GLIMPSE-CO1: the most massive intermediate-age stellar cluster in the Galaxy

TL;DR

This study reveals that GLIMPSE-C01 is an intermediate-age, massive stellar cluster in the Galactic disk, challenging previous assumptions of it being an old globular cluster.

Contribution

The paper provides high-resolution spectroscopic data and analysis demonstrating GLIMPSE-C01's intermediate age and mass, establishing it as the most massive known Galactic intermediate-age cluster.

Findings

GLIMPSE-C01 has a dynamical mass of approximately 8 x 10^4 solar masses.

The cluster's age is estimated to be between 400-800 million years.

Evidence confirms GLIMPSE-C01 is part of the Galactic disk population.

Abstract

The stellar cluster GLIMPSE-C01 is a dense stellar system located in the Galactic Plane. Though often referred to in the literature as an old globular cluster traversing the Galactic disk, previous observations do not rule out that it is an intermediate age (less than a few Gyr) disk-borne cluster. Here, we present high-resolution near-infrared spectroscopy of over 50 stars in the cluster. We find an average radial velocity is consistent with being part of the disk, and determine the cluster's dynamical mass to be (8 \pm 3)x10^4 Msun. Analysis of the cluster's M/L ratio, the location of the Red Clump, and an extremely high stellar density, all suggest an age of 400-800Myr for GLIMPSE-C01, much lower than for a typical globular cluster. This evidence therefore leads us to conclude that GLIMPSE-C01 is part of the disk population, and is the most massive Galactic intermediate-age cluster discovered to date.