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Register a new userGlobular Cluster Abundances from High-Resolution, Integrated-Light Spectroscopy. III. The Large Magellanic Cloud: Fe and Ages
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In this paper we refine our method for the abundance analysis of high resolution spectroscopy of the integrated light of unresolved globular clusters (GCs). This method was previously demonstrated for the analysis of old ($>$10 Gyr) Milky Way GCs. Here we extend the technique to young clusters using a training set of 9 GCs in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Depending on the signal-to-noise ratio of the data, we use 20-100 Fe lines per cluster to successfully constrain the ages of old clusters to within a $sim$5 Gyr range, the ages of $sim$2 Gyr clusters to a 1-2 Gyr range, and the ages of the youngest clusters (0.05-1 Gyr) to a $sim$200 Myr range. We also demonstrate that we can measure [Fe/H] in clusters with any age less than 12 Gyrs with similar or only slightly larger uncertainties (0.1-0.25 dex) than those obtained for old Milky Way GCs (0.1 dex); the slightly larger uncertainties are due to the rapid evolution in stellar populations at these ages. In this paper, we present only Fe abundances and ages. In the next paper in this series, we present our complete analysis of the $sim 20$ elements for which we are able to measure abundances. For several of the clusters in this sample, there are no high resolution abundances in the literature from individual member stars; our results are the first detailed chemical abundances available. The spectra used in this paper were obtained at Las Campanas with the echelle on the du Pont Telescope and with the MIKE spectrograph on the Magellan Clay Telescope.
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We report the first detailed chemical abundances for 5 globular clusters (GCs) in M31 from high-resolution (R ~ 25,000) spectroscopy of their integrated light. These GCs are the first in a larger set of clusters observed as part of an ongoing project to study the formation history of M31 and its globular cluster population. The data presented here were obtained with the HIRES echelle spectrograph on the Keck I telescope, and are analyzed using a new integrated light spectra analysis method that we have developed. In these clusters, we measure abundances for Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Y, and Ba, ages >10 Gyrs, and a range in [Fe/H] of -0.9 to -2.2. As is typical of Milky Way GCs, we find these M31 GCs to be enhanced in the alpha-elements Ca, Si, and Ti relative to Fe. We also find [Mg/Fe] to be low relative to other [alpha/Fe], and [Al/Fe] to be enhanced in the integrated light abundances. These results imply that abundances of Mg, Al (and likely O, Na) recovered from integrated light do display the inter- and intra-cluster abundance variations seen in individual Milky Way GC stars, and that special care should be taken in the future in interpreting low or high resolution integrated light abundances of globular clusters that are based on Mg-dominated absorption features. Fe-peak and the neutron-capture elements Ba and Y also follow Milky Way abundance trends. We also present high-precision velocity dispersion measurements for all 5 M31 GCs, as well as independent constraints on the reddening toward the clusters from our analysis.
We present abundances of globular clusters in the Milky Way and Fornax from integrated light spectra. Our goal is to evaluate the consistency of the integrated light analysis relative to standard abundance analysis for individual stars in those same clusters. This sample includes an updated analysis of 7 clusters from our previous publications and results for 5 new clusters that expand the metallicity range over which our technique has been tested. We find that the [Fe/H] measured from integrated light spectra agrees to $sim$0.1 dex for globular clusters with metallicities as high as [Fe/H]=$-0.3$, but the abundances measured for more metal rich clusters may be underestimated. In addition we systematically evaluate the accuracy of abundance ratios, [X/Fe], for Na I, Mg I, Al I, Si I, Ca I, Ti I, Ti II, Sc II, V I, Cr I, Mn I, Co I, Ni I, Cu I, Y II, Zr I, Ba II, La II, Nd II, and Eu II. The elements for which the integrated light analysis gives results that are most similar to analysis of individual stellar spectra are Fe I, Ca I, Si I, Ni I, and Ba II. The elements that show the greatest differences include Mg I and Zr I. Some elements show good agreement only over a limited range in metallicity. More stellar abundance data in these clusters would enable more complete evaluation of the integrated light results for other important elements.
Detailed chemical abundances of two stars in the intermediate-age Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) globular cluster NGC~1718 are presented, based on high resolution spectroscopic observations with the MIKE spectrograph. The detailed abundances confirm NGC~1718 to be a fairly metal-rich cluster, with an average [Fe/H] ~ -0.55+/-0.01. The two red giants appear to have primordial O, Na, Mg, and Al abundances, with no convincing signs of a composition difference between the two stars---hence, based on these two stars, NGC~1718 shows no evidence for hosting multiple populations. The Mg abundance is lower than Milky Way field stars, but is similar to LMC field stars at the same metallicity. The previous claims of very low [Mg/Fe] in NGC~1718 are therefore not supported in this study. Other abundances (Si, Ca, Ti, V, Mn, Ni, Cu, Rb, Y, Zr, La, and Eu) all follow the LMC field star trend, demonstrating yet again that (for most elements) globular clusters trace the abundances of their host galaxys field stars. Similar to the field stars, NGC~1718 is found to be mildly deficient in explosive $alpha$-elements, but moderately to strongly deficient in O, Na, Mg, Al, and Cu, elements which form during hydrostatic burning in massive stars. NGC~1718 is also enhanced in La, suggesting that it was enriched in ejecta from metal-poor AGB stars.
We present a comparison of high-resolution, integrated-light, detailed chemical abundances for Galactic and extragalactic globular clusters in both massive galaxies and dwarf galaxies. We include measurements of Fe, Ca, Si, Na, and Al for globular cluster samples in the Milky Way, M31, Large Magellanic Cloud, and NGC 5128. These and other recent results from our group on M31 and NGC 5128 are the first chemical abundances derived from discrete absorption features in old stars beyond the Milky Way and its nearest neighbors. These abundances can provide both galaxy enrichment histories and constraints on globular cluster formation and evolution.
We test the performance of our analysis technique for integrated-light spectra by applying it to seven well-studied Galactic GCs that span a wide range of metallicities. Integrated-light spectra were obtained by scanning the slit of the UVES spectrograph on the ESO Very Large Telescope across the half-light diameters of the clusters. We modelled the spectra using resolved HST colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), as well as theoretical isochrones, in combination with standard stellar atmosphere and spectral synthesis codes. The abundances of Fe, Na, Mg, Ca, Ti, Cr, and Ba were compared with literature data for individual stars in the clusters. The typical differences between iron abundances derived from our integrated-light spectra and those compiled from the literature are less than 0.1 dex. A larger difference is found for one cluster (NGC 6752), and is most likely caused primarily by stochastic fluctuations in the numbers of bright red giants within the scanned area. As expected, the alpha-elements (Ca, Ti) are enhanced by about 0.3 dex compared to the Solar-scaled composition, while the [Cr/Fe] ratios are close to Solar. When using up-to-date line lists, our [Mg/Fe] ratios also agree well with literature data. Our [Na/Fe] ratios are, on average, 0.08-0.14 dex lower than average values quoted in the literature, and our [Ba/Fe] ratios may be overestimated by 0.20-0.35 dex at the lowest metallicities. We find that analyses based on theoretical isochrones give very similar results to those based on resolved CMDs. Overall, the agreement between our integrated-light abundance measurements and the literature data is satisfactory. Refinements of the modelling procedure, such as corrections for stellar evolutionary and non-LTE effects, might further reduce some of the remaining offsets.
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