The Infrared Eye of the Wide-Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope Reveals Multiple Main Sequences of Very Low Mass Stars in NGC 2808

Milone, A. P.; Marino, A. F.; Cassisi, S.; Piotto, G.; Bedin, L. R.; Anderson, J.; Allard, F.; Aparicio, A.; Bellini, A.; Buonanno, R.; Monelli, M.; Pietrinferni, A.
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 754, Issue 2, article id. L34 (2012).

Advertised on:
8
2012
Number of authors
12
IAC number of authors
3
Citations
62
Refereed citations
50
Description
We use images taken with the infrared channel of the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope to study the multiple main sequences (MSs) of NGC 2808. Below the turnoff, the red, the middle, and the blue MS, previously detected from visual-band photometry, are visible over an interval of about 3.5 F160W magnitudes. The three MSs merge together at the level of the MS bend. At fainter magnitudes, the MS again splits into two components containing ~65% and ~35% of stars, with the most-populated MS being the bluest one. Theoretical isochrones suggest that the latter is connected to the red MS discovered in the optical color-magnitude diagram (CMD) and hence corresponds to the first stellar generation, having primordial helium and enhanced carbon and oxygen abundances. The less-populated MS in the faint part of the near-IR CMD is helium-rich and poor in carbon and oxygen, and it can be associated with the middle and the blue MS of the optical CMD. The finding that the photometric signature of abundance anti-correlation is also present in fully convective MS stars reinforces the inference that they have a primordial origin. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.
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NGC 2808 Globular Cluster
Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies
The general aim of the project is to research the structure, evolutionary history and formation of galaxies through the study of their resolved stellar populations, both from photometry and spectroscopy. The group research concentrates in the most nearby objects, namely the Local Group galaxies including the Milky Way and M33 under the hypothesis
Martín
López Corredoira