Uncovering the NGC 5128 Globular Cluster System

Abstract.The vast majority of our understanding of the globular cluster systems (GCSs) of external galaxies comes from studies of large ellipticals. But our most detailed information on GCSs to date is dominated by the Milky Way and M31 (both spirals) and smaller galaxies within the Local Group. NGC 5128, as the nearest large E galaxy ($$d \le 4Mpc$$), provides an important link to studies of extragalactic GCSs. But its proximity, combined with a moderately low Galactic latitude ( $$b \simeq 19^\circ$$) and a longitude ( $$l \simeq 309^\circ$$) only $$\sim 50^\circ$$ from the Galactic center, mean that the global properties of this important GCS have been difficult to determine.