Related papers: First stars as a possible origin for the helium-ri…
The most massive Galactic globular cluster, Omega centauri, appears to have multiple populations. Its bluest main sequence and extended horizontal branch stars are suggested to have the common origin, that is, an extremely high helium…
In response to the proposed high helium content stars as an explanation for the double main sequence observed in Omega Centauri, we investigated the consequences of such stars elsewhere on the color-magnitude diagram. We concentrated on the…
Recent observations for the color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of the massive globular cluster Omega Centauri have shown that it has a striking double main sequence (MS), with a minority population of bluer and fainter MS well separated from a…
To study the possible origin of the huge helium enrichment attributed to the stars on the blue main sequence of Omega Centauri, we make use of a chemical evolution model that has proven able to reproduce other major observed properties of…
The spreads in chemical abundances inferred by recent precision observations suggest that some or possibly all globular clusters can no longer be considered as simple stellar populations. The most striking case is omega Cen in the sense…
The majority of the inhomogeneities in the chemical composition of Globular Cluster (GC) stars appear due to primordial enrichment by hot-CNO cycled material processed in stars belonging to a first stellar generation. Either massive AGB…
Recent observational studies of $\omega$ Centauri by {\it Hubble Space Telescope} have discovered a double main sequence in the color magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of its stellar populations. The stellar population with the blue main sequence…
UV observations of some massive globular clusters uncovered a significant population of very hot stars below the hot end of the horizontal branch (HB), the so-called blue hook stars. This feature might be explained either as results of the…
[Abbreviated] We have investigated the color-magnitude diagram of Omega Centauri and find that the blue main sequence (bMS) can be reproduced only by models that have a of helium abundance in the range Y=0.35-$0.40. To explain the faint…
The various scenarios proposed for the origin of the multiple, helium-enriched populations in massive globular clusters are critically compared to the relevant constraining observations. Among accretion of helium-rich material by…
In this contribution we discuss the origin of the extreme helium-rich stars which inhabit the blue main sequence (bMS) of the Galactic globular cluster Omega Centauri. In a scenario where the cluster is the surviving remnant of a dwarf…
UV observations of some massive globular clusters have revealed a significant population of stars hotter and fainter than the hot end of the horizontal branch (HB), the so-called blue hook stars. This feature might be explained either by…
The blue Main Sequence (bMS) of $\omega$ Cen implies a ratio of helium to metal enrichment $\Delta Y/\Delta Z \approx 70$, which is a major enigma. We show that rotating models of low metallicity stars, which account for the anomalous…
We investigate a peculiar feature at the hottest, blue end of the horizontal branch of Galactic globular cluster omega Centauri, using the high-precision and nearly complete catalog that has been constructed from a survey taken with the ACS…
A direct measure of the helium abundances from the near-infrared transition of He I at 1.08 micron is obtained for two nearly identical red giant stars in the globular cluster Omega Centauri. One star exhibits the He I line; the line is…
omega Cen contains the largest population of very hot horizontal branch (HB) stars known in a globular cluster. Recent UV observations (Whitney et al. 1998; D'Cruz et al. 2000) show a significant population of hot stars below the zero-age…
We analyze spectra of 18 stars belonging to the faintest subgiant branch in omega Centauri (the SGB-a), obtained with GIRAFFE@VLT at a resolution o R~17000 and a S/N ratio between 25 and 50. We measure abundances of Al, Ba, Ca, Fe, Ni, Si,…
Chemical evolution models are presented for the anomalous globular cluster Omega Centauri. After demonstrating that the chemical features of Omega Cen can not be reproduced in the framework of the closed-box self-enrichment scenario, we…
We investigate the formation processes of the Galactic globular cluster (GC) omega Cen with multiple stellar populations based on our original hydrodynamical simulations with chemical enrichment by Type II supernovae (SNe II), asymptotic…
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…