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arXiv · 1801.10475

Exploring the Chemical Composition and Double Horizontal Branch of the Bulge Globular Cluster NGC 6569

Christian I. Johnson·R. Michael Rich·Nelson Caldwell·Mario Mateo·John I. Bailey III·Edward W. Olszewski·Matthew G. Walker
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Abstract

Photometric and spectroscopic analyses have shown that the Galactic bulge cluster Terzan 5 hosts several populations with different metallicities and ages that manifest as a double red horizontal branch (HB). A recent investigation of the massive bulge cluster NGC 6569 revealed a similar, though less extended, HB luminosity split, but little is known about the cluster's detailed chemical composition. Therefore, we have used high-resolution spectra from the Magellan-M2FS and VLT-FLAMES spectrographs to investigate the chemical compositions and radial velocity distributions of red giant branch and HB stars in NGC 6569. We found the cluster to have a mean heliocentric radial velocity of -48.8 km/s (sigma = 5.3 km/s; 148 stars) and a mean [Fe/H] =-0.87 dex (19 stars), but the cluster's 0.05 dex [Fe/H] dispersion precludes a significant metallicity spread. NGC 6569 exhibits light- and heavy-element distributions that are common among old bulge/inner Galaxy globular clusters, including clear (anti)correlations between [O/Fe], [Na/Fe], and [Al/Fe]. The light-element data suggest that NGC 6569 may be composed of at least two distinct populations, and the cluster's low mean [La/Eu] = -0.11 dex indicates significant pollution with r-process material. We confirm that both HBs contain cluster members, but metallicity and light-element variations are largely ruled out as sources for the luminosity difference. However, He mass fraction differences as small as delta Y ~ 0.02 cannot be ruled out and may be sufficient to reproduce the double HB.

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Christian I. Johnson, R. Michael Rich, Nelson Caldwell, Mario Mateo, John I. Bailey III, Edward W. Olszewski, Matthew G. Walker. 2018-01-31. Exploring the Chemical Composition and Double Horizontal Branch of the Bulge Globular Cluster NGC 6569. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881%2Faaa294

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