Unlocking the History of Globular Cluster Messier 5 – Sky & Telescope
[ad_1]
ESA / Hubble / NASA
New Understanding of Old Objects
Early theories suggested that all the stars in a globular cluster form at the same time from the same material, resulting in a single stellar population that is chemically identical. However, more recent work has found that some stars in globular clusters show signs of chemical evolution, hinting that they formed from gas enriched by previous generations of stars.
In order to learn more, we need to measure the chemical abundances of hundreds of cluster stars. Performing this chemical tagging is challenging — detecting subtle enhancements in elemental abundances requires precise measurements, and the usual methods have serious drawbacks. Spectroscopy is a powerful tool for determining chemical abundances, but spectra of stars so densely packed are often contaminated. Broadband photometry, on the other hand, doesn’t suffer from contamination but isn’t sensitive enough.
NASA / Hubble Space Telescope / ESA
Hundreds of Stellar Measurements
Jae-Woo Lee (Sejong University, South Korea) approached this problem by developing a new photometric system to measure chemical abundances in closely spaced stars. Lee’s system of narrow-band filters is designed to capture the absorption bands of the molecules CN, CH, and NH, which are important for determining the abundances of carbon and nitrogen.
Lee applied this photometric system to 842 red giant stars in Messier 5, a globular cluster in the Milky Way that is estimated to be more than 12 billion years old. Previous studies of this cluster suggested that it is home to two populations of stars, one of which is enhanced in nitrogen.
Lee / Astrophysical Journal 2017
Application of the new photometric system revealed that Messier 5 is composed of not two but three stellar populations. The more precise photometry revealed that the nitrogen-enhanced population is really two separate populations that differ in both their level of carbon depletion as well as their distribution within the cluster. What does the presence of multiple stellar populations mean for the formation of Messier 5?
Three Stages of Formation
This result suggests that the stars in Messier 5 formed in several stages rather than all at once. The author suggests that the nitrogen-normal population is likely made up of first-generation globular cluster stars, while the nitrogen-enhanced populations formed later.
Lee / Astrophysical Journal Letters 2021
Specifically, Lee argues that the centrally concentrated population likely formed in the dense inner regions of the cluster after the original highest-mass stars exploded as supernovae, while the more evenly distributed population formed somewhat later out of gas containing smaller amounts of recycled supernova material. This hypothesis explains the distributions of the two populations as well as their chemical abundances.
Hopefully, this method can be used to search for multiple stellar populations in many other globular clusters — clearly, these objects aren’t as simple as they seem!
Citation
“Formation of Multiple Populations of M5 (NGC 5904),” Jae-Woo Lee 2021 ApJL 918 L24. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ac1ffe
Advertisement
This post originally appeared on AAS Nova, which features research highlights from the journals of the American Astronomical Society.
[ad_2]
Original Post
Some genuinely nice and useful info on this internet site, also I conceive the design and style has superb features.
Great line up. We will be linking to this great article on our site. Keep up the good writing.
Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive learn something like this before. So nice to search out any individual with some unique thoughts on this subject. realy thank you for beginning this up. this website is something that is needed on the internet, someone with just a little originality. useful job for bringing something new to the web!
I have been checking out some of your posts and i must say nice stuff. I will definitely bookmark your site.
Wonderful work! That is the type of info that are supposed to be shared across the web. Shame on Google for no longer positioning this publish higher! Come on over and talk over with my site . Thanks =)
It is really a great and useful piece of information. I am glad that you shared this useful information with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
What i don’t understood is in truth how you’re not really much more smartly-preferred than you might be now. You are so intelligent. You already know therefore considerably with regards to this topic, made me in my view imagine it from so many varied angles. Its like men and women aren’t interested unless it¦s one thing to accomplish with Woman gaga! Your personal stuffs outstanding. Always deal with it up!
Thankyou for helping out, fantastic info .
I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your blog. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create your theme? Great work!
You have remarked very interesting points! ps decent site. “‘We’re always lucky,’ I said and like a fool I did not knock on wood.” by Ernest Hemingway.
Thanks for the good writeup. It in fact used to be a entertainment account it. Glance advanced to more introduced agreeable from you! By the way, how could we keep up a correspondence?
Keep up the excellent piece of work, I read few blog posts on this internet site and I think that your website is very interesting and contains circles of fantastic information.
Its like you read my thoughts! You seem to grasp so much about this, such as you wrote the guide in it or something. I feel that you just could do with a few p.c. to power the message home a bit, but instead of that, that is wonderful blog. A great read. I will certainly be back.
Thank you for sharing with us, I believe this website truly stands out : D.
The very root of your writing while appearing agreeable at first, did not sit very well with me after some time. Somewhere within the sentences you actually were able to make me a believer but just for a short while. I still have a problem with your leaps in logic and one would do well to fill in all those breaks. If you can accomplish that, I could definitely be fascinated.
I discovered your blog site on google and check a few of your early posts. Continue to keep up the very good operate. I just additional up your RSS feed to my MSN News Reader. Seeking forward to reading more from you later on!…
I am delighted that I observed this website, just the right info that I was searching for! .
Hi , I do believe this is an excellent blog. I stumbled upon it on Yahoo , i will come back once again. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and help other people.
Some really excellent articles on this internet site, thank you for contribution. “Better shun the bait, than struggle in the snare.” by John Dryden.
Hey there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any problems with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing several weeks of hard work due to no backup. Do you have any solutions to prevent hackers?
obviously like your web site however you have to test the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very bothersome to inform the reality then again I will surely come again again.
Thanks for another great post. Where else could anybody get that type of information in such a perfect way of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I’m on the look for such information.
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your site? My blog is in the exact same area of interest as yours and my visitors would really benefit from some of the information you provide here. Please let me know if this okay with you. Thanks!
Very interesting info !Perfect just what I was searching for! “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent.” by Dr. Seuss.
I got what you intend,saved to my bookmarks, very nice website .
This web page can be a stroll-by way of for all the data you wished about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse here, and you’ll definitely discover it.
I have been exploring for a bit for any high quality articles or weblog posts in this sort of house . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this web site. Reading this information So i¦m happy to exhibit that I’ve an incredibly just right uncanny feeling I discovered exactly what I needed. I such a lot certainly will make sure to don¦t overlook this site and give it a glance regularly.
The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, but I actually thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could fix if you werent too busy looking for attention.
I have recently started a web site, the info you offer on this web site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work. “The man who fights for his fellow-man is a better man than the one who fights for himself.” by Clarence Darrow.
Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read something like this before. So nice to find any person with some original ideas on this subject. realy thank you for beginning this up. this web site is one thing that’s needed on the net, someone with a little bit originality. useful job for bringing something new to the web!
Hi my family member! I want to say that this article is awesome, nice written and include almost all significant infos. I’d like to peer extra posts like this .
Enjoyed examining this, very good stuff, thanks.
My partner and I stumbled over here coming from a different website and thought I might check things out. I like what I see so now i’m following you. Look forward to finding out about your web page repeatedly.
Hello just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the images aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the same results.
so much excellent info on here, : D.