The Origin and Nature of UV Bright stars in Globular Clusters II
Abstract
We propose an investigation of the UV-bright stellar populations of NGC 1904, NGC 6254, and NGC 5904. These are Galactic globular clusters that are known to be bright at far-UV wavelengths, with the two known to possess extended blue HB tails. These observations will complement data obtained during Cycle 5 and during the UIT Astro-1 flight in December 1990. The object of this investigation is twofold: {a} to explore the relationship between the HB mass distribution in clusters with blue HB tails {BT clusters} to the clusters' structural and dynamical properties and {b} to gain further samples of blue straggler stars in the cores of such clusters. These observations will allow a probe of the variation in mass loss processes close to the tip of the red giant branch. The clusters have been selected as follows: NGC 1904 and NGC 6254 are similar in HB morphology to NGC 6205 for which we have scheduled Cycle 5 observations, and are both more centrally concentrated. In addition, UIT observations indicate a deficit of blue HB stars in the core of NGC1904. NGC 5904 has similar metallicity and concentration to both NGC 1904 & NGC 6254, and was observed by the ANS to be brighter in the far-UV than its optical HB morphology suggests. Our original target list contained also NGC 6266, which has a larger continuous range in HB colour than any other cluster, extending from the red to the blue extreme, and would have provided information about a cluster with high HB mass dispersion. However the exposure times that we derived in Phase 1 using the WFPC2 Exposure Time Calculator provided by the STScI resulted significantly underestimated because of an error in the ETC. As a result of that, we decided to drop NGC 6266, which is highly reddened and requires long exposure times, in order to obtain acceptably good photometric quality on the other 3 clusters.
- Publication:
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HST Proposal
- Pub Date:
- July 1996
- Bibcode:
- 1996hst..prop.6607F