Stellar Streams Reveal the Mass Loss of Globular Clusters

Abstract

Globular cluster (GC) streams, debris of stars tidally stripped from their progenitor GCs, have densities that correlate positively with the GC mass-loss rate. In this work, we employ a novel particle spray algorithm that can accurately reproduce the morphology of streams of various orbital types, enabling us to uncover the relationship between the GC mass-loss history and stream density profiles. Using recent discoveries of GC streams from Gaia Data Release 3, we present, for the first time, a catalog of directly observed mass-loss rates for 12 Galactic GCs, ranging from 0.5 to 200 M_⊙ Myr^‑1. By fitting power-law relations between the mass-loss rate and key GC properties, we identify positive correlations with GC mass and orbital frequency, consistent with the predictions from N-body simulations.