Multiple stellar populations and their influence on blue stragglers

TL;DR

This study models how collisions between stars with different helium abundances in globular clusters influence blue straggler stars, comparing predictions with observations to understand their formation and properties.

Contribution

It introduces models of stellar mergers considering multiple helium abundances and compares these with observed blue straggler populations in several globular clusters.

Findings

Models with helium enhancement fit NGC 2808 observations.

Models without helium enhancement better match NGC 1851, NGC 5634, NGC 6093.

Results support the role of multiple populations in blue straggler formation.

Abstract

It has become clear in recent years that globular clusters are not simple stellar populations, but may host chemically distinct sub-populations, typically with an enhanced helium abundance. These helium-rich populations can make up a substantial fraction of all cluster stars. One of the proposed formation channels for blue straggler stars is the physical collision and merger of two stars. In the context of multiple populations, collisions between stars with different helium abundances should occur and contribute to the observed blue straggler population. This will affect the predicted blue straggler colour and luminosity function. We quantify this effect by calculating models of mergers resulting from collisions between stars with different helium abundances and using these models to model a merger population. We then compare these results to four observed clusters, NGC 1851, NGC 2808, NGC 5634 and NGC 6093. As in previous studies our models deviate from the observations, particularly in the colour distributions. However, our results are consistent with observations of multiple populations in these clusters. In NGC 2808, our best fitting models include normal and helium enhanced populations, in agreement with helium enhancement inferred in this cluster. The other three clusters show better agreement with models that do not include helium enhancement. We discuss future prospects to improve the modelling of blue straggler populations and the role that the models we present here can play in such a study.