Previous | Session 23 | Next
B.J. Pritzl, K.A. Venn (Macalester College), M.J. Irwin (Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK)
We have compiled a sample of globular clusters with high quality stellar abundances from the literature to compare them to the stars in the Galaxy and dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Of the 41 globular clusters examined, 29 also have kinematic information. We focus on the [\alpha/Fe] and light r-process element ratios and find that most of the globular cluster stars mimic those of the field stars and neither clearly resembles the stellar abundances in the dwarf galaxies. The exceptions to this are already known in the literature such as Palomar 12 and Terzan 7, associated with the Sgr remnant, and Ruprecht 106, which has been suggested to be a captured Magellanic Cloud globular cluster. A few other globular clusters show more marginal peculiarities. The fact that most globular clusters at intermediate metallicities resemble the Galactic halo and thick disk field stars in their abundance ratios suggests a similar place of origin with a cohesive chemical evolution history. This is unlike the predictions from the current hierarchical galaxy formation models where the clusters and field stars originate in a variety of dwarf galaxies.
This research is supported in part by a CAREER award (AST 99-84073) from the National Science Foundation.
Previous | Session 23 | Next
Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.