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arXiv 1310.4499astro-ph.GA
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球状星团NGC 2419中两个不同的红巨星分支星族作为Milky Way合并事件的示踪物

Two distinct red giant branch populations in the globular cluster NGC 2419 as tracers of a merger event in the Milky Way

Young-Wook Lee, Sang-Il Han, Seok-Joo Joo, Sohee Jang, Chongsam Na, Sakurako Okamoto, Nobuo Arimoto, Dongwook Lim, Hak-Sub Kim, Suk-Jin Yoon

摘要:

最近对外晕球状星团(GC)NGC 2419的光谱观测表明,它在GC中是独一无二的,就化学丰度模式而言,有些人认为它起源于矮星系的核。在这里,我们表明,从斯巴鲁窄带测光采用钙过滤器,该GC的红色巨分支(RGB)被分成两个不同的亚群。与光谱学的比较已经证实,在$hk$ [=(Ca $-b)-(b-y)$ ]指数中,较红的RGB星与较蓝的RGB星相比,在[Ca/H]中增加了$\sim$ 0.2 dex。我们的星族模型进一步表明,富钙的第二代恒星的氦丰度也增加了大量($Δ$ Y = 0.19)。我们的测光,以及其他大规模GC的结果(例如,$ω$ Cen,M22,and NGC 1851),表明RGB星在$hk$指数中的离散分布可能是这个不断增长的奇特GC群的普遍特征。计划对本星系群矮星系进行的窄带钙测光将有助于在这些GC与星系形成的分层合并范例中的原始构件之间建立经验联系。

英文摘要:

Recent spectroscopic observations of the outer halo globular cluster (GC) NGC 2419 show that it is unique among GCs, in terms of chemical abundance patterns, and some suggest that it was originated in the nucleus of a dwarf galaxy. Here we show, from the Subaru narrow-band photometry employing a calcium filter, that the red giant-branch (RGB) of this GC is split into two distinct subpopulations. Comparison with spectroscopy has confirmed that the redder RGB stars in the $hk$[=(Ca$-b)-(b-y)$] index are enhanced in [Ca/H] by $\sim$0.2 dex compared to the bluer RGB stars. Our population model further indicates that the calcium-rich second generation stars are also enhanced in helium abundance by a large amount ($Δ$Y = 0.19). Our photometry, together with the results for other massive GCs (e.g., $ω$ Cen, M22, and NGC 1851), suggests that the discrete distribution of RGB stars in the $hk$ index might be a universal characteristic of this growing group of peculiar GCs. The planned narrow-band calcium photometry for the Local Group dwarf galaxies would help to establish an empirical connection between these GCs and the primordial building blocks in the hierarchical merging paradigm of galaxy formation.

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