Asteroseismology M4 study with K2 data

Mass-loss remains a major uncertainty in stellar modelling. In low-mass stars, mass-loss is most significant on the red giant branch (RGB), and will impact the star's evolutionary path and final stellar remnant. Directly measuring the mass difference of stars in various phases of evolution represents one of the best ways to quantify integrated mass-loss. Globular clusters (GCs) are ideal objects for this. M4 is currently the only GC for which asteroseismic data exist for stars in multiple phases of evolution. Using K2 photometry, we report asteroseismic masses for 75 red giants in M4, the largest seismic sample in a GC to date. We find an integrated RGB mass-loss of {Delta}M_avg_ = 0.17 +/- 0.01 M_{Sun}, equivalent to a Reimers' mass-loss coefficient of {eta}_R = 0.39. Our results for initial mass, horizontal branch mass, {eta}R, and integrated RGB mass-loss show remarkable agreement with previous studies, but with higher precision using asteroseismology. We also report the first detections of solar- like oscillations in early asymptotic giant branch (EAGB) stars in GCs. We find an average mass of M_avg,EAGB_ = 0.54 +/- 0.01 M_{Sun}_, significantly lower than predicted by models. This suggests larger-than-expected mass-loss on the horizontal branch. Alternatively, it could indicate unknown systematics in the scaling relations for the EAGB. We discover a tentative mass bimodality in the RGB sample, possibly due to the multiple populations. In our red horizontal branch sample, we find a mass distribution consistent with a single value. We emphasize the importance of seismic studies of GCs since they could potentially resolve major uncertainties in stellar theory.

Cone search capability for table J/MNRAS/515/3184/table2 (Results of global seismic quantities, stellar properties and mass estimates for our M4 stars)

Identifier
Source https://dc.g-vo.org/rr/q/lp/custom/CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/515/3184
Related Identifier https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/MNRAS/515/3184
Related Identifier https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/MNRAS/515/3184
Metadata Access http://dc.g-vo.org/rr/q/pmh/pubreg.xml?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_b2find&identifier=ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/515/3184
Provenance
Creator Howell M.; Campbell S.W.; Stello D.; De Silva G.M.
Publisher CDS
Publication Year 2025
Rights https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.html
OpenAccess true
Contact CDS support team <cds-question(at)unistra.fr>
Representation
Resource Type Dataset; AstroObjects
Discipline Astrophysics and Astronomy; Natural Sciences; Observational Astronomy; Physics; Stellar Astronomy