scholarly journals Integrated spectroscopy of extragalactic Globular Clusters

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (S351) ◽  
pp. 155-160
Author(s):  
Charli M. Sakari
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Light Element ◽  
Element Abundance ◽  
Future Perspectives ◽  
Host Galaxies ◽  
Chemical Abundances ◽  
Essential Information ◽  
Light Element Abundance ◽  
Detailed Chemical

AbstractIntegrated light (IL) spectroscopy enables studies of stellar populations beyond the Milky Way and its nearest satellites. In this paper, I will review how IL spectroscopy reveals essential information about globular clusters and the assembly histories of their host galaxies, concentrating particularly on the metallicities and detailed chemical abundances of the GCs in M31. I will also briefly mention the effects of multiple populations on IL spectra, and how observations of distant globular clusters help constrain the source(s) of light-element abundance variations. I will end with future perspectives, emphasizing how IL spectroscopy can bridge the gap between Galactic and extragalactic astronomy.

scholarly journals The mass fraction of halo stars contributed by the disruption of globular clusters in the E-MOSAICS simulations

2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (3) ◽  
pp. 3422-3428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Reina-Campos ◽  
Meghan E Hughes ◽  
J M Diederik Kruijssen ◽  
Joel L Pfeffer ◽  
Nate Bastian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Fraction ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Galactic Halo ◽  
Light Element ◽  
Element Abundance ◽  
Host Galaxies ◽  
Stellar Cluster ◽  
Halo Stars ◽  
Stellar Halo

ABSTRACT Globular clusters (GCs) have been posited, alongside dwarf galaxies, as significant contributors to the field stellar population of the Galactic halo. In order to quantify their contribution, we examine the fraction of halo stars formed in stellar clusters in the suite of 25 present-day Milky Way-mass cosmological zoom simulations from the E-MOSAICS project. We find that a median of 2.3 and 0.3 per cent of the mass in halo field stars formed in clusters and GCs, defined as clusters more massive than 5 × 103 and 105 M⊙, respectively, with the 25–75th percentiles spanning 1.9–3.0 and 0.2–0.5 per cent being caused by differences in the assembly histories of the host galaxies. Under the extreme assumption that no stellar cluster survives to the present day, the mass fractions increase to a median of 5.9 and 1.8 per cent. These small fractions indicate that the disruption of GCs plays a subdominant role in the build-up of the stellar halo. We also determine the contributed halo mass fraction that would present signatures of light-element abundance variations considered to be unique to GCs, and find that clusters and GCs would contribute a median of 1.1 and 0.2 per cent, respectively. We estimate the contributed fraction of GC stars to the Milky Way halo, based on recent surveys, and find upper limits of 2–5 per cent (significantly lower than previous estimates), suggesting that models other than those invoking strong mass loss are required to describe the formation of chemically enriched stellar populations in GCs.

scholarly journals Chemical Abundances of Seven Outer Halo M31 Globular Clusters from the Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (S321) ◽  
pp. 10-12
Author(s):  
Charli M. Sakari
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Dwarf Galaxy ◽  
Large Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Chemical Abundances ◽  
Light Spectra ◽  
Sigma Level ◽  
Stellar Streams ◽  
Detailed Chemical

AbstractObservations of stellar streams in M31’s outer halo suggest that M31 is actively accreting several dwarf galaxies and their globular clusters (GCs). Detailed abundances can chemically link clusters to their birth environments, establishing whether or not a GC has been accreted from a satellite dwarf galaxy. This talk presents the detailed chemical abundances of seven M31 outer halo GCs (with projected distances from M31 greater than 30 kpc), as derived from high-resolution integrated-light spectra taken with the Hobby Eberly Telescope. Five of these clusters were recently discovered in the Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey (PAndAS)—this talk presents the first determinations of integrated Fe, Na, Mg, Ca, Ti, Ni, Ba, and Eu abundances for these clusters. Four of the target clusters (PA06, PA53, PA54, and PA56) are metal-poor ([Fe/H] < -1.5), α-enhanced (though they are possibly less alpha-enhanced than Milky Way stars at the 1 sigma level), and show signs of star-to-star Na and Mg variations. The other three GCs (H10, H23, and PA17) are more metal-rich, with metallicities ranging from [Fe/H] = -1.4 to -0.9. While H23 is chemically similar to Milky Way field stars, Milky Way GCs, and other M31 clusters, H10 and PA17 have moderately-low [Ca/Fe], compared to Milky Way field stars and clusters. Additionally, PA17’s high [Mg/Ca] and [Ba/Eu] ratios are distinct from Milky Way stars, and are in better agreement with the stars and clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). None of the clusters studied here can be conclusively linked to any of the identified streams from PAndAS; however, based on their locations, kinematics, metallicities, and detailed abundances, the most metal-rich PAndAS clusters H23 and PA17 may be associated with the progenitor of the Giant Stellar Stream, H10 may be associated with the SW Cloud, and PA53 and PA56 may be associated with the Eastern Cloud.

Chemical composition of globular clusters in dwarf galaxies

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (S351) ◽  
pp. 317-320
Author(s):  
Søren S. Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Local Group ◽  
Dwarf Galaxies ◽  
Chemical Abundances ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Detailed Chemical

AbstractThis contribution gives an update on on-going efforts to characterise the detailed chemical abundances of Local Group globular clusters (GCs) from integrated-light spectroscopy. Observations of a sample of 20 GCs so far, located primarily within dwarf galaxies, show that at low metallicities the [α/Fe] ratios are generally indistinguishable from those in Milky Way GCs. However, the “knee” above which [α/Fe] decreases towards Solar-scaled values occurs at lower metallicities in the dwarfs, implying that GCs follow the same trends seen in field stars. Efforts are underway to establish NLTE corrections for integrated-light abundance measurements, and preliminary results for Mn are discussed.

scholarly journals Multiple populations in integrated light spectroscopy of intermediate-age clusters

2019 ◽  
Vol 489 (1) ◽  
pp. L80-L85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nate Bastian ◽  
Christopher Usher ◽  
Sebastian Kamann ◽  
Carmela Lardo ◽  
Søren S Larsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Light Element ◽  
Large Magellanic Cloud ◽  
Element Abundance ◽  
Multiple Populations ◽  
Individual Stars ◽  
Abundance Patterns ◽  
Nearby Galaxies ◽  
Massive Clusters ◽  
Light Element Abundance

ABSTRACT The presence of star-to-star light-element abundance variations (also known as multiple populations, MPs) appears to be ubiquitous within old and massive clusters in the Milky Way and all studied nearby galaxies. Most previous studies have focused on resolved images or spectroscopy of individual stars, although there has been significant effort in the past few years to look for multiple population signatures in integrated light spectroscopy. If proven feasible, integrated light studies offer a potential way to vastly open parameter space, as clusters out to 10s of Mpc can be studied. We use the Na D lines in the integrated spectra of two clusters with similar ages (2–3 Gyr) but very different masses: NGC 1978 (∼3 × 105 M⊙) in the Large Magellanic Cloud and G114 (1.7 × 107 M⊙) in NGC 1316. For NGC 1978, our findings agree with resolved studies of individual stars that did not find evidence for Na spreads. However, for G114, we find clear evidence for the presence of multiple populations. The fact that the same anomalous abundance patterns are found in both the intermediate age and ancient globular clusters lends further support to the notion that young massive clusters are effectively the same as the ancient globular clusters, only separated in age.

scholarly journals Detailed chemical abundance analysis of the thick disk star cluster Gaia 1

2017 ◽  
Vol 609 ◽  
pp. A13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Koch ◽  
Terese T. Hansen ◽  
Andrea Kunder
Keyword(s):  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Open Cluster ◽  
Light Element ◽  
Thick Disk ◽  
Chemical Abundance ◽  
Chemical Abundances ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
Red Giant ◽  
Significant Spread ◽  
Detailed Chemical

Star clusters, particularly those objects in the disk-bulge-halo interface are as yet poorly charted, despite the fact that they carry important information about the formation and the structure of the Milky Way. Here, we present a detailed chemical abundance study of the recently discovered object Gaia 1. Photometry has previously suggested it as an intermediate-age, moderately metal-rich system, although the exact values for its age and metallicity remained ambiguous in the literature. We measured detailed chemical abundances of 14 elements in four red giant members, from high-resolution (R = 25 000) spectra that firmly establish Gaia 1 as an object associated with the thick disk. The resulting mean Fe abundance is −0.62 ± 0.03(stat.)± 0.10(sys.) dex, which is more metal-poor than indicated by previous spectroscopy from the literature, but it is fully in line with values from isochrone fitting. We find that Gaia 1 is moderately enhanced in the α-elements, which allowed us to consolidate its membership with the thick disk via chemical tagging. The cluster’s Fe-peak and neutron-capture elements are similar to those found across the metal-rich disks, where the latter indicate some level of s-process activity. No significant spread in iron nor in other heavy elements was detected, whereas we find evidence of light-element variations in Na, Mg, and Al. Nonetheless, the traditional Na-O and Mg-Al (anti-)correlations, typically seen in old globular clusters, are not seen in our data. This confirms that Gaia 1 is rather a massive and luminous open cluster than a low-mass globular cluster. Finally, orbital computations of the target stars bolster our chemical findings of Gaia 1’s present-day membership with the thick disk, even though it remains unclear which mechanisms put it in that place.

scholarly journals Rediscovering the origins of the stellar halo with chemical tagging

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (S334) ◽  
pp. 38-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L Martell
Keyword(s):  
Globular Cluster ◽  
Globular Clusters ◽  
Galactic Halo ◽  
Light Element ◽  
Element Abundance ◽  
Tidal Interactions ◽  
Halo Stars ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Stellar Halo ◽  
Light Element Abundance

AbstractThe Galactic halo has a complex assembly history, which can be seen in its wealth of kinematic and chemical substructure. Globular clusters lose stars through tidal interactions with the Galaxy and cluster evaporation processes, meaning that they are inevitably a source of halo stars. These “migrants” from globular clusters can be recognized in the halo field by the characteristic light element abundance anticorrelations that are commonly observed only in globular cluster stars, and the number of halo stars that can be chemically tagged to globular clusters can be used to place limits on the formation pathways of those clusters.

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