Related papers: The Dynamical Implications of Multiple Stellar For…
Accurate photometry with HST/ACS shows that the main sequence of the globular cluster NGC 2808 splits into three separate branches. The three MS branches may be associated with complexities of the cluster's horizontal branch and of its…
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…
Most Globular Clusters (GC) show chemical inhomogeneities in the composition of their stars, apparently due to a second stellar generation (SG) in which the forming gas is enriched by hot-CNO cycled material processed in stars belonging to…
By means of grid-based, 3D hydrodynamical simulations we study the formation of second generation (SG) stars in a young globular cluster (GC) of mass 10^7 Msun, the possible progenitor of an old GC with a present mass ~(1-5) * 10^6 Msun.…
A new mechanism for enhancing the helium abundance in the blue main sequence stars of omega Centauri and NGC 2808 is investigated. We suggest that helium enhancement was caused by the inhomogeneous big bang nucleosynthesis. Regions with…
Galactic globular cluster stars exhibit abundance patterns which are not shared by their field counterparts. It is clear from recent spectroscopic observations of GC turnoff stars that these abundance anomalies were already present in the…
Globular clusters formed in galactic mergers (e.g., The Antennae) can now be studied at different stages of their evolution. In young merger remnants (e.g., NGC 7252) these "second-generation" globulars appear by the hundreds as young halo…
The formation of stars with light-element abundance variations in globular clusters and the subsequent dynamical evolution of these multiple populations remains an open question. One of the most widely discussed is the AGB scenario, in…
A large number of spectroscopic studies have provided evidence of the presence of multiple populations in globular clusters by revealing patterns in the stellar chemical abundances. This paper is aimed at studying the origin of these…
If NGC 6397 contains a large fraction of "second generation" stars (>70% according to recent analysis), the helium abundance of its stars might also be affected, show some star-to-star variation, and be larger than the standard Big Bang…
Self-enrichment processes occurring in the early stages of a globular cluster lifetime are generally invoked to explain the observed CNONaMgAl abundance anticorrelations within individual Galactic globulars.We have tested, with fully…
The majority of Galactic globular clusters (GCs) contain multiple stellar populations displaying specific chemical abundance variations. In particular, GCs generally contain a `primordial' population with abundances similar to field stars,…
We propose a new chemical evolution model aimed at explaining the chemical properties of globular clusters (GC) stars. Our model depends upon the existence of (i) a peculiar pre-enrichment phase in the GC's parent galaxy associated with…
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…
Internal chemical abundance spreads are one of fundamental properties of globular clusters (GCs) in the Galaxy. In order to understand the origin of such abundance spreads, we numerically investigate GC formation from massive molecular…
Intermediate-age star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds harbour signatures of the multiple stellar populations long thought to be restricted to old globular clusters. We compare synthetic horizontal branch models with Hubble Space Telescope…
Several scenarios have been proposed to explain the presence of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters. Many of them invoke multiple generations of stars to explain the observed chemical abundance anomalies, but it has also been…
The self-enrichment of massive star clusters by p-processed elements is shown to increase significantly with increasing gas density as a result of enhanced star formation rates and stellar scatterings compared to the lifetime of a massive…
It has recently been suggested that the presence of multiple populations showing various amounts of helium enhancement is the rule, rather than the exception, among globular star clusters. An important prediction of this helium enhancement…
We investigate the viability of a model in which the chemical anomalies among Globular Cluster stars are due to accretion of gas onto the protostellar discs of low mass stars. This model has been suggested as a way to reduce the large…