain galaxies, while rotation dominated galaxies are mostly disks and irregulars. Only one-third of chain/hyphen galaxies are dominated by rotation; high-z elongated objects cannot be assumed to be inclined disks. (Abridged)

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A Survey of Galaxy Kinematics to z ~ 1 in the TKRS/GOODS-N Field. II. Evolution in the Tully-Fisher Relation

We use kinematic measurements of a large sample of galaxies from the Team Keck Redshift Survey in the GOODS-N field to measure evolution in the optical and near-IR Tully-Fisher relations to z = 1.2. We construct Tully-Fisher relations with integrated line-of-sight velocity widths of ~ 1000 galaxies in B and ~ 670 in J-band; these relations have large scatter, and we derive a maximum-likelihood least squares method for fitting in the presence of scatter. The B-band Tully-Fisher relations, from z=0.4 to z=1.2, show evolution of ~ 1.0-1.5 mag internal to our sample without requiring calibration to a local TF relation. There is evolution in both Tully-Fisher intercept and slope, suggesting differential luminosity evolution. In J-band, there is evolution in slope but little evolution in overall luminosity. The slope measurements imply that bright, massive blue galaxies fade {\it more strongly} than fainter blue galaxies from z ~ 1.2 to now. This conclusion runs counter to some previous measurements and to our naive expectations, but we present a simple set of star formation histories to show that it arises naturally if massive galaxies have shorter timescales of star formation, forming most of their stars before z ~ 1, while less massive galaxies form stars at more slowly declining rates. This model predicts that the higher global star formation rate at z ~ 1 is mostly due to higher SFR in massive galaxies. The amount of fading in B-band constrains star formation timescale more strongly than redshift of formation. Tully-Fisher and color-magnitude relations can provide global constraints on the luminosity evolution and star formation history of blue galaxies.

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The DEEP Groth Strip Survey VI. Spectroscopic, Variability, and X-ray Detection of AGN

We identify active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the Groth-Westphal Survey Strip (GSS) using the independent and complementary selection techniques of optical spectroscopy and photometric variability. We discuss the X-ray properties of these AGN using Chandra/XMM data for this region. From a sample of 576 galaxies with high quality spectra we identify 31 galaxies with AGN signatures. Seven of these have broad emission lines (Type 1 AGNs). We also identify 26 galaxies displaying nuclear variability in HST WFPC2 images of the GSS separated by ~7 years. The primary overlap of the two selected AGN samples is the set of broad-line AGNs, of which 80% appear as variable. Only a few narrow-line AGNs approach the variability threshold. The broad-line AGNs have an average redshift of z~1.1 while the other spectroscopic AGNs have redshifts closer to the mean of the general galaxy population (z~0.7). Eighty percent of the identified broad-line AGNs are detected in X-rays and these are among the most luminous X-ray sources in the GSS. Only one narrow-line AGN is X-ray detected. Of the variable nuclei galaxies within the X-ray survey, 27% are X-ray detected. We find that 1.9+/-0.6% of GSS galaxies to V=24 are broad-line AGNs, 1.4+/-0.5% are narrow-line AGNs, and 4.5+/-1.4% contain variable nuclei. The fraction of spectroscopically identified BLAGNs and NLAGNs at z~1 reveals a marginally significant increase of 1.3+/-0.9% when compared to the local population.

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The Tully-Fisher Relation in Cluster Cl0024+1654 at z=0.4

Using moderate-resolution Keck spectra, we have examined the velocity profiles of 15 members of cluster Cl0024+1654 at z=0.4. WFPC2 images of the cluster members have been used to determine structural parameters, including disk sizes, orientations, and inclinations. We compare two methods of optical rotation curve analysis for kinematic measurements. Both methods take seeing, slit size and orientation, and instrumental effects into account and yield similar rotation velocity measurements. Four of the galaxies in our sample exhibit unusual kinematic signatures, such as non-circular motions. Our key result is that the Cl0024 galaxies are marginally underluminous (0.50 +/- 0.23 mag), given their rotation velocities, as compared to the local Tully-Fisher relation. In this analysis, we assume no slope evolution, and take into account systematic differences between local and distant velocity and luminosity measurements. Our result is particularly striking considering the Cl0024 members have very strong emission lines, and local galaxies with similar Halpha equivalent widths tend to be overluminous on the Tully-Fisher relation. Cl0024 Tully-Fisher residuals appear to be correlated most strongly with galaxy rotation velocities, indicating a possible change in the slope of the Tully-Fisher relation. However, we caution that this result may be strongly affected by magnitude selection and by the original slope assumed for the analysis. Cl0024 residuals also depend weakly on color, emission line strength and extent, and photometric asymmetry. In a comparison of stellar and gas motions in two Cl0024 members, we find no evidence for counter-rotating stars and gas, an expected signature of mergers.

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The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: Discovery of Luminous, Metal-poor, Sta r-forming Galaxies at Redshifts z~0.7

We have discovered a sample of 17 metal-poor, yet luminous, star-forming galaxies at redshifts z~0.7. They were selected from the initial phase of the DEEP2 survey of 3900 galaxies and the Team Keck Redshift Survey (TKRS) of 1536 galaxies as those showing the temperature-sensitive [OIII]l4363 auroral line. These rare galaxies have blue luminosities close to L*, high star formation rates of 5 to 12 solar masses per year, and oxygen abundances of 1/3 to 1/10 solar. They thus lie significantly off the luminosity-metallicity relation found previously for field galaxies with strong emission lines at redshifts z~0.7. The prior surveys relied on indirect, empirical calibrations of the R23 diagnostic and the assumption that luminous galaxies are not metal-poor. Our discovery suggests that this assumption is sometimes invalid. As a class, these newly-discovered galaxies are: (1) more metal-poor than common classes of bright emission-line galaxies at z~0.7 or at the present epoch; (2) comparable in metallicity to z~3 Lyman Break Galaxies but less luminous; and (3) comparable in metallicity to local metal-poor eXtreme Blue Compact Galaxies (XBCGs), but more luminous. Together, the three samples suggest that the most-luminous, metal-poor, compact galaxies become fainter over time.

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Evolution of the Near-Infrared Tully-Fisher Relation: Constraints on the Relationship Between the Stellar and Total Masses of Disk Galaxies since z=1

Using a combination of Keck spectroscopy and near-infrared imaging, we investigate the K-band and stellar mass Tully-Fisher relation for 101 disk galaxies at 0.2 < z < 1.2, with the goal of placing the first observational constraints on the assembly history of halo and stellar mass. Our main result is a lack of evolution in either the K-band or stellar mass Tully-Fisher relation from z = 0 - 1.2. Furthermore, although our sample is not statistically complete, we consider it suitable for an initial investigation of how the fraction of total mass that has condensed into stars is distributed with both redshift and total halo mass. We calculate stellar masses from optical and near-infrared photometry and total masses from maximum rotational velocities and disk scale lengths, utilizing a range of model relationships derived analytically and from simulations. We find that the stellar/total mass distribution and stellar-mass Tully-Fisher relation for z > 0.7 disks is similar to that at lower redshift, suggesting that baryonic mass is accreted by disks along with dark matter at z < 1, and that disk galaxy formation at z < 1 is hierarchical in nature. We briefly discuss the evolutionary trends expected in conventional structure formation models and the implications of extending such a study to much larger samples.

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The DEEP Groth Strip Survey. I. The Sample

The Deep Extragalactic Exploratory Probe (DEEP) is a multi-phase research program dedicated to the study of the formation and evolution of galaxies and of large scale structure in the distant Universe. This paper describes the first five-year phase, denoted DEEP1. A series of ten DEEP1 papers will discuss a range of scientific topics (e.g., the study of photometric and spectral properties of a general distant galaxy survey, the evolution observed in galaxy populations of varied morphologies). The observational basis for these studies is the Groth Survey Strip field, a 127 square arcminute region which has been observed with the Hubble Space Telescope in both broad I-band and V-band optical filters and with the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrograph on the Keck Telescopes. Catalogs of photometric and structural parameters have been constructed for 11,547 galaxies and stars at magnitudes brighter than 29, and spectroscopy has been conducted for a magnitude-color weighted subsample of 818 objects. We evaluate three independent techniques for constructing an imaging catalog for the field from the HST data, and discuss the depth and sampling of the resultant catalogs. The selection of the spectroscopic subsample is discussed, and we describe the multifaceted approach taken to prioritizing objects of interest for a variety of scientific subprograms. A series of Monte Carlo simulations then demonstrates that the spectroscopic subsample can be adequately modeled as a simple function of magnitude and color cuts in the imaging catalog.

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The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: First results on galaxy groups

We use the first 25% of the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey spectroscopic data to identify groups and clusters of galaxies in redshift space. The data set contains 8370 galaxies with confirmed redshifts in the range 0.7 <= z <= 1.4, over one square degree on the sky. Groups are identified using an algorithm (the Voronoi-Delaunay Method) that has been shown to accurately reproduce the statistics of groups in simulated DEEP2-like samples. We optimize this algorithm for the DEEP2 survey by applying it to realistic mock galaxy catalogs and assessing the results using a stringent set of criteria for measuring group-finding success, which we develop and describe in detail here. We find in particular that the group-finder can successfully identify ~78% of real groups and that ~79% of the galaxies that are true members of groups can be identified as such. Conversely, we estimate that ~55% of the groups we find can be definitively identified with real groups and that ~46% of the galaxies we place into groups are interloper field galaxies. Most importantly, we find that it is possible to measure the distribution of groups in redshift and velocity dispersion, n(sigma,z), to an accuracy limited by cosmic variance, for dispersions greater than 350km/s. We anticipate that such measurements will allow strong constraints to be placed on the equation of state of the dark energy in the future. Finally, we present the first DEEP2 group catalog, which assigns 32% of the galaxies to 899 distinct groups with two or more members, 153 of which have velocity dispersions above 350km/s. We provide locations, redshifts and properties for this high-dispersion subsample. This catalog represents the largest sample to date of spectroscopically detected groups at z~1.

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The DEEP Groth Strip Galaxy Redshift Survey. III. Redshift Catalog and Properties of Galaxies

The Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe (DEEP) is a series of spectroscopic surveys of faint galaxies, targeted at the properties and clustering of galaxies at redshifts z ~ 1. We present the redshift catalog of the DEEP 1 GSS pilot phase of this project, a Keck/LRIS survey in the HST/WFPC2 Groth Survey Strip. The redshift catalog and data, including reduced spectra, are publicly available through a Web-accessible database. The catalog contains 658 secure galaxy redshifts with a median z=0.65, and shows large-scale structure walls to z = 1. We find a bimodal distribution in the galaxy color-magnitude diagram which persists to z = 1. A similar color division has been seen locally by the SDSS and to z ~ 1 by COMBO-17. For red galaxies, we find a reddening of only 0.11 mag from z ~ 0.8 to now, about half the color evolution measured by COMBO-17. We measure structural properties of the galaxies from the HST imaging, and find that the color division corresponds generally to a structural division. Most red galaxies, ~ 75%, are centrally concentrated, with a red bulge or spheroid, while blue galaxies usually have exponential profiles. However, there are two subclasses of red galaxies that are not bulge-dominated: edge-on disks and a second category which we term diffuse red galaxies (DIFRGs). The distant edge-on disks are similar in appearance and frequency to those at low redshift, but analogs of DIFRGs are rare among local red galaxies. DIFRGs have significant emission lines, indicating that they are reddened mainly by dust rather than age. The DIFRGs in our sample are all at z>0.64, suggesting that DIFRGs are more prevalent at high redshifts; they may be related to the dusty or irregular extremely red objects (EROs) beyond z>1.2 that have been found in deep K-selected surveys. (abridged)

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The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: Clustering of Galaxies in Early Data

We measure the two-point correlation function xi(r) using a sample of 2219 galaxies in an area of 0.32 degrees^2 at z=0.7-1.35 from the first season of the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey. We find that xi(r) can be approximated by a power-law, xi(r)=(r/r_0)^-gamma, on scales 0.1-20 Mpc/h. In a sample with an effective redshift of z_eff=0.82, for a Lcdm cosmology we find r_0=3.53 +/-0.81 Mpc/h (comoving) and gamma=1.66 +/-0.12, while in a higher-redshift sample with z_eff=1.14 we find r_0=3.14 +/-0.72 Mpc/h and gamma=1.61 +/-0.11. We find that red, absorption-dominated, passively-evolving galaxies have a larger clustering scale length, r_0, and more prominent ``fingers of God'' than blue, emission-line, actively star-forming galaxies. Intrinsically brighter galaxies also cluster more strongly than fainter galaxies at z~1, with a significant luminosity-bias seen for galaxies fainter than M*. Our results are suggestive of evolution in the galaxy clustering within our survey volume and imply that the DEEP2 galaxies, with a median brightness one magnitude fainter than M* have an effective bias b=0.97 +/-0.13 if sigma_{8 DM}=1 today or b=1.20 +/-0.16 if sigma_{8 DM}=0.8 today. Given the strong luminosity-dependence in the bias that we measure at z~1, the galaxy bias at M* may be significantly greater. We note that our star-forming sample at z~1 has very similar selection criteria as the Lyman-break galaxies at z~3 and that our red, absorption-line sample displays a clustering strength comparable to the expected clustering of the Lyman-break galaxy descendants at z~1. Our results demonstrate that the clustering properties in the galaxy distribution seen in the local Universe were largely in place by z~1.

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The DEEP Groth Strip Survey VII: The Metallicity of Field Galaxies at 0.26<z<0.82 and the Evolution of the Luminosity-Metallicity Relation

Using spectroscopic data from the Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe (DEEP) Groth Strip survey (DGSS), we analyze the gas-phase oxygen abundances in the warm ionized medium for 64 emission-line field galaxies in the redshift range 0.26 -19) end of the sample and vanishingly small for objects at the high-luminosity end of the sample (M_B ~ -22). Simple galaxy evolution models can produce reasonable agreement with observations for low-mass galaxies when least two of the following are true: 1) low-mass galaxies have lower effective chemical yields than massive galaxies, 2) low-mass galaxies assemble on longer timescales than massive galaxies, 3) low-mass galaxies began the assembly process at a later epoch than massive galaxies. (abridged)

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The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: Spectral classification of galaxies at z~1

We present a Principal Component Analysis (PCA)-based spectral classification, eta, for the first 5600 galaxies observed in the DEEP2 Redshift Survey. This parameter provides a very pronounced separation between absorption and emission dominated galaxy spectra - corresponding to passively evolving and actively star-forming galaxies in the survey respectively. In addition it is shown that despite the high resolution of the observed spectra, this parameter alone can be used to quite accurately reconstruct any given galaxy spectrum, suggesting there are not many `degrees of freedom' in the observed spectra of this galaxy population. It is argued that this form of classification, eta, will be particularly valuable in making future comparisons between high and low-redshift galaxy surveys for which very large spectroscopic samples are now readily available, particularly when used in conjunction with high-resolution spectral synthesis models which will be made public in the near future. We also discuss the relative advantages of this approach to distant galaxy classification compared to other methods such as colors and morphologies. Finally, we compare the classification derived here with that adopted for the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey and in so doing show that the two systems are very similar. This will be particularly useful in subsequent analyses when making comparisons between results from each of these surveys to study evolution in the galaxy populations and large-scale structure.

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The DEEP Groth Strip Survey IX: Evolution of the Fundamental Plane of Field Galaxies

Fundamental Plane studies provide an excellent means of understanding the evolutionary history of early-type galaxies. Using the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrograph on the Keck telescope, we obtained internal stellar kinematic information for 36 field galaxies in the Groth Strip--21 early-type and 15 disk galaxies. Their redshifts range from 0.3--1.0, with a median redshift 0.8. The slope of the relation shows no difference compared with the local slope. However, there is significant evolution in the zero-point offset; an offset due to evolution in magnitude requires a 2.4 magnitude luminosity brightening at z=1. We see little differences of the offset with bulge fraction, which is a good surrogate for galaxy type. Correcting for the luminosity evolution reduces the orthogonal scatter in the Fundamental Plane to 8%, consistent with the local scatter. This scatter is measured for our sample, and does not include results from other studies which may have different selection effects. The difference in the degree of evolution between our field sample and published cluster galaxies suggests a more recent formation epoch--around z=1.5 for field galaxies compared to z>2.0 for cluster galaxies. The magnitude difference implies that the field early-type galaxies are about 2 Gyr younger than the cluster ellipticals using standard single-burst models. However, the same models imply a significant change in the rest-frame U-B color from then to present, which is not seen in our sample. Continuous low-level star formation, however, would serve to explain the constant colors over this large magnitude change. A consistent model has 7% of the stellar mass created after the initial burst, using an exponentially decaying star formation rate with an e-folding time of 5 Gyr.

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The DEEP Groth Strip Survey XII: The Metallicity of Field Galaxies at 0.26<z<0.82 and the Evolution of the Luminosity-Metallicity Relation

Using spectroscopic data from the Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe (DEEP) Groth Strip survey (DGSS), we analyze the gas-phase oxygen abundances for 56 emission-line field galaxies in the redshift range 0.26<z<0.82. Oxygen abundances relative to hydrogen range between 8.4<12+log(O/H)<9.0 with typical uncertainties of 0.17 dex. The 56 DGSS galaxies collectively exhibit a correlation between B-band luminosity and metallicity, i.e., an L-Z relation. Subsets of DGSS galaxies binned by redshift also exhibit L-Z correlations but with different zero points. Galaxies in the highest redshift bin (z=0.6-0.82) are brighter by ~1 mag compared to the lowest redshift bin (z=0.26-0.40) and brighter by ~1-2 mag compared to local (z<0.1) field galaxies. This offset from the local L-Z relation is greatest for objects at the low-luminosity (M_B ~ -19) end of the sample, and vanishingly small for objects at the high-luminosity end of the sample (M_B ~ -22). Thus, both the slope and zero point of the L-Z relation appear to evolve. Either the least-luminous DGSS field galaxies have faded by 1--2 mag due to decreasing levels of star formation, or they have experienced an increase in the mean metallicity of the interstellar medium by factors of 1.3--2 (0.1-0.3 dex). The relatively greater degree of luminosity and metallicity evolution seen among the lower luminosity (sub L*) galaxies in the last 8 Gyr implies either a more protracted assembly process, or a more recent formation epoch compared to more luminous L* galaxies. (abridged)

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Science Objectives and Early Results of the DEEP2 Redshift Survey

The DEIMOS spectrograph has now been installed on the Keck-II telescope and commissioning is nearly complete. The DEEP2 Redshift Survey, which will take approximately 120 nights at the Keck Observatory over a three year period and has been designed to utilize the power of DEIMOS, began in the summer of 2002. The multiplexing power and high efficiency of DEIMOS enables us to target 1000 faint galaxies per clear night. Our goal is to gather high-quality spectra of \~60,000 galaxies with z>0.75 in order to study the properties and large scale clustering of galaxies at z ~ 1. The survey will be executed at high spectral resolution, $R=λ/Δλ\approx 5000$, allowing us to work between the bright OH sky emission lines and to infer linewidths for many of the target galaxies (for several thousand objects, we will obtain rotation curves as well). The linewidth data will facilitate the execution of the classical redshift-volume cosmological test, which can provide a precision measurement of the equation of state of the Universe. This talk reviews the project, summarizes our science goals and presents some early DEIMOS data.

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The DEEP Groth Strip Survey II. Hubble Space Telescope Structural Parameters of Galaxies in the Groth Strip

The quantitative morphological classification of distant galaxies is essential to the understanding of the evolution of galaxies over the history of the Universe. This paper presents Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 F606W and F814W photometric structural parameters for 7450 galaxies in the ``Groth Strip.'' These parameters are based on a two-dimensional bulge+disk surface brightness model and were obtained using an automated reduction and analysis pipeline described in detail here. A first set of fits was performed separately in each bandpass, and a second set of fits was performed simultaneously on both bandpasses. The information produced by these two types of fits can be used to explore different science goals. Systematic and random fitting errors in all structural parameters as well as bulge and disk colors are carefully characterized through extensive sets of simulations. The results of these simulations are given in catalogs similar to the real science catalogs so that both real and simulated measurements can be sampled according to the same selection criteria to show biases and errors in the science data subset of interest. The effects of asymmetric structures on the recovered bulge+disk fitting parameters are also explored through simulations. The full multidimensional photometric survey selection function of the Groth Strip is also computed. This selection function, coupled to bias maps from simulations, provides a complete and objective reproduction of the observational limits, and these limits can be applied to theoretical predictions from galaxy evolution models for direct comparisons with the data.

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Spectroscopy of Globular Clusters in M81

We present moderate-resolution spectroscopy of globular clusters (GCs) around the Sa/Sb spiral galaxy M81 (NGC 3031). Sixteen candidate clusters were observed with the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrograph on the Keck I telescope. All are confirmed as bona fide GCs, although one of the clusters appears to have been undergoing a transient event during our observations. In general, the M81 globular cluster system (GCS) is found to be very similar to the Milky Way (MW) and M31 systems, both chemically and kinematically. A kinematic analysis of the velocities of 44 M81 GCS, (the 16 presented here and 28 from previous work) strongly suggests that the red, metal-rich clusters are rotating in the same sense as the gas in the disk of M81. The blue, metal-poor clusters have halo-like kinematics, showing no evidence for rotation. The kinematics of clusters whose projected galactocentric radii lie between 4 and 8 kpc suggest that they are rotating much more than those which lie outside these bounds. We suggest that these rotating, intermediate-distance clusters are analogous to the kinematic sub-population in the metal-rich, disk GCs observed in the MW and we present evidence for the existence of a similar sub-population in the metal-rich clusters of M31. With one exception, all of the M81 clusters in our sample have ages that are consistent with MW and M31 GCs. One cluster may be as young as a few Gyrs. The correlations between absorption-line indices established for MW and M31 GCs also hold in the M81 cluster system, at least at the upper end of the metallicity distribution (which our sample probes). On the whole, the mean metallicity of the M81 GCS is similar to the metallicity of the MW and M31 GCSs. The projected mass of M81 is similar to the masses of the MW and M31. Its mass profile indicates the presence of a dark matter halo.

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