1 research outputs found
The Rotation of Sub-Populations in omega Centauri
We present the first result of the Ital-FLAMES survey of red giant branch
(RGB) stars in omega Cen. Radial velocities with a precision of ~0.5 km/s are
presented for 650 members of omega Cen observed with FLAMES-Giraffe at the Very
Large Telescope. We found that stars belonging to the metal -poor (RGB-MP),
metal-intemediate (RGB-MInt) and metal-rich (RGB-a) sub -populations of Omega
Cen are all compatible with having the same rotational pattern. Our results
appear to contradict past findings by Norris et al., who could not detect any
rotational signature for metal -rich stars. The slightly higher precision of
the present measurements and the much larger sample size, especially for the
metal-richer stars, appear as the most likely explanation for this discrepancy.
The result presented here weakens the body of evidence in favour of a merger
event in the past history of omega Cen.Comment: 5 pages, 3 fiures, electronic table can be obtained from E. Pancino.
Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter