Signatures of tidal disruption in the Milky Way globular cluster NGC 6981 (M72)

Abstract

We study the outer regions of the Milky Way globular cluster NGC6981 from publicly available $BV$ photometry and new Dark Energy Camera (DECam) observations, both reaching nearly 4 mag below the cluster main sequence (MS) turnoff. While the $BV$ data sets reveal the present of extra-tidal features around the cluster, the much larger field of view of DECam observations allowed us to identify some other tidal features, which extend from the cluster toward the opposite direction to the Milky Way center. These cluster structural features arise from stellar density maps built using MS stars, once the cluster color-magnitude diagram was cleaned from the contamination of field stars. We also performed $N$-body simulations in order to help us to understand the spatial distribution of the extra-tidal debris. The outcomes reveal the presenceof long trailing and leading tails mostly parallel to the direction of the cluster velocity vector. We found that the cluster has lost most of its mass by tidal disruption during its perigalactic passages, that lasted nearly 20 Myr each. Hence, a decrease in the density of escaping stars near the cluster is expected from our $N$-body simulations, which in turn means that stronger extra-tidal features could be found out by exploring much larger areas around NGC6891.

arXiv comment8 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

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