Misc,

When do stars in 47 Tucanae lose their mass?

, , , , , , and .
(Feb 25, 2015)

Abstract

By examining the diffusion of young white dwarfs through the core of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae, we estimate the time when the progenitor star lost the bulk of its mass to become a white dwarf. We find this to be not earlier than 40 Myr before the star reaches the tip of the asymptotic giant branch. According to stellar evolution models of the white-dwarf progenitors in 47 Tucanae, we find this epoch to coincide approximately with the star ascending the asymptotic-giant branch and well after the helium flash. With the current data and analysis we cannot exclude some mass loss on the red-giant branch, but we argue that the bulk of the mass loss must occur very late in the star's history on the asymptotic-giant branch. We also confront the observed magnitudes of stars on the horizontal branch in 47 Tucanae and find that they are consistent with the latest theoretical models of the horizontal branch stars of \$0.8-0.9 M\_ødot\$, further supporting the conclusion that the stars in 47 Tucanae and likewise in other clusters lose the bulk of their mass on the asymptotic-giant branch.

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