Andrea Bellini

Hubble Space Telescope reveals multiple sub-giant branch in eight globular clusters

In the last few years many globular clusters (GCs) have revealed complex color-magnitude diagrams, with the presence of multiple main sequences (MSs), broad or multiple sub-giant branches (SGBs) and MS turnoffs, and broad or split red giant branches (RGBs). After a careful correction for differential reddening, high-accuracy photometry with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) presented in this paper reveals a broadened or even split SGB in five additional Milky Way GCs: NGC?362, NGC?5286, NGC?6656, NGC?6715, and NGC?7089. In addition, we confirm (with new and archival HST data) the presence of a split SGB in 47 Tuc, NGC?1851, and NGC?6388. The fraction of faint SGB stars with respect to the entire SGB population varies from one cluster to another and ranges from ~0.03 for NGC?362 to ~0.50 for NGC?6715. The average magnitude difference between the bright SGB and the faint SGB is almost the same at different wavelengths. This peculiarity is consistent with the presence of two groups of stars with either an age difference of about 1-2?Gyr or a significant difference in their overall C+N+O content.

A WFC3/HST VIEW OF THE THREE STELLAR POPULATIONS IN THE GLOBULAR CLUSTER NGC 6752*

Multi-band Hubble Space Telescope photometry reveals that the main sequence, sub-giant, and the red-giant branch of the globular cluster NGC 6752 splits into three main components in close analogy with the three distinct segments along its horizontal branch stars. These triple sequences are consistent with three stellar groups: a stellar population with a chemical composition similar to field-halo stars (Population a), a Population (c) with enhanced sodium and nitrogen, depleted carbon and oxygen, and an enhanced helium abundance (ΔY ~ 0.03), and a Population (b) with an intermediate (between Populations a and c) chemical composition and slightly enhanced helium (ΔY ~ 0.01). These components contain ~25% (Population a), ~45% (Population b), and ~30% (Population c) of the stars. No radial gradient for the relative numbers of the three populations has been identified out to about 2.5 half-mass radii.

The Hubble Space TelescopeUV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters – V. Constraints on formation scenarios

We build on the evidence provided by our Legacy Survey of Galactic globular clusters (GC) to submit to a crucial test four scenarios currently entertain ed for the formation of multiple stellar generations in GCs. The observational constraints on multiple generations to be fulfilled are manifold, including GC specificity, ubiquity, variety, predominance, discreteness, supernova avoidance, p-capture processing, helium enrichment and mass budget. We argue that scenarios appealing to supermassive stars, fast rotating m assive stars and massive interactive binaries violate in an irreparable fashion two or more among such constraints. Also the scenario appealing to AGB stars as producers of the material for next generation stars encounters severe diffi culties, specifically concerning the mass budget problem an d the detailed chemical composition of second generation stars. We qualitatively explore ways possibly allowing one to save the AGB scenario, specifically appealing to a possible revis ion of the cross section of a critical reaction rate destroying sodium, or alternative ly by a more extensive exploration of the vast parameter space controlling the evolutionary behavior of AGB stellar models. Still, we cannot ensure success for these efforts and totally new scenarios may have to be invented to understand how GCs formed in the early Universe.

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE PROPER MOTION (HSTPROMO) CATALOGS OF GALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTERS. I. SAMPLE SELECTION, DATA REDUCTION, AND NGC 7078 RESULTS

We present the first study of high-precision internal proper motions (PMs) in a large sample of globular clusters, based on Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data obtained over the past decade with the ACS/WFC, ACS/HRC, and WFC3/UVIS instruments. We determine PMs for over 1.3 million stars in the central regions of 22 clusters, with a median number of ~60,000 stars per cluster. These PMs have the potential to significantly advance our understanding of the internal kinematics of globular clusters by extending past line-of-sight (LOS) velocity measurements to two- or three-dimensional velocities, lower stellar masses, and larger sample sizes. We describe the reduction pipeline that we developed to derive homogeneous PMs from the very heterogeneous archival data. We demonstrate the quality of the measurements through extensive Monte-Carlo simulations. We also discuss the PM errors introduced by various systematic effects, and the techniques that we have developed to correct or remove them to the extent possible. We provide in electronic form the catalog for NGC 7078 (M 15), which consists of 77,837 stars in the central 2.4 arcmin. We validate the catalog by comparison with existing PM measurements and LOS velocities, and use it to study the dependence of the velocity dispersion on radius, stellar magnitude (or mass) along the main sequence, and direction in the plane of the sky (radial/tangential). Subsequent papers in this series will explore a range of applications in globular-cluster science, and will also present the PM catalogs for the other sample clusters.

THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE UV LEGACY SURVEY of GALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTERS. III. A QUINTUPLE STELLAR POPULATION in NGC 2808

In this study we present the first results from multi-wavelength Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of the Galactic globular cluster (GC) NGC 2808 as an extension of the Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic GCs (GO-13297 and previous proprietary and HST archive data). Our analysis allowed us to disclose a multiple-stellar-population phenomenon in NGC 2808 even more complex than previously thought. We have separated at least five different populations along the main sequence and the red giant branch (RGB), which we name A, B, C, D, and E (though an even finer subdivision may be suggested by the data). We identified the RGB bump in four out of the five RGBs. To explore the origin of this complex color?magnitude diagram, we have combined our multi-wavelength HST photometry with synthetic spectra, generated by assuming different chemical compositions. The comparison of observed colors with synthetic spectra suggests that the five stellar populations have different contents of light elements and helium. Specifically, if we assume that NGC 2808 is homogeneous in [Fe/H] (as suggested by spectroscopy for Populations B, C, D, E, but lacking for Population A) and that population A has a primordial helium abundance, we find that populations B, C, D, E are enhanced in helium by ?Y ? 0.03, 0.03, 0.08, 0.13, respectively. We obtain similar results by comparing the magnitude of the RGB bumps with models. Planned spectroscopic observations will test whether Population A also has the same metallicity, or whether its photometric differences with Population B can be ascribed to small [Fe/H] and [O/H] differences rather than to helium.

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of galactic globular clusters - II. The seven stellar populations of NGC 7089 (M2)

APM and HJ acknowledge support by the Australian Research Council through Discovery Project grant DP120100475. MZ acknowledges support by Proyecto Fondecyt Regular 1110393, by the BASAL Center for Astrophysics and Associated Technologies PFB-06, and by Project IC120009 ‘Millennium Institute of Astrophysics (MAS)’ of Iniciativa Cient´ifica Milenio by the Chilean Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism.

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE PROPER MOTION (HSTPROMO) CATALOGS OF GALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTERS. II. KINEMATIC PROFILES AND MAPS

We present kinematical analyses of 22 Galactic globular clusters using the Hubble Space Telescope proper motion catalogs recently presented in Bellini et al. For most clusters, this is the first proper-motion study ever performed, and, for many, this is the most detailed kinematic study of any kind. We use cleaned samples of bright stars to determine binned velocity-dispersion and velocity-anisotropy radial profiles and two-dimensional velocity-dispersion spatial maps. Using these profiles, we search for correlations between cluster kinematics and structural properties. We find the following: (1) more centrally concentrated clusters have steeper radial velocity-dispersion profiles; (2) on average, at 1σ confidence in two dimensions, the photometric and kinematic centers of globular clusters agree to within ∼1″, with a cluster-to-cluster rms of 4″(including observational uncertainties); (3) on average, the cores of globular clusters have isotropic velocity distributions to within 1% (), with a cluster-to-cluster rms of 2% (including observational uncertainties); (4) clusters generally have mildly radially anisotropic velocity distributions (–1.0) near the half-mass–radius, with bigger deviations from isotropy for clusters with longer relaxation times; and (5) there is a relation between and ellipticity, such that the more flattened clusters in the sample tend to be more anisotropic, with –1.0. Aside from these general results and correlations, the profiles and maps presented here can provide a basis for detailed dynamical modeling of individual globular clusters. Given the quality of the data, this is likely to provide new insights into a range of topics concerning globular cluster mass profiles, structure, and dynamics.

Hubble Space Telescope Observations of an Outer Field in Omega Centauri: A Definitive Helium Abundance

We revisit the problem of the split main sequence (MS) of the globular cluster ω Centauri, and report the results of two-epoch Hubble Space Telescope observations of an outer field, for which proper motions give us a pure sample of cluster members, and an improved separation of the two branches of the MS. Using a new set of stellar models covering a grid of values of helium and metallicity, we find that the best possible estimate of the helium abundance of the bluer branch of the MS is Y = 0.39 ± 0.02. For the cluster center, we apply new techniques to old observations: we use indices of photometric quality to select a high-quality sample of stars, which we also correct for differential reddening. We then superpose the color-magnitude diagram of the outer field on that of the cluster center, and suggest a connection of the bluer branch of the MS with one of the more prominent among the many sequences in the subgiant region. We also report a group of undoubted cluster members that are well to the red of the lower MS.

A DOUBLE CLUSTER AT THE CORE OF 30 DORADUS

Based on an analysis of data obtained with the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope we report the identification of two distinct stellar populations in the core of the giant H II region 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The most compact and richest component coincides with the center of R136 and is ~1 Myr younger than a second more diffuse clump, located ~5.4 pc toward the northeast. We note that published spectral types of massive stars in these two clumps lend support to the proposed age difference. The morphology and age difference between the two sub-clusters suggests that an ongoing merger may be occurring within the core of 30 Doradus. This finding is consistent with the predictions of models of hierarchical fragmentation of turbulent giant molecular clouds, according to which star clusters would be the final products of merging smaller sub-structures.

The Infrared Eye of the Wide-Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope Reveals Multiple Main Sequences of Very Low Mass Stars in NGC?2808

We use images taken with the infrared channel of the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope to study the multiple main sequences (MSs) of NGC 2808. Below the turnoff, the red, the middle, and the blue MS, previously detected from visual-band photometry, are visible over an interval of about 3.5 F160W magnitudes. The three MSs merge together at the level of the MS bend. At fainter magnitudes, the MS again splits into two components containing {approx}65% and {approx}35% of stars, with the most-populated MS being the bluest one. Theoretical isochrones suggest that the latter is connected to the red MS discovered in the optical color-magnitude diagram (CMD) and hence corresponds to the first stellar generation, having primordial helium and enhanced carbon and oxygen abundances. The less-populated MS in the faint part of the near-IR CMD is helium-rich and poor in carbon and oxygen, and it can be associated with the middle and the blue MS of the optical CMD. The finding that the photometric signature of abundance anti-correlation is also present in fully convective MS stars reinforces the inference that they have a primordial origin.