Examinando por Autor "Sills, Alison"

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    Fast rotating blue stragglers prefer loose clusters
    (Nature Research, 2023-12) Ferraro, Francesco R.; Mucciarelli, Alessio; Lanzoni, Barbara; Pallanca, Cristina; Cadelano, Mario; Billi, Alex; Sills, Alison; Vesperini, Enrico; Dalessandro, Emanuele; Beccari, Giacomo; Monaco, Lorenzo; Mateo, Mario
    Blue stragglers are anomalously luminous core hydrogen-burning stars formed through mass-transfer in binary/triple systems and stellar collisions. Their physical and evolutionary properties are largely unknown and unconstrained. Here we analyze 320 high-resolution spectra of blue stragglers collected in eight galactic globular clusters with different structural characteristics and show evidence that the fraction of fast rotating blue stragglers (with rotational velocities larger than 40 km/s) increases for decreasing central density of the host system. This trend suggests that fast spinning blue stragglers prefer low-density environments and promises to open an unexplored route towards understanding the evolutionary processes of these stars. Since large rotation rates are expected in the early stages of both formation channels, our results provide direct evidence for recent blue straggler formation activity in low-density environments and put strong constraints on the timescale of the collisional blue straggler slow-down processes.
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    Globular cluster scale sizes in giant galaxies: orbital anisotropy and tidally underfilling clusters in M87, NGC 1399 and NGC 5128
    (OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2016-08) Webb, Jeremy J.; Sills, Alison; Harris, William E.; Gómez, Matías; Paolillo, Maurizio; Woodley, Kristin A.; Puzia, Thomas H.
    We investigate the shallow increase in globular cluster half-light radii with projected galactocentric distance Rgc observed in the giant galaxies M87, NGC 1399, and NGC 5128. To model the trend in each galaxy, we explore the effects of orbital anisotropy and tidally underfilling clusters. While a strong degeneracy exists between the two parameters, we use kinematic studies to help constrain the distance Rβ beyond which cluster orbits become anisotropic, as well as the distance Rfα beyond which clusters are tidally underfilling. For M87 we find Rβ > 27 kpc and 20 < Rfα < 40 kpc and for NGC 1399 Rβ > 13 kpc and 10 < Rfα < 30 kpc. The connection of Rfα with each galaxy's mass profile indicates the relationship between size and Rgc may be imposed at formation, with only inner clusters being tidally affected. The best-fitting models suggest the dynamical histories of brightest cluster galaxies yield similar present-day distributions of cluster properties. For NGC 5128, the central giant in a small galaxy group, we find Rβ > 5 kpc and Rfα > 30 kpc. While we cannot rule out a dependence on Rgc, NGC 5128 is well fitted by a tidally filling cluster population with an isotropic distribution of orbits, suggesting it may have formed via an initial fast accretion phase. Perturbations from the surrounding environment may also affect a galaxy's orbital anisotropy profile, as outer clusters in M87 and NGC 1399 have primarily radial orbits while outer NGC 5128 clusters remain isotropic.