We present Gemini optical spectroscopy of three young star clusters in the western tidal tail of NGC 3256 .
Compact star clusters ( as opposed to dwarf-galaxy candidates ) in tidal tails are rare , with these three clusters the first for which detailed quantitative spectroscopy has ever been obtained .
We find that two of these clusters appear to be coeval , while the third is approximately two times older ( \sim 200 Myr vs . \sim 80 Myr ) .
All three clusters are massive ( 1– 3 \times 10 ^ { 5 } \mbox { $ { \cal M } _ { \odot } $ } ) and appear to be of roughly solar metallicity .
Additionally , the three clusters appear to be relatively large ( R _ { eff } = 10 - 20 pc ) , possibly reflecting weak compression at the time of formation and/or the weak influence of the tidal field of the galaxy .
All three clusters have velocities consistent with the general trend of the H i velocities in the tidal tail .
We conclude that if the loosely bound tail material of NGC 3256 gets stripped during future interactions of this galaxy within its group , these three clusters may become part of the intra-group medium .