SPECTRA OF 2 LUMINOUS YOUNG GLOBULAR-CLUSTERS IN THE MERGER REMNANT NGC-7252

Spectra of the two brightest ''bluish knots'' surrounding the nucleus of the merger remnant NGC 7252 are presented. These knots were among a half dozen discovered from the ground and belong to a population of approximately 40 similar blue objects found and resolved by Whitmore et al. with the Hubble Space Telescope. The spectra, obtained with the Hale 5 m telescope, show Halpha, Hbeta, Mg I, and Fe I absorption lines characteristic of late A-type to mid-F-type stars at the redshift of NGC 7252 (within +/- 150 km s-1), but no emission lines. These spectra demonstrate that the two knots are relatively young (approximately 10-500 Myr), populous star clusters of exceptional luminosity (M(V) = -17.1 and -15.6 for H-0 = 50). Because of their age and small effective radii (approximately 10 pc), these clusters must be gravitationally bound and are most likely young globular clusters. They formed during the merger of two gas-rich spirals and will fade by 3 1/2-7 mag during the next 15 Gyr. We discuss the implications of finding young globular clusters in a merger remnant likely to evolve into an elliptical galaxy.