DETECTION OF A SECOND-GENERATION BINARY IN THE GLOBULAR CLUSTER {omega} CENTAURI

Journal Article · Fri Aug 10 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/755/1/83· OSTI ID:22039124

Li, Kai; Qian, S -B ^[1]

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1. National Astronomical Observatories/Yunnan Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 110, 650011 Kunming (China)

{omega} Centauri is the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way; it is composed of multiple stellar populations. Photometric solutions for the EA-type eclipsing binary NV364 in this cluster indicate that NV364 is a well-detached binary and that both of its components are early-type normal main-sequence stars. There is no evidence for mass transfer between the two components, which are at an early stage in their evolution. Using the luminosity-color relation with optical (BV) observations, we obtain the distance modulus of (m - M) = 14.05 for NV364, which confirms that it is a member of {omega} Centauri. The ages of the binary components and the first-generation stars in {omega} Centauri are about 1.19 Gyr and 16 Gyr, respectively. Thus, the binary components are much younger than the first-generation stars. There is therefore a strong basis for considering NV364 to be a second-generation binary in this globular cluster.

• OSTI ID: 22039124
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 755, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
BINARY STARS
COLOR
DETECTION
ECLIPSE
LUMINOSITY
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
MASS TRANSFER
MILKY WAY
STAR EVOLUTION