Evidence of the inhomogeneity of the stellar population in the differentially reddened globular cluster NGC 3201

We report on evidence of the inhomogeneity (multiplicity) of the stellar population in the Galactic globular cluster (GC) NGC 3201, which is irregularly reddened across its face. We carried out a more detailed and careful analysis of our recently published new multi-color photometry in a wide field of the cluster with particular emphasis on the U band. Using the photometric data corrected for differential reddening, we found for the first time two key signs of the inhomogeneity in the cluster's stellar population and of its radial variation in the GC. These are (1) an obvious trend in the color-position diagram, based on the (U-B) color-index, of red giant branch (RGB) stars, which shows that the farther from the cluster's center, the bluer on average the (U-B) color of the stars is; and (2) the dependence of the radial distribution of sub-giant branch (SGB) stars in the cluster on their U magnitude, where brighter stars are less centrally concentrated than their fainter counterparts at a confidence level varying between 99.2% and 99.9% depending on the color-index used to select the stars. The same effects were recently found by us in the GC NGC 1261. However, contrary to NGC 1261, we are not able to unambiguously suggest which of the sub-populations of SGB/RGB stars can be the progenitor of blue and red horizontal branch stars of the cluster. Apart from M4, NGC 3201 is another GC very probably with an inhomogeneous stellar population, which has essentially lower mass than the most massive Galactic GCs where multiple stellar populations were unambiguously detected for the first timeComment: 5 pages, 4 figure

One-point statistics and intermittency of induced electric field in the solar wind

The interplanetary induced electric field e=vxb is studied, using solar wind time series. The probability distribution functions (PDFs) of the electric field components are measured from the data and their non-gaussianity is discussed. Moreover, for the first time we show that the electric field turbulence is characterized by intermittency. This point is addressed by studying, as usual, the scaling of the PDFs of field increments, which allows a quantitative characterization of intermittency.Comment: Accepted for publication on Europhysics Letters, April 22th, 200

Galactic globular cluster 47 Tucanae: new ties between the chemical and dynamical evolution of globular clusters?

It is generally accepted today that Galactic globular clusters (GGCs) consist of at least two generations of stars that are different in their chemical composition and perhaps age. However, knowledge about the kinematical properties of these stellar generations, which may provide important information for constraining evolutionary scenarios of the GGCs, is still limited. We therefore study the connections between chemical and kinematical properties of different stellar generations in the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tuc. To achieve this goal, we used abundances of Li, O, and Na determined in 101 main sequence turn-off (TO) stars with the aid of 3D hydrodynamical model atmospheres and NLTE abundance analysis methodology. We divided our sample TO stars into three groups according to their position in the [Li/Na]-[Na/O] plane to study their spatial distribution and kinematical properties. We find that there are statistically significant radial dependencies of lithium and oxygen abundances, A(Li) and A(O), as well as that of [Li/Na] abundance ratio. Our results show that first-generation stars are less centrally concentrated and dynamically hotter than stars belonging to subsequent generations. We also find a significant correlation between the velocity dispersion and O and Na abundance, and between the velocity dispersion and the [Na/O] abundance ratio.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Rotational splitting as a function of mode frequency for six Sun-like stars

Asteroseismology offers the prospect of constraining differential rotation in Sun-like stars. Here we have identified six high signal-to-noise main-sequence Sun-like stars in the Kepler field, which all have visible signs of rotational splitting of their p-mode frequencies. For each star, we extract the rotational frequency splitting and inclination angle from separate mode sets (adjacent modes with l=2, 0, and 1) spanning the p-mode envelope. We use a Markov chain Monte Carlo method to obtain the best fit and errors associated with each parameter. We are able to make independent measurements of rotational splittings of ~8 radial orders for each star. For all six stars, the measured splittings are consistent with uniform rotation, allowing us to exclude large radial differential rotation. This work opens the possibility of constraining internal rotation of Sun-like stars.Comment: Published in Astronomy and Astrophysics. 4 pages, 3 figure

Constraints on mass loss and self-enrichment scenarios for the globular clusters of the Fornax dSph

Recently, high-dispersion spectroscopy has demonstrated conclusively that four of the five globular clusters (GCs) in the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy are very metal-poor with [Fe/H]<-2. The remaining cluster, Fornax 4, has [Fe/H]=-1.4. This is in stark contrast to the field star metallicity distribution which shows a broad peak around [Fe/H]=-1 with only a few percent of the stars having [Fe/H]<-2. If we only consider stars and clusters with [Fe/H]<-2 we thus find an extremely high GC specific frequency, SN=400, implying by far the highest ratio of GCs to field stars known anywhere. We estimate that about 1/5-1/4 of all stars in the Fornax dSph with [Fe/H]<-2 belong to the four most metal-poor GCs. These GCs could, therefore, at most have been a factor of 4-5 more massive initially. Yet, the Fornax GCs appear to share the same anomalous chemical abundance patterns known from Milky Way GCs, commonly attributed to the presence of multiple stellar generations within the clusters. The extreme ratio of metal-poor GC- versus field stars in the Fornax dSph is difficult to reconcile with scenarios for self-enrichment and early evolution of GCs in which a large fraction (90%-95%) of the first-generation stars have been lost. It also suggests that the GCs may not have formed as part of a larger population of now disrupted clusters with an initial power-law mass distribution. The Fornax dSph may be a rosetta stone for constraining theories of the formation, self-enrichment and early dynamical evolution of star clusters.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for A&A Letter