English

Aluminum Abundances on the Red Giant Branch: Testing Helium Mixing as a Second Parameter

Astrophysics 2009-10-31 v1

Abstract

We present new data and discuss the relationship between the Al abundances on the red giant branches (RGBs) and the horizontal-branch (HB) morphologies of the second-parameter pair of globular clusters M3 and M13. Since Al is produced during RGB evolution inside the H-burning shell where He is synthesized, its overabundance in stellar atmospheres can indicate He mixing, which has been shown to be a viable second parameter in explaining HB morpohogies.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.astro-ph/9811321,
  title  = {Aluminum Abundances on the Red Giant Branch: Testing Helium Mixing as a Second Parameter},
  author = {R. M. Cavallo},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/9811321},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

2 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Galaxies: Connecting the Distant Universe with the Local Fossil Record