We present F555W (V), F439W (B), and F336W (U) photometry of 9507 stars in the central 2' of the dense, post-core-collapse cluster M30 (NGC 7099) derived from Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 images. These data are used to study the mix of stellar populations in the central region of the cluster. Forty-eight blue straggler stars are identified; they are found to be strongly concentrated toward the cluster center. The specific frequency of blue stragglers, F_BSS_=N(BSS)/N(V<V_HB_+2), is 0.25+/-0.05 in the inner region of M30 (r<20"), significantly higher than the frequency found in other clusters: F_BSS_=0.05-0.15. The shape of M30's blue straggler luminosity function resembles the prediction of the collisional formation model, and is inconsistent with the binary merger model of Bailyn & Pinsonneault (1995ApJ...439..705B). An unusually blue star (B=18.6, B-V=-0.97), possibly a cataclysmic variable based on its color, is found about 1.2" from the crowded cluster center; the photometric uncertainty for this star is large, however, because of the presence of a very close neighbor. Bright red giant stars (B<16.6) appear to be depleted by a factor of 2-3 in the inner r<10" relative to fainter giants, subgiants, and main-sequence turnoff stars (95% significance). We confirm that there is a radial gradient in the color of the overall cluster light, going from B-V~0.82 at r~1' to B-V~0.45 in the central 10". The central depletion of the bright red giants is responsible for about half of the observed color gradient; the rest of the gradient is caused by the relative underabundance of faint red main-sequence stars near the cluster center (presumably a result of mass segregation). The luminosity function of M30's evolved stars does not match the luminosity function shape derived from standard stellar evolutionary models: the ratio of the number of bright giants to the number of turnoff stars in the cluster is 30% higher than predicted by the model (3.8{sigma} effect), roughly independent of red giant brightness over the range M_V_=-2 to +2.
Multiphotometry of M31 outer halo globular clusters
Short Name:
J/A+A/623/A65
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
In this paper, we present photometry of 53 globular clusters (GCs) in the M31 outer halo, including the GALEX FUV and NUV, SDSS ugriz, 15 intermediate-band filters of BATC, and 2MASS JHKs bands. By comparing the multicolour photometry with stellar population synthesis models, we determine the metallicities, ages, and masses for these GCs, aiming to probe the merging/accretion history of M31. We find no clear trend of metallicity and mass with the de-projected radius. The halo GCs with age younger than ~8Gyr are mostly located at the de-projected radii around 100kpc, but this may be due to a selection effect. We also find that the halo GCs have consistent metallicities with their spatially-associated substructures, which provides further evidence of the physical association between them. Both the disk and halo GCs in M31 show a bimodal luminosity distribution. However, we should emphasize that there are more faint halo GCs which are not being seen in the disk. There are more faint halo GCs than the disk ones, and these faint GCs constitute the fainter part in the luminosity function. The bimodal luminosity function of the halo GCs may reflect different origin or evolution environment in their original hosts. The M31 halo GCs includes one intermediate metallicity group (-1.5<[Fe/H]<-0.4) and one metal-poor group ([Fe/H]<-1.5), while the disk GCs have one metal-rich group more. There are considerable differences between the halo GCs in M31 and the Milky Way (MW). The total number of M31 GCs is approximately three times more numerous than that of the MW, however, M31 has about six times the number of halo GCs in the MW. Compared to M31 halo GCs, the Galactic halo ones are mostly metal-poor. Both the numerous halo GCs and the higher-metallicity component are suggestive of an active merger history of M31.
We utilize multi-epoch MUSE spectroscopy to study binaries in the core of NGC 3201. Our sample consists of 3553 stars with 54883 spectra in total comprising 3200 main-sequence stars up to 4 magnitudes below the turn-off. Each star in our sample has between 3 and 63 (with a median of 14) reliable radial velocity (RV) measurements within five years of observations. We introduce a statistical method to determine the probability of a star showing RV variations based on the whole inhomogeneous RV sample. Using HST photometry and an advanced dynamical MOCCA simulation of this specific GC we overcome observational biases that previous spectroscopic studies had to deal with. This allows us to infer a binary frequency in the MUSE FoV and enables us to deduce the underlying true binary frequency of (6.75+/-0.72)% in NGC 3201. The comparison of the MUSE observations with the MOCCA simulation suggests a significant fraction of primordial binaries. We can also confirm a radial increase of the binary fraction towards the GC centre due to mass segregation. We discovered that in our sample at least (57.5+/-7.9)% of blue straggler stars (BSS) are in a binary system. For the first time in a study of GCs, we were able to fit Keplerian orbits to a significant sample of 95 binaries. We present the binary system properties of eleven BSS and show evidence that two BSS formation scenarios, the mass transfer in binary (or triple) star systems and the coalescence due to binary-binary interactions, are present in our data. We also describe the binary and spectroscopic properties of four sub-subgiant (or red straggler) stars. Furthermore, we discovered two new black hole (BH) candidates with minimum masses (Msini) of (7.68+/-0.50)M_{sun}_, (4.4+/-2.8)M_{sun}_, and refine the minimum mass estimate on the already published BH to (4.53+/-0.21)M_{sun}_. These BHs are consistent with an extensive BH subsystem hosted by NGC 3201.
The periods and the light curves of 12 variable stars of the globular cluster M92 have been studied analyzing 176 plates obtained with the 60 cm reflector of Bologna Observatory from 1964 to 1966. Combining the results of the present observations with Hachenberg's (1925, 1933, 1934) and Nassau's (1936), the periods were improved and the O-C diagrams for 9 variables were traced. A parabola well represents the residuals of the variables No. 3, 8 and 11. Variable 9 is likely not strictly periodic.
110 plates of the globular cluster M68, taken during 1951 to 1953 with the 24-inch reflector of the station of Lojano, have been the subject of a photometric investigation.
20 CCD images of the globular cluster M68, taken during 14th - 17th April 1989 with the 1.5m Danish telescope in La Silla, have been the subject of a photometric investigation.
We present the results of the application of the Image Subtraction Method (ISM) to the CCD observations of the central region of globular cluster M53. We have obtained good quality light curves of the 23 previously known RR Lyrae stars in this cluster. We have also confirmed the variability of ten RR Lyrae candidates discovered by Kravtsov. Moreover, we have found four new variables of this type in the core of the cluster. Altogether, the light curves have been obtained for 37 RR Lyrae stars. We also report the discovery of variations in six cluster bright giants.
175 plates of the globular cluster M30 in Capricornus, taken mainly in the years 1946, 1947 and 1948, with the 24-inch reflector, have been the object of a photometric investigation.
The second parameter (the first being metallicity) defining the distribution of stars on the horizontal branch (HB) of globular clusters (GCs) has long been one of the major open issues in our understanding of the evolution of normal stars. Large photometric and spectroscopic databases are now available: they include large and homogeneous sets of colour-magnitude diagrams, cluster ages, and homogeneous data about chemical compositions from our FLAMES survey. We use these databases to re-examine this issue. Methods. We use the photometric data to derive median and extreme (i.e., the values including 90% of the distribution) colours and magnitudes of stars along the HB for about a hundred GCs. We transform these into median and extreme masses of stars on the HB, using the models developed by the Pisa group, and taking into account evolutionary effects. We compare these masses with those expected at the tip of the red giant branch (RGB) to derive the total mass lost by the stars.
We present the first part of the first large and homogeneous CCD color-magnitude diagram (CMD) data base, comprising 52 nearby Galactic globular clusters (GGC) imaged in the V and I bands using only two telescopes (one for each hemisphere). The observed clusters represent 75% of the known Galactic globulars with (m-M)V<=16.15mag, cover most of the globular cluster metallicity range (-2.2<=[Fe/H]<=-0.4), and span Galactocentric distances from ~1.2 to ~18.5kpc. In this paper, the CMDs for the 39 GGCs observed in the southern hemisphere are presented. The remaining 13 northern hemisphere clusters of the catalog are presented in a companion paper. For four clusters (NGC 4833, NGC 5986, NGC 6543, and NGC 6638) we present for the first time a CMD from CCD data. The typical CMD span from the 22^nd^ V magnitude to the tip of the red giant branch. Based on a large number of standard stars, the absolute photometric calibration is reliable to the ~0.02mag level in both filters. This catalog, because of its homogeneity, is expected to represent a useful data base for the measurement of the main absolute and relative parameters characterizing the CMD of GGCs.
