Oral Presentation Astronomical Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting including HWWS 2013

Multiple stellar populations in intermediate-age star clusters (#73)

Sarah L Martell 1 , Sonia Duffau 2 , Antonino P Milone 3 , Graeme H Smith 4 , Michael M Briley 5 , Eva K Grebel 6
  1. Australian Astronomical Observatory, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. LSW/ZAH, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany
  3. Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
  4. Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
  5. Physics and Astronomy , Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA
  6. ARI/ZAH, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany

I will describe a recent observational project aimed at understanding the formation of multiple stellar populations in star clusters. Using moderate-resolution VLT/FORS2 spectra of stars in the intermediate-age clusters NGC 1651 and NGC 1751 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, we have found that the complex age structure known from precision photometry is matched by complex light-element abundances. This result carries important new implications for the formation of star clusters in various galactic environments.