pith. sign in

arxiv: astro-ph/0406076 · v1 · submitted 2004-06-03 · 🌌 astro-ph

The double main sequence of Omega Centauri

classification 🌌 astro-ph
keywords mainsequencecentauriclusterdoubleobtainedomegaalong
0
0 comments X
read the original abstract

Recent, high precision photometry of Omega Centauri, the biggest Galactic globular cluster, has been obtained with Hubble Space Telescope. The color magnitude diagram reveals an unexpected bifurcation of colors in the main sequence (MS). The newly found double MS, the multiple turnoffs and subgiant branches, and other sequences discovered in the past along the red giant branch of this cluster add up to a fascinating but frustrating puzzle. Among the possible explanations for the blue main sequence an anomalous overabundance of helium is suggested. The hypothesis will be tested with a set of FLAMES@VLT data we have recently obtained (ESO DDT program), and with forthcoming ACS@HST images.

This paper has not been read by Pith yet.

discussion (0)

Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.