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We combine ground and space-based photometry of the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tuc to measure four independent lines of evidence for a helium gradient in the cluster, whereby stars in the cluster outskirts would have a lower initial helium abundance than stars in and near the cluster core. First and second, we show that the red giant branch bump (RGBB) stars exhibit gradients in their number counts and brightness. With increased separation from the cluster center, they become more numerous relative to the other red giant (RG) stars. They also become fainter. For our third and fourth lines of evidence, we show that the horizontal branch (HB) of the cluster becomes both fainter and redder for sightlines farther from the cluster center. These four results are respectively detected at the 2.3$sigma$, 3.6$sigma$, 7.7$sigma$ and 4.1$sigma$ levels. Each of these independent lines of evidence is found to be significant in the cluster-outskirts; closer in, the data are more compatible with uniform mixing. Our radial profile is qualitatively consistent with but quantitatively tighter than previous results based on CN absorption. These observations are qualitatively consistent with a scenario wherein a second generation of stars with modestly enhanced helium and CNO abundance formed deep within the gravitational potential of a cluster of previous generation stars having more canonical abundances.
Using Spitzer IRAC observations from the SAGE-SMC Legacy program and archived Spitzer IRAC data, we investigate dust production in 47 Tuc, a nearby massive Galactic globular cluster. A previous study detected infrared excess, indicative of circumstel
We obtain stringent constraints on the actual efficiency of mass loss for red giant branch stars in the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tuc, by comparing synthetic modeling based on stellar evolution tracks with the observed distribution of stars along
We present a comparison between theoretical models and the observed magnitude difference between the horizontal branch and the red giant branch bump for a sample of 53 clusters. We find a general agreement, though some discrepancy is still present at
We compare model predictions to observations of star counts in the red giant branch bump (RGBB) relative to the number density of first-ascent red giant branch at the magnitude of the RGBB, $EW_{RGBB}$. The predictions are shown to exceed the data by
We obtained FLAMES GIRAFFE+UVES spectra for both first and second-generation red giant branch (RGB) stars in the globular cluster (GC) NGC 362 and used them to derive abundances of 21 atomic species for a sample of 92 stars. The surveyed elements inc