Bibcode
DOI
Cenarro, A. Javier; Cervantes, J. L.; Beasley, Michael A.; Marín-Franch, Antonio; Vazdekis, Alexandre
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 689, Issue 1, pp. L29-L32.
Advertised on:
12
2008
Journal
Citations
24
Refereed citations
21
Description
Integrated spectroscopy is the method of choice for deriving the ages of
unresolved stellar systems. However, hot stellar evolutionary stages,
such as hot horizontal branch stars and blue straggler stars (BSSs), can
affect the integrated ages measured using Balmer lines. Such hot,
``noncanonical'' stars may lead to overestimation of the temperature of
the main-sequence turnoff, and therefore underestimation of the
integrated age of a stellar population. Using an optimized Hβ index
in conjunction with HST WFPC2 color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), we show
that Galactic globular clusters exhibit a large scatter in their
apparent ``spectroscopic'' ages, which does not correspond to that in
their CMD-derived ages. We find for the first time that the specific
frequency of BSSs, defined within the same aperture as the integrated
spectra, shows a clear correspondence with Hβ in the sense that, at
fixed metallicity, higher BSS ratios lead to younger apparent
spectroscopic ages. Thus, the specific frequency of BSSs in globular
clusters sets a fundamental limit on the accuracy with which
spectroscopic ages can be determined for globular clusters, and perhaps
for other stellar systems such as galaxies. The observational
implications of this result are discussed.
Related projects
Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies
The general aim of the project is to research the structure, evolutionary history and formation of galaxies through the study of their resolved stellar populations, both from photometry and spectroscopy. The group research concentrates in the most nearby objects, namely the Local Group galaxies including the Milky Way and M33 under the hypothesis
Martín
López Corredoira
Traces of Galaxy Formation: Stellar populations, Dynamics and Morphology
We are a large, diverse, and very active research group aiming to provide a comprehensive picture for the formation of galaxies in the Universe. Rooted in detailed stellar population analysis, we are constantly exploring and developing new tools and ideas to understand how galaxies came to be what we now observe.
Ignacio
Martín Navarro