No Arabic abstract
We measure the nitrogen abundance in 5 Turn Off(TO) stars of the Globular Clusters NGC 6397 and NGC 6752, and compare the cluster abundances with those of field stars of comparable metallicity. We determine the nitrogen abundance from the band head system at 3360 AA, using spectra of resolution R=45000 obtained with the UVES spectrograph on the VLT. We apply the same method previously used on field stars, to allow a direct comparison of the results. Nitrogen is found to have the same abundance in two of the NGC 6397 stars, in spite of a difference of one order of magnitude in oxygen abundance between them. In a third star of NGC 6397 the value is slightly lower, but compatible with the other two, within the uncertainties. All the stars in NGC 6397 are N-rich with respect to field objects of similar metallicity. The two stars in NGC 6752 show a difference in nitrogen abundance by over one order of magnitude. The same stars differ in the abundances of other elements such as Na, O and Li, only by a factor 3-4. The behaviour of N is different in the two clusters: no variation is observed NGC 6397, while a large variation is observed in NGC 6752. This is consistent with a picture in which the stars in NGC 6752 have been formed by a mixture of ``pristine material and material which has been processed by an early generation of stars, referred to as ``polluters. The N abundances here reported will help to constrain the properties of the polluters. In the case of NGC 6397 a simple pollution history is probably not viable, since the observed variations in O abundances are not accompanied by corresponding variations in N or Li.
Aims: To measure the beryllium abundance in two TO stars of the Globular Cluster NGC 6752, one oxygen rich and sodium poor, the other presumably oxygen poor and sodium rich. Be abundances in these stars are used to put on firmer grounds the hypothesis of Be as cosmochronometer and to investigate the formation of Globular Clusters. Method:We present near UV spectra with resolution R$sim 45000$ obtained with the UVES spectrograph on the 8.2m VLT Kueyen telescope, analysed with spectrum synthesis based on plane parallel LTE model atmospheres. Results:Be is detected in the O rich star with log(Be/H)=-12.04 $pm$0.15, while Be is not detected in the other star for which we obtain the upper limit log(Be/H)$<$-12.2. A large difference in nitrogen abundance (1.6 dex) is found between the two stars. Conclusions:The Be measurement is compatible with what found in field stars with the same [Fe/H] and [O/H]. The Be age of the cluster is found to be 13.3 Gyrs, in excellent agreement with the results from main sequence fitting and stellar evolution. The presence of Be confirms the results previously obtained for the cluster NGC 6397 and supports the hypothesis that Be can be used as a clock for the early formation of the Galaxy. Since only an upper limit is found for the star with low oxygen abundance, we cannot decide between competing scenarios of Globular Cluster formation, but we can exclude that polluted stars are substantially younger than unpolluted ones. We stress that the Be test might be the only measurement capable of distinguishing between these scenarios.
We present N abundances for 21 bright giants in the globular cluster NGC 6752 based on high-resolution UVES spectra of the 3360A NH lines. We confirm that the Stromgren c1 index traces the N abundance and find that the star-to-star N abundance variation is 1.95 dex, at the samples luminosity. We find statistically significant correlations, but small amplitude variations, between the abundances of N and alpha-, Fe-peak, and s-process elements. Analyses using model atmospheres with appropriate N, O, Na, and Al abundances would strengthen, rather than mute, these correlations. If the small variations of heavy elements are real, then the synthesis of the N anomalies must take place in stars which also synthesize alpha-, Fe-peak, and s-process elements. These correlations offer support for contributions from both AGB and massive stars to the globular cluster abundance anomalies.
We have conducted a photometric survey of the globular cluster NGC 6397 in a search for variable stars. We obtained ~11h of time-resolved photometric images with one ne European Southern Observatory-Very Large Telescope using the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph imager distributed over two consecutive nights. We analyzed 8391 light curves of stars brighter than magnitude 23 with the 465 nm-filter, and we identified 412 variable stars, reaching ~ 4.8 +- 0.2 per cent of variability with timescales between 0.004 and 2d, with amplitudes variation greater than +- 0.2 mag.
Recently, citet{vitral2021does} detected a central concentration of dark objects in the core-collapsed globular cluster NGC 6397, which could be interpreted as a subcluster of stellar-mass black holes. However, it is well established theoretically that any significant number of black holes in the cluster would provide strong dynamical heating and is fundamentally inconsistent with this clusters core-collapsed profile. Claims of intermediate-mass black holes in core-collapsed clusters should similarly be treated with suspicion, for reasons that have been understood theoretically for many decades. Instead, the central dark population in NGC 6397 is exactly accounted for by a compact subsystem of white dwarfs, as we demonstrate here by inspection of a previously published model that provides a good fit to this cluster. These central subclusters of heavy white dwarfs are in fact a generic feature of core-collapsed clusters, while central black hole subclusters are present in all {em non/}-collapsed clusters.
We have previously reported on chemical abundance trends with evolutionary state in the globular cluster NGC 6397 discovered in analyses of spectra taken with FLAMES at the VLT. Here, we reinvestigate the FLAMES-UVES sample of 18 stars, ranging from just above the turnoff point (TOP) to the red giant branch below the bump. Inspired by new calibrations of the infrared flux method, we adopt a set of hotter temperature scales. Chemical abundances are determined for six elements (Li, Mg, Ca, Ti, Cr, and Fe). Signatures of cluster-internal pollution are identified and corrected for in the analysis of Mg. On the modified temperature scales, evolutionary trends in the abundances of Mg and Fe are found to be significant at the 2{sigma} and 3{sigma} levels, respectively. The detailed evolution of abundances for all six elements agrees with theoretical isochrones, calculated with effects of atomic diffusion and a weak to moderately strong efficiency of turbulent mixing. The age of these models is compatible with the external determination from the white dwarf cooling sequence. We find that the abundance analysis cannot be reconciled with the strong turbulent-mixing efficiency inferred elsewhere for halo field stars. A weak mixing efficiency reproduces observations best, indicating a diffusion-corrected primordial lithium abundance of log {epsilon}(Li) = 2.57 +- 0.10. At 1.2{sigma}, this value agrees well with WMAP-calibrated Big-Bang nucleosynthesis predictions.