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Register a new userA spectral atlas of post-main-sequence stars in omega Centauri: kinematics, evolution, enrichment and interstellar medium
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We present a spectral atlas of the post-main-sequence population of the most massive Galactic globular cluster, omega Centauri. Spectra were obtained of more than 1500 stars selected as uniformly as possible from across the (B, B-V) colour-magnitude diagram of the proper motion cluster member candidates of van Leeuwen et al. (2000). The spectra were obtained with the 2dF multi-fibre spectrograph at the Anglo Australian Telescope, and cover the approximate range lambda~3840-4940 Angstroem. We measure the radial velocities, effective temperatures, metallicities and surface gravities by fitting ATLAS9 stellar atmosphere models. We analyse the cluster membership and stellar kinematics, interstellar absorption in the Ca II K line at 3933 Angstroem, the RR Lyrae instability strip and the extreme horizontal branch, the metallicity spread and bimodal CN abundance distribution of red giants, nitrogen and s-process enrichment, carbon stars, pulsation-induced Balmer line emission on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), and the nature of the post-AGB and UV-bright stars. Membership is confirmed for the vast majority of stars, and the radial velocities clearly show the rotation of the cluster core. We identify long-period RR Lyrae-type variables with low gravity, and low-amplitude variables coinciding with warm RR Lyrae stars. A barium enhancement in the coolest red giants indicates that 3rd dredge-up operates in AGB stars in omega Cen. This is distinguished from the pre-enrichment by more massive AGB stars, which is also seen in our data. The properties of the AGB, post-AGB and UV-bright stars suggest that RGB mass loss may be less efficient at very low metallicity, [Fe/H]<<-1, increasing the importance of mass loss on the AGB. The catalogue and spectra are made available via CDS.
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Recent, high precision photometry of Omega Centauri, the biggest Galactic globular cluster, has been obtained with Hubble Space Telescope. The color magnitude diagram reveals an unexpected bifurcation of colors in the main sequence (MS). The newly found double MS, the multiple turnoffs and subgiant branches, and other sequences discovered in the past along the red giant branch of this cluster add up to a fascinating but frustrating puzzle. Among the possible explanations for the blue main sequence an anomalous overabundance of helium is suggested. The hypothesis will be tested with a set of FLAMES@VLT data we have recently obtained (ESO DDT program), and with forthcoming ACS@HST images.
We present [Fe/H] and [Ca/Fe] of $sim600$ red giant branch (RGB) members of the globular cluster $omega$ Centauri. We collect medium-resolution ($Rsim2000$) spectra using the Blanco 4 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory equipped with Hydra, the fiber-fed multi-object spectrograph. We demonstrate that blending of stellar light in optical fibers severely limits the accuracy of spectroscopic parameters in the crowded central region of the cluster. When photometric temperatures are taken in the spectroscopic analysis, our kinematically selected cluster members, excluding those that are strongly affected by flux from neighboring stars, include relatively fewer stars at intermediate metallicity ([Fe/H]$sim-1.5$) than seen in the previous high-resolution survey for brighter giants in Johnson & Pilachowski. As opposed to the trend of increasing [Ca/Fe] with [Fe/H] found by those authors, our [Ca/Fe] estimates, based on Ca II H & K measurements, show essentially the same mean [Ca/Fe] for most of the metal-poor and metal-intermediate populations in this cluster, suggesting that mass- or metallicity-dependent SN II yields may not be necessary in their proposed chemical evolution scenario. Metal-rich cluster members in our sample show a large spread in [Ca/Fe], and do not exhibit a clear bimodal distribution in [Ca/Fe]. We also do not find convincing evidence for a radial metallicity gradient among RGB stars in $omega$ Centauri.
Low-mass pre-main sequence (PMS) stars are strong and variable X-ray emitters, as has been well established by EINSTEIN and ROSAT observatories. It was originally believed that this emission was of thermal nature and primarily originated from coronal activity (magnetically confined loops, in analogy with Solar activity) on contracting young stars. Broadband spectral analysis showed that the emission was not isothermal and that elemental abundances were non-Solar. The resolving power of the Chandra and XMM X-ray gratings spectrometers have provided the first, tantalizing details concerning the physical conditions such as temperatures, densities, and abundances that characterize the X-ray emitting regions of young star. These existing high resolution spectrometers, however, simply do not have the effective area to measure diagnostic lines for a large number of PMS stars over required to answer global questions such as: how does magnetic activity in PMS stars differ from that of main sequence stars, how do they evolve, what determines the population structure and activity in stellar clusters, and how does the activity influence the evolution of protostellar disks. Highly resolved (R>3000) X-ray spectroscopy at orders of magnitude greater efficiency than currently available will provide major advances in answering these questions. This requires the ability to resolve the key diagnostic emission lines with a precision of better than 100 km/s.
We present a Spitzer Space Telescope imaging survey of the most massive Galactic globular cluster, omega Centauri, and investigate stellar mass loss at low metallicity and the intracluster medium (ICM). The survey covers approximately 3.2x the cluster half-mass radius at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, 8, and 24 microns, resulting in a catalog of over 40,000 point-sources in the cluster. Approximately 140 cluster members ranging 1.5 dex in metallicity show a red excess at 24 microns, indicative of circumstellar dust. If all of the dusty sources are experiencing mass loss, the cumulative rate of loss is estimated at 2.9 - 4.2 x 10^(-7) solar masses per year, 63% -- 66% of which is supplied by three asymptotic giant branch stars at the tip of the Red Giant Branch (RGB). There is little evidence for strong mass loss lower on the RGB. If this material had remained in the cluster center, its dust component (> 1 x 10^(-4) solar masses) would be detectable in our 24 and 70 micron images. While no dust cloud located at the center of omega Cen is apparent, we do see four regions of very faint, diffuse emission beyond two half-mass radii at 24 microns. It is unclear whether these dust clouds are foreground emission or are associated with omega Cen. In the latter case, these clouds may be the ICM in the process of escaping from the cluster.
We have applied our empirical-PSF-based photometric techniques on a large number of calibration-related WFC3/UVIS UV-B exposures of the core of {omega} Cen, and found a well-defined split in the right part of the white-dwarf cooling sequence (WDCS). The redder sequence is more populated by a factor of ~2. We can explain the separation of the two sequences and their number ratio in terms of the He-normal and He-rich subpopulations that had been previously identified along the cluster main sequence. The blue WDCS is populated by the evolved stars of the He-normal component (~0.55 Msun CO-core DA objects) while the red WDCS hosts the end-products of the He-rich population (~0.46 Msun objects, ~10% CO-core and ~90% He-core WDs). The He-core WDs correspond to He-rich stars that missed the central He-ignition, and we estimate their fraction by analyzing the population ratios along the cluster horizontal branch.
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