PHAT XX. AGB stars and other cool giants in M31 star clusters

TL;DR

This study identifies and analyzes AGB stars and other luminous cool giants in M31 star clusters using Hubble data, providing insights into stellar evolution and model validation across different ages.

Contribution

First comprehensive identification of AGB stars in M31 clusters, linking observed populations with stellar evolution models and releasing a detailed catalog for future research.

Findings

937 candidate AGB stars identified, with 450 likely cluster members.

Detection of two carbon stars and ten variable stars.

Age distribution shows AGB stars span from <100 Myr to several Gyr, matching theoretical models.

Abstract

The presence of AGB stars in clusters provides key constraints for stellar models, as has been demonstrated with historical data from the Magellanic Clouds. In this work, we look for candidate AGB stars in M31 star clusters from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) survey. Our photometric criteria selects stars brighter than the tip of the red giant branch, which includes the bulk of the thermally-pulsing AGB stars as well as early-AGB stars and other luminous cool giants expected in young stellar populations (e.g. massive red supergiants, and intermediate-mass red helium-burning stars). The AGB stars can be differentiated, a posteriori, using the ages already estimated for our cluster sample. 937 candidates are found within the cluster aperture radii, half (450) of which are very likely cluster members. Cross-matching with additional databases reveals two carbon stars and ten secure variables among them. The field-corrected age distribution reveals the presence of young supergiants peaking at ages smaller than 100 Myr, followed by a long tail of AGB stars extending up to the oldest possible ages. This long tail reveals the general decrease in the numbers of AGB stars from initial values of 50e-6/Msun at 100 Myr down to 5e-6/Msun at 10 Gyr. Theoretical models of near-solar metallicity reproduce this general trend, although with localized discrepancies over some age intervals, whose origin is not yet identified. The entire catalogue is released together with finding charts to facilitate follow-up studies.