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On Potassium and Other Abundance Anomalies of Red Giants In NGC 2419

Journal Article · · The Astrophysical Journal (Online)
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4]
  1. Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States); Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States). Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory; The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  2. Australian National Univ., Canberra, ACT (Australia)
  3. Université P. & M. Curie, Paris (France). Inst. d'Astrophysique de Paris
  4. Monash Univ., Melbourne, VIC (Australia). Monash Centre for Astrophysics

Globular clusters are of paramount importance for testing theories of stellar evolution and early galaxy formation. Strong evidence for multiple populations of stars in globular clusters derives from observed abundance anomalies. A puzzling example is the recently detected Mg–K anticorrelation in NGC 2419. We perform Monte Carlo nuclear reaction network calculations to constrain the temperature–density conditions that gave rise to the elemental abundances observed in this elusive cluster. We find a correlation between stellar temperature and density values that provide a satisfactory match between simulated and observed abundances in NGC 2419 for all relevant elements (Mg, Si, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, and V). Except at the highest densities (ρ≳108 g cm-3), the acceptable conditions range from ≈100 MK at ≈108 g cm-3 to ≈200 MK at ≈10-4 g cm-3. This result accounts for uncertainties in nuclear reaction rates and variations in the assumed initial composition. We review hydrogen- burning sites and find that low-mass stars, asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, massive stars, or supermassive stars cannot account for the observed abundance anomalies in NGC 2419. Super-AGB stars could be viable candidates for the polluter stars if stellar model parameters can be fine-tuned to produce higher temperatures. Novae, involving either CO or ONe white dwarfs, could be interesting polluter candidates, but a current lack of low-metallicity nova models precludes firmer conclusions. We also discuss whether additional constraints for the first-generation polluters can be obtained by future measurements of oxygen, or by evolving models of second- generation low-mass stars with a non-canonical initial composition.

Research Organization:
Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States); Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States). Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP); Australian Research Council (ARC)
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-97ER41041; FG02-97ER41033
OSTI ID:
1660982
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 22521552
OSTI ID: 1660983
Journal Information:
The Astrophysical Journal (Online), Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal (Online) Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 818; ISSN 1538-4357
Publisher:
Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (20)

Super-AGB Stars and their Role as Electron Capture Supernova Progenitors journal January 2017
Abundances of Na, Mg, and K in the atmospheres of red giant branch stars of Galactic globular cluster 47 Tucanae journal July 2017
The potassium abundance in the globular clusters NGC 104, NGC 6752 and NGC 6809 journal April 2017
Revisiting nucleosynthesis in globular clusters: The case of NGC 2808 and the role of He and K journal December 2017
Homogeneous analysis of globular clusters from the APOGEE survey with the BACCHUS code: I. The northern clusters⋆ journal February 2019
Multiple Stellar Populations and Their Evolution in Globular Clusters: A Nucleosynthesis Perspective journal January 2016
Trends in nuclear astrophysics journal May 2016
On the discovery of K-enhanced and possibly Mg-depleted stars throughout the Milky Way journal July 2018
Magnesium isotopes: a tool to understand self-enrichment in globular clusters journal March 2018
Light element discontinuities suggest an early termination of star formation in the globular cluster NGC 6402 (M14) journal March 2019
On the discovery of K-enhanced and possibly Mg-depleted stars throughout the Milky Way text January 2018
Neutrino Spectra from Nuclear Weak Interactions in sd -Shell Nuclei under Astrophysical Conditions journal January 2018
On Presolar Stardust Grains from CO Classical Novae journal March 2018
A Data-driven Model of Nucleosynthesis with Chemical Tagging in a Lower-dimensional Latent Space journal December 2019
Multiple stellar populations and their evolution in globular clusters: A nucleosynthesis perspective text January 2016
Super-AGB Stars and their role as Electron Capture Supernova progenitors text January 2017
Magnesium isotopes: a tool to understand self-enrichment in Globular Clusters text January 2018
On the discovery of K-enhanced and possibly Mg-depleted stars throughout the Milky Way text January 2018
Light Element Discontinuities Suggest an Early Termination of Star Formation in the Globular Cluster NGC 6402 (M14) text January 2019
A data-driven model of nucleosynthesis with chemical tagging in a lower-dimensional latent space text January 2019

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