GCs in Field 1 of the Centaurus cluster

The azimuthal distribution of the GCs show peaks at the position angles PA_1_=92{deg} and PA_2_=293{deg}, with PA_2_ coinciding with the direction toward NGC 4696, confirming that the interaction between these galaxies shaped the GCS of NGC 4709. From the GC luminosity function we derived a distance of 29.9+/-2.1Mpc, which is much closer than the other galaxies of the Centaurus cluster, and a specific frequency of S_N_=3.7+/-0.5, in good agreement with previously estimated values.

From the GCs density maps, we identified overdensities corresponding to the positions of other five galaxies of the Centaurus cluster, and we found a bridge of GCs between NGC 4709 and NGC 4696 with a distance of d=34.69+/-2.21Mpc, which is between that of the two galaxies. All these findings point toward a complex GCS for NGC 4709, strongly influenced by the interaction with NGC 4696, and confirm previous findings that the galaxy's apparent distance is smaller than that of the main cluster galaxy NGC 4696 by ~8.5Mpc and it is smaller than the distance of the other Centaurus' galaxies, making it an outlier in Centaurus and suggesting a past first encounter with Cen 30.

In future work, we will combine our data with E-MOSAICS simulations to unravel NGC 4709 trajectory, from the past interaction to the future new rendezvous with NGC 4696.