Dating the tidal disruption of globular clusters with Gaia data on their stellar streams

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method to estimate the age of tidally disrupted globular cluster streams using Gaia astrometric data, by analyzing the dispersion in proper motions and parallaxes of tracer stars.

Contribution

The paper develops a novel technique that leverages Gaia data to determine the age of stellar streams, incorporating realistic simulations of globular cluster disruption within a Milky Way-like potential.

Findings

Proper motion dispersion correlates with stream age.

The method provides a lower limit on globular cluster age.

Accurate age estimates are possible with a modest number of tracer stars.

Abstract

The Gaia mission promises to deliver precision astrometry at an unprecedented level, heralding a new era for discerning the kinematic and spatial coordinates of stars in our Galaxy. Here, we present a new technique for estimating the age of tidally disrupted globular cluster streams using the proper motions and parallaxes of tracer stars. We evolve the collisional dynamics of globular clusters within the evolving potential of a Milky Way-like halo extracted from a cosmological $\Lambda$CDM simulation and analyze the resultant streams as they would be observed by Gaia. The simulations sample a variety of globular cluster orbits, and account for stellar evolution and the gravitational influence of the disk of the Milky Way. We show that a characteristic timescale, obtained from the dispersion of the proper motions and parallaxes of stars within the stream, is a good indicator for the time elapsed since the stream has been freely expanding away due to the tidal disruption of the globular cluster. This timescale, in turn, places a lower limit on the age of the cluster. The age can be deduced from astrometry using a modest number of stars, with the error on this estimate depending on the proximity of the stream and the number of tracer stars used.