• The fractions of post-binary-interaction stars and evolved blue straggler stars on the red giant branch of globular clusters

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The red giant branch (RGB) of globular clusters (GCs) is home to some exotic stars, which may provide clues on the formation of multiple stellar populations in GCs. It is well known that binary interactions are responsible for many exotic stars. Thus, it is important to understand what fraction of stars on the RGB of GCs is the result of binary interactions. In this paper, we performed a binary population synthesis study to track the number of post-binary-interaction (post-BI) stars that appear on the RGB, with particular emphasis on the evolved blue straggler stars (E-BSSs). Assuming an initial binary fraction of nearly 50%, we find that about half of the objects on the RGB (called giants) underwent the binary interactions, and that E-BSSs account for around 10% of the giants in our standard simulation. We also compare the properties of post-BI giants that evolved from different channels. We find that the initial orbital period and mass ratio distributions significantly affect the fraction of post-BI giants. Our results imply that the non-standard stars from binary interactions provide a non-negligible contribution to the RGB stars in GCs, which should be considered in future investigations of the origin of multiple stellar populations.

  • A Low-speed Intruder Star in Hyades: A Temporary Residence

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We hereby report a low-speed (about~21~km$\cdot$~s$^{-1}$ with respect to the Sun) intruder member in the Hyades cluster based on the data in the literature. The results show that the star is a non-native member star for the Hyades, with its radial velocity being smaller than the radial velocity of the Hyades cluster, even exceeding the standard deviation of the radial velocity of the cluster by a factor of 9. Furthermore, by analyzing and comparing the orbits of this star and its host, it may have intruded into its host in the past 2~Myr. If the star's current motion orbit remains unchanged, it may leave its host in the next 2~Myr. This implies that the intruder star may be temporarily residing in the cluster. This study presents the first observational evidence of a star intrusion into a cluster, which suggests that more evidence may be found.

  • Multiple stellar populations at less evolved stages-III: a possible helium spread in NGC 2210

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Helium variations are common features of globular clusters (GCs) with multiple stellar populations. All the formation scenarios predict that secondary population stars are enhanced in helium but the exact helium content depends on the polluters. Therefore, searching for helium variations in a star cluster is a straightforward method to understand if it hosts multiple populations or not, and constrain the formation scenario. Although this topic has been well explored for Galactic GCs, GCs beyond the Milky Way are challenging to study because of their large distances. This work studies the helium distribution of GK-type main sequence dwarfs in an old ($\sim$12.5 Gyr) GC in the Large Magellanic Cloud, NGC 2210, using the deep photometry observed by the {\sl Hubble Space Telescope}. We compare the observed morphology of the MS with that of synthetic populations with different helium distributions. We confirm that NGC 2210 dwarfs have a helium spread, with an internal dispersion of $\delta{Y}\sim$0.06--0.07. The fraction of helium enriched stars depends on the $\delta{Y}$ distribution. A continuous $\delta{Y}$ distribution would indicate that more than half of MS stars are helium enriched ($\sim$55\%). If the $\delta{Y}$ distribution is discrete (bimodal), a fraction of $\sim$30\% enriched stars is able to explain the observed morphology of the MS. We also find that the He-enriched population stars are more centrally concentrated than He-normal stars.

  • Multiple stellar populations at less evolved stages-III: a possible helium spread in NGC 2210

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Helium variations are common features of globular clusters (GCs) with multiple stellar populations. All the formation scenarios predict that secondary population stars are enhanced in helium but the exact helium content depends on the polluters. Therefore, searching for helium variations in a star cluster is a straightforward method to understand if it hosts multiple populations or not, and constrain the formation scenario. Although this topic has been well explored for Galactic GCs, GCs beyond the Milky Way are challenging to study because of their large distances. This work studies the helium distribution of GK-type main sequence dwarfs in an old ($\sim$12.5 Gyr) GC in the Large Magellanic Cloud, NGC 2210, using the deep photometry observed by the {\sl Hubble Space Telescope}. We compare the observed morphology of the MS with that of synthetic populations with different helium distributions. We confirm that NGC 2210 dwarfs have a helium spread, with an internal dispersion of $\delta{Y}\sim$0.06--0.07. The fraction of helium enriched stars depends on the $\delta{Y}$ distribution. A continuous $\delta{Y}$ distribution would indicate that more than half of MS stars are helium enriched ($\sim$55\%). If the $\delta{Y}$ distribution is discrete (bimodal), a fraction of $\sim$30\% enriched stars is able to explain the observed morphology of the MS. We also find that the He-enriched population stars are more centrally concentrated than He-normal stars.

  • The Common Envelope Evolution Outcome -- A Case Study on Hot Subdwarf B Stars

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Common envelope evolution (CEE) physics plays a fundamental role in the formation of binary systems, such as mergering stellar gravitational wave sources, pulsar binaries and type Ia supernovae. A precisely constrained CEE has become more important in the age of large surveys and gravitational wave detectors. We use an adiabatic mass loss model to explore how the total energy of the donor changes as a function of the remnant mass. This provides a more self-consistent way to calculate the binding energy of the donor. For comparison, we also calculate the binding energy through integrating the total energy from the core to the surface. The outcome of CEE is constrained by total energy conservation at the point at which both component's radii shrink back within their Roche lobes. We apply our results to 142 hot subdwarf binaries. For shorter orbital period sdBs, the binding energy is highly consistent. For longer orbital period sdBs in our samples, the binding energy can differ by up to a factor of 2. The CE efficiency parameter $\beta_\mathrm{CE}$ becomes smaller than $\alpha_\mathrm{CE}$ for the final orbital period $\log_{10} P_{\mathrm{orb}}/\mathrm{d} > -0.5$. We also find the mass ratios $\log_{10} q$ and CE efficiency parameters $\log_{10} \alpha_{\mathrm{CE}}$ and $\log_{10} \beta_{\mathrm{CE}}$ linearly correlate in sdBs, similarly to De Marco et al. (2010) for post-AGB binaries.

  • Searching for multiple populations in star clusters using the China Space Station Telescope

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Multiple stellar populations (MPs) in most star clusters older than 2 Gyr, as seen by lots of spectroscopic and photometric studies, have led to a significant challenge to the traditional view of star formation. In this field, space-based instruments, in particular the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), have made a breakthrough as they significantly improved the efficiency of detecting MPs in crowding stellar fields by images. The China Space Station Telescope (CSST) and the HST are sensitive to a similar wavelength interval, but it covers a field of view which is about 5-8 times wider than that of HST. One of its instruments, the Multi-Channel Imager (MCI), will have multiple filters covering a wide wavelength range from NUV to NIR, making the CSST a potentially powerful tool for studying MPs in clusters. In this work, we evaluate the efficiency of the designed filters for the MCI/CSST in revealing MPs in different color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). We find that CMDs made with MCI/CSST photometry in appropriate UV filters are powerful tools to disentangle stellar populations with different abundances of He, C, N, O and Mg. On the contrary, the traditional CMDs are blind to multiple populations in globular clusters (GCs). We show that CSST has the potential of being the spearhead instrument for investigating MPs in GCs in the next decades.