Helium and multiple populations in the massive globular cluster NGC 6266 (M 62)

Abstract

Recent studies suggest that the helium content of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters (GCs) is not uniform. The range of helium varies from cluster to cluster with more massive GCs having, preferentially, large helium spread. GCs with large helium variations also show extended-blue horizontal branch (HB). I exploit Hubble Space Telescope photometry to investigate multiple stellar populations in NGC 6266 and infer their relative helium abundance. This cluster is an ideal target to investigate the possible connection between helium, cluster mass, and HB morphology, as it exhibits an extended HB and is among the 10 more luminous GCs in the Milky Way. The analysis of colour–magnitude diagrams from multiwavelength photometry reveals that also NGC 6266, similarly to other massive GCs, hosts a double main sequence (MS), with the red and the blue component made up of the 79 ± 1 per cent and the 21 ± 1 per cent of stars, respectively. The red MS is consistent with a stellar population with primordial helium while the blue MS is highly helium-enhanced by ΔY = 0.08 ± 0.01. Furthermore, the red MS exhibits an intrinsic broadening that cannot be attributed to photometric errors only and is consistent with a spread in helium of ∼0.025 dex. The comparison between NGC 6266 and other GCs hosting helium-enriched stellar populations supports the presence of a correlation among helium variations, cluster mass, and HB extension. Show more