Panchromatic fits to the Globular Cluster NGC 6366

The Astrophysical Journal, 2011

One of the conundrums in extragalactic astronomy is the discrepancy in observed metallicity distribution functions (MDFs) between the two prime stellar components of early-type galaxies-globular clusters (GCs) and halo field stars. This is generally taken as evidence of highly decoupled evolutionary histories between GC systems and their parent galaxies. Here we show, however, that new developments in linking the observed GC colors to their intrinsic metallicities suggest nonlinear color-to-metallicity conversions, which translate observed color distributions into strongly peaked, unimodal MDFs with broad metal-poor tails. Remarkably, the inferred GC MDFs are similar to the MDFs of resolved field stars in nearby elliptical galaxies and those produced by chemical evolution models of galaxies. The GC MDF shape, characterized by a sharp peak with a metal-poor tail, indicates a virtually continuous chemical enrichment with a relatively short timescale. The characteristic shape emerges across three orders of magnitude in the host galaxy mass, suggesting a universal process of chemical enrichment among various GC systems. Given that GCs are bluer than field stars within the same galaxy, it is plausible that the chemical enrichment processes of GCs ceased somewhat earlier than that of the field stellar population, and if so, GCs preferentially trace the major, vigorous mode of star formation events in galactic formation. We further suggest a possible systematic age difference among GC systems, in that the GC systems in more luminous galaxies are older. This is consistent with the downsizing paradigm whereby stars of brighter galaxies, on average, formed earlier than those of dimmer galaxies; this additionally supports the similar nature shared by GCs and field stars. Although the sample used in this study (the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys/Wide Field Channel, WFPC2, and WFC3 photometry for the GC systems in the Virgo galaxy cluster) confines our discussion to R R e for giant ellipticals and 10 R e for normal ellipticals, our findings suggest that GC systems and their parent galaxies have shared a more common origin than previously thought, and hence greatly simplify theories of galaxy formation.

The Astrophysical Journal, 2006

We present the color distributions of globular cluster (GC) systems for 100 Virgo cluster earlytype galaxies observed in the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey, the deepest and most homogeneous survey of this kind to date. While the color distributions of individual GC systems can show significant variations from one another, their general properties are consistent with continuous trends across galaxy luminosity, color, and stellar mass. On average, galaxies at all luminosities in our study (−22 < M B < −15) appear to have bimodal or asymmetric GC color distributions. Almost all galaxies possess a component of metal-poor GCs, with the average fraction of metal-rich GCs ranging from 15 to 60%. The colors of both subpopulations correlate with host galaxy luminosity and color, with the red GCs having a steeper slope. The steeper correlation seen in the mean color of the entire GC system is driven by the increasing fraction of metal-rich GCs for more luminous galaxies.

The Astrophysical Journal, 2007

We perform a detailed study of the Globular Cluster (GC) system in the galaxy NGC 5866 based on F435W, F555W, and F625W (∼ B, V, and R) HST Advanced Camera for Surveys images. Adopting color, size and shape selection criteria, the final list of GC candidates comprises 109 objects, with small estimated contamination from background galaxies, and foreground stars. The color distribution of the final GC sample has a bimodal form. Adopting color to metallicity transformations derived from the Teramo-SPoT simple stellar population model, we estimate a metallicity [Fe/H]∼ −1.5, and −0.6 dex for the blue and red peaks, respectively. A similar result is found if the empirical colormetallicity relations derived from Galactic GCs data are used. The two subpopulations show some of the features commonly observed in the GC system of other galaxies, like a "blue tilt", higher central concentrations of the red subsystem, and larger half-light radii at larger galactocentric distances. However, we do not find evidence of a substantial difference between the average sizes of red and blue clusters. Our analysis of the GC Luminosity Function indicates a V-band TurnOver Magnitude V T OM 0

The Astrophysical Journal, 2019

We used high-resolution optical HST/WFC3 and multi-conjugate adaptive optics assisted GEMINI GeMS/GSAOI observations in the near-infrared to investigate the physical properties of the globular cluster NGC 6569 in the Galactic bulge. We have obtained the deepest purely NIR color-magnitude diagram published so far for this cluster using ground-based observations, reaching K s ≈ 21.0 mag (two magnitudes below the main-sequence turn-off point). By combining the two datasets secured at two different epochs, we determined relative proper motions for a large sample of individual stars in the center of NGC 6569, allowing a robust selection of cluster member stars. Our proper motion analysis solidly demonstrates that, despite its relatively high metal content, NGC 6569 hosts some blue horizontal branch stars. A differential reddening map has been derived in the direction of the system, revealing a maximum color excess variation of about δE(B − V) ∼ 0.12 mag in the available field of view. The absolute age of NGC 6569 has been determined for the first time. In agreement with the other few bulge globular clusters with available age estimates, NGC 6569 turns out to be old, with an age of about 12.8 Gyr, and a typical uncertainty of 0.8-1.0 Gyr.

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2003

Deep exposures of the metal-rich globular clusters NGC 6496 and NGC 6352 were obtained with the WFPC2 camera on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) through the F606W and F814W filters. The resulting colour-magnitude diagrams (CMD) reach down to absolute magnitude M814 ≃ 10 − 10.5, approximately 5 magnitudes below the main sequence (MS) turn-off (TO). The MS of the two clusters are sharp and well defined and their fiducial lines overlap almost exactly throughout this range. Their colour is, however, more than 0.1 mag redder than the MS fiducial line of the prototype metal-rich globular cluster 47 Tuc (NGC 104), after proper correction for the relative distances and reddening. This provides solid empirical evidence of a higher metal content, which is not surprising if these objects belong indeed to the bulge as their present location suggests. A good fit to the upper part of the MS of both clusters is obtained with a 10 Gyr-old theoretical isochrone from for a metallicity of [M/H]=−0.5, but at lower luminosities all models depart considerably from the observations, probably because of a deficiency in the treatment of the TiO opacity. The luminosity functions (LF) obtained from the observed CMD are rather similar to one another and show a peak at M814 ≃ 9. The present day mass functions (PDMF) of both clusters are derived down to M814 ≃ 10.5 or m ≃ 0.2 M⊙ and are consistent with power-law indices α = 0.7 for NGC 6496 and α = 0.6 for NGC 6352. The PDMF of NGC 104 is twice as steep in the same mass range (α = 1.4). We investigate the origin of this discrepancy and show that it can be understood if the two clusters contain a considerably higher fraction of primordial binaries amongst their MS population, similar to that expected in the bulge. We briefly discuss the implications of this finding on the process of star and binary formation and on the universality of the IMF.

The Astrophysical Journal, 1978

New infrared observations of globular clusters have been obtained which show that both infrared and optical colors are strongly correlated with metallicity and which provide an empirical calibration of abundance effects in composite stellar systems. Models have been constructed, based on the isochrones of Ciardullo and Demarque, with Z-values between 0.0001 and 0.04, and slope of the initial mass function s between 0 and 4. Metal-poor models with s < 2.35 (the Salpeter function) give good agreement with the empirical calibration. Metal-rich models are compared with observations of the central regions of early-type galaxies, and imply that galaxies which have-19 > M v >-23 correspond to a range in metallicity of 0.0 < [M/H] < +0.3. Models with s = 2.35 adequately fit the observations; proper accounting of metallicity effects on narrow-band infrared features does not require s < 2, as previously published models have suggested. An upper limit on s of 3.2 is determined. Subject headings: cluster: globular-galaxies: stellar content-stars: abundances

Astronomy &amp; Astrophysics, 2015

Aims. We analyse 20 nights of CCD observations in the V and I bands of the globular cluster M 68 (NGC 4590) and use them to detect variable objects. We also obtained electron-multiplying CCD (EMCCD) observations for this cluster in order to explore its core with unprecedented spatial resolution from the ground. Methods. We reduced our data using difference image analysis to achieve the best possible photometry in the crowded field of the cluster. In doing so, we show that when dealing with identical networked telescopes, a reference image from any telescope may be used to reduce data from any other telescope, which facilitates the analysis significantly. We then used our light curves to estimate the properties of the RR Lyrae (RRL) stars in M 68 through Fourier decomposition and empirical relations. The variable star properties then allowed us to derive the cluster's metallicity and distance. Results. M 68 had 45 previously confirmed variables, including 42 RRL and 2 SX Phoenicis (SX Phe) stars. In this paper we determine new periods and search for new variables, especially in the core of the cluster where our method performs particularly well. We detect 4 additional SX Phe stars and confirm the variability of another star, bringing the total number of confirmed variable stars in this cluster to 50. We also used archival data stretching back to 1951 to derive period changes for some of the single-mode RRL stars, and analyse the significant number of double-mode RRL stars in M 68. Furthermore, we find evidence for double-mode pulsation in one of the SX Phe stars in this cluster. Using the different classes of variables, we derived values for the metallicity of the cluster of [Fe/H] = −2.07 ± 0.06 on the ZW scale, or −2.20 ± 0.10 on the UVES scale, and found true distance moduli μ 0 = 15.00 ± 0.11 mag (using RR0 stars), 15.00 ± 0.05 mag (using RR1 stars), 14.97 ± 0.11 mag (using SX Phe stars), and 15.00 ± 0.07 mag (using the M V −[Fe/H] relation for RRL stars), corresponding to physical distances of 10.00 ± 0.49, 9.99 ± 0.21, 9.84 ± 0.50, and 10.00 ± 0.30 kpc, respectively. Thanks to the first use of difference image analysis on time-series observations of M 68, we are now confident that we have a complete census of the RRL stars in this cluster.

Astrophysical Journal, 2006

We examine the correlation between globular cluster (GC) color and magnitude using HST/ACS imaging for a sample of 79 early-type galaxies (-21.7<M_B<-15.2 mag) with accurate SBF distances from the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey. Using the KMM mixture modeling algorithm, we find a highly significant correlation, d(g-z)/dz = -0.037 +- 0.004, between color and magnitude for the subpopulation of blue GCs in the co-added GC color-magnitude diagram of the three brightest Virgo galaxies (M49, M87 and M60): brighter GCs are redder than their fainter counterparts. For the single GC systems of M87 and M60, we find similar correlations; M49 does not appear to show a significant trend. There is no correlation between (g-z) and M_z for GCs of the red subpopulation. The correlation d(g-z)/dg for the blue subpopulation is much weaker than d(g-z)/dz. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we attribute this to the fact that the blue subpopulation in M_g extends to higher luminosities than the red subpopulation, which biases the KMM fits. The correlation between color and M_z thus is a real effect. This conclusion is supported by biweight fits to the same color distributions. We identify two environmental dependencies of the color-magnitude relation: (1) the slope decreases in significance with decreasing galaxy luminosity; and (2) the slope is stronger for GCs at smaller galactocentric distances. We examine several mechanisms that might give rise to the observed color-magnitude relation: (1) presence of contaminators; (2) accretion of GCs from low-mass galaxies; (3) stochastic effects; (4) capture of field stars by individual GCs; and (5) GC self-enrichment. We conclude that self-enrichment and field-star capture, or a combination of these processes, offer the most promising means of explaining our observations.

The Astronomical Journal, 1995

We have computed 8, 10, and 12 Gyr isochrones and physically consistent models of zero-age red horizontal branch stars for stellar masses between 0.55 and 1.3 M , all at Fe/H] = +0:15. Comparison to the NGC 6791 BVI photometry of Ka lu_ zny & Udalski (1992, Acta Astron., 42, 29) and Montgomery, Janes & Phelps (1994, AJ, 108, 585) yields an age of 10:0 0:5 Gyr at an apparent distance modulus 13:49 < (m M) V < 13:70. The color o sets required to t the isochrones, combined with the spectroscopic results of Friel & Janes (1993, A&A, 267,75), imply that the foreground reddening to NGC 6791 lies in the range 0:24 > E(B V) > 0:19 with +0:27 < Fe/H] < +0:44. These results are derived using a technique by which we predict color shifts and apply these to the isochrones to simulate progressively higher metallicities. The zero-age horizontal branch models suggest that the red horizontal branch stars of NGC 6791 have masses < 0:7M. The masses are similar to those found for M67 red horizontal branch stars by Tripicco, Dorman & Bell (1993, AJ, 106, 618) and for globular cluster red horizontal branch stars, even though the M67 progenitors are 0:2M more massive, while the progenitors of globular cluster horizontal branch stars are similarly less massive. This suggests the presence of a mechanism, not strongly dependent on metallicity, which reduces stellar envelopes on the zero-age horizontal branch to a given mass rather than by a given amount.

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2003

New near-infrared observations of NGC 6528 are presented. The JHKs observations complement a previous HST/NICMOS data set by , in that they sample a larger area, contain a more numerous sample of red giant stars, and include the K band. Also, archival HST data sets (separated by 6.093 years) were used to proper-motion decontaminate the near-infrared sample and extract a clean V JHK catalogue. Using the present wide colour baseline, we compared the cleaned colour-magnitude diagrams of NGC 6528 with those of NGC 6553 and NGC 104 and derived new estimates of reddening and distance, EB−V = 0.55 and (m − M )• = 14.44 (7.7 kpc). Moreover, the morphology and location of the cleaned red giant branch were used to derive a photometric estimate of the cluster metallicity. The average of 10 metallicity indicators yields a mean value of [M/H] ≈0.0, and [Fe/H] ≃ −0.20 and +0.08 on the Zinn & West and revised metallicity scale, respectively. The best isochrone fit to the cleaned K, V − K diagram is obtained for a 12.6 Gyr and Z= 0.02 isochrone, i.e. the derived metallicity of NGC 6528 turns out to be very close to the mean of stars in the Baade's Window. Five AGB variable star candidates, whose membership has to be confirmed spectroscopically, are bolometrically as bright as the known long period variable stars in NGC 6553. As discussed in for NGC 6553, this may indicate that an "intermediate age" population is not needed to account for the brightest stars in external galaxies such as M 32.

Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2012

Context. The formation and evolution of disk galaxies are long standing questions in astronomy. Understanding the properties of globular cluster systems can lead to important insights on the evolution of its host galaxy. Aims. We aim to obtain the stellar population parameters–age and metallicity–of a sample of M 31 and Galactic globular clusters. Studying their globular cluster systems is an important step towards understanding their formation and evolution in a complete way. Methods. Our analysis employs a modern ...

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2017

NGC 6067 is a young open cluster hosting the largest population of evolved stars among known Milky Way clusters in the 50-150 Ma age range. It thus represents the best laboratory in our Galaxy to constrain the evolutionary tracks of 5-7 M stars. We have used high-resolution spectra of a large sample of bright cluster members (45), combined with archival photometry, to obtain accurate parameters for the cluster as well as stellar atmospheric parameters. We derive a distance of 1.78 ± 0.12 kpc, an age of 90 ± 20 Ma and a tidal radius of 14.8 +6.8 −3.2 arcmin. We estimate an initial mass above 5700 M , for a present-day evolved population of two Cepheids, two A supergiants and 12 red giants with masses ≈6 M. We also determine chemical abundances of Li, O, Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Ni, Rb, Y and Ba for the red clump stars. We find a supersolar metallicity, [Fe/H] = +0.19 ± 0.05, and a homogeneous chemical composition, consistent with the Galactic metallicity gradient. The presence of a Li-rich red giant, star 276 with A(Li) = 2.41, is also detected. An overabundance of Ba is found, supporting the enhanced s-process. The ratio of yellow to red giants is much smaller than 1, in agreement with models with moderate overshooting, but the properties of the cluster Cepheids do not seem consistent with current Padova models for supersolar metallicity.

Astronomical Journal, 2010

We present low-resolution (R~850) spectra for 67 asymptotic giant branch (AGB), horizontal branch and red giant branch (RGB) stars in the low-metallicity globular cluster NGC 5466, taken with the VIRUS-P integral-field spectrograph at the 2.7-m Harlan J. Smith telescope at McDonald Observatory. Sixty-six stars are confirmed, and one rejected, as cluster members based on radial velocity, which we measure to an accuracy of 16 km s-1 via template-matching techniques. CN and CH band strengths have been measured for 29 RGB and AGB stars in NGC 5466, and the band strength indices measured from VIRUS-P data show close agreement with those measured from Keck/LRIS spectra previously taken of five of our target stars. We also determine carbon abundances from comparisons with synthetic spectra. The RGB stars in our data set cover a range in absolute V magnitude from +2 to -3, which permits us to study the rate of carbon depletion on the giant branch as well as the point of its onset. The data show a clear decline in carbon abundance with rising luminosity above the luminosity function "bump" on the giant branch, and also a subdued range in CN band strength, suggesting ongoing internal mixing in individual stars but minor or no primordial star-to-star variation in light-element abundances.

Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2013

We present a list of 72 radial velocity member stars in the metal-rich globular cluster NGC 5927. The radial velocities are based on multi-epoch, multi-fibre spectra. We identify 46 RGB/HB stars and 26 turn-off stars that are radial velocity members in the cluster. This cluster is situated quite close to the disk and hence fore-and/or background contamination, especially in the outskirts of the cluster, can be quite severe. Fortunately, the cluster has a radial velocity (we determine it to v r =-104.03±5.03 km s −1 ) that sets it clearly apart from the bulk velocities of the surrounding, background, and foreground stellar populations. Hence, our identification of members is clean and we can quantify a 50% contamination when stars in the outer part of the cluster are selected solely based on position in the colour-magnitude diagram as opposed to selections based on radial velocities.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

The metal-rich Galactic globular cluster NGC 6366 is the fifth closest to the Sun. Despite its interest, it has received scarce attention, and little is known about its internal structure. Its kinematics suggests a link to the halo, but its metallicity indicates otherwise. We present a detailed chemical analysis of eight giant stars of NGC 6366, using high-resolution and highquality spectra (R > 40 000, S/N > 60) obtained at the VLT (8.2 m) and CFHT (3.6 m) telescopes. We attempted to characterize its chemistry and to search for evidence of multiple stellar populations. The atmospheric parameters were derived using the method of excitation and ionization equilibrium of Fe I and Fe II lines and from those atmospheric parameters we calculated the abundances for other elements and found that none of the elements measured presents star-to-star variation greater than the uncertainties. We compared the derived abundances with those of other globular clusters and field stars available in the literature. We determined a mean [Fe/H] = −0.60 ± 0.03 for NGC 6366 and found some similarity of this object with M 71, another inner halo globular cluster. The Na-O anticorrelation extension is short and no star-to-star variation in Al is found. The presence of second generation stars is not evident in NGC 6366.