| Abstract | The color-magnitude diagrams of globular clusters in the dwarf spheroidal galaxy Fornax, the least massive galaxy known to have a globular cluster system, are investigated. Photographic photometry was obtained for individual stars in clusters 1, 2, 3 and 5 of Fornax. The giant branches of the color-magnitude diagrams for clusters 1, 3 and 5 are found to indicate that the clusters have lower metallicity than the field stars of Fornax, with cluster 3 being the most metal deficient. The shape of the giant branch of cluster 2, which lacks bright giants, is more difficult to interpret, but may indicate that cluster abundance falls within the abundance range of the field stars. A fit of the M15 giant branch to those of clusters 1 and 5 results in a distance modulus of 20.8 plus or minus 0.2, which in turn indicates a distance to Fornax of approximately 150 kpc. |
