Peculiar Multimodality on the Horizontal Branch of the Globular Cluster NGC 2808

Abstract

We present distributions of colors of stars along the horizontal branch (HB) of the globular cluster NGC 2808, from Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 imaging in B, V, and an ultraviolet filter (F218W). This cluster's HB is already known to be strongly bimodal, with approximately equal-sized HB populations widely separated in the color-magnitude diagram. Our images reveal a long blue tail with two gaps, for a total of four nearly distinct HB groups. These gaps are very narrow, corresponding to envelope-mass differences of only ~0.01 M_☉. This remarkable multimodality may be a signature of mass-loss processes, subtle composition variations, or dynamical effects; we briefly summarize the possibilities. The existence of narrow gaps between distinct clumps on the HB presents a challenge for models that attempt to explain HB bimodality or other peculiar HB structures.

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