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Description
UBV CCD photometry for about 2500 stars in the Galactic globular cluster Ruprecht 106 has been performed yielding the first color-magnitude diagram (CMD) for this object. The CMD extends down to about 2 mag fainter than the main-sequence turnoff (TO). The cluster possesses a remarkably flat horizontal branch which lies completely to the red of the instability strip. From the analysis of the CMD the following basic parameters have been determined: [Fe/H] = -1.09 and primordial helium abundance Yp = 0.20 0.05. A sizable, highly centrally concentrated population of blue stragglers has also been detected. The location and morphology of the mean ridge lines in the CMD of Ruprecht 106 have then been differentially compared with that of the metal-rich cluster 47 Tuc, NGC 362, a cluster of intermediate metallicity, and with two well-studied metal-poor clusters, M68 and NGC 6397. Significant differences in the positions of the TOs are apparent in the comparison with the metal-poor clusters. These differences can be explained if Ruprecht 106 is 4-5 Gyr younger than NGC 6397 and M68, although alternative, less straightforward explanations cannot be ruled out. The horizontal branch morphology fits perfectly into this picture using models with non-solar-scaled abundances ([O/Fe]>0.5), showing that two second parameters are at work in this cluster, i.e., age (the dominant) and O enhancement. If these findings are confirmed, Ruprecht 106 will turn out to be the first young metal-poor Galactic globular cluster discovered, with quite strong implications for the study of the collapse and enrichment of the Galactic halo.
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