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At least 307 records · Page 17
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Adiabatic invariants in stellar dynamics, 3: Application to globular cluster evolution

The previous two companion papers demonstrate that slowly varying perturbations may not result in adiabatic cutoffs and provide a formalism for computing the long-term effects of time-dependent perturbations on stellar systems. Here, the theory is implemented in a Fokker-Planck code and a suite of runs illustrating the effects of shock heating on globular cluster evolution are described. Shock heating alone results in considerable mass loss for clusters with R(sub g) less than or approximately 8 kpc: a concentration c = 1.5 cluster with R(sub g) kpc loses up to 95% of its initial mass in 15 Gyr. Only those with concentration c greater than or approximately 1.3 survive disk shocks inside of this radius. Other effects, such as mass loss by stellar evolution, will decrease this survival bound. Loss of the initial halo together with mass segregation leads to mass spectral indices, x, which may be considerably larger than their initial values.

Weinberg, Martin D.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Improved position for the X-ray source associated with the globular cluster NGC 6441

The X-ray source 3U 1746-37 was observed by the hard X-ray experiment on the Astronomical Netherlands Satellite (ANS) in March and September 1975. The one-dimensional position band (+ or - 2 arcmin, 90% confidence) obtained reduces the Uhuru error-box area by a factor of 3 and includes the nucleus of the globular cluster NGC 6441.

Grindlay, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Hot HB Stars in Globular Clusters - Physical Parameters and Consequences for Theory. VI. The Second Parameter Pair M3 and M13

We present the results of spectroscopic analyses of hot horizontal branch (HB) stars in M13 and M3, which form a famous second parameter pair. From the spectra we derived - for the first time in M13 - atmospheric parameters (effective temperature and surface gravity) as well as abundances of helium, magnesium, and iron. Consistent with analyses of hot HB stars in other globular clusters we find evidence for helium depletion and iron enrichment in stars hotter than about 12,000 K in both M3 and M13. Accounting for the iron enrichment substantially improves the agreement with canonical evolutionary models, although the derived gravities and masses are still somewhat too low. This remaining discrepancy may be an indication that scaled-solar metal-rich model atmospheres do not adequately represent the highly non-solar abundance ratios found in blue HB stars with radiative levitation. We discuss the effects of an enhancement in the envelope helium abundance on the atmospheric parameters of the blue HB stars, as might be caused by deep mixing on the red giant branch or primordial pollution from an earlier generation of intermediate mass asymptotic giant branch stars.

Moehler, S.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The x ray population in globular clusters and three crab-like SNR in the large Magellanic cloud

This document is to serve as the requisite Final Technical Report on grant NAG5-1557 which was awarded under the NASA ROSAT Guest Investigator Program to Columbia University. In response to the NASA Research Anouncement describing the first round of Guest Investigations to be carried out under the U.S.-German ROSAT Program (AO-1), the PI submitted several proposals, three of which were accepted in part: (1) the x-ray population of globular clusters; (2) three crab-like SNR in the Large Magellanic Cloud; and (3) x rays from nearby radio pulsars. The status of these three programs as of 31 May 1993, the termination date of the grant, is reported.

Helfand, David J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

A 5.75-millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae

A pulsar with a period of 5.75 ms and a dispersion measure of 25/cu cm pc has been found in the direction of 47 Tucanae. Despite its probable origin as a member of a binary system, timing measurements show that the pulsar is now single. The observed dispersion measure is consistent with the pulsar lying outside the Galactic electron layer and within 47 Tucanae, but it is very different from the value of 67/cu cm pc for the pulsars that were reported recently as being in this globular cluster. It is suggested that the latter pulsars probably do not in fact lie within 47 Tucanae.

Manchester, R. N.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Probability of Forming Gaps in the GD-1 Stream by Close Encounters of Globular Clusters

One of the most intriguing properties of the GD-1 stellar stream is the existence of three gaps. If these gaps were formed by close encounters with dark matter subhalos, the GD-1 stream opens an exciting window through which we can see the size, mass, and velocity distributions of the dark matter subhalos in the Milky Way. However, in order to use the GD-1 stream as a probe of the dark matter substructure, we need to disprove that these gaps are not due to the perturbations from baryonic components of the Milky Way. Here we ran a large number of test-particle simulations to investigate the probability that each of the known globular clusters (GCs) can form a GD-1-like gap, by using the kinematical data of the GD-1 stream and GCs from Gaia early data release 3 and by fully taking the observational uncertainty into account. We found that the probability that all of the three gaps were formed by GCs is as low as 1.7 × 10 -5 , and the expected number of gaps formed by GCs is only 0.057 in our fiducial model. Our result highly disfavors a scenario in which GCs form the gaps. Given that other baryonic perturbers (e.g., giant molecular clouds) are even less likely to form a gap in the retrograde-moving GD-1 stream, we conclude that at least one of the gaps in the GD-1 stream was formed by dark matter subhalos if the gaps were formed by flyby perturbations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1991

The globular cluster Omega Centauri - The origin of the mysterious correlation between the RR Lyrae luminosity and Fe/H

The observed correlation between the RR Lyrae luminosity and Fe/H for all Omega Cen RR Lyrae stars for which Fe/H has been determined by the delta-S method is considered, and emphasis is placed on the lack of luminosity variation among the variables in Omega Cen. Model calculations are shown to suggest that the observed 'flat' correlation between the RR Lyrae luminosity and Fe/H for stars having Fe/H forbidden line less than -1.4 can be reproduced if the HB stars in Omega Cen obey the nonmonotonic behavior of the HB morphology with decreasing Fe/H similar to that observed in the Galactic globular cluster system. This is considered to be a natural consequence of recent HB evolutionary models suggesting that the RR Lyrae mean luminosity depends on HB morphology as well as metallicity.

Lee, Young-Wook↗
NASA NTRS2004

Anchoring the Population II Distance Scale: Accurate Ages for Globular Clusters

The metal-poor stars in the halo of the Milky Way galaxy were among the first objects formed in our Galaxy. These Population II stars are the oldest objects in the universe whose ages can be accurately determined. Age determinations for these stars allow us to set a firm lower limit, to the age of the universe and to probe the early formation history of the Milky Way. The age of the universe determined from studies of Population II stars may be compared to the expansion age of the universe and used to constrain cosmological models. The largest uncertainty in estimates for the ages of stars in our halo is due to the uncertainty in the distance scale to Population II objects. We propose to obtain accurate parallaxes to a number of Population II objects (globular clusters and field stars in the halo) resulting in a significant improvement in the Population II distance scale and greatly reducing the uncertainty in the estimated ages of the oldest stars in our galaxy. At the present time, the oldest stars are estimated to be 12.8 Gyr old, with an uncertainty of approx. 15%. The SIM observations obtained by this key project, combined with the supporting theoretical research and ground based observations outlined in this proposal will reduce the estimated uncertainty in the age estimates to 5%).

Chaboyer, Brian C.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Dark matter and the age of globular clusters

The ability of weakly interacting particles called cosmions to suppress convection in the cores of horizontal-branch stars is investigated numerically. It is found that such convection-breaking in horizontal-branch stars by cosmions or by any other novel mode of energy transfer induces thermal relaxation oscillations with a period of about 500,000 yr, corresponding to the core Kelvin-Helmholtz time scale. These thermal pulses can be understood analytically in terms of a simple two-zone model. Observationally, the brightness and brightness dispersion of horizontal-branch stars increases, the periods of RR Lyrae stars change over a pulsation time scale, and the duration of central helium burning slightly decreases. None of these effects is in conflict with observations but, on the contrary, point to a speculative resolution of the age problem for globular clusters and to an alternative explanation of the period fluctuations of RR Lyrae stars.

Dearborn, David↗
NASA NTRS2004

Open and Globular Cluster Distances for Extragalactic, Galactic, and Stellar Astrophysics

One of the hallmarks of SIM's few-milliarcsecond astrometric precision is its ability to obtain accurate parallax measurements across more than half of the Galaxy. The "open and globular" project obtains parallax distances to a set of star clusters. One important, goal is to pinpoint the zeropoint of the distance scale for main-sequence fitting. Another goal is to improve stellar evolutionary isochrones and integrated light models. Another goal is to use the clusters themselves to address unsolved problems of late-stage stellar evolution and Galactic and extragalactic chemical evolution. The clusters to be observed are chosen to span the widest possible range of abundance and age, to be as rich as possible, and to be as well-studied as possible.

Worthey, Guy S.↗