Matching Globular Cluster Models to Observations

Abstract

As ancient, gravitationally bound stellar populations, globular clusters are abundant, vibrant laboratories characterized by high frequencies of dynamical interactions coupled to complex stellar evolution. Using surface brightness and velocity dispersion profiles from the literature, we fit $59$ Milky Way globular clusters to dynamical models from the \texttt{CMC Cluster Catalog}. Without doing any interpolation, and without any directed effort to fit any particular cluster, $26$ globular clusters are well-matched by at least one of our models. We discuss in particular the core-collapsed clusters NGC 6293, NGC 6397, NGC 6681, and NGC 6624, and the non-core-collapsed clusters NGC 288, NGC 4372, and NGC 5897. As NGC 6624 lacks well-fitting snapshots on the main \texttt{CMC Cluster Catalog}, we run six additional models in order to refine the fit. We calculate metrics for mass segregation, explore the production of compact object sources such as millisecond pulsars, cataclysmic variables, low-mass X-ray binaries, and stellar-mass black holes, finding reasonable agreement with observations. Additionally, closely mimicking observational cuts, we extract the binary fraction from our models, finding good agreement except in the dense core regions of core-collapsed clusters. Accompanying this paper are a number of \textsf{python} methods for examining the publicly accessible \texttt{CMC Cluster Catalog}, as well as any other models generated using \texttt{CMC}.

arXiv comment22 pages, 11 figures, 5 tables; accepted to ApJ

References in corpus (82)

• SciPy 1.0--Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python
• Array Programming with NumPy
• Astropy: A Community Python Package for Astronomy
• Evolution of binary stars and the effect of tides on binary populations
• Comprehensive analytic formulae for stellar evolution as a function of mass and metallicity
• Young massive star clusters
• Observational clues to the progenitors of Type-Ia supernovae
• Resolved Massive Star Clusters in the Milky Way and its Satellites: Brightness Profiles and a Catalogue of Fundamental Parameters
• Binary and Millisecond Pulsars
• A catalogue of masses, structural parameters and velocity dispersion profiles of 112 Milky Way globular clusters
• The ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. XII. Photometric Binaries along the Main-Sequence
• Mean proper motions, space orbits and velocity dispersion profiles of Galactic globular clusters derived from Gaia DR2 data
• The formation and assembly history of the Milky Way revealed by its globular cluster population
• X-ray source populations in galaxies
• Dynamical Formation of Close Binary Systems in Globular Clusters
• Stellar Collisions During Binary-Binary and Binary-Single Star Interactions
• Surface Brightness Profiles and Structural Parameters for 53 Rich Stellar Clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• COSMIC Variance in Binary Population Synthesis
• Synthetic Stellar Photometry - I. General considerations and new transformations for broad-band systems
• The DRAGON simulations: globular cluster evolution with a million stars
• MOCCA Code for Star Cluster Simulations - IV. A new Scenario for Intermediate Mass Black Hole Formation in Globular Clusters
• A stellar census in globular clusters with MUSE: The contribution of rotation to cluster dynamics studied with 200 000 stars
• Dynamical age differences among coeval star clusters as revealed by blue stragglers
• Modeling Dense Star Clusters in the Milky Way and Beyond with the $\text{CMC}$ Cluster Catalog
• Black holes and core expansion in massive star clusters
• The Timing of Nine Globular Cluster Pulsars
• The White Dwarf Cooling Sequence of NGC6397
• The white dwarf cooling sequence in NGC 6791
• Scaling of N-body calculations
• Monte-Carlo Simulations of Globular Cluster Evolution - I. Method and Test Calculations
• Monte Carlo Simulations of Globular Cluster Evolution. III. Primordial Binary Interactions
• MOCCA Code for Star Cluster Simulations - II. Comparison with N-body Simulations
• Surface Brightness Profiles of Galactic Globular Clusters from Hubble Space Telescope Images
• Monte Carlo Simulations of Globular Cluster Evolution. IV. Direct Integration of Strong Interactions
• Hubble Space Telescope proper motion (HSTPROMO) catalogs of Galactic globular clusters. II. Kinematic profiles and maps
• Surface Brightness Profiles and Structural Parameters for Globular Clusters in the Fornax and Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies
• Formation and evolution of compact binaries in globular clusters: I.Binaries with white dwarfs
• Chandra Exposes the Core Collapsed Globular Cluster NGC 6397
• Surface Brightness Profiles and Structural Parameters for 10 Rich Stellar Clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Compact Binaries Ejected from Globular Clusters as GW Sources
• Monte Carlo Simulations of Globular Cluster Evolution - II. Mass Spectra, Stellar Evolution and Lifetimes in the Galaxy
• Monte Carlo Simulations of Globular Cluster Evolution. V. Binary Stellar Evolution
• How initial size governs core collapse in globular clusters
• A Parallel Monte Carlo Code for Simulating Collisional N-body Systems
• Millisecond Pulsars and Black Holes in Globular Clusters
• Formation of black-hole X-ray binaries in globular clusters
• Million-Body Star Cluster Simulations: Comparisons between Monte Carlo and Direct $N$-body
• Basic N-Body Modelling of the Evolution of Globular Clusters. I. Time Scaling
• How black holes shape globular clusters: Modeling NGC 3201
• LISA sources in Milky Way globular clusters
• Evidence for an intermediate-mass black hole in the globular cluster NGC 6624
• The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters - XV. The dynamical clock: reading cluster dynamical evolution from the segregation level of blue straggler stars
• No evidence for intermediate-mass black holes in the globular clusters $\omega$ Cen and NGC 6624
• The global mass functions of 35 Galactic globular clusters: I. Observational data and correlations with cluster parameters
• MIKiS: the Multi-Instrument Kinematic Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. I. Velocity dispersion profiles and rotation signals of 11 globular clusters
• A Dynamical Survey of Stellar-Mass Black Holes in 50 Milky Way Globular Clusters
• Monte Carlo Simulations of Star Clusters - VII. The globular cluster 47 Tuc
• Understanding the Dynamical State of Globular Clusters: Core-Collapsed vs Non Core-Collapsed
• Dynamical Formation of Millisecond Pulsars in Globular Clusters
• Direct N-body simulations of globular clusters: (I) Palomar 14
• Evolution of stellar collision products in open clusters. I. Blue stragglers in N-body models of M67
• Absolute V-band magnitudes and mass-to-light ratios of Galactic globular clusters
• Identification of Faint Chandra X-ray Sources in the Core-Collapsed Globular Cluster NGC 6397: Evidence for a Bimodal Cataclysmic Variable Population
• Gamma-ray emission from the globular clusters Liller 1, M80, NGC 6139, NGC 6541, NGC 6624, and NGC 6752
• Age as the Second Parameter in NGC 288 / NGC 362? I. Turnoff Ages: a Purely Differential Comparison
• Accreting black hole binaries in globular clusters
• Monte Carlo Simulations of Globular Cluster Evolution. VI. The Influence of an Intermediate Mass Black Hole
• Monte Carlo Simulations of Star Clusters - VI. The globular cluster NGC 6397
• Predicting Stellar-Mass Black Hole Populations in Globular Clusters
• Mass models of NGC 6624 without an intermediate-mass black hole
• Black Hole Mergers from Star Clusters with Top-Heavy Initial Mass Functions
• Effects of chemical composition and thermohaline mixing on the accreting components for low--mass close binaries: application to blue stragglers
• Chandra observations of the neutron star soft X-ray transient RXJ170930.2-263927 returning to quiescence
• Direct $N$-body simulations of globular clusters - II. Palomar 4
• MOCCA code for star cluster simulations - III. Stellar-mass black holes in the globular cluster M22
• A study of rotating globular clusters - the case of the old, metal-poor globular cluster NGC 4372
• Chandra and Hubble Space Telescope Study of the Globular Cluster NGC 288
• Two Distinct Red Giant Branches in the Globular Cluster NGC 288
• XMM-Newton observations of the Galactic globular clusters NGC 2808 and NGC 4372
• The Puzzling Negative Orbit-Period Derivative of the Low-Mass X-Ray Binary 4U 1820-30 in NGC 6624
• On the extended stellar structure around NGC 288
• Far-Ultraviolet Observation of the Globular Cluster NGC 6397

Cited by in corpus (15)

• Modeling Dense Star Clusters in the Milky Way and Beyond with the Cluster Monte Carlo Code
• Implications of a rapidly varying FRB in a globular cluster of M81
• White Dwarf Subsystems in Core-Collapsed Globular Clusters
• Stellar Escape from Globular Clusters. I. Escape Mechanisms and Properties at Ejection
• Great Balls of FIRE II: The evolution and destruction of star clusters across cosmic time in a Milky Way-mass galaxy
• Compact Object Modeling in the Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae
• Stellar graveyards: Clustering of compact objects in globular clusters NGC 3201 and NGC 6397
• Detecting Axion Dark Matter through the Radio Signal from Omega Centauri
• No Black Holes in NGC 6397
• An elusive dark central mass in the globular cluster M4
• Runaway and Hypervelocity Stars from Compact Object Encounters in Globular Clusters
• Trojan globular clusters: radial migration via trapping in bar resonances
• Shadows of the Colossus: Hierarchical Black Hole Mergers in a 10-million-body Globular Cluster Simulation
• Far-ultraviolet investigation into the galactic globular cluster M30 (NGC 7099): I. Photometry and radial distributions
• Gravitational Microlensing Rates in Milky Way Globular Clusters