Multiple Stellar Populations in Globular Clusters with JWST (2304.07770v1)

Abstract: I present the first evidence of multiple populations in the globular cluster (GCs) 47Tucanae based on images collected with the near-infrared camera (NIRCam) on board the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). While NIRCam photometry is poorly sensitive to multiple populations among stars brighter than the main-sequence (MS) knee, the M-dwarfs more-massive than 0.1 solar masses define a wide F115W-F322W2 color range due to multiple populations. The star-to-star color differences are mostly due to the different amounts of water vapor (hence oxygen) that affect the spectra of M-dwarfs. The chromosome map unveils an extended first population (1P) composed of M-dwarfs with different metallicities and three main groups of second-population (2P) stars that are depleted in oxygen with respect to the 1P. I present the discovery of an MS of very-low-mass stars (masses smaller than 0.1 solar masses) and tentatively associated it with a sequence composed of O-rich stars alone.