NGC 3201

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NGC 3201
NGC 3201 Hubble WikiSky.jpg
NGC 3201 by Hubble Space Telescope; 3.5′ view
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Class X [1]
Constellation Vela
Right ascension 10h 17m 36.82s [2]
Declination –46° 24′ 44.9″ [2]
Distance 16.3  kly (5.0  kpc) [3]
Apparent magnitude (V)+8.24 [4]
Apparent dimensions (V)18.2′
Physical characteristics
Mass1.57×105 [5]   M☉
Radius40  ly [6]
VHB14.77
Metallicity  = –1.24 [7] dex
Estimated age12.2±0.5 Gyr [8]
Other designationsGCl 15, [4] GC 2068, h 3238, Dun 445, Bennett 44, Caldwell 79, [9] Melotte 99
See also: Globular cluster, List of globular clusters

NGC 3201 (also known as Caldwell 79) is a low galactic latitude globular cluster in the southern constellation of Vela. It has a very low central concentration of stars. [10] This cluster was discovered by James Dunlop on May 28, 1826 and listed in his 1827 catalogue. He described it as "a pretty large pretty bright round nebula, 4′ or 5′ diameter, very gradually condensed towards the centre, easily resolved into stars; the figure is rather irregular, and the stars are considerably scattered on the south". [11]

Contents

The radial velocity of this cluster is unusually high at 490 km/s, larger than any other cluster known. This corresponds to a peculiar velocity of 240 km/s. While high, this is lower than the escape velocity of the Milky Way galaxy. [11] It is located at a distance of 16,300  light years from the Sun and has an estimated 157,000 times the mass of the Sun. [5] This cluster is about 10.24 billion years old. [7]

The stellar population of this cluster is inhomogeneous, varying with distance from the core. The effective temperature of the stars shows an increase with greater distance, with the redder and cooler stars tending to be located closer to the core. As of 2010, this is one of only two clusters (including Messier 4) that shows a definite inhomogeneous population. [12]

Black holes

Because NGC 3201 is a less dense globular cluster, far from undergoing core collapse, it is believed to harbor a substantial black hole population in its core. Indeed, a few black holes have been detected in this cluster, [13] [14] orbiting nearby stars. In a study from 2022, [5] the movement of stars near the cluster's core derived from data gathered by the Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft indicated that NGC 3201 has a sub-cluster of stellar mass black holes, with a total mass of roughly a thousand solar masses. The same study showed, with dynamical simulations, that this sub-cluster could contain nearly a hundred black holes. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 4</span> Globular cluster in Scorpius

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omega Centauri</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Centaurus

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 6397</span> Globular cluster of stars in the Milky Way

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 80</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Scorpius

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 12</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 15</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Pegasus

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 30</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Capricornus

Messier 30 is a globular cluster of stars in the southeast of the southern constellation of Capricornus, at about the declination of the Sun when the latter is at December solstice. It was discovered by the French astronomer Charles Messier in 1764, who described it as a circular nebula without a star. In the New General Catalogue, compiled during the 1880s, it was described as a "remarkable globular, bright, large, slightly oval." It can be easily viewed with a pair of 10×50 binoculars, forming a patch of hazy light some 4 arcminutes wide that is slightly elongated along the east–west axis. With a larger instrument, individual stars can be resolved and the cluster will cover an angle of up to 12 arcminutes across graduating into a compressed core about one arcminute wide that has further star density within.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 54</span> Globular cluster in Sagittarius

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 62</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus

Messier 62 or M62, also known as NGC 6266, is a globular cluster of stars in the south of the equatorial constellation of Ophiuchus. It was discovered in 1771 by Charles Messier, then added to his catalogue eight years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 70</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius

Messier 70 or M70, also known as NGC 6681, is a globular cluster of stars to be found in the south of Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1780. The famous comet Hale–Bopp was discovered near this cluster in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5466</span> Class XII globular cluster in the constellation Boötes

NGC 5466 is a class XII globular cluster in the constellation Boötes. Located 51,800 light years from Earth and 52,800 light years from the Galactic Center, it was discovered by William Herschel on May 17, 1784, as H VI.9. This globular cluster is unusual insofar as it contains a certain blue horizontal branch of stars, as well as being unusually metal poor like ordinary globular clusters. It is thought to be the source of a stellar stream discovered in 2006, called the 45 Degree Tidal Stream. This star stream is an approximately 1.4° wide star lane extending from Boötes to Ursa Major.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5986</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Lupus

NGC 5986 is a globular cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Lupus, located at a distance of approximately 34 kilolight-years from the Sun. It was discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop on May 10, 1826. John L. E. Dreyer described it as, "a remarkable object, a globular cluster, very bright, large, round, very gradually brighter middle, stars of 13th to 15th magnitude". Its prograde–retrograde orbit through the Milky Way galaxy is considered irregular and highly eccentric. It has a mean heliocentric radial velocity of +100 km/s. The galacto-centric distance is 17 kly (5.2 kpc), which puts it in the galaxy's inner halo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 6723</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 6934</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Delphinus

NGC 6934 is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Delphinus, about 52 kilolight-years distant from the Sun. It was discovered by the German-born astronomer William Herschel on 24 September 1785. The cluster is following a highly eccentric orbit through the Milky Way along an orbital plane that is inclined by 73° to the galactic plane. It may share a common dynamic origin with NGC 5466. As of 2018, it has been poorly studied.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1851</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Columba

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1261</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Horologium

NGC 1261 is a globular cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Horologium, first discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop in 1826. The cluster is located at a distance of 53 kilolight-years from the Sun, and 59 kilolight-years from the Galactic Center. It is about 10.24 billion years old with 341,000 times the mass of the Sun. The cluster does not display the normal indications of core collapse, but evidence suggests it may have instead passed through a post core-collapse bounce state within the past two billion years. The central luminosity density is 2.22 L☉·pc−3, which is low for a globular cluster. Despite this, it has a Shapley–Sawyer Concentration Class of II, indicating a dense central concentration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 6352</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Ara

NGC 6352 is a globular cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Ara, located approximately 18.3 kly from the Sun. It was discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop on May 14, 1826. The cluster has a Shapley–Sawyer Concentration Class of XI:. A telescope with a 15 cm (5.9 in) aperture is required to resolve the stars within this loose cluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5286</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Centaurus

NGC 5286 is a globular cluster of stars located some 35,900 light years away in the constellation Centaurus. At this distance, the light from the cluster has undergone reddening from interstellar gas and dust equal to E(B – V) = 0.24 magnitude in the UBV photometric system. The cluster lies 4 arc-minutes north of the naked-eye star M Centauri. It was discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop, active in Australia, and listed in his 1827 catalog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4147</span> Globular cluster in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4147 is the New General Catalogue identifier for a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices. It was discovered by English astronomer William Herschel on March 14, 1784, who described it as "very bright, pretty large, gradually brighter in the middle". With an apparent visual magnitude of 10.7, it is located around 60,000 light years away from the Sun at a relatively high galactic latitude of 77.2°.

References

  1. ↑ Shapley, Harlow; Sawyer, Helen B. (August 1927), "A Classification of Globular Clusters", Harvard College Observatory Bulletin, 849 (849): 11–14, Bibcode:1927BHarO.849...11S.
  2. 1 2 Goldsbury, Ryan; et al. (December 2010), "The ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. X. New Determinations of Centers for 65 Clusters", The Astronomical Journal, 140 (6): 1830–1837, arXiv: 1008.2755 , Bibcode:2010AJ....140.1830G, doi:10.1088/0004-6256/140/6/1830, S2CID   119183070.
  3. ↑ Paust, Nathaniel E. Q.; et al. (February 2010), "The ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. VIII. Effects of Environment on Globular Cluster Global Mass Functions", The Astronomical Journal, 139 (2): 476–491, Bibcode:2010AJ....139..476P, doi:10.1088/0004-6256/139/2/476, hdl: 2152/34371 , S2CID   120965440.
  4. 1 2 "NGC 3201". SIMBAD . Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 2006-11-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  5. 1 2 3 Vitral, Eduardo; Kremer, Kyle; Libralato, Mattia; Mamon, Gary A.; Bellini, Andrea (2022), "Stellar graveyards: clustering of compact objects in globular clusters NGC 3201 and NGC 6397", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 514: 806, arXiv: 2202.01599 , Bibcode:2022MNRAS.514..806V, doi:10.1093/mnras/stac1337
  6. ↑ distance × sin( diameter_angle / 2 ) = 40 ly. radius
  7. 1 2 Forbes, Duncan A.; Bridges, Terry (May 2010), "Accreted versus in situ Milky Way globular clusters", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , 404 (3): 1203–1214, arXiv: 1001.4289 , Bibcode:2010MNRAS.404.1203F, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16373.x, S2CID   51825384.
  8. ↑ Monty, Stephanie; Puzia, Thomas H.; Miller, Bryan W.; Carrasco, Eleazar R.; Simunovic, Mirko; Schirmer, Mischa; Stetson, Peter B.; Cassisi, Santi; Venn, Kim A.; Dotter, Aaron; Goudfrooij, Paul; Perina, Sibilla; Pessev, Peter; Sarajedini, Ata; Taylor, Matthew A. (2018), "The GeMS/GSAOI Galactic Globular Cluster Survey (G4CS). I. A Pilot Study of the Stellar Populations in NGC 2298 and NGC 3201", The Astrophysical Journal, 865 (2): 160, arXiv: 1808.05271 , Bibcode:2018ApJ...865..160M, doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aadb43 , S2CID   119089142
  9. ↑ "NGC 3201", Deep Sky Observer's Companion, retrieved 2012-04-28.
  10. ↑ Webb, N. A.; Wheatley, P. J.; Barret, D. (2005), "XMM-Newton X-ray and optical observations of the globular clusters M 55 and NGC 3201", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 445: 155–165, arXiv: astro-ph/0509085 , Bibcode:2005yCat..34450155W, doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20053010, S2CID   12561841.
  11. 1 2 O'Meara, Stephen James (2002), The Caldwell Objects, Deep-Sky Companions, Cambridge University Press, pp. 314–315, ISBN   978-0521827966.
  12. ↑ Kravtsov, V.; et al. (March 2010), "Evidence of the inhomogeneity of the stellar population in the differentially reddened globular cluster NGC 3201", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 512: L6, arXiv: 1004.5583 , Bibcode:2010A&A...512L...6K, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200913749, S2CID   118407774.
  13. ↑ Giesers, Benjamin; Dreizler, Stefan; Husser, Tim-Oliver; Kamann, Sebastian; Anglada Escude, Guillem (2018), "A detached stellar-mass black hole candidate in the globular cluster NGC 3201", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 475: L15, arXiv: 1801.05642 , Bibcode:2018MNRAS.475L..15G, doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slx203
  14. ↑ Giesers, Benjamin; Kamann, Sebastian; Dreizler, Stefan; Husser, Tim-Oliver; Askar, Abbas (2019), "A stellar census in globular clusters with MUSE: Binaries in NGC 3201", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 632: A3, arXiv: 1909.04050 , Bibcode:2019A&A...632A...3G, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201936203, S2CID   260551971
  15. ↑ "Chasser des trous noirs dans un cimetière d'étoiles". 10 June 2022.
  16. ↑ "Standout stars". www.spacetelescope.org. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  17. ↑ "Odd Behaviour of Star Reveals Lonely Black Hole Hiding in Giant Star Cluster". www.eso.org. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
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