Study of Integrated Far-ultraviolet Emissions from Galactic Globular Clusters using AstroSat/UVIT observations

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Main Authors: Piridi, Sonika, Kumar, Ranjan, Pandey, Divya, Pradhan, Ananta C.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Piridi, Sonika
Kumar, Ranjan
Pandey, Divya
Pradhan, Ananta C.
author_facet Piridi, Sonika
Kumar, Ranjan
Pandey, Divya
Pradhan, Ananta C.
contents We used observations obtained with the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope on board the AstroSat satellite to measure the integrated far-ultraviolet (FUV) and optical (V) magnitudes of 30 Galactic globular clusters (GCs). We classified the UV-bright evolved stellar populations of the GCs using FUV$-$V versus FUV color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) and BaSTI-IAC isochrones and subsequently quantified their contributions to the total integrated FUV emissions. We found that the horizontal branch (HB) and post-HB (post-HB) stars contribute $\sim 40\%-45$\% to the total FUV emission of GCs, while the contribution of blue straggler stars is only $\sim$3\%. The HB stars especially dominate the UV budget of the metal-poor clusters. The observed spread in FUV-optical color in the color-color diagram supports the phenomenon that the UV upturn of early-type galaxies is due to the evolved stars. We studied for the first time the variation of integrated FUV magnitudes and colors with several cluster parameters in the core, intermediate, outer, and tidal regions, such as the fraction of second-generation stars, helium mass fraction, HB morphology, and mass of the GCs. We found that the GCs with a higher second-generation star fraction, helium mass fraction, and cluster mass are brighter in all the regions. The GCs with bluer HB morphologies also have brighter and bluer FUV magnitudes in the core and intermediate regions. Metal-poor GCs show significantly bluer FUV$-$optical colors, consistent with a stronger contribution from hot evolved stars.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_27600
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Study of Integrated Far-ultraviolet Emissions from Galactic Globular Clusters using AstroSat/UVIT observations
Piridi, Sonika
Kumar, Ranjan
Pandey, Divya
Pradhan, Ananta C.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
We used observations obtained with the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope on board the AstroSat satellite to measure the integrated far-ultraviolet (FUV) and optical (V) magnitudes of 30 Galactic globular clusters (GCs). We classified the UV-bright evolved stellar populations of the GCs using FUV$-$V versus FUV color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) and BaSTI-IAC isochrones and subsequently quantified their contributions to the total integrated FUV emissions. We found that the horizontal branch (HB) and post-HB (post-HB) stars contribute $\sim 40\%-45$\% to the total FUV emission of GCs, while the contribution of blue straggler stars is only $\sim$3\%. The HB stars especially dominate the UV budget of the metal-poor clusters. The observed spread in FUV-optical color in the color-color diagram supports the phenomenon that the UV upturn of early-type galaxies is due to the evolved stars. We studied for the first time the variation of integrated FUV magnitudes and colors with several cluster parameters in the core, intermediate, outer, and tidal regions, such as the fraction of second-generation stars, helium mass fraction, HB morphology, and mass of the GCs. We found that the GCs with a higher second-generation star fraction, helium mass fraction, and cluster mass are brighter in all the regions. The GCs with bluer HB morphologies also have brighter and bluer FUV magnitudes in the core and intermediate regions. Metal-poor GCs show significantly bluer FUV$-$optical colors, consistent with a stronger contribution from hot evolved stars.
title Study of Integrated Far-ultraviolet Emissions from Galactic Globular Clusters using AstroSat/UVIT observations
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.27600