Ceci N'est Pas a Globular Cluster: The Metallicity Distribution of the Stellar System Terzan 5

Abstract

We present new determinations of the iron abundance for 220 stars belonging to the stellar system Terzan 5 in the Galactic bulge. The spectra have been acquired with FLAMES at the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory and DEIMOS at the Keck II Telescope. This is by far the largest spectroscopic sample of stars ever observed in this stellar system. From this data set, a subsample of targets with spectra unaffected by TiO bands was extracted and statistically decontaminated from field stars. Once combined with 34 additional stars previously published by our group, a total sample of 135 member stars covering the entire radial extent of the system has been used to determine the metallicity distribution function of Terzan 5. The iron distribution clearly shows three peaks: a super-solar component at [Fe/H] ~= 0.25 dex, accounting for ~29% of the sample, a dominant sub-solar population at [Fe/H] ~= -0.30 dex, corresponding to ~62% of the total, and a minor (6%) metal-poor component at [Fe/H] ~= -0.8 dex. Such a broad, multi-modal metallicity distribution demonstrates that Terzan 5 is not a genuine globular cluster but the remnant of a much more complex stellar system.

Based on FLAMES observations performed at the European Southern Observatory, proposal numbers 087.D-0716(B), 087.D-0748(A), and 283.D-5027(A), and at the W. M. Keck Observatory. Keck is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.