Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 August 2017
The Milky Way globular cluster system serves as a reference for the study of more distant galaxies. Here I stress that there are still things we do not know about the globular cluster system of our own galaxy: their total number, their spatial motions and distances, and their IR properties. If our best reference point is not fully known, caution should be exercised when interpreting observations of distant systems. At the same time, when studying distant ellipticals it is not always advisable to rely on the Milky Way as a comparison. For example, only recently the first full calibration of the luminosity function of the globular cluster system of an elliptical galaxy was made, necessary to compare apples with apples.