Light Element Abundance Variations in the Core of 47 Tucanae

Details Light Element Abundance Variations in the Core of 47 Tucanae Light Element Abundance Variations in the Core of 47 Tucanae

Jul 1999

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999hst..prop.8339b&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #8339

Physics

Hst Proposal Id #8339 Stellar Populations In Clusters

Scientific paper

We propose a novel use of the F390N and F410M WFPC2 filters to explore the extent of star-to-star light element variations in the core of the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tucanae. Observations in 47 Tuc have revealed that large star-to-star differences in sodium, correlated with CN band-strength differences, exist amoung its main-sequence turn-off stars, well before any proposed mechanism for Na production and subsequent mixing could be in operation. Moreover, the range of Na abundances and CN band-strengths observed at the turn- off are consistent with those found among the evolved red giants of 47 Tuc. The simplest interpretation of this result is that the gas from which the present cluster stars formed was inhomogeneous in at least C, N, and Na. The ratio of CN- enhanced to CN-normal stars is also found to increase by a factor of 3 from a radial distance of 17' to 10'. The ratio of CN-enhanced to CN-normal stars is unknown within a radial distance of 4' due to cro wd ing. This segregation in CN distribution carries evidence of the chemical and dynamical processes which created these inhomogeneities. Probing this signature into the very core of the cluster will provide tighter constraints on possible origins of the chemical inhomogeneities and, ultimately, on the early history of the globular clusters. The superior imaging capabilities of HST will allow us to probe much closer into the dense core of 47 Tuc.

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