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Creators/Authors contains: "Bellini, A"

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  1. Recent work withJWSThas demonstrated its capability to identify and chemically characterize multiple populations in globular clusters down to the H-burning limit. In this study, we explore the kinematics of multiple populations in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae by combining data fromJWST, HST, Gaia, and ground-based telescopes. We analyzed velocity dispersion and anisotropy profiles from the cluster center out to ∼10Rh. Our findings indicate that while first population (1G) stars’ motions are isotropic, second population (2G) stars’ motions are significantly radially anisotropic. These results align with the predictions of simulations of the dynamical evolution of clusters where 2G stars are initially more centrally concentrated than 1G stars. Furthermore, we subdivided the 2G population into two subpopulations: 2GAand 2GB, with the latter being more chemically extreme. We compared their dynamical profiles and found no significant differences. For the first time, we measured the degree of energy equipartition among the multiple populations of 47 Tucanae. Overall, within the analyzed radial range (∼2–4Rh), both populations exhibit a low degree of energy equipartition. The most significant differences between 1G and 2G stars are observed in the tangential velocity component, where 2G stars are characterized by a stronger degree of energy equipartition than 1G stars. In the radial component, the behavior of 1G and 2G stars is more variable, with differences largely dependent on radius. Moreover, our analysis reveals that the ratio of rotational velocity to velocity dispersion is larger for the 2G population. Finally, we found that 1G stars exhibit a higher skewness in their tangential proper motions than 2G stars, providing additional evidence of kinematic differences between the two stellar generations. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available June 1, 2026
  2. Thanks to its exceptional near-infrared photometry, JWST can effectively contribute to the discovery, characterisation, and understanding of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters, especially at low masses where theHubbleSpace Telescope (HST) faces limitations. This paper continues the efforts of the JWST GO-1979 programme in exploring the faintest members of the globular cluster NGC 6397. In this work, we show that the combination of HST and JWST data allows us to identify two groups of MS stars: MSa, the first-generation group, and MSb, the second-generation group. We measured the ratio between the two groups and combined it with measurements from the literature focused on more central fields and more massive stars compared to our study. Our findings suggest that the MSa and MSb stars are present in a ≈30−70 ratio regardless of the distance from the centre of the cluster and the mass of the stars used so far. However, considering the limited areal coverage of our study, a more comprehensive spatial analysis is necessary to definitively confirm complete spatial mixing. 
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  3. Abstract Recent work has shown that near-infrared (NIR) Hubble Space Telescope (HST) photometry allows us to disentangle multiple populations (MPs) among M dwarfs of globular clusters (GCs) and to investigate this phenomenon in very-low-mass (VLM) stars. Here, we present the color–magnitude diagrams of nine GCs and the open cluster NGC 6791 in the F110W and F160W bands of HST, showing that the main sequences (MSs) below the knee are either broadened or split, thus providing evidence of MPs among VLM stars. In contrast, the MS of NGC 6791 is consistent with a single population. The color distribution of M dwarfs dramatically changes between different GCs, and the color width correlates with the cluster mass. We conclude that the MP ubiquity, variety, and dependence on GC mass are properties common to VLM and more-massive stars. We combined UV, optical, and NIR observations of NGC 2808 and NGC 6121 (M4) to identify MPs along with a wide range of stellar masses (∼0.2–0.8  ⊙ ), from the MS turnoff to the VLM regime, and measured, for the first time, their mass functions (MFs). We find that the fraction of MPs does not depend on the stellar mass and that their MFs have similar slopes. These findings indicate that the properties of MPs do not depend on stellar mass. In a scenario where the second generations formed in higher-density environments than the first generations, the possibility that the MPs formed with the same initial MF would suggest that it does not depend on the environment. 
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  4. null (Ed.)
    ABSTRACT In the fourth paper of this series, we present – and publicly release – the state-of-the-art catalogue and atlases for the two remaining parallel fields observed with the Hubble Space Telescope for the large programme on ω Centauri. These two fields are located at ∼12 arcmin from the centre of the globular cluster (in the west and south-west directions) and were imaged in filters from the ultraviolet to the infrared. Both fields were observed at two epochs separated by about 2 yr that were used to derive proper motions and to compute membership probabilities. 
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