AAO Colloquium.
Wednesday, 7 November 2001- 3:30pm ATNF Lecture Theatre
Evidence on the formation of globular clusters from 2dF spectroscopy
Russell Cannon AAO
It has long been known that red giants in globular clusters show
variations in some element abundances, contrary to the old assumption of
chemical homogeneity. For such evolved stars, the most likely explanation
seemed to be that they had enriched themselves through the convective
dredge-up of nuclearly processed material. However, abundance anomalies
also exist in little-evolved main sequence stars, implying either a
primordial origin or some effect of mass exchange or pollution early in
the life of the cluster. 2dF is being used to obtain spectra for large
samples of main sequence stars in several clusters, revealing patterns of
C, N and Na abundances similar to those seen in giants in the same
clusters. One cluster is spectacularly different: Omega Centauri, the
most massive of the relatively nearby globulars, shows a wide range of
variation of all elements studied, including Ca and Fe; it may be the
remnant of the core of a captured dwarf galaxy.
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