Related papers: The Dynamical Implications of Multiple Stellar For…
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…
Using a chemical evolution model we investigate the intriguing suggestion that there are populations of stars in some globular clusters (e.g. NGC 2808, omega Centauri) with enhanced levels of helium (Y from about 0.28 to 0.40) compared to…
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.…
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…
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…
It has become clear in recent years that globular clusters are not simple stellar populations, but may host chemically distinct sub-populations, typically with an enhanced helium abundance. These helium-rich populations can make up a…
It is becoming clear that `self--pollution' by the ejecta of massive asymptotic giant branch stars has an important role in the early chemical evolution of globular cluster stars, producing CNO abundance spreads which are observed also at…
The majority of the inhomogeneities in the chemical composition of Globular Cluster (GC) stars appear due to primordial enrichment. The most studied model today claims that the ejecta of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars of high mass…
We investigate the possibility that multiple populations in globular clusters arise as a natural by-product of massive star-cluster formation. We use 3D radiative hydrodynamics simulations for the formation of young massive clusters to…
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…
Most inhomogeneities in the chemical composition of GC stars are due to primordial enrichment. The model today most credited is that the winds lost by high mass Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, evolving during the first $\simlt$200Myr…
We explore the possible contribution of classical and recurrent novae from isolated white dwarfs accreting from the intracluster medium to the abundances of "second generation" globular cluster stellar populations. We show that under…
It has been known for a long time that some red giants in globular clusters exhibit large star-to-star variations in the abundances of light elements that are not exhibited by field giants. This fact can be taken as evidence that the extra…
We studied the color distribution of the main sequence of the Globular Cluster NGC 2808, based on new deep HST-WFPC2 photometry of a field in the uncrowded outskirts of the cluster. The color distribution of main sequence stars is wider…
Most globular clusters in the local group show multiple stellar populations, a pattern defined by variations of several light elements, with some also displaying dispersions in heavy elements. Since helium is the most immediate product of…
Context. Globular clusters host stars with chemical peculiarities. The associated helium enrichment is expected to affect the evolution of stars, in general, and of low-mass stars, and in particular the progenitors of white dwarfs (WDs).…
Some globular clusters are observed to host a population of second generation (SG) stars which show chemical anomalies and must have formed from gas containing matter processed in the envelopes of first generation (FG) cluster stars. We…
A significant fraction of stars in globular clusters (about 70%-85%) exhibit peculiar chemical patterns with strong abundance variations in light elements along with constant abundances in heavy elements. These abundance anomalies can be…
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…
We take a closer look at our published results of determination of ages, metallicities, helium mass fractions and abundances of chemical elements in Galactic globular clusters in order to find possible signatures of the phenomenon of…