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Chemical abundances in tidally disrupted globular clusters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2010

D. Yong
Affiliation:
Australian National University, Mount Stromlo Observatory, Australia
J. Meléndez
Affiliation:
Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
K. Cunha
Affiliation:
National Optical Astronomy Observatories, USA
A. I. Karakas
Affiliation:
Australian National University, Mount Stromlo Observatory, Australia
J. E. Norris
Affiliation:
Australian National University, Mount Stromlo Observatory, Australia
V. V. Smith
Affiliation:
National Optical Astronomy Observatories, USA
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Abstract

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We present abundance measurements in the tidally disrupted globular cluster NGC 6712. In this cluster, there are large star-to-star variations of the light elements C, N, O, F and Na. While such abundance variations are seen in every well-studied globular cluster, they are not found in field stars and indicate that clusters like NGC 6712 cannot provide many field stars and/or field stars do not form in environments with chemical-enrichment histories like those of NGC 6712. Preliminary analysis of NGC 5466, another tidally disrupted cluster, suggests little (if any) abundance variation for O and Na and the abundance ratios [X/Fe] are comparable to field stars at the same metallicity. Therefore, globular clusters like NGC 5466 may have been Galactic building blocks.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2010

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