Related papers: Terzan 5: an alternative interpretation for the sp…
The location of Galactic Globular Clusters' (GC) stars on the horizontal branch (HB) should mainly depend on GC metallicity, the "first parameter", but it is actually the result of complex interactions between the red giant branch (RGB)…
There is now considerable evidence that horizontal branch (HB) stars hotter than about 11,500 K experience an enormous enhancement of their photospheric iron abundance due to radiative levitation. In globular clusters, the photospheric iron…
Enhancement and spread of helium among globular cluster stars have been recently suggested as a way to explain the horizontal branch blue tails, in those clusters which show a primordial spread in the abundances of CNO and other elements…
The Hydra I cluster offers an excellent opportunity to study and compare the relic old stellar populations in the core of its two brightest galaxies. In addition, the differing kinematics of the two galaxies allows a test of the local…
This paper discusses low mass, metal poor stars, presenting new evolutionary computations which take into account the inward diffusion of both He and heavy elements during the H burning phase. The investigation has been extended to He…
NGC 5986 is a poorly studied but relatively massive Galactic globular cluster that shares several physical and morphological characteristics with "iron-complex" clusters known to exhibit significant metallicity and heavy element…
We present distributions of colors of stars along the horizontal branch of the globular cluster NGC 2808, from Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 imaging in B, V, and an ultraviolet filter (F218W). This cluster's HB is already known to be…
We analyze the reddening, surface helium abundance and mass of 115 horizontal branch (HB) and blue hook (BH) stars in OmegaCentauri, spanning the HB from the blue edge of the instability strip to Teff~50000K. The mean cluster reddening is…
The "chromosome maps" (ChMs) of globular clusters (GCs) have revealed that these ancient structures are not homogeneous in metallicity in various ways, and in different natures. The Type II GCs generally display larger variations, sometimes…
After taking into account, for the first time, the detailed systematic variation of horizontal-branch (HB) morphology with age and metallicity, our population synthesis models show that the integrated H beta index is significantly affected…
We use the combination of photometric and spectroscopic data of 47 Tuc stars to reconstruct the possible formation of a second generation of stars in the central regions of the cluster, from matter ejected from massive Asymptotic Giant…
About 25% of the Milky Way globular clusters (GCs) exhibit unusually extended color distribution of stars in the horizontal-branch (HB) phase. This phenomenon is now best understood as due to the presence of helium enhanced second…
For nearby K dwarfs, the broadening of the observed Main Sequence at low metallicities is much narrower than expected from isochrones with the standard helium-to-metal enrichment ratio DY/DZ=2. Though the latter value fits well the Main…
We explain the multiple populations recently found in the 'prototype' Globular Cluster (GC) NGC 2808 in the framework of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) scenario. The chemistry of the five -or more- populations is approximately consistent…
In four globular clusters (GCs) a non negligible fraction of stars can be interpreted only as a very helium rich population. The evidence comes from the presence of a "blue" main sequence in $\omega$ Cen and NGC 2808, and from the the very…
Recent results by Bensby and collaborators on the ages of microlensed stars in the Galactic bulge have challenged the picture of an exclusively old stellar population. However, these age estimates have not been independently confirmed. In…
Terzan 5 is a Galactic globular cluster exhibiting prominent X-ray and gamma-ray emission. Following the discovery of extended X- ray emission in this object, we explore here archival data at several wavelengths for other unexpected…
The globular cluster omega Centauri contains the largest known population of very hot horizontal branch (HB) stars. We have used the Hubble Space Telescope to obtain a far-UV/optical color-magnitude diagram of three fields in omega Cen. We…
A previous study (Nissen & Schuster 2010) of 94 dwarf stars with -1.6 < [Fe/H] < -0.4 has revealed the existence of two distinct halo populations with a systematic difference in [alpha/Fe] at a given metallicity. In continuation of that…
A large number of pulsars and X-rays sources are detected in globular clusters. To understand the structure and content of these clusters, accurate distances are required. We derive the distances of Terzan 5, Liller 1 and UKS 1 using as a…