71 research outputs found
Na-O Anticorrelation And HB I. The Na-O anticorrelation in NGC 2808
We derived atmospheric parameters and elemental abundances of Fe, O and Na
for about 120 red giant stars in the Galactic globular cluster NGC 2808. Our
results are based on the analysis of medium-high resolution (R=22000-24000)
GIRAFFE spectra acquired with the FLAMES spectrograph at VLT-UT2 as a part of a
project aimed at studying the Na-O anticorrelation as a function of physical
parameters in globular clusters. We present here the anticorrelation of Na and
O abundances in NGC 2808, and we discuss the distribution function of stars
along this relation. Besides a bulk of O-normal stars, with composition typical
of field halo stars, NGC 2808 seems to host two other groups of O-poor and
super O-poor stars. In this regard, NGC 2808 is similar to M 13, the template
cluster for the Na-O anticorrelation. However, at variance with M 13, most
stars in NGC 2808 are O-rich. This might be related to the horizontal branch
morphologies which are very different in these two clusters. The average
metallicity we found for NGC 2808 is [Fe/H]=-1.10 (rms=0.065 dex, from 123
stars). We also found some evidence of a small intrinsic spread in metallicity,
but more definitive conclusions are hampered by the presence of a small
differential reddening.Comment: 12 pages, 6 tables, 7 figures. Accepted for publication on A&
[Mg/Fe] ratios in the solar neighbourhood: stellar yields and chemical evolution scenarios
Context. The [Mg/Fe] abundance ratios are a fundamental fossil signature to
trace the chemical evolution of the disc. Despite of the huge observational and
theoretical effort, discrepancies between models and data are still present and
several explanations have been put forward to explain the [/Fe]
bimodality. Aims. In this work, we take advantage of a new AMBRE:HARPS dataset,
which provides new and more precise [Mg/Fe] estimations, as well as reliable
stellar ages for a subsample of stars, to study the evolution of the solar
neighbourhood. Methods. The above data are compared with detailed chemical
evolution models for the Milky Way, exploring the most used prescriptions for
stellar yields and different formation scenarios for the Galactic disc, i.e.
the delayed two-infall and the parallel model, also including prescriptions for
stellar radial migration. Results. We see that most of the stellar yields
struggle to reproduce the observed trend of the data and that semi-empirical
yields are still the best to describe the [Mg/Fe] evolution in the thick and
thin discs. In particular, most of the yields still predict a steeper decrease
of the [Mg/Fe] ratio at high metallicity than what is shown by the data. The
bulk of the data are well reproduced by the parallel and two-infall scenarios,
but both scenarios have problems in explaining the most metal-rich and
metal-poor tails of the low- data. These tails can be explained in
light of radial migration from inner and outer disc regions, respectively.
Conclusions. Despite of the evidence of stellar migration, it is difficult to
estimate the actual contribution of stars from other parts of the disc to the
solar vicinity. However, the comparison between data and models suggests that
peculiar histories of star formation, such as that of the two-infall model, are
still needed to reproduce the observed distribution of stars.Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysics (A&A
The AMBRE Project: Parameterisation of FGK-type stars from the ESO:HARPS archived spectra
The AMBRE project is a collaboration between the European Southern
Observatory (ESO) and the Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur (OCA). It has been
established to determine the stellar atmospheric parameters (effective
temperature, surface gravity, global metallicities and abundance of
alpha-elements over iron) of the archived spectra of four ESO spectrographs.
The analysis of the ESO:HARPS archived spectra is presented. The sample being
analysed (AMBRE:HARPS) covers the period from 2003 to 2010 and is comprised of
126688 scientific spectra corresponding to 17218 different stars. For the
analysis of the spectral sample, the automated pipeline developed for the
analysis of the AMBRE:FEROS archived spectra has been adapted to the
characteristics of the HARPS spectra. Within the pipeline, the stellar
parameters are determined by the MATISSE algorithm, developed at OCA for the
analysis of large samples of stellar spectra in the framework of galactic
archaeology. In the present application, MATISSE uses the AMBRE grid of
synthetic spectra, which covers FGKM-type stars for a range of gravities and
metallicities. We first determined the radial velocity and its associated error
for the ~15% of the AMBRE:HARPS spectra, for which this velocity had not been
derived by the ESO:HARPS reduction pipeline. The stellar atmospheric parameters
and the associated chemical index [alpha/Fe] with their associated errors have
then been estimated for all the spectra of the AMBRE:HARPS archived sample.
Based on quality criteria, we accepted and delivered the parameterisation of
~71% of the total sample to ESO. These spectra correspond to ~10706 stars; each
are observed between one and several hundred times. This automatic
parameterisation of the AMBRE:HARPS spectra shows that the large majority of
these stars are cool main-sequence dwarfs with metallicities greater than -0.5
dex
The link between chemical anomalies along the red giant branch and the horizontal branch extension in globular clusters
We find a strong correlation between the extension of the Na-O
anticorrelation observed in red giant branch (RGB) stars and the high
temperature extension of the horizontal branch (HB) blue tails of Galactic
globular clusters (GCs). The longer is the O-depleted tail of the Na-O
anticorrelation observed in the RGB stars, the higher is the maximum
temperature reached by the bluest HB stars in the GC. This result provides a
clear, empirical evidence of a link between the extension of the HB and the
presence of star-to-star abundance variations of proton-capture elements in GC
stars. We discuss the possible interpretation of this correlation.Comment: Comments: 6 pages, 1 figure, uses emulateapj.cls; accepted for
publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letter
Rotation of Hot Horizontal Branch Stars in the Globular Clusters NGC 1904, NGC 2808, NGC 6093 and NGC 7078
We present high resolution UVES+VLT spectroscopic observations of 56 stars in
the extended horizontal branch (EHB) of the Galactic globular clusters NGC
1904, NGC 2808, NGC 6093, and NGC 7078. Our data reveal for the first time the
presence in NGC 1904 of a sizable population of fast (vsini > 20 km/s)
horizontal branch (HB) rotators, confined to the cool end of the EHB, similar
to that found in M13. We also confirm the fast rotators already observed in NGC
7078. The cooler stars (Teff < 11,500 K) in these three clusters show a range
of rotation rates, with a group of stars rotating at ~ 15 km/s or less, and a
fast rotating group at ~ 30 km/s. Apparently, the fast rotators are relatively
more abundant in NGC 1904 and M13, than in NGC 7078. No fast rotators have been
identified in NGC 2808 and NGC 6093. All the stars hotter than Teff ~ 11,500 K
have projected rotational velocities vsini < 12 km/s, but less than 20% have
vsini < 2 km/s. The connection between photometric gaps in the HB and the
change in the projected rotational velocities is not confirmed by the new data.
However, our data are consistent with a relation between this discontinuity and
the HB jump. We discuss a number of possibilities for the origin of the stellar
rotation distribution along the HB. We conclude that none of them can yet
provide a satisfactory explanation of the observations.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, ApJ Letter, accepte
Discovery of Blue Hook Stars in the Massive Globular Cluster M54
We present BV photometry centered on the globular cluster M54 (NGC 6715). The
color-magnitude diagram clearly shows a blue horizontal branch extending
anomalously beyond the zero age horizontal branch theoretical models. These
kinds of horizontal branch stars (also called ``blue hook'' stars), which go
beyond the lower limit of the envelope mass of canonical horizontal branch hot
stars, have so far been known to exist in only a few globular clusters: NGC
2808, Omega Centauri (NGC 5139), NGC 6273, and NGC 6388. Those clusters, like
M54, are among the most luminous in our Galaxy, indicating a possible
correlation between the existence of these types of horizontal branch stars and
the total mass of the cluster. A gap in the observed horizontal branch of M54
around T(eff)= 27000 K could be interpreted within the late helium flash
theoretical scenario, a possible explanation for the origin of those stars.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Fluorine Abundances in the Globular Cluster M 4
We present chemical abundances for the elements carbon, sodium, and fluorine
in 15 red giants of the globular cluster M 4, as well as six red giants of the
globular cluster Centauri. The chemical abundances were calculated in
LTE via spectral synthesis. The spectra analyzed are high-resolution spectra
obtained in the near-infrared region around 2.3m with the Phoenix
spectrograph on the 8.1m Gemini South Telescope, the IGRINS spectrograph on the
McDonald Observatory 2.7m Telescope, and the CRIRES spectrograph on the ESO
8.2m Very Large Telescope. The results indicate a significant reduction in the
fluorine abundances when compared to previous values from the literature for M
4 and Centauri, due to a downward revision in the excitation
potentials of the HF(1-0) R9 line used in the analysis. The fluorine abundances
obtained for the M 4 red giants are found to be anti-correlated with those of
Na, following the typical pattern of abundance variations seen in globular
clusters between distinct stellar populations. In M 4, as the Na abundance
increases by +0.4 dex, the F abundance decreases by -0.2 dex. A
comparison with abundance predictions from two sets of stellar evolution models
finds that the models predict somewhat less F depletion (-0.1 dex) for
the same increase of +0.4 dex in Na
Relative Frequencies of Blue Stragglers in Galactic Globular Clusters: Constraints for the Formation Mechanisms
We discuss the main properties of the Galactic globular cluster (GC) blue
straggler stars (BSS), as inferred from our new catalog containing nearly 3000
BSS. The catalog has been extracted from the photometrically homogeneous V vs.
(B-V) color-magnitude diagrams (CMD) of 56 GCs, based on WFPC2 images of their
central cores. In our analysis we used consistent relative distances based on
the same photometry and calibration. The number of BSS has been normalized to
obtain relative frequencies (F_{BSS}) and specific densities (N_S) using
different stellar populations extracted from the CMD. The cluster F_{BSS} is
significantly smaller than the relative frequency of field BSS. We find a
significant anti-correlation between the BSS relative frequency in a cluster
and its total absolute luminosity (mass). There is no statistically significant
trend between the BSS frequency and the expected collision rate. F_{BSS} does
not depend on other cluster parameters, apart from a mild dependence on the
central density. PCC clusters act like normal clusters as far as the BSS
frequency is concerned. We also show that the BSS luminosity function for the
most luminous clusters is significantly different, with a brighter peak and
extending to brighter luminosities than in the less luminous clusters. These
results imply that the efficiency of BSS production mechanisms and their
relative importance vary with the cluster mass.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures. accepted for publication in ApJ
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