Publication

Disappearance of the extended main sequence turn-off in intermediate age clusters as a consequence of magnetic braking

Carmela Lardo
2019
Journal paper
Abstract

Context. Extended main sequence turn-offs are features commonly found in the colour-magnitude diagrams of young and intermediate age (less than about 2 Gyr) massive star clusters, where the main sequence turn-off is broader than can be explained by photometric uncertainties, crowding, or binarity. Rotation is suspected to be the cause of this feature, by accumulating fast rotating stars, strongly affected by gravity darkening and rotation-induced mixing, near the main sequence turn-off. This scenario successfully reproduces the tight relation between the age and the actual extent in luminosity of the extended main sequence turn-off of observed clusters. Aims. Below a given mass (dependent on the metallicity), stars are e ffi ciently braked early on the main sequence due to the interaction of stellar winds and the surface magnetic field, making their tracks converge towards those of non-rotating tracks in the HertzsprungRussell diagram. When these stars are located at the turn-off of a cluster, their slow rotation causes the extended main sequence turn-off feature to disappear. We investigate the maximal mass for which this braking occurs at di ff erent metallicities, and determine the age above which no extended main sequence turn-off is expected in clusters. Methods. We used two sets of stellar models (computed with two di ff erent stellar evolution codes: STAREVOL and the Geneva stellar evolution code) including the effects of rotation and magnetic braking, at three di ff erent metallicities. We implemented them in the S yclist toolbox to compute isochrones and then determined the extent of the extended main sequence turn-off at different ages. Results. Our models predict that the extended main sequence turn-off phenomenon disappears at ages older than about 2 Gyr. There is a trend with the metallicity, the age at which the disappearance occurs becoming older at higher metallicity. These results are robust between the two codes used in this work, despite some di ff erences in the input physics and in particular in the detailed description of rotation-induced internal processes and of angular momentum extraction by stellar winds. Conclusions. Comparing our results with clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud and Galaxy shows a very good fit to the observations. This strengthens the rotation scenario to explain the cause of the extended main sequence turn-off phenomenon.

About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Ontological neighbourhood
Related concepts (45)
Star cluster
Star clusters are large groups of stars held together by self-gravitation. Two main types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of ten thousand to millions of old stars which are gravitationally bound, while open clusters are more loosely clustered groups of stars, generally containing fewer than a few hundred members, and are often very young.
Globular cluster
A globular cluster is a spheroidal conglomeration of stars. Globular clusters are bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards their centers. They can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of member stars. Their name is derived from Latin globulus (small sphere). Globular clusters are occasionally known simply as "globulars". Although one globular cluster, Omega Centauri, was observed in antiquity and long thought to be a star, recognition of the clusters' true nature came with the advent of telescopes in the 17th century.
Stellar evolution
Stellar evolution is the process by which a star changes over the course of time. Depending on the mass of the star, its lifetime can range from a few million years for the most massive to trillions of years for the least massive, which is considerably longer than the current age of the universe. The table shows the lifetimes of stars as a function of their masses. All stars are formed from collapsing clouds of gas and dust, often called nebulae or molecular clouds.
Show more
Related publications (67)

Hidden Gems on a Ring: Infant Massive Clusters and Their Formation Timeline Unveiled by ALMA, HST, and JWST in NGC 3351

Robin Gopala Tress, Jiayi Sun, Hamid Hassani, Hao He

We use 0.1 '' observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and JWST to study young massive clusters (YMCs) in their embedded "infant" phase across the central starburst ring in NGC 3351. Our new ALMA data revea ...
Iop Publishing Ltd2024

A model for the infrared-radio correlation of main sequence galaxies at gigahertz frequencies and its variation with redshift and stellar mass

Mark Thomas Sargent

Context. The infrared-radio correlation (IRRC) of star-forming galaxies can be used to estimate their star formation rate (SFR) based on the radio continuum luminosity at MHz-GHz frequencies. For its practical application in future deep radio surveys, it i ...
Les Ulis Cedex A2023

The formation of the faintest galaxies in cosmological simulations: from the impact of primordial magnetic fields to the metal enrichment of present day dwarfs by first stars

Mahsa Sanati

In the theory of the bottom-up assembly of cosmic structures, one of the main challenges is to connect the smallest, most inconspicuous galaxies we observe today to the building blocks of more massive galaxies such as our own, the Milky Way. Do these so-ca ...
EPFL2023
Show more
Related MOOCs (5)
The Radio Sky I: Science and Observations
Be captivated by the exotic objects that populate the Radio Sky and gain a solid understanding of their physics and the fundamental techniques we use to observe them.
Introduction to Astrophysics
Ce cours décrit les principaux concepts physiques utilisés en astrophysique. Il est proposé à l'EPFL aux étudiants de 2eme année de Bachelor en physique.
Introduction à l'Astrophysique
Ce cours décrit les principaux concepts physiques utilisés en astrophysique. Il est proposé à l'EPFL aux étudiants de 2eme année de Bachelor en physique.
Show more

Graph Chatbot

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.