Massive Binary Stars and Self-Enrichment of Globular Clusters

2013/02/04 by Robert G. Izzard, R. G. Izzard, Selma E. de Mink +15
Physics and Astronomy · #History and Developments in Astronomy #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.SR

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1302.0725

Contribution to the proceedings of "Reading the book of globular clusters with the lens of stellar evolution", Rome, 26-28 November 2012

arxiv created 2013/02/04 · arxiv updated 2013/02/05

Abstract

Globular clusters contain many stars with surface abundance patterns indicating contributions from hydrogen burning products, as seen in the anti-correlated elemental abundances of e.g. sodium and oxygen, and magnesium and aluminium. Multiple generations of stars can explain this phenomenon, with the second generation forming from a mixture of pristine gas and ejecta from the first generation. We show that massive binary stars may be a source of much of the material that makes this second generation of stars. Mass transfer in binaries is often non-conservative and the ejected matter moves slowly enough that it can remain inside a globular cluster and remain available for subsequent star formation. Recent studies show that there are more short-period massive binaries than previously thought, hence also more stars that interact and eject nuclear-processed material.

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