scholarly journals Globular Clusters: Low Mass Stars, Still No Brown Dwarfs!

2003 ◽  
Vol 211 ◽  
pp. 215-222
Author(s):  
Guido De Marchi
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Functional Form ◽  
Dynamical Evolution ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Brown Dwarf ◽  
Low Mass Stars ◽  
Homogeneous Sample ◽  
Original Mass ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
The Imf

In spite of all the attempts to find them, no one has yet detected any brown dwarf in a globular cluster. Although powerful instruments such as the VLT and Advanced Camera could further push the frontiers of this search, globular clusters will probably hold tight to their secrets for a while longer. Nonetheless, the search for very low mass stars in globular clusters has taught us a lot about their original mass distribution (IMF) and its evolution in time. I shall review the results of an investigation carried out over what is presently the largest, most homogeneous sample, and discuss the reasons suggesting that: 1. dynamical evolution (internal and external) has reshaped the cluster mass function over time, but the imprint of the IMF is still visible; 2. the IMF appears to vary very little from cluster to cluster; 3. the most likely functional form of the IMF is that of a power law that rises to a peak at ˜ 0.3 M⊙ and tapers off at smaller masses.

Dynamical Evolution of Globular Clusters with Mass Spectrum

1991 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-44
Author(s):  
Hyung Mok Lee
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrum ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Relaxation Times ◽  
Dynamical Evolution ◽  
Planck Equation ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Low Mass Stars ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Three Body

AbstractWe present a series of numerical models describing the dynamical evolution of globular clusters with a mass spectrum, based on integration of the Fokker-Planck equation. We include three-body binary heating and a steady galactic tidal field. A wide range of initial mass functions is adopted and the evolution of the mass function is examined. The mass function begins to change appreciably during the post-collapse expansion phase due to the selective evaporation of low mass stars through the tidal boundary. One signature of highly evolved clusters is thus the significant flattening of the mass function. The age (in units of the half-mass relaxation time) increases very rapidly beyond about 100 signifying the final stage of cluster disruption. This appears to be consistent with the sharp cut-off of half-mass relaxation times at near 108 years for the Galactic globular clusters.

scholarly journals The Dark Side of Globular Clusters

1996 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 377-378
Author(s):  
P.-Y. Longaretti ◽  
R. Taillet ◽  
P. Salati
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Dynamical Analysis ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Low Mass Stars ◽  
First Results ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Non Parametric

Searches of low-mass stars have become possible in globular clusters, and the first results suggest that the mass function turns up below ∼ 0.4 M⊙ (Fahlman et al. 1989; Richer et al., 1990; Richer et al. 1991; G. Piotto, these proceedings). This conclusion is independently supported by the non-parametric dynamical analysis of four clusters by Gebhardt and Fisher 1995.

scholarly journals Variation in the Stellar Initial Mass Function from the Chromospheric Activity of M Dwarfs in Early-type Galaxies

2021 ◽  
Vol 923 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Pieter van Dokkum ◽  
Charlie Conroy
Keyword(s):  
Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass ◽  
Early Type ◽  
M Dwarfs ◽  
Low Mass Stars ◽  
Chromospheric Activity ◽  
Stellar Initial Mass Function ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
The Imf

Abstract Mass measurements and absorption-line studies indicate that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is bottom-heavy in the central regions of many early-type galaxies, with an excess of low-mass stars compared to the IMF of the Milky Way. Here we test this hypothesis using a method that is independent of previous techniques. Low-mass stars have strong chromospheric activity characterized by nonthermal emission at short wavelengths. Approximately half of the UV flux of M dwarfs is contained in the λ1215.7 Lyα line, and we show that the total Lyα emission of an early-type galaxy is a sensitive probe of the IMF with a factor of ∼2 flux variation in response to plausible variations in the number of low-mass stars. We use the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope to measure the Lyα line in the centers of the massive early-type galaxies NGC 1407 and NGC 2695. We detect Lyα emission in both galaxies and demonstrate that it originates in stars. We find that the Lyα to i-band flux ratio is a factor of 2.0 ± 0.4 higher in NGC 1407 than in NGC 2695, in agreement with the difference in their IMFs as previously determined from gravity-sensitive optical absorption lines. Although a larger sample of galaxies is required for definitive answers, these initial results support the hypothesis that the IMF is not universal but varies with environment.

scholarly journals The Low-Mass Stellar Luminosity Function of the 30 Dor Starburst Cluster

1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-136
Author(s):  
Hans Zinnecker
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Luminosity Function ◽  
Main Sequence ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Young Stellar Objects ◽  
Integration Time ◽  
Low Mass Stars ◽  
Hii Region ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
The Imf

Abstract Diffraction limited near-infrared H-band (1.6 μm) NICMOS HST images are scheduled to be obtained in mid-October 1997 of the young cluster NGC 2070 (age 3.5 Myr) in the 30 Dor giant HII region in the LMC. The aim is to search for the low-mass (M < 2 Mʘ) low-luminosity, red pre-Main Sequence stellar population and to establish the H-band infrared luminosity function. With the NICMOS we can now determine whether the IMF in this prototypical extragalactic starburst cluster is deficient in subsolar low-mass stars or not. The best ground-based data can sample only M > 2 Mʘ. In principle, NICMOS in the H-band (F160W) is sensitive enough to reach a magnitude of ~ 23.5 in a relatively short integration time, which indeed corresponds to the fantastic possibility to detect young stellar objects with masses near the hydrogen burning limit (M=0.1 Mʘ) according to pre-Main Sequence evolutionary models. Even if we could reach only H = 22.5 (i.e. M=0.4 Mʘ), our observations will still go a long way in directly answering, by star counts, whether the IMF in starburst galaxies is low-mass deficient or not, with all the corresponding far-reaching implications. The observations would also tell us whether the 30 Dor cluster can be regarded as a prototype young globular cluster. This possibility would be ruled out, if we found NGC 2070 to be low-mass deficient, because old globular clusters do have a rich population of low-mass stars.

scholarly journals A survey for low-mass stellar and substellar members of the Hyades open cluster

2018 ◽  
Vol 611 ◽  
pp. A34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanislav Melnikov ◽  
Jochen Eislöffel
Keyword(s):  
Proper Motion ◽  
Open Cluster ◽  
Dynamical Evolution ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Open Clusters ◽  
Cluster Member ◽  
Low Mass Stars ◽  
Hyades Cluster ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Selection Of

Context. Unlike young open clusters (with ages < 250 Myr), the Hyades cluster (age ~ 600 Myr) has a clear deficit of very low-mass stars (VLM) and brown dwarfs (BD). Since this open cluster has a low stellar density and covers several tens of square degrees on the sky, extended surveys are required to improve the statistics of the VLM/BD objects in the cluster. Aim. We search for new VLM stars and BD candidates in the Hyades cluster to improve the present-day cluster mass function down to substellar masses. Methods. An imaging survey of the Hyades with a completeness limit of 21.m5 in the R band and 20.m5 in the I band was carried out with the 2k × 2k CCD Schmidt camera at the 2 m Alfred Jensch Telescope in Tautenburg. We performed a photometric selection of the cluster member candidates by combining results of our survey with 2MASS JHKs photometry Results. We present a photometric and proper motion survey covering 23.4 deg2 in the Hyades cluster core region. Using optical/IR colour-magnitude diagrams, we identify 66 photometric cluster member candidates in the magnitude range 14.m7 < I < 20.m5. The proper motion measurements are based on several all-sky surveys with an epoch difference of 60–70 yr for the bright objects. The proper motions allowed us to discriminate the cluster members from field objects and resulted in 14 proper motion members of the Hyades. We rediscover Hy 6 as a proper motion member and classify it as a substellar object candidate (BD) based on the comparison of the observed colour-magnitude diagram with theoretical model isochrones. Conclusions. With our results, the mass function of the Hyades continues to be shallow below ~0.15 M⊙ indicating that the Hyades have probably lost their lowest mass members by means of dynamical evolution. We conclude that the Hyades core represents the “VLM/BD desert” and that most of the substeller objects may have already left the volume of the cluster.

The Initial Mass Function of Low-Mass Stars in Globular Clusters

1997 ◽  
Vol 476 (1) ◽  
pp. L19-L22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido De Marchi ◽  
Francesco Paresce
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass ◽  
Low Mass Stars ◽  
Low Mass

scholarly journals Connection between dynamically derived IMF normalisation and stellar populations

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (S311) ◽  
pp. 49-52
Author(s):  
Richard M. McDermid
Keyword(s):  
Stellar Population ◽  
Stellar Dynamics ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Abundance Ratio ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
Low Mass Stars ◽  
Stellar Initial Mass Function ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Future Work ◽  
The Imf

AbstractIn this contributed talk I present recent results on the connection between stellar population properties and the normalisation of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) measured using stellar dynamics, based on a large sample of 260 early-type galaxies observed as part of the ATLAS3D project. This measure of the IMF normalisation is found to vary non-uniformly with age- and metallicity-sensitive absorption line strengths. Applying single stellar population models, there are weak but measurable trends of the IMF with age and abundance ratio. Accounting for the dependence of stellar population parameters on velocity dispersion effectively removes these trends, but subsequently introduces a trend with metallicity, such that ‘heavy’ IMFs favour lower metallicities. The correlations are weaker than those found from previous studies directly detecting low-mass stars, suggesting some degree of tension between the different approaches of measuring the IMF. Resolving these discrepancies will be the focus of future work.

scholarly journals Low Mass Stars and White Dwarfs in NGC 6397

1995 ◽  
Vol 164 ◽  
pp. 408-408
Author(s):  
Guido De Marchi ◽  
Francesco Paresce ◽  
Martino Romaniello
Keyword(s):  
White Dwarf ◽  
Luminosity Function ◽  
Main Sequence ◽  
Dynamical Evolution ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Initial Mass Function ◽  
Low Mass Stars ◽  
Hydrogen Burning ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Counting Statistics

Deep WFPC2 images in wide bands centered at 606 and 802 nm were taken with the HST 5.6 arcminutes from the center of the galactic globular cluster NGC 6397. The images were used to accurately position ~ 2120 stars detected in the field on a color magnitude diagram down to a limiting magnitude m814 ≃ mI ≃ 26 determined reliably and solely by counting statistics. A white dwarf sequence and a rich, narrow cluster main sequence are detected for the first time, the latter stretching from m814 = 18.5 to m814 = 24.0 where it becomes indistinguishable from the field population. Two changes of slope of the main sequence at m814 ≃ 20 and m814 ≃ 22.5 are evident. The corresponding luminosity function increases slowly from M814 ≃ 6.5 to 8.5 as expected from ground based observations but then drops sharply from there down to the measurement limit. The corresponding mass function obtained by using the only presently available mass-luminosity function for the cluster's metallicity rises to a plateau between ~ 0.25 and~ 0.15 M⊙, but drops towards the expected mass limit of the normal hydrogen burning main sequence at about 0.1 M⊙. This result is in clear contrast to that obtained from the ground and implies either a substantial modification of the cluster's initial mass function due to dynamical evolution in its lifetime, or that very low mass stars are not produced in any dynamically significant amount by clusters of this type. The white dwarf sequence is in reasonable agreement with a cooling sequence of models of mass 0.5 M⊙ at the canonical distance of NGC 6397 with a scatter that is most likely due to photometric errors, but may also reflect real differences in mass or chemical composition.

scholarly journals Dynamical Evolution of Outer-Halo Globular Clusters

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (S316) ◽  
pp. 257-258
Author(s):  
Andreas H. W. Küpper ◽  
Akram H. Zonoozi ◽  
Hosein Haghi ◽  
Nora Lützgendorf ◽  
Steffen Mieske ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Dynamical Evolution ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Low Mass Stars ◽  
Central Mass ◽  
The Past ◽  
Main Driver ◽  
Mass Segregation ◽  
Mass Functions

AbstractOuter-halo globular clusters show large half-light radii and flat stellar mass functions, depleted in low-mass stars. Using N-body simulations of globular clusters on eccentric orbits within a Milky Way-like potential, we show how a cluster’s half-mass radius and its mass function develop over time. The slope of the central mass function flattens proportionally to the amount of mass a cluster has lost, and the half-mass radius grows to a size proportional to the average strength of the tidal field. The main driver of these processes is mass segregation of dark remnants. We conclude that the extended, depleted clusters observed in the Milky Way must have had small half-mass radii in the past, and that they expanded due to the weak tidal field they spend most of their lifetime in. Moreover, their mass functions must have been steeper in the past but flattened significantly as a cause of mass segregation and tidal mass loss.

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