Related papers: Helium self--enrichment and the second parameter p…
We analyze the angular momentum evolution from the red giant branch (RGB) to the horizontal branch (HB) and along the HB. Using rotation velocities for stars in the globular cluster M13, we find that the required angular momentum for the…
We have serendipitously discovered an extremely lithium-rich star on the red giant branch of the globular cluster M3 (NGC 5272). An echelle spectrum obtained with the Keck I HIRES reveals a Li I 6707 Angstrom resonance doublet of 520…
Observations demonstrate that the surface abundance of $^7{\rm Li}$ in low-mass stars changes dramatically between the tip of the red giant branch and the red clump. This naturally suggests an association with the helium core flash, which…
We present new measurements of the magnitude of the main sequence turn off and the red giant branch bump in the luminosity function of a sample of Galactic globular clusters with updated estimates of [Fe/H] and [$\alpha$/Fe], employing…
We incorporate a semi-analytic formula for the main sequence lifetime of helium-rich stars in N-body simulations of multiple population globular clusters to investigate how the enriched helium stars impact the dynamics of globular clusters.…
Isochrone computations and horizontal branch (HB) models for Y(MS)=0.23 and two values of Z (0.0001, 0.0004)are used to derive constraints on the age indicators and HB morphology of metal-poor clusters with age t (in Gyrs) in the range of…
We present observational estimates of the magnitude difference between the luminosity function RGB bump and the HB (Delta(bump-zahb)), and of star counts in the bump region (R_bump), for a sample of 54 Galactic globular clusters (GCs)…
The horizontal branch (HB) morphology of globular clusters (GCs) is mainly described by metallicity. The fact that some clusters with almost the same metallicity exhibit different HB demonstrates that other parameters are at work. We…
Ages have been derived for 55 globular clusters (GCs) from overlays of isochrones onto the turnoff photometry, assuming distances based on fits of zero-age horizontal branch (ZAHB) models to the lower bound of the observed distributions of…
Metallicity is the first parameter to influence the horizontal branch (HB) morphology of globular clusters (GCs). It has been found, however, that some other parameters may also play an important role in affecting the morphology. While the…
Complete samples of 2MASS stars in 3 fields of differing metallicities (and possibly differing age distributions) have been extracted and cross-correlated with MACHO and ISO data to determine their variability and mass-loss properties. In…
We derive ages, metallicities and [alpha/Fe] ratios from the integrated spectra of 23 globular clusters in M31, by employing multivariate fits to two stellar population models. In parallel we analyze spectra of 21 Galactic globular clusters…
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…
We have developed an homogeneous evolutionary scenario for H- and He-burning low-mass stars by computing updated stellar models for a wide metallicity and age range (0.0002$\le Z \le$0.004 and 9$\le t(Gyr) \le$15, respectively) suitable to…
Deep UBVI photometry for a large field covering the distant globular cluster M75 (NGC 6864) is presented. We confirm a previous suggestion (Catelan et al. 1998a) that M75 possesses a bimodal horizontal branch (HB) bearing striking…
In spite of the efforts made in the latest years, still there is no comprehensive explanation for the chemical anomalies of globular cluster stars. Among these, the most striking is oxygen depletion, which reaches values down to [O/Fe]~-0.4…
We investigate the effect of helium abundance and $\alpha$-element enhancement on the properties of convection in envelopes of solar-like main-sequence stars stars using a grid of 3D radiation hydrodynamic simulations. Helium abundance…
We have serendipitously identified the first lithium-rich giant star located close to the red giant branch bump in a globular cluster. Through intermediate-resolution FLAMES spectra we derived a lithium abundance of A(Li)=2.55 (assuming…
Helium has been proposed as the key element to interpret the observed multiple main sequences (MS), subgiant branches (SGB) and red giant branches (RGB), as well as the complex horizontal branch (HB) morphology in Globular Clusters (GC).…
Globular cluster progenitors may have been detected by \textit{HST}, and are predicted to be observable with \textit{JWST} and ground-based extremely-large telescopes with adaptive optics. This has the potential to elucidate the issue of…