scholarly journals The Main Sequence of the Very Old Globular Cluster NGC 6397

1980 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 423-423
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Alcaino ◽  
William Liller
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Main Sequence ◽  
Narrow Range ◽  
Age Determination ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Age Of The Universe ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Photographic Photometry ◽  
Collapse Phase

We present photographic photometry for 1135 stars in the globular cluster NGC 6397, which, at a distance of 2.4 kpc, is most likely the second nearest globular to the Sun. The Racine wedge with the CTIO Yale 1 m telescope (Δm=3. 60 mag), the CTIO 4 m telescope (Δm=6. 83 mag) and the ESO 3.6 m telescope (Δm=3. 87 mag) was used to extend the photoelectric calibration from V≃16.1 to V≃20.7. The main sequence turnoff at V=16.7 and B-V=0.52 with respectively Mv =4.30 and (B-V)o =0.36 yields (m-M)v=12.40 and E(B-V)=0.16. Using the models of Iben and Rood (1970) and the isochrones of Demarque and McClure (1977), we deduce the cluster's age to be 17 × 109 years. This makes this object the oldest of the nine globular clusters with age determination and gives a lower limit to the age of the universe, rendering Ho ≤ 57 km sec−1 Mpc−1 if qo ≥ 0 is assumed. The large age spread of 6 billion years between NGC 6397 and 47 Tuc (the youngest counterpart with age data) indicates both that the protogalaxy underwent a slow collapse phase and that the abundances in globular clusters are lower for the oldest. The fact that the galactocentric distances for these clusters have the narrow range of 6 <R < 13 kpc makes it highly important to secure age data for extremely metal poor globulars far out in the halo.

scholarly journals Hipparcos subdwarfs and globular cluster ages: towards reliable absolute ages

1997 ◽  
Vol 189 ◽  
pp. 433-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Pont ◽  
M. Mayor ◽  
C. Turon
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Age Determination ◽  
Colour Scale ◽  
Minimum Age ◽  
Age Of The Universe ◽  
Robust Prediction ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Cluster Age

The maximum age of galactic globular clusters provides the best observational constraint on the minimum age of the Universe. One of the main “missing link” in the globular cluster age determination has been the lack of a precise calibration, with local subdwarfs, of the position of the subdwarf sequence at different [Fe/H].Hipparcos data may change this situation. As many precise parallaxes become available for local subdwarfs, the distance to globular clusters can be estimated directly from ZAMS fitting to the subdwarf locus. The ages can then be inferred from the turnoff luminosity (a robust prediction of stellar evolution models), rather than using secondary indicators such as Horizontal-Branch position, or indicators depending on the uncertain colour scale such as turnoff colour.Combining Hipparcos parallaxes with [Fe/H] values determined with the CORAVEL spectrometer, we are studying the position of the subdwarfs in the Colour-Magnitude Diagram from a sample of more than 900 subdwarf candidates. Preliminary results are presented here. It is shown that the distances of many subdwarfs had been underestimated in previous studies, mainly because a large fraction of them is in fact evolved off the main sequence into the turnoff or the subgiant branch.

scholarly journals Systematic main sequence photometry of globular cluster stars for age determination

1984 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 153-155
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Alcaino ◽  
William Liller
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Main Sequence ◽  
Age Determination ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Globular Cluster System ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Universe

The individual photometric study of the coeval stars in globular clusters presents one of the best observational tests of the stellar evolution theory. Our own globular cluster system provides fundamental clues to the dynamical and chemical evolutionary history of the galaxy, and the study of their ages give us a lower limit to the age of the galaxy as well as to that of the universe. We have been undertaking a systematic research program, and discuss herewith the ages deduced by fitting main sequence photometry to theoretical isochrones of six galactic globular clusters : M4, M22, M30, NGC 288, NGC 3201 and NGC 6397.

scholarly journals The Absolute Magnitudes of RR Lyrae Stars and the Age of the Galaxy

1989 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 121-140
Author(s):  
Allan Sandage
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Main Sequence ◽  
Absolute Magnitude ◽  
Cluster System ◽  
Apparent Magnitude ◽  
Rr Lyrae ◽  
Globular Cluster System ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Absolute Magnitudes

AbstractIt is shown that the intrinsic spread in the absolute magnitudes of the RR Lyrae variables in a given globular cluster can reach 0.5 magnitudes at a given period or at a given color, due to luminosity evolution away from the zero age horizontal (ZAHB). The size of this intrinsic luminosity spread is largest in clusters of the highest metallicity.The absolute magnitude of the ZAHB itself also differs from cluster to cluster as a function of metallicity, being brightest in clusters of the lowest metallicity. Three independent methods of calibrating the ZAHB RR Lyrae luminosities each show a strong variation of MV(RR) with [Fe/H]. The pulsation equation of P<ρ>0.5 = Q(M,Te, L) used with the observed periods, temperatures, and masses of field and of cluster RR Lyraes gives the very steep luminosity-metallicity dependence of dMv(RR)/d[Fe/H] = 0.42. Main sequence fitting of the color-magnitude diagrams of clusters which have modern main-sequence photometry gives a confirming steep slope of 0.39. A summary of Baade-Wesselink MV(RR) values for field stars determined in four independent recent studies also shows a luminosity-metallicity dependence, but less steep with a slope of dMV(RR)/d[Fe/H] = 0.21.Observations show that the magnitude difference between the main sequence turn-off point and the ZAHB in a number of well observed globular clusters is independent of [Fe/H], and has a stable value of dV = 3.54 with a disperion of only 0.1 magnitudes. Using this fact, the absolute magnitude of the main sequence turn-off is determined in any given globular cluster from the observed apparent magnitude of the ZAHB by adopting any particular MV(RR) = f([Fe/H]) calibration.Ages of the clusters are shown to vary with [Fe/H] by amounts that depend upon the slopes of the MV(RR) = f([Fe/H]) calibrations. The calibrations show that there would be a steep dependence of the age on [Fe/H] if MV(RR) does not depend on [Fe/H]. No dependence of age on metallicity exists if the RR Lyrae luminosities depend on [Fe/H] as dMV(RR)/d[Fe/H] = 0.37. If Oxygen is not enhanced as [Fe/H] decreases, the absolute average age of the globular cluster system is 16 Gyr, independent of [Fe/H], using the steep MV(RR)/[Fe/H] calibration that is favored. If Oxygen is enhanced by [O/Fe] = – 0.14 [Fe/H] + 0.40 for [Fe/H] < –1.0, as suggested from the observations of field subdwarfs, then the age of the globular cluster system decreases to 13 Gyr, again independent of [Fe/H], if the RR Lyrae ZAHB luminosities have a metallicity dependence of dMV(RR)/d[Fe/H] = 0.37.

scholarly journals M31 Globular Cluster Metallicities and Ages

2002 ◽  
Vol 207 ◽  
pp. 58-61
Author(s):  
Pauline Barmby
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Evolution ◽  
Galaxy Formation ◽  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Chemical Enrichment ◽  
Detailed Explanation ◽  
Age Gap ◽  
Small Delay ◽  
Age Of The Universe ◽  
Lower Limits ◽  
The Universe

Globular cluster ages are more than just lower limits to the age of the universe; the distribution of ages constraints the timescales for galaxy formation and chemical evolution. Globular cluster populations with different metallicities have now been detected in many galaxies, and understanding how these populations formed requires knowing their relative ages. We examined the relative ages of the two M31 globular cluster populations using their color and luminosity distributions and found that the metal-rich clusters could be up to 50% younger than the metal-poor clusters. While a small delay in the formation of metal-rich clusters might be imposed by chemical enrichment timescales, a large age gap demands a more detailed explanation. I outline several possibilities and their promises and problems.

scholarly journals The Hubble Constant

2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Mould
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Hubble Space Telescope ◽  
Hubble Constant ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Accelerating Universe ◽  
De Sitter ◽  
Age Of The Universe ◽  
Extragalactic Distance Scale ◽  
The Big Bang ◽  
The Universe

AbstractWith the completion of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale, it is interesting to form the dimensionless quantity H0t0 by multiplying the Hubble Constant by the age of the Universe. In a matter dominated decelerating Universe with a density exceeding 0·26 of the critical value, H0t0 < 1; in an accelerating Universe with the same Ωm = 0·26, but dominated by vacuum energy with ΩV ≥ 1 – Ωm, H0t0 ≥ 1. If the first globular clusters formed 109 years after the Big Bang, then with 95% confidence H0t0 =1·0 ± 0·3. The classical Einstein–de Sitter cosmological model has H0t0 = ⅔.

scholarly journals Globular cluster ages from main sequence fitting and detached, eclipsing binaries: The case of 47 Tuc

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S258) ◽  
pp. 171-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Dotter ◽  
Janusz Kaluzny ◽  
Ian B. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Stellar Evolution ◽  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Main Sequence ◽  
Eclipsing Binaries ◽  
Eclipsing Binary ◽  
Age Constraints

AbstractAge constraints are most often placed on globular clusters by comparing their CMDs with theoretical isochrones. The recent discoveries of detached, eclipsing binaries in such systems by the Cluster AgeS Experiment (CASE) provide new insights into their ages and, at the same time, provide much-needed tests of stellar evolution models. We describe efforts to model the properties of the detached, eclipsing binary V69 in 47 Tuc and compare age constraints derived from stellar evolution models of V69A and B with ages obtained from fitting isochrones to the cluster CMD. We determine whether or not, under reasonable assumptions of distance, reddening, and metallicity, it is possible to simultaneously constrain the age and He content of 47 Tuc.

scholarly journals Study of the effects of magnetic braking on the lithium abundances of the Sun and solar-type stars

2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (2) ◽  
pp. 1343-1354
Author(s):  
R Caballero Navarro ◽  
A García Hernández ◽  
A Ayala ◽  
J C Suárez
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Main Sequence ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Depletion Rate ◽  
Solar Type ◽  
Magnetic Braking ◽  
Physical Phenomena ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT The study of lithium (Li) surface abundance in the Sun and young stellar globular clusters which are seemingly anomalous in present-day scenarios, as well as the influence of rotation and magnetic braking (MB) on its depletion during pre-main sequence (PMS) and main sequence (MS). In this work, the effects of rotational mixing and of the rotational hydrostatic effects on Li abundances are studied by simulating several grids of PMS and MS rotating and non-rotating models. Those effects are combined with the additional impact of the MB (with magnetic field intensities ranging between 3.0 and 5.0 G). The data obtained from simulations are confronted by comparing different stellar parameters. The results show that the surface Li abundance for the Sun-like models at the end of the PMS and throughout the MS decreases when rotational effects are included, that is the Li depletion rate for rotating models is higher than for non-rotating ones. This effect is attenuated when the MB produced by a magnetic field is present. This physical phenomena impacts also the star effective temperature (Teff) and its location in the HR diagram. The impact of MB in Li depletion is sensitive to the magnetic field intensity: the higher it is, the lower the Li destruction. A direct link between the magnetic fields and the convective zone (CZ) size is observed: stronger magnetic fields produce shallower CZ’s. This result suggests that MB effect must be taken into consideration during PMS if we aim to reproduce Li abundances in young clusters.

scholarly journals Stellar Encounters in Dense Systems

1996 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 243-252
Author(s):  
Melvyn B. Davies
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Close Encounter ◽  
Solar Neighbourhood ◽  
Number Density ◽  
Age Of The Universe ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Nuclei Number

The number density of stars in the solar neighbourhood is sufficiently low that encounters between two stars will be extremely rare. However, in the cores of globular clusters, and glactic nuclei, number densities are sufficiently high (∼ 105 stars/pc3 in some systems) that encounter timescales can be comparable, or even less than, the age of the universe. In other words, a large fraction of the stars in these systems will have suffered from at least one close encounter or collision in their lifetime.

scholarly journals Isochrones for Hydrogen‐burning Globular Cluster Stars. III. From the Sun to the Globular Clusters

1997 ◽  
Vol 490 (1) ◽  
pp. 425-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Straniero ◽  
Alessandro Chieffi ◽  
Marco Limongi
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Hydrogen Burning
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