Intrinsic iron abundance spreads in globular clusters

Abstract

Globular Clusters (GCs) host multiple stellar populations, likely composed of a subset of FG stars that enriched the intracluster medium and gave rise to SG stars, each characterised by distinctive chemical patterns. These patterns typically include enhancements in elements such as N, Na, and Al, coupled with depletions in C, O, and Mg in SG stars. Traditionally, heavier elements such as those in the Fe-peak were considered unaffected in most GCs. However, recent studies have reported significant internal spreads in these elements, suggesting a more complex picture of chemical enrichment within GCs. This study seeks to derive precise and homogeneous differential iron abundances in a large sample of GCs. By doing so, our aim is to investigate the presence of intrinsic iron spreads within them and to assess the existence of differences in Fe between their stellar populations. We used the Python-based tool Q2 to determine both differential stellar parameters and iron abundances for 92 sibling stars, defined by the similarities in their stellar parameters, across 13 Galactic GCs. This differential approach reduces the influence of non-LTE effects, and minimises observational errors, and systematic biases linked to stellar parameters. We performed Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the statistical significance of the measured spreads. Most of the GCs in our sample do not show evidence of statistically significant Fe spreads. Only a few exceptions emerge, namely NGC1851, NGC3201, and NGC5634, which display a highly significant iron spread. In particular, NGC3201 shows a particularly pronounced spread in its FG population, reflecting a potential inhomogeneous iron abundance in its pristine material. Finally, through statistical tests, we conclude that our data do not support the presence of a widespread iron variation in GCs.