Limits on [OIII] 5007 emission from NGC4472's globular clusters: constraints on planetary nebulae and ultraluminous black hole X-ray binaries in globular clusters

TL;DR

This study searched for [OIII] 5007 emission in 174 globular clusters of NGC4472, finding no planetary nebulae and constraining their occurrence rate, while also providing insights into the nature of X-ray binaries and black hole candidates.

Contribution

First comprehensive spectroscopic survey constraining planetary nebulae frequency in globular clusters and analyzing their relation to X-ray binaries and stellar populations.

Findings

No planetary nebulae detected in the clusters.

Low  observed, lower than stellar evolution predictions.

Identified broad [OIII] emission from RZ 2109, linked to a super-Eddington accreting black hole LMXB.

Abstract

We have searched for [OIII] 5007 emission in high resolution spectroscopic data from Flames/Giraffe VLT observations of 174 massive globular clusters (GCs) in NGC4472. No planetary nebulae (PNe) are observed in these clusters, constraining the number of PNe per bolometric luminosity, \alpha<0.8*10^{-7}PN/L_{\odot}. This is significantly lower than the rate predicted from stellar evolution, if all stars produce PNe. Comparing our results to populations of PNe in galaxies, we find most galaxies have a higher \alpha than these GCs (more PNe per bolometric luminosity - though some massive early-type galaxies do have similarly low \alpha). The low \alpha required in these GCs suggests that the number of PNe per bolometric luminosity does not increase strongly with decreasing mass or metallicity of the stellar population. We find no evidence for correlations between the presence of known GC PNe and either the presence of low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) or the stellar interaction rates in the GCs. This, and the low \alpha observed, suggests that the formation of PNe may not be enhanced in tight binary systems. These data do identify one [OIII] emission feature, this is the (previously published) broad [OIII] emission from the cluster RZ 2109. This emission is thought to originate from the LMXB in this cluster, which is accreting at super-Eddington rates. The absence of any similar [OIII] emission from the other clusters favors the hypothesis that this source is a black hole LMXB, rather than a neutron star LMXB with significant geometric beaming of its X-ray emission.