Candidate globular clusters in NGC 1316

For the old, metal-poor ("blue") clusters, the peak mass of the mass function M_p_ increases with internal half-mass density {rho}_h_ as M_p_{prop.to}{rho}_h_^0.44^, whereas it stays approximately constant with galactocentric distance R_gal_.

The mass functions of these clusters are consistent with a simple scenario in which they formed with a Schechter initial mass function and evolved subsequently by internal two-body relaxation. For the intermediate-age population of metal-rich ("red") clusters, the faint end of the previously reported power-law luminosity function of the clusters with R_gal_>9kpc is due to many of those clusters having radii larger than the theoretical maximum value imposed by the tidal field of NGC 1316 at their R_gal_.