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MUSE crowded field 3D spectroscopy of over 12 000 stars in the globular cluster NGC 6397

  • We present a detailed analysis of the kinematics of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 6397 based on more than similar to 18 000 spectra obtained with the novel integral field spectrograph MUSE. While NGC 6397 is often considered a core collapse cluster, our analysis suggests a flattening of the surface brightness profile at the smallest radii. Although it is among the nearest globular clusters, the low velocity dispersion of NGC 6397 of < 5 km s(-1) imposes heavy demands on the quality of the kinematical data. We show that despite its limited spectral resolution, MUSE reaches an accuracy of 1 km s(-1) in the analysis of stellar spectra. We find slight evidence for a rotational component in the cluster and the velocity dispersion profile that we obtain shows a mild central cusp. To investigate the nature of this feature, we calculate spherical Jeans models and compare these models to our kinematical data. This comparison shows that if a constant mass-to-light ratio is assumed, the addition of an intermediate-mass black hole with a massWe present a detailed analysis of the kinematics of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 6397 based on more than similar to 18 000 spectra obtained with the novel integral field spectrograph MUSE. While NGC 6397 is often considered a core collapse cluster, our analysis suggests a flattening of the surface brightness profile at the smallest radii. Although it is among the nearest globular clusters, the low velocity dispersion of NGC 6397 of < 5 km s(-1) imposes heavy demands on the quality of the kinematical data. We show that despite its limited spectral resolution, MUSE reaches an accuracy of 1 km s(-1) in the analysis of stellar spectra. We find slight evidence for a rotational component in the cluster and the velocity dispersion profile that we obtain shows a mild central cusp. To investigate the nature of this feature, we calculate spherical Jeans models and compare these models to our kinematical data. This comparison shows that if a constant mass-to-light ratio is assumed, the addition of an intermediate-mass black hole with a mass of 600 M-circle dot brings the model predictions into agreement with our data, and therefore could be at the origin of the velocity dispersion profile. We further investigate cases with varying mass-to-light ratios and find that a compact dark stellar component can also explain our observations. However, such a component would closely resemble the black hole from the constant mass-to-light ratio models as this component must be confined to the central similar to 5 ' of the cluster and must have a similar mass. Independent constraints on the distribution of stellar remnants in the cluster or kinematic measurements at the highest possible spatial resolution should be able to distinguish the two alternatives.show moreshow less

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Author details:S. Kamann, T. -O. Husser, Jarle BrinchmannORCiD, E. Emsellem, Peter Michael WeilbacherORCiDGND, Lutz WisotzkiORCiDGND, Martin WendtORCiDGND, D. Krajnovic, M. M. Roth, Roland Bacon, S. Dreizler
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201527065
ISSN:1432-0746
Title of parent work (English):Tectonophysics : international journal of geotectonics and the geology and physics of the interior of the earth
Publisher:EDP Sciences
Place of publishing:Les Ulis
Publication type:Article
Language:English
Year of first publication:2016
Publication year:2016
Release date:2020/03/22
Tag:black hole physics; globular clusters: individual: NGC 6397; stars: kinematics and dynamics; techniques: imaging spectroscopy; techniques: radial velocities
Volume:588
Number of pages:12
Funding institution:BMBF Verbundforschung (project MUSE-AO) [05A14BAC, 05A14MGA]; DFG [SFB 963/1]
Organizational units:Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Physik und Astronomie
Peer review:Referiert
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