The Binary Populations of Eight Globular Clusters in the Outer Halo of the Milky Way

TL;DR

This study analyzes binary star populations in eight outer halo globular clusters using Hubble data, confirming an anti-correlation between binary fraction and cluster luminosity and detailing their spatial distributions.

Contribution

It provides a homogeneous analysis of binary fractions in 67 globular clusters, revealing their radial distribution patterns and relationships with cluster properties.

Findings

Binary fraction anti-correlates with cluster luminosity.

Low-luminosity clusters can have binary fractions exceeding 40%.

Binaries are more centrally concentrated than single stars in most clusters.

Abstract

We analyse color-magnitude diagrams of eight Globular Clusters (GCs) in the outer Galactic Halo. Images were taken with the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Survey and the Ultraviolet and Visual Channel of the Wide Field Camera 3 on board of the Hubble Space Telescope. We have determined the fraction of binary stars along the main sequence and combined results with those of a recent paper where some of us have performed a similar analysis on 59 Galactic GCs. In total, binaries have been now studied homogeneously in 67 GCs. We studied the radial and luminosity distributions of the binary systems, the distribution of their mass-ratios and investigated univariate relations with several parameters of the host GCs. We confirm the anti-correlation between the binary fraction and the luminosity of the host cluster, and find that low-luminosity clusters can host a large population in excess of ~40% in the cluster core. However, our results do not support a significant correlation with the cluster age as suggested in the literature. In most GCs, binaries are more centrally concentrated than single stars. If the fraction of binaries is normalised to the core binary fraction the radial density profiles follow a common trend. It has a maximum in the center and declines by a factor of two at a distance of about two core radii from the cluster center. After dropping to its minimum at a radial distance of $\sim$5 core radii it stays approximately constant at larger radii. We also find that the mass-ratio and the distribution of binaries as a function of the mass of the primary star is almost flat.