Exploring the Upper Red Giant and Asymptotic Giant Branches: The Globular Cluster M5

Abstract

We have tabulated lists of upper red giant, horizontal-, and asymptotic giant branch (RGB, HB, and AGB) stars in the globular cluster M5 that are complete to over 10' from the core for the RGB and AGB samples, and 8' for the HB sample. The large samples give us the most precise value of R2 = NAGB/NHB to date for a single globular cluster (0.176 ± 0.018). This is incompatible with theoretical calculations using the most recent physical inputs. The discrepancy can probably be attributed to the dependence of observed R2 values on HB morphology. We identify the cluster M55 as another possible example of this effect. Samples of HB and AGB stars in populous clusters may provide a means of calibrating the masses of HB stars in globular clusters. The cumulative luminosity function of the upper RGB shows an apparent deficit of observed stars near the tip of the branch. This feature has less than a 2% chance of being due to statistical fluctuations. The slope of the cumulative luminosity function for AGB stars is consistent with the theoretically predicted value from stellar models when measurement bias is taken into account. We also introduce a new diagnostic Rclump that reflects the fraction of the AGB lifetime that a star spends in the AGB clump. For M5 we find Rclump = 0.42 ± 0.05, in marginal disagreement with theoretical predictions. Finally, we note that the blue half of M5's instability strip (where first-overtone RR Lyrae stars reside) is underpopulated, based on the large numbers of fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars and on the nonvariable stars at the blue end of the instability strip. This fact may imply that the evolutionary tracks (and particularly the colors) of stars in the instability strip are affected by pulsations.