TY - JOUR

T1 - The luminosity function of Palomar 5 and Its tidal tails

AU - Koch, Andreas

AU - Odenkirchen, Michael

AU - Grebel, E. K.

AU - Martinez-Delgado, D.

AU - Caldwell, John A. R.

PY - 2004

Y1 - 2004

N2 - We present the main sequence luminosity function of the tidally disrupted globular cluster Palomar 5 and its tidal tails. For this work we analyzed imaging data obtained with the Wide Field Camera at the INT (La Palma) and data from the Wide Field Imager at the MPG/ESO 2.2 m telescope at La Silla down to a limiting magnitude of approximately 24.5 mag in B. Our results indicate that preferentially fainter stars were removed from the cluster so that the LF of the cluster's main body exhibits a significant degree of flattening compared to other GCs. This is attributed to its advanced dynamical evolution. The LF of the tails is, in turn, enhanced with faint, low mass stars, which we interpret as a consequence of mass segregation in the cluster.

AB - We present the main sequence luminosity function of the tidally disrupted globular cluster Palomar 5 and its tidal tails. For this work we analyzed imaging data obtained with the Wide Field Camera at the INT (La Palma) and data from the Wide Field Imager at the MPG/ESO 2.2 m telescope at La Silla down to a limiting magnitude of approximately 24.5 mag in B. Our results indicate that preferentially fainter stars were removed from the cluster so that the LF of the cluster's main body exhibits a significant degree of flattening compared to other GCs. This is attributed to its advanced dynamical evolution. The LF of the tails is, in turn, enhanced with faint, low mass stars, which we interpret as a consequence of mass segregation in the cluster.

M3 - Journal article

VL - 327

SP - 333

EP - 336

JO - ASP Conference Series

JF - ASP Conference Series

SN - 1050-3390

ER -