We examine the luminosity and B - I color distribution of globular clusters for three early-type galaxies in the Fornax cluster using imaging data from the Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2 on the Hubble Space Telescope .
The luminosity functions we derive are in most cases better than 50 % complete down to B = 26.6 .
We find that the color distributions of globular clusters in the central region of NGC 1399 and its nearby neighbor NGC 1404 are bimodal and statistically indistinguishable .
The metallicity spread , as inferred from the color distributions in these two galaxies , is very similar to that of M 87 .
NGC 1399 ’ s luminosity function is also very similar to that of M 87 , and comparing their respective peak magnitudes indicates that the Fornax cluster is at very nearly the same distance from the Local Group as is the Virgo cluster .
From this we derive H _ { 0 } = 82 \pm 8 km s ^ { -1 } Mpc ^ { -1 } , where the uncertainty reflects only the effects of random errors .
The number of unresolved objects we find at a projected distance of 440 kpc from NGC 1399 is consistent with nothing more than compact background galaxies , though the small field of view of the WFPC2 does not allow us to put strong constraints on the number of intergalactic globular clusters .
The luminosity function of objects detected around NGC 1316 is more nearly exponential than log-normal , and both the color and size distribution of these objects distinguishes them from the clusters surrounding NGC 1399 .
We suggest that these objects are more akin to old open clusters in the Galaxy than they are to globular clusters in typical early-type galaxies .