Is helium the key parameter in the extended color spread of the first generation stars in M3?

Abstract

The study of the "chromosome maps" of Galactic Globular Clusters has shown that the stars identified as `first generation' often define an extended sequence in the $m_{F275W}-m_{F814W}$ colour, whose straightforward interpretation, by comparison with synthetic spectra, is that they are inhomogeneous in helium content. The cluster M 3 (NGC 5272) is one of the most prominent example of this phenomenon, since its first generation is distributed on an extended colour range, formally corresponding to a large helium enhancement ($\sim 0.1$). It is necessary to ask whether the bulk of photometric observations available for this cluster supports or falsifies this interpretation. For this purpose, we examine the horizontal branch morphology, the period and magnitude distributions of the RR Lyrae variables, and the main sequence colour distribution. Simulating the first generation stars with such internal variation of helium content we can not meet all the observational constraints at the same time, concluding that the origin of the first generation colour spread is still without a straightforward explanation.

arXiv comment13 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (31)

• The chemical composition of the Sun
• Formation and Dynamical Evolution of Multiple Stellar Generations in Globular Clusters
• The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. I. Overview of the Project and Detection of Multiple Stellar Populations
• The ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. XII. Photometric Binaries along the Main-Sequence
• The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. IX. The Atlas of Multiple Stellar Populations
• An ACS Survey of Globular Clusters V: Star Catalog for Each Cluster
• A helium spread among the main sequence stars in NGC 2808
• Helium variation due to self-pollution among Globular Cluster stars: consequences on the horizontal branch morphology
• The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. XVI. The helium abundance of multiple populations
• On a new theoretical framework for RR Lyrae stars I: the metallicity dependence
• A multi-color and Fourier study of RR Lyrae variables in the globular cluster NGC 5272 (M3)
• The Chemical Composition Contrast between M3 and M13 Revisited: New Abundances for 28 Giant Stars in M3
• The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. III. A quintuple stellar population in NGC2808
• A unique model for the variety of multiple populations formation(s) in globular clusters: a temporal sequence
• Dynamical Evolution and Spatial Mixing of Multiple Population Globular Clusters
• The Evolutionary Status of M3 RR Lyrae Variables: Breakdown of the Canonical Framework?
• Helium self--enrichment and the second parameter problem in M3 and M13
• Constraints on Helium Enhancement in the Globular Cluster M3 (NGC 5272): The Horizontal Branch Test
• The mosaic multiple stellar populations in $\omega$ Centauri : the Horizontal Branch and the Main Sequence
• Constraints on the Distance Moduli, Helium and Metal Abundances, and Ages of Globular Clusters from their RR Lyrae and Non-Variable Horizontal-Branch Stars. I. M3, M15, and M92
• Is mass loss along the red giant branch of globular clusters sharply peaked? The case of M3
• Horizontal-Branch Models and the Second-Parameter Effect. IV. The Case of M3 and Palomar 3
• Rapidly rotating second-generation progenitors for the blue hook stars of ω Cen
• Constraints on the distance moduli, helium and metal abundances, and ages of globular clusters from their RR Lyrae and non-variable horizontal-branch stars. II. Multiple stellar populations in 47Tuc, M3, and M13
• Multicolour CCD photometry of the variable stars in globular cluster M3
• RR Lyrae variables in Galactic globular clusters V. The case of M3 pulsators
• Chemical Inhomogeneities Amongst First Population Stars in Globular Clusters: Evidence for He variations
• The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters -- XI. The horizontal branch in NGC\,6388 and NGC\,6441
• Mass loss of different stellar populations in Globular Clusters: the case of M4
• Multiple stellar populations of globular clusters from homogeneous Ca--CN photometry. IV. Toward precision populational tagging
• Constant light element abundances suggest that the extended P1 in NGC 2808 is not a consequence of CNO-cycle nucleosynthesis

Cited by in corpus (23)

• Mass loss along the red giant branch in 46 Globular Clusters and their multiple populations
• Chemical abundances along the 1G sequence of the chromosome maps: The Globular Cluster NGC 3201
• The role of cluster mass in the multiple populations of Galactic and extragalactic globular clusters
• RR Lyrae variables in Messier 53: Near-infrared Period--Luminosity relations and the calibration using Gaia Early Data Release 3
• Multiple stellar populations along the red Horizontal Branch and Red Clump of Globular Clusters
• Multiple Stellar Populations in Globular Clusters with JWST: a NIRCam view of 47 Tucanae
• A stellar census in globular clusters with MUSE -- Extending the CaT-metallicity relation below the horizontal branch and applying it to multiple populations
• Confirmation of a metallicity spread amongst first population stars in globular clusters
• Mass loss law for red giant stars in simple population globular clusters
• Multiple stellar populations in Asymptotic Giant Branch stars of Galactic Globular Clusters
• Near-infrared Census of RR Lyrae variables in the Messier 3 globular cluster and the Period--Luminosity Relations
• Simulations of globular clusters within their parent galaxies: Metallicity spreads and anomalous precursor populations
• Multiple Stellar Populations of Globular Clusters from Homogeneous Ca-CN-CH-NH Photometry. VI. M3 (NGC 5272) is not a Prototypical Normal Globular Cluster
• Models of Metal-Poor Stars with Different Initial Abundances of C, N, O, Mg, and Si. I. Bolometric Corrections Derived from New MARCS Synthetic Spectra and Their Implications for Observed Colour-Magnitude Diagrams
• Impact of a companion and of chromospheric emission on the shape of chromosome maps for globular clusters
• A stellar census in globular clusters with MUSE. Metallicity spread and dispersion among first-population stars
• Models for Metal-Poor Stars with Different Initial Abundances of C, N, O, Mg, and Si. III. Grids of Isochrones for $-2.5\le$ [Fe/H] $\le -0.5$ and Helium Abundances $Y=0.25$ and $0.29$ at Each Metallicity
• On the original composition of the gas forming first-generation stars in clusters: insights from HST and JWST
• Investigating the UV-excess in star clusters with $N$-body simulations: predictions for future CSST observations
• Reconsidering The Bailey Diagrams of ab-type RR Lyrae Stars, Metallicity-Mediated Evolution as the Direct Cause of the Oosterhoff Phenomenon
• Globular Cluster UVIT Legacy Survey (GlobULeS) $-$ II. Evolutionary status of hot stars in M3 and M13
• Constraining the original composition of the gas forming first-generation stars in globular clusters
• Mass loss of different stellar populations in globular clusters