Testing multi-mass dynamical models of star clusters with real data: mass segregation in three Galactic globular clusters

TL;DR

This study analyzes deep photometric data of three Galactic globular clusters to measure their mass segregation levels and tests the accuracy of analytic dynamical models in reproducing observed structures.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence of mass segregation in three clusters and evaluates the effectiveness of multimass dynamical models against real and simulated data.

Findings

All clusters show evidence of mass segregation.

Models reproduce NGC5466 and NGC6981 well, but not NGC6218.

Deviations depend on the clusters' dynamical evolution stage.

Abstract

We present the results of the analysis of deep photometric data for a sample of three Galactic globular clusters (NGC5466, NGC6218 and NGC6981) with the aim of estimating their degree of mass segregation and testing the predictions of analytic dynamical models. The adopted dataset, composed by both Hubble Space Telescope and ground based data, reaches the low-mass end of the mass functions of these clusters from the center up to their tidal radii allowing to derive their radial distribution of stars with different masses. All the analysed clusters show evidence of mass segregation with the most massive stars more concentrated than low-mass ones. The structures of NGC5466 and NGC6981 are well reproduced by multimass dynamical models adopting a lowered-Maxwellian distribution function and the prescription for mass segregation given by Gunn & Griffin (1979). Instead, NGC6218 appears to be more mass segregated than model predictions. By applying the same technique to mock observations derived from snapshots selected from suitable N-body simulations we show that the deviation from the behaviour predicted by these models depends on the particular stage of dynamical evolution regardless of initial conditions.