Stellar kinematics in the centers of globular clusters

Details Stellar kinematics in the centers of globular clusters Stellar kinematics in the centers of globular clusters

Feb 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004an....325...84g&link_type=abstract

Astronomische Nachrichten, Vol.325, Issue 2, p.84-87

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

1

Globular Clusters: Kinematics And Dynamics, Globular Clusters: Individual (M3, M15)

Scientific paper

The high central stellar densities in globular clusters provide a unique environment to study the fundamental dynamical process of two-body relaxation. This process is the main driver of the dynamical evolution in the center of a globular cluster and has a profound effect on the structure of the cluster and on its stellar environment. We have obtained stellar absorption line spectra with STIS to measure the radial velocities of individual stars in the crowded center of the globular cluster M15. These data increase the number of stars with known radial velocities within the central arcsec by a factor of about three and significantly improve the constraints on the mass distribution in M15. The data provide the most detailed look of the central structure of any globular cluster and show that there is a compact dark central mass component. Similar studies using ground based facilities can be efficiently performed by employing Integral Field Units. We have started a project to better constrain the central mass density in the globular cluster M3 using the GMOS-IFU on Gemini North. The data will also allow us to better understand the central rotation which is neither explained nor predicted by any globular cluster model.

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