# Multiple stellar populations of globular clusters from homogeneous Ca--CN photometry. IV. Toward precision populational tagging

## TL;DR

This paper critically compares photometric indices for identifying multiple stellar populations in globular clusters, highlighting the reliability of the cn_{JWL} index over the broader-band C_{UBI} index, and demonstrates its effectiveness in radial population analysis.

## Contribution

It introduces and validates the cn_{JWL} index as a more reliable tool for populational tagging in globular clusters compared to the widely used C_{UBI} index.

## Key findings

- The C_{UBI} index may produce unreliable population ratios due to broad-band photometry traits.
- The cn_{JWL} index accurately reveals radial population gradients in M3.
- Ground-based small aperture telescopes can effectively use the cn_{JWL} index for populational studies.

## Abstract

Apparently similar but multifaceted photometric systems are currently being used to investigate the multiple stellar populations in globular clusters, without the concrete general agreement on the definition of the multiple populations. In recent years, an attractive idea of utilization of the widely used UBI photometry, C_{UBI}, for the populational tagging of the giant stars in globular clusters has been emerged. We perform a critical analysis of the cn_{JWL} and the C_{UBI} indices, finding that the populational tagging from the C_{UBI} index may not be reliable, due to the inherited trait of the broad-band photometry. As a consequence, the populational number ratios and the cumulative radial distributions from the C_{UBI} index can be easily in error. The results for M3, which shows a very strong radial gradient in the populational number ratio, highlights the strengths of our cn_{JWL} index: both the HST imaging and the ground-based spectroscopy failed to grasp the correct picture, that can be easily achieved with our cn_{JWL} index with small aperture ground-based telescopes, due to the small field of view or crowdedness in the central part of the cluster.