SPECTROSCOPY OF CANDIDATE YOUNG GLOBULAR-CLUSTERS IN NGC-1275

We present spectra of the brightest member of the population of compac t blue objects discovered in the peculiar galaxy NGC 1275 by Holtzman et al. (1992) using Hubble Space Telescope images. These spectra show strong Balmer absorption lines like those observed in A-type stars, as expected if the object is a young globular cluster. The age estimated from the strength of the Balmer lines is about 0.5 Gyr, although ages ranging from 0.1 Gyr to 0.9 Gyr cannot be confidently excluded given current models of stellar populations. If these estimated ages are ado pted for the young cluster population of NGC 1275 as a whole, the fadi ng predicted by stellar populations models gives a luminosity function which is consistent with that of the Galactic globular cluster system convolved with the observational selection function for the NGC 1275 system. We also use the equivalent widths of the Mg b and Fe 5270 feat ures to constrain the metallicity of the young cluster. Combining thes e absorption-line widths with the age estimates from the Balmer lines and stellar population models, we find a metallicity of roughly solar, based on the Mg b index, and somewhat higher for the Fe 5270 index. T he radial velocity of the absorption lines of the cluster spectrum is offset from the emission lines of the galaxy spectrum at the same posi tion by -130 km s(-1), providing further evidence for the identificati on of the object as a globular cluster and opening up the future possi bility of studying the kinematics of young cluster systems. The discov ery of objects with the characteristics of young globular clusters in NGC 1275, which shows evidence of a recent interaction or merger, supp orts the hypothesis that galaxy interactions and mergers are favorable sites for the formation of globular clusters.