1,721,183 research outputs found
The old, massive, metal rich open cluster NGC 6791
Full text linkNGC~6791 is a rich open cluster that attracted a lot of attention in the last decade. Recent estimates indicate that the mass is even larger, around 5000\,. This is quite remarkable: the cluster is in fact 8\,Gyr old, while the typical dissolution time for Galactic open clusters is a few Myr only. This might imply that the cluster managed to survive so long either because its original mass was much larger, or because it moved along a preferential orbit. In any case, such combination of old age and large mass is unique among Galactic open clusters, especially for clusters located in the inner regions of the Galactic disk. This is not the only special property of NGC 6791. Its abundance in iron is [Fe/H] +0.40. again unique among Galactic star clusters of the same age range. Significant dispersions in various elements have been detected, that are not routinely found in Galactic open clusters. The combined UV flux of the few hot HB stars makes the cluster the closest proxy of an elliptical galaxy. This surprising result might indeed indicate that NGC 6791 was massive enough at origin to experience a strong burst of star formation and a fast enrichment.This pletora of unique properties renders NGC 6791 an extremely important object to study and understand.How and where could such a stellar system have formed? Is NGC 6791 just an open cluster? Did it form close to the bulge? How could have survived in the adverse, high-density, environment of the inner Galactic disk?These are difficult questions to answer to, of course. One of the still missing key observational evidence is whether the cluster suffered from tidal interaction, that could have significantly decreased its mass. We find such evidences, and use them as an argument to support a scenario in which the cluster formed as a massive object. We also estimate, using approximate analytic description based on available -body models, how much mass NGC~6791 lost, and which was its probable mass at formation.<!--EndFragment--
The “dynamical clock”: dating the internal dynamical evolution of star clusters with Blue Straggler Stars
Full text linkWe discuss the observational properties of a special class of objects (the so-called “Blue Straggler Stars”, BSSs) in the framework of using this stellar population as probe of the dynamical processes occurring in high-density stellar systems. Indeed, the shape of the BSS radial distribution and their level of central concentration are powerful tracers of the stage of dynamical evolution reached by the host cluster since formation. Hence, they can be used as empirical chronometers able to measure the dynamical age of stellar systems. In addition, the presence of a double BSS sequence in the color–magnitude diagram is likely the signature of the most extreme dynamical process occurring in globular cluster life: the core collapse event. Such a feature can, therefore, be used to reveal the occurrence of this process and, for the first time, even date it
Dynamical state of the globular clusters Rup 106 and IC 4499
Full text linkThe dynamical evolution of globular clusters is theoretically described by a series of well-known events typical of N-body systems. Still, the identification of observational signatures able to empirically describe the stage of dynamical evolution of a stellar system with a density typical of a globular cluster represents a challenge. In this paper, we study the dynamical age of the globular clusters Rup 106 and IC 4499. To this aim, we study the radial distribution of the blue straggler stars (BSSs) via the A+ parameter and of the slope of the main sequence mass function. Both tracers show that Rup 106 and IC 4499 are dynamically young clusters where dynamical friction has just started to segregate massive stars towards their respective centres. Furthermore, we observe that the BSSs are more centrally concentrated in both clusters than the reference population. Similarly, we find that in both cases the slope of the mass function significantly decreases as a function of the cluster-centric distance. This result provides additional support for the use of the radial distribution of the BSSs as a powerful and observationally convenient indicator of the cluster dynamical age
The structural properties of multiple populations in globular clusters: The instructive case of NGC 3201
Full text linkAll multiple population (MP) formation models in globular clusters (GCs) predict that second population (SP) stars form more centrally concentrated than the first population (FP). As dynamical evolution proceeds, spatial differences are progressively erased and only dynamically young clusters are expected to retain a partial memory of the initial structural differences. In recent years, this picture has been supported by observations of the MP radial distributions of both Galactic and extragalactic GCs. However, more recent observations have suggested that in some systems, FPs might actually form more centrally segregated, with NGC 3201 being one significant example of such a possibility. Here, we present a detailed morphological and kinematic characterization of the MPs in NGC 3201, based on a combination of photometric and astrometric data. We show that the distribution of the SP is clearly bimodal. Specifically, the SP is significantly more centrally concentrated than the FP within similar to 1.3 cluster's half-mass radius. Beyond this point, the SP fraction increases again, likely due to asymmetries in the spatial distributions of the two populations. The central concentration of the SP observed in the central regions implies that it formed more centrally concentrated than the FP, even more so than what is observed in the present-day. This interpretation is supported by the key information provided by the MP kinematic properties. Indeed, we find that the FP is isotropic across all the sampled cluster extension, while the velocity distribution of the SP becomes radially anisotropic in the cluster's outer regions, as expected for the dynamical evolution of SP stars formed more centrally concentrated than the FP. The combination of spatial and kinematic observations provide key insights into the dynamical properties of this cluster and lend further support to scenarios in which the SP forms more centrally concentrated than the FP
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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