2,449 research outputs found
On the observational properties of He-burning stars: some clues on the tilt of the HB in metal rich clusters
We investigate the predicted Color-Magnitude distribution of metal-rich
Horizontal Branch (HB) stars, discussing selected theoretical models computed
under various assumptions about the star metallicity and the efficiency of
super-adiabatic convection. We find that canonical Zero Age Horizontal Branches
with metallicity larger or of the order of Z=0.002 should be all affected by a
tilt, by an amount which increases when the metallicity is increased and/or the
mixing length is decreased, reaching a tilt of 0.2 mag in the
case of solar metallicity when a mixing length value =1.6 is assumed
( is the magnitude difference between the top of the blue HB and the
fainter magnitude reached by the red HB). Uncertainties in the luminosity of
the red HB due to uncertainty in the mixing length value are discussed. We
finally discuss the much larger tilt observed in the clusters NGC 6441 and NGC
6388, reporting additional evidence against suggested non-canonical
evolutionary scenarios. Numerical experiments show that differential reddening
could produce such sloped HBs. Further, HST-PC imaging of NGC 6441 gives clear
indications about the occurrence of differential reddening across the cluster.
However, the same imaging shows that the observed slope of the red HB {\em is
not} an artifact of differential reddening. We finally show that sloping red
HBs in metal rich clusters are a common occurrence not necessarily correlated
with the appearance of extended blue HB.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by Ap
Predicted HST FOC and broad band colours for young and intermediate Simple Stellar Populations
This paper presents theoretical HST and broad band colours from population
synthesis models based on an homogeneous set of stellar evolutionary tracks as
computed under canonical (no overshooting) assumptions, covering the range of
cluster ages from t=8 Myr to t=5 Gyr for three different metallicities (Z=0.02,
0.006, and 0.001). Statistical fluctuations in the cluster population have been
investigated, assessing the predicted fluctuations of the various colours as a
function of the cluster integrated absolute magnitude. We show that the red
leak in HST UV filters deeply affects the predicted fluxes and colours.
However, we find that for F152M-F307M < 0.5 and for F170M-F278M < 0.5 (which
means ages lower than 1 Gyr) the HST UV colours can still be used to infer
reliable indications on the age of distant clusters. Moreover, one finds that
the age calibration of these colours is scarcely affected by the amount of
original helium or by the assumed IMF. On this basis, we present a calibration
of the HST UV two-colours (F152M-F307M vs F170M-F278M) in terms of cluster ages
for the three above quoted metallicities. We suggest the combined use of HST UV
colours and IR colours (V-K in particular) to disentangle the metallicity-age
effect in integrated colours of young stellar populations (t< 1 Gyr).Comment: Latex 18 pages, 16 encapsulated figures, 6 tables, A&ASS accepte
Synthetic Stellar Clusters for Pop III
We present preliminary results of an incoming theoretical work concerning the
integrated properties of the Population III clusters of stars. On the basis of
synthetic Color-Magnitude Diagrams, we provide a grid of optical and near-IR
colors of Simple Stellar Populations with very low metallicity (Z=10
and Z=10) and age which spans from 10 Myr to 15 Gyr. A comparison with
higher metallicities up to 0.006 is also shown, disclosing sizable differences
in the CMD morphology, integrated colors and Spectral Energy Distribution
(SED).Comment: 2 pages, incl. 2 figures, "The First Stars", Proceedings of the
second MPA/ESO workshop, Eds.: Weiss, Abel, Hill, Springer, Heidelberg, 200
On the impact of Helium abundance on the Cepheid Period-Luminosity and Wesenheit relations and the Distance Ladder
This work analyses the effect of the Helium content on synthetic
Period-Luminosity Relations (PLRs) and Period-Wesenheit Relations (PWRs) of
Cepheids and the systematic uncertainties on the derived distances that a
hidden population of He-enhanced Cepheids may generate. We use new stellar and
pulsation models to build a homogeneous and consistent framework to derive the
Cepheid features. The Cepheid populations expected in synthetic color-magnitude
diagrams of young stellar systems (from 20 Myr to 250 Myr) are computed in
several photometric bands for Y = 0.25 and Y = 0.35, at a fixed metallicity (Z
= 0.008). The PLRs appear to be very similar in the two cases, with negligible
effects (few %) on distances, while PWRs differ somewhat, with systematic
uncertainties in deriving distances as high as about 7% at log P < 1.5.
Statistical effects due to the number of variables used to determine the
relations contribute to a distance systematic error of the order of few
percent, with values decreasing from optical to near-infrared bands. The
empirical PWRs derived from multi-wavelength datasets for the Large Magellanic
Cloud (LMC) is in a very good agreement with our theoretical PWRs obtained with
a standard He content, supporting the evidence that LMC Cepheids do not show
any He effect
Surface Brightness Fluctuations: a theoretical point of view
We present new theoretical evaluations of optical and near-IR Surface
Brightness Fluctuations (SBF) magnitudes for single-burst stellar populations
in the age range t=5-15 Gyr and metallicity from Z_{\sun}/200 to 2Z_{\sun}.
Our theoretical predictions can be successfully used to derive reliable
distance evaluations. They also appear to be a new and valuable tool to trace
the properties of unresolved stellar populations.Comment: 2 pages, incl. 1 figure, uses newpasp.sty, to be published in ``New
Horizons in Globular Cluster Astronomy'', ASP Conference Series, 2002; Eds.:
G. Piotto, G. Meylan, G. Djorgowski and M. Riello, in pres
Multipopulation aftereffects on the color-magnitude diagram and Cepheid variables of young stellar systems
Context: The evidence of a multipopulation scenario in Galactic globular
clusters raises several questions about the formation and evolution of the two
(or more) generations of stars. These populations show differences in their age
and chemical composition. These differences are found in old- and intermediate-
age stellar clusters in the Local Group. The observations of young stellar
systems are expected to present footprints of multiple stellar populations.
Aims: This theoretical work intends to be a specific step in exploring the
space of the observational indicators of multipopulations, without covering all
the combinations of parameters that may contribute to the formation of multiple
generations of stars in a cluster or in galaxy. The goal is to shed light on
the possible observational features expected by core He-burning stars that
belong to two stellar populations with different original He content and ages.
Methods: The tool adopted was the stellar population synthesis. We used new
stellar and pulsation models to construct a homogeneous and consistent
framework. Synthetic color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of young- and
intermediate-age stellar systems (from 20 Myr up to 1 Gyr) were computed in
several photometric bands to derive possible indicators of double populations
both in the observed CMDs and in the pulsation properties of the Cepheids.
Results: We predict that the morphology of the red/blue clump in VIK bands
can be used to photometrically indicate the two stellar populations in a rich
assembly of stars if there is a significant difference in their original He
content. Moreover, the period distribution of the Cepheids appears to be widely
affected by the coeval multiple generations of stars within stellar systems. We
show that the Wesenheit relations may be affected by the helium content of the
Cepheids.Comment: in press on A&
Disentangling age and metallicity in distant unresolved stellar systems
We present some results of an observational and theoretical study on
unresolved stellar systems based on the Surface Brightness Fluctuations (SBF)
technique. It is shown that SBF magnitudes are a valuable tracer of stellar
population properties, and a reliable distance indicator. SBF magnitudes,
SBF-colors, and SBF-gradients can help to constrain within relatively narrow
limits the metallicity and age of the dominant stellar component in distant
stellar systems, especially if coupled with other spectro-photometric
indicators.Comment: A contributed paper to the Cefalu' (Italy) "Probing Stellar
Populations out to the Distant Universe", 4 pages. To appear as an AIP
Conference Proceedin
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