All Globular Clusters (GCs) studied in detail so far host two or more populations of stars. Theoretical models suggest that the second population is formed from gas polluted by processed material produced by massive stars of the first generation. However the nature of the polluter is a matter of strong debate. Several candidates have been proposed: massive main-sequence stars (fast rotating or binaries), intermediate-mass AGB stars, or SNeII. We studied red giant branch (RGB) stars in the GC M4 (NGC 6121) to measure their chemical signature. We confirm the presence of a bimodal population, first discovered by Marino et al. (2008). The two groups have different C,$^{12}$C/$^{13}$C,N,O,Na content, but share the same Li,C+N+O,Mg,Al,Si,Ca,Ti,Cr,Fe,Ni,Zr,Ba and Eu abundance. Quite surprisingly the two groups differ also in their Y abundance. The absence of a spread in $α$-elements, Eu and Ba makes SNeII and AGB stars unlikely as polluters. On the other hand, massive main-sequence stars can explain the bimodality of Y through the weak s-process. This stement is confirmed independently also by literature data on Rb and Pb. Observations suggest that the mass of the polluters is between 20 and 30 M$_{\odot}$. This implies a formation time scale for the cluster of 10$÷$30 Myrs. This result is valid for M4. Other clusters like NGC 1851, M22, or $ω$ Cen have different chemical signatures and may require other kinds of polluter.
Nonlinear Color-Metallicity Relations of Globular Clusters. IV. Testing the Nonlinearity Scenario for Color Bimodality via HST/WFC3 u-band Photometry of M84 (NGC 4374)
Nonlinear Color-Metallicity Relations of Globular Clusters. II. A Test on the Nonlinearity Scenario for Color Bimodality Using the u-band Colors: The Case of M87 (NGC 4486)
The globular cluster system of the isolated elliptical NGC 6411: An old system in an intermediate-age galaxy?
利用Gemini/GMOS g '，r'，i'测光方法对孤立椭圆星系NGC 6411及其球状星团（GC）系统进行了测光研究。这个星系是一个SNIA的宿主。光谱研究表明，在它的内部区域有一个中等年龄和非常富含金属的恒星星族。球状星团系统的范围约为65千秒差距。它的星群包含$700\pm45$成员，这意味着一个相当差的系统，就像通常在孤立的椭圆星系中发现的那样。颜色双峰和光度分布是旧GC系统的典型特征。过多的中间颜色的明亮GC可能证明了一个中间年龄的合并，但它们的颜色表明了一个比来自星系漫射光光谱研究的年龄更老的事件。
Chemical bimodality of the Milky Way (MW) disc stars constitutes one of the most remarkable properties of MW. The cold accretion theory for the cosmological gas accretion provides one viable explanation to this phenomenon. In this scenario, the rapid cold-mode accretion in the early epoch creates the first generation stars relatively rich in $α$-elements(O,Mg,Si,S,Ca,etc) and later cooling flow produces iron-rich second generation stars, creating the bimodality in the [$α$/Fe] ratio. We employ a cosmologically motivated chemical evolution model for disc galaxies to elucidate the role played by…
We present a wide-field study of the globular cluster system (GCS) of the field lenticular galaxy NGC 1172, based on observations from GMOS/Gemini (optical), FourStar/Magellan (NIR), and archival data from ACS/HST (optical). This analysis covers the full extension of the GCS, and results in a value of specific frequency (S_N=8.6 +/- 1.5) peculiarly high for an intermediate-mass galaxy in a low-density environment such as this one. We find that the GCS appears to be bimodal, although the colour distribution is narrow and does not allow for an accurate separation of the subpopulations. However, …
Metallicity distributions (MDs) of globular clusters (GCs) provide crucial clues for the assembly and star formation history of their host galaxies. GC colors, when GCs are old, have been used as a proxy of GC metallicities. Bimodal GC color distributions (CDs) observed in most early-type galaxies have been interpreted as bimodal MDs for decades, suggesting the presence of merely two GC subpopulations within single galaxies. However, the conventional view has been challenged by a new theory that nonlinear metallicity-to-color conversion can cause bimodal CDs from unimodal MDs. The unimodal MDs…
Multiple stellar populations (MPs) representing star-to-star light-element abundance variations are common in nearly all ancient Galactic globular clusters. Here we provide the strongest evidence yet that the populous, ~ 1.7 Gyr-old Large Magellanic Cloud cluster NGC 2173 also exhibits light-element abundance variations. Thus, our results suggest that NGC 2173 is the youngest cluster for which MPs have been confirmed to date. Our conclusion is based on the distinct bifurcation at the tip of its red-giant branch in high-quality color--magnitude diagrams generated from Hubble Space Telescope ima…
The Ages, Metallicities and Alpha Element Enhancements of Globular Clusters in the Elliptical NGC 5128: A Homogeneous Spectroscopic Study with Gemini/GMOS
The dense central regions of tidally disrupted galaxies can survive as ultra-compact dwarfs (UCDs) that hide among the luminous globular clusters (GCs) in the halo of massive galaxies. An exciting confirmation of this model is the detection of overmassive black holes in the centers of some UCDs, which also lead to elevated dynamical mass-to-light ratios ($M/L_{dyn}$). Here we present new high-resolution spectroscopic observations of 321 luminous GC candidates in the massive galaxy NGC 5128/Centaurus A. Using these data we confirm 27 new luminous GCs, and measure velocity dispersions for 57 lum…
We present detailed elemental abundances and radial velocities of stars in the metal-poor globular cluster (GC) NGC 2298, based on near-infrared high-resolution ($R\sim$ 22,500) spectra of twelve members obtained during the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2) at Las Campanas Observatory as part of the seventeenth Data Release (DR 17) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV). We employ the Brussels Automatic Code for Characterizing High accuracy Spectra (\texttt{BACCHUS}) software to investigate abundances for a variety of species including …
Our Milky Way (MW) has witnessed a series of major accretion events. One of the later additions, Gaia-Enceladus, has contributed a considerable mass to the inner Galaxy, but also generously donated to the outer halo. So far, associations with present-day MW globular clusters (GCs) have been chiefly based on their kinematics and ages. Here, we present a chemical abundance study of the outer halo (R$_{\rm GC}$=18 kpc) GC NGC 1261, which has been suggested to be an accreted object. We measured 31 species of 29 elements in two stars from high-resolution Magellan/MIKE spectra and find that the clus…
We present a detailed chemical abundance analysis of the young massive cluster (YMC) NGC 1569-B. The host galaxy, NGC~1569, is a dwarf irregular starburst galaxy at a distance of 3.36$\pm$0.20 Mpc. We determined the abundance ratios from the analysis of an optical integrated-light spectrum of NGC 1569-B, obtained with the HIRES echelle spectrograph on the Keck I telescope. We considered different red-to-blue supergiant ratios, namely: the ratio obtained from a theoretical isochrone, the ratio obtained from a resolved colour-magnitude diagram of the YMC, and the ratio that minimises the $χ^2$ w…
We present the result of a detailed analysis of HST UV and optical deep images of the massive and young (~1.5 Gyr) stellar cluster NGC 1783 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This system does not show evidences of multiple populations (MPs) along the red giant branch (RGB) stars. However, we find that the cluster main-sequence (MS) shows evidence of a significant broadening (50% larger than what is expected from photometric errors) along with hints of possible bimodality in the MP sensitive (F343N - F438W, F438W) color-magnitude-diagram (CMD). Such an effect is observed in all color combinations i…
We derive abundance ratios for nine stars in the relatively high-metallicity bulge globular cluster NGC 6380. We find a mean cluster metallicity between [Fe/H]$= -0.80$ and $-0.73$, with no clear evidence for a variation in iron abundances beyond the observational errors. Stars with strongly enhanced in [N/Fe] abundance ratios populate the cluster, and are anti-correlated with [C/Fe], trends that are considered a signal of the multiple-population phenomenon in this cluster. We detect an apparent intrinsic star-to-star spread ($\gtrsim 0.27$ dex) in the slow neutron-capture process element (s-e…
We present the results of determination of the age, helium mass fraction (Y), metallicity ([Fe/H]), and abundances of the elements C, N, O, Na, Mg, Ca, Ti, C and Mn for the Galactic globular cluster NGC 6652. We use its medium-resolution integrated-light spectrum from the library of Schiavon and our population synthesis method to fulfill this task. We select the evolutionary isochrone and stellar mass function for our analysis, which provide the best approximation to the shapes and intensities of the observed Balmer line profiles. The determined elemental abundances, age and metallicity are ch…
The view of globular clusters (GCs) as simple systems continues to unravel, revealing complex objects hosting multiple chemical peculiarities. Using differential abundance analysis, we probe the chemistry of the Type I GC, NGC 288 and the Type II GC, NGC 362 at the 2\% level for the first time. We measure 20 elements and find differential measurement uncertainties on the order 0.01-0.02 dex in both clusters. The smallest uncertainties are measured for Fe I in both clusters, with an average uncertainty of $\sim$0.013 dex. Dispersion in the abundances of Na, Al, Ti I, Ni, Fe I, Y, Zr, Ba and Nd …
