Blue straggler stars beyond the Milky Way: a non-segregated population in the Large Magellanic Cloud cluster NGC 2213

TL;DR

This study investigates blue straggler stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud cluster NGC 2213, revealing their non-segregated distribution and exploring the dynamical processes behind this phenomenon using observations and simulations.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of BSSs in an extragalactic cluster and demonstrates the impact of black hole subsystems on BSS dynamics.

Findings

BSSs show no evidence of mass segregation in NGC 2213.

BSSs are dynamically old despite their non-segregated distribution.

Black hole subsystems influence BSS dynamical evolution.

Abstract

Using the high-resolution observations obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope, we analyzed the blue straggler stars (BSSs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud cluster NGC 2213. We found that the radial distribution of BSSs is consistent with that of the normal giant stars in NGC 2213, showing no evidence of mass segregation. However, an analytic calculation carried out for these BSSs shows that they are already dynamically old, because the estimated half-mass relaxation time for these BSSs is significantly shorter than the isochronal age of the cluster. We also performed direct N-body simulations for a NGC 2213-like cluster to understand the dynamical processes that lead to this none-segregated radial distribution of BSSs. Our numerical simulation shows that the presence of black hole subsystems inside the cluster centre can significantly affect the dynamical evolution of BSSs. The combined effects of the delayed segregation, binary disruption and exchange interactions of BSS progenitor binaries may result in this none-segregated radial distribution of BSSs in NGC 2213.