Enrichment by supernovae in globular clusters with multiple populations.
The most massive globular cluster in the Milky Way, omega Centauri, is thought to be the remaining core of a disrupted dwarf galaxy, as expected within the model of hierarchical merging. It contains several stellar populations having different heavy elemental abundances supplied by supernovae-a process known as metal enrichment. Although M 22 appears to be similar to omega Cen, other peculiar globular clusters do not. Therefore omega Cen and M 22 are viewed as exceptional, and the presence of chemical inhomogeneities in other clusters is seen as 'pollution' from the intermediate-mass asymptotic-giant-branch stars expected in normal globular clusters. Here we report Ca abundances for seven globular clusters and compare them to omega Cen. Calcium and other heavy elements can only be supplied through numerous supernovae explosions of massive stars in these stellar systems, but the gravitational potentials of the present-day clusters cannot preserve most of the ejecta from such explosions. We conclude that these globular clusters, like omega Cen, are most probably the relics of more massive primeval dwarf galaxies that merged and disrupted to form the proto-Galaxy.
Lee
Jae-Woo
JW
Department of Astronomy and Space Science, ARCSEC, Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, Korea. jaewoolee@sejong.ac.kr
Kang
Young-Woon
YW
Lee
Jina
J
Lee
Young-Wook
YW