A search for RCB stars in globular clusters

TL;DR

This study conducted a systematic search for R Coronae Borealis stars in Galactic globular clusters using WISE and 2MASS data, finding none that are confirmed members, thus constraining their formation scenarios.

Contribution

First comprehensive search for RCB stars in globular clusters using infrared data, providing new constraints on their formation mechanisms.

Findings

No confirmed RCB stars found in globular clusters.

Identified a dusty star likely an X-ray binary, not an RCB.

Set constraints on RCB star formation in dense stellar environments.

Abstract

There are only about 65 R Coronae Borealis stars known in our Galaxy, and none in globular clusters. As these stars are thought to result from the merger of two white dwarfs, one would expect the higher stellar density of globular clusters to favor their formation. We have searched for such stars in Galactic globular clusters, as their presence in a specific category of clusters might provide more clues as to their formation. We selected from the WISE all-Sky source catalog all the stars within the tidal radius of the 150 globular clusters within 50 kpc, which is the distance to which RCB stars are detectable by WISE. The total number of stars selected in this way was 635989. We then successively applied the eight selection criteria of Tisserand (2012) satisfied by RCB stars to the dereddened photometric WISE and 2MASS data. Only three stars satisfying the conditions were found in the field of three globular clusters. The star in the field of Liller 1 is most probably a protostar. For the two other candidates, the absence of photometry in the visible range did not allow us to establish their nature with certainty. We further identified one dust-enshrouded star that only satisfied the first selection criteria, and used DUSTY to determine that it is a star of temperature 4800K enshrouded in a dusty envelope with a temperature 300 K and an opacity in the visible of 0.59. It is probably an Xray binary star with a dusty accretion disk. We found no RCB stars truly belonging to a globular cluster, thus providing a constraint on their formation mechanism.