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Register a new userChandra and Hubble Space Telescope Study of the Globular Cluster NGC 288
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We report on the Chandra X-ray Observatory observations of the globular cluster NGC 288. We detect four X-ray sources within the core radius and seven additional sources within the half-mass radius down to a limiting luminosity of Lx=7e30 erg/s (assuming cluster membership) in the 0.3-7 keV band. We also observed the cluster with the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys and identify optical counterparts to seven X-ray sources out of the nine sources within the HST field-of-view. Based on the X-ray and optical properties, we find 2-5 candidates of cataclysmic variables (CVs) or chromospherically active binaries, and 2-5 background galaxies inside the half-mass radius. Since the core density of NGC 288 is very low, the faint X-ray sources of NGC 288 found in the Chandra and HST observations is higher than the prediction on the basis of the collision frequency. We suggest that the CVs and chromospherically active binaries are primordial in origin, in agreement with theoretical expectation.
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Using new Chandra X-ray observations and existing XMM-Newton X-ray and Hubble far ultraviolet observations, we aim to detect and identify the faint X-ray sources belonging to the Galactic globular cluster NGC 2808 in order to understand their role in the evolution of globular clusters. We present a Chandra X-ray observation of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 2808. We classify the X-ray sources associated with the cluster by analysing their colours and variability. Previous observations with XMM-Newton and far ultraviolet observations with the Hubble Space Telescope are re-investigated to help identify the Chandra sources associated with the cluster. We compare our results to population synthesis models and observations of other Galactic globular clusters. We detect 113 sources, of which 16 fall inside the half-mass radius of NGC 2808 and are concentrated towards the cluster core. From statistical analysis, these 16 sources are very likely to be linked to the cluster. We detect short-term (1 day) variability in X-rays for 7 sources, of which 2 fall inside the half-mass radius, and long-term (28 months) variability for 10 further sources, of which 2 fall inside the half-mass radius. Ultraviolet counterparts are found for 8 Chandra sources in the core, of which 2 have good matching probabilities and have ultraviolet properties expected for cataclysmic variables. We find one likely neutron star-quiescent low-mass X-ray binary and 7 cataclysmic variable candidates in the core of NGC 2808. The other 8 sources are cataclysmic variable candidates, but some could possibly be active binaries or millisecond pulsars. We find a possible deficit of X-ray sources compared to 47 Tuc which could be related to the metallicity content and the complexity of the evolution of NGC 2808.
We analyze the resolved stellar populations of the faint stellar system, Crater, based on deep optical imaging taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. The HST/ACS-based color-magnitude diagram (CMD) of Crater extends $sim$4 magnitudes below the oldest main sequence turnoff, providing excellent leverage on Craters physical properties. Structurally, Crater has a half-light radius of $sim$20 pc and shows no evidence for tidal distortions. Crater is well-described by a simple stellar population with an age of $sim$7.5 Gyr, [M/H]$sim-1.65$, a M$_{star}sim10^4$ M$_{odot}$, M$_{rm V}sim -5.3$, located at a distance of d$sim$ 145 kpc, with modest uncertainties in these properties due to differences in the underlying stellar evolution models. The sparse sampling of stars above the turnoff and sub-giant branch are likely to be 1.0-1.4 M$_{odot}$ binary star systems (blue stragglers) and their evolved descendants, as opposed to intermediate age main sequence stars. Confusion of these populations highlights a substantial challenge in accurately characterizing sparsely populated stellar systems. Our analysis shows that Crater is not a dwarf galaxy, but instead is an unusually young cluster given its location in the Milky Ways very outer stellar halo. Crater is similar to SMC cluster Lindsay 38, and its position and velocity are in good agreement with observations and models of the Magellanic stream debris, suggesting it may have accreted from the Magellanic Clouds. However, its age and metallicity are also in agreement with the age-metallicity relationships of lower mass dwarf galaxies such as Leo I or Carina. Despite uncertainty over its progenitor system, Crater appears to have been incorporated into the Galaxy more recently than $zsim1$ (8 Gyr ago), providing an important new constraint on the accretion history of the Milky Way. [abridged]
We report the discovery of two new variable stars in the metal-poor globular cluster NGC 288, found by means of time-series CCD photometry. We classified the new variables as SX Phoenicis due to their characteristic fundamental mode periods (1.02 +- 0.01 and 0.69 +- 0.01 hours), and refine the period estimates for other six known variables. SX Phe stars are known to follow a well-defined Period-Luminosity (P-L) relation and, thus, can be used for determining distances; they are more numerous than RR Lyraes in NGC~288. We obtain the P-L relation for the fundamental mode M_V = (-2.59 +- 0.18) log P_0(d) + (-0.34 +- 0.24) and for the first-overtone mode M_V = (-2.59 +- 0.18) log P_1(d) + (0.50 +- 0.25). Multi-chromatic isochrone fits to our UBV color-magnitude diagrams, based on the Dartmouth Stellar Evolution Database, provide <[Fe/H]> = -1.3 +- 0.1, E(B-V) = 0.02 +- 0.01 and absolute distance modulus (m-M)0 = 14.72 +- 0.01 for NGC 288.
With the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on the Hubble Space Telescope, we have discovered in M4 (NGC 6121, C 1620-264) the first extensive sequence of cooling white dwarfs seen in a globular cluster. Adopting a distance modulus of (m-M)_V = 12.65 and a reddening of E(B-V) = 0.37, we show that the sequence, which extends over 9 < M_U < 13, is comprised of white dwarfs of mass sim 0.5 M_{odot}. The total mass loss from the present turnoff to the white dwarf sequence is 0.31 M_{odot} and the intrinsic dispersion in the mean mass appears to be < 0.05 M_{odot}. Both the location of the white dwarf cooling sequence in the cluster color-magnitude diagram and the cumulative luminosity function attest to the basic correctness and completeness of the physics in theoretical models for the upper three magnitudes of the observed white dwarf cooling sequence. To test the theory in globular clusters at cooling ages beyond sim 3 times 10^8 years will require deeper and more complete data.
The specific globular cluster frequencies (S_N) for 24 dwarf elliptical (dE) galaxies in the Virgo and Fornax Clusters and the Leo Group imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope are presented. Combining all available data, we find that for nucleated dEs --- which are spatially distributed like giant ellipticals in galaxy clusters --- S_N(dE,N)=6.5 +- 1.2 and S_N increases with M_V, while for non-nucleated dEs --- which are distributed like late-type galaxies --- S_N(dE,noN)=3.1 +- 0.5 and there is little or no trend with M_V. The S_N values for dE galaxies are thus on average significantly higher than those for late-type galaxies, which have S_N < 1. This suggests that dE galaxies are more akin to giant Es than to late-type galaxies. If there are dormant or stripped irregulars hiding among the dE population, they are likely to be among the non-nucleated dEs. Furthermore, the similarities in the properties of the globular clusters and in the spatial distributions of dE,Ns and giant Es suggest that neither galaxy mass or galaxy metallicity is responsible for high values of S_N. Instead, most metal-poor GCs may have formed in dwarf-sized fragments that merged into larger galaxies.
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