Bibcode
Marino, A. F.; Villanova, S.; Piotto, G.; Milone, A. P.; Momany, Y.; Bedin, L. R.; Medling, A. M.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 490, Issue 2, 2008, pp.625-640
Advertised on:
11
2008
Journal
Citations
345
Refereed citations
306
Description
Aims: We present abundance analysis based on high resolution spectra of
105 isolated red giant branch (RGB) stars in the Galactic Globular
Cluster NGC 6121 (M 4). Our aim is to study its star population in the
context of the multi-population phenomenon recently discovered to affect
some Globular Clusters. Methods: The data have been collected
with FLAMES+UVES, the multi-fiber high resolution facility at the
ESO/VLT@UT2 telescope. Analysis was performed under LTE approximation
for the following elements: O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni, Ba,
and NLTE corrections were applied to those (Na, Mg) strongly affected by
departure from LTE. Spectroscopic data were coupled with high-precision
wide-field UBVIC photometry from WFI@2.2 m telescope and infrared JHK
photometry from 2MASS. Results: We derived an average [Fe/H] =
-1.07±0.01 (internal error), and an α enhancement of
[α/Fe] = +0.39±0.05 dex (internal error). We confirm the
presence of an extended Na-O anticorrelation, and find two distinct
groups of stars with significantly different Na and O content. We find
no evidence of a Mg-Al anticorrelation. By coupling our results with
previous studies on the CN band strength, we find that the CN strong
stars have higher Na and Al content and are more O depleted than the CN
weak ones. The two groups of Na-rich, CN-strong and Na-poor, CN-weak
stars populate two different regions along the RGB. The Na-rich group
defines a narrow sequence on the red side of the RGB, while the Na-poor
sample populate a bluer, more spread portion of the RGB. In the {U} vs.
{U-B} color magnitude diagram the RGB spread is present from the base of
the RGB to the RGB-tip. Apparently, both spectroscopic and photometric
results imply the presence of two stellar populations in M 4. We briefly
discuss the possible origin of these populations.
Based on data collected at the European Southern Observatory with the
VLT-UT2, Paranal, Chile. Tables 8 and 9 are only available in electronic
form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5)
or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/490/625