Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey Research Articles

Differential reddening in the direction of 56 Galactic globular clusters

ABSTRACT The presence of differential reddening in the direction of Galactic globular clusters (GCs) has proven to be a serious limitation in the traditional colour–magnitude diagram (CMD) analysis. Here, we estimate local reddening variations in the direction of 56 Galactic GCs. To do that, we use the public catalogues derived as part of the Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic GCs, which include photometry in the F275W, F336W, F438W, F606W, and F814W filters. We corrected photometry for differential reddening and found that for 21 out of 56 GCs the adopted correction procedure significantly improved the CMDs. Moreover, we measure the reddening law in the direction of these clusters, finding that RV exhibits a high level of variability within the Galaxy, ranging from ∼2.0 to ∼4.0. The updated values of RV have been used to improve the determination of local reddening variations and derive high-resolution reddening maps in the direction of the 21 highly-reddened targets within our sample. To compare the results of the different clusters, we compute the 68th percentile of the differential-reddening distribution, $\sigma _{\Delta A_{\rm F814W}}$. This quantity ranges from 0.003 to 0.030 mag and exhibits a significant anticorrelation with the absolute module of the Galactic latitude and a strong correlation with the average reddening in the direction of each cluster. Therefore, highly-reddened GCs located in the proximity of the Galactic plane typically show higher differential-reddening variations across their field of view.

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. XXIV. Differences in Internal Kinematics of Multiple Stellar Populations

Our understanding of the kinematic properties of multiple stellar populations (mPOPs) in Galactic globular clusters (GCs) is still limited compared to what we know about their chemical and photometric characteristics. Such limitation arises from the lack of a comprehensive observational investigation of this topic. Here we present the first homogeneous kinematic analysis of mPOPs in 56 GCs based on high-precision proper motions computed with Hubble Space Telescope data. We focused on red-giant-branch stars, for which the mPOP tagging is clearer, and measured the velocity dispersion of stars belonging to first (1G) and second generations (2G). We find that 1G stars are generally kinematically isotropic even at the half-light radius, whereas 2G stars are isotropic at the center and become radially anisotropic before the half-light radius. The radial anisotropy is induced by a lower tangential velocity dispersion of 2G stars with respect to the 1G population, while the radial component of the motion is comparable. We also show possible evidence that the kinematic properties of mPOPs are affected by the Galactic tidal field, corroborating previous observational and theoretical results suggesting a relation between the strength of the external tidal field and some properties of mPOPs. Although limited to the GCs’ central regions, our analysis leads to new insights into the mPOP phenomenon, and provides the motivation for future observational studies of the internal kinematics of mPOPs.

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. XXIII. Proper-motion Catalogs and Internal Kinematics

A number of studies based on the data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) GO-13297 program “HST Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters: Shedding UV Light on Their Populations and Formation” have investigated the photometric properties of a large sample of Galactic globular clusters and revolutionized our understanding of their stellar populations. In this paper, we expand upon previous studies by focusing our attention on the stellar clusters’ internal kinematics. We computed proper motions for stars in 56 globular clusters and one open cluster by combining the GO-13297 images with archival HST data. The astrophotometric catalogs released with this paper represent the most complete and homogeneous collection of proper motions of stars in the cores of stellar clusters to date, and expand the information provided by the current (and future) Gaia data releases to much fainter stars and into the crowded central regions. We also census the general kinematic properties of stellar clusters by computing the velocity dispersion and anisotropy radial profiles of their bright members. We study the dependence on concentration and relaxation time, and derive dynamical distances. Finally, we present an in-depth kinematic analysis of the globular cluster NGC 5904.

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. XX. Ages of Single and Multiple Stellar Populations in Seven Bulge Globular Clusters

Abstract In the present work we analyzed seven globular clusters (GCs) selected from their location in the Galactic bulge and with metallicity values in the range −1.30 ≲ [Fe/H] ≲ −0.50. The aim of this work is first to derive cluster ages assuming single stellar populations and second to identify the stars from first (1G) and second generations (2G) from the main sequence, subgiant, and red giant branches, and to derive their age differences. Based on a combination of UV and optical filters used in this project, we apply the Gaussian mixture models to distinguish the multiple stellar populations. Applying statistical isochrone fitting, we derive self-consistent ages, distances, metallicities, and reddening values for the sample clusters. An average age of 12.3 ± 0.4 Gyr was obtained both using DSED and BaSTI (accounting atomic diffusion effects) isochrones, without a clear distinction between the moderately metal-poor and the more metal-rich bulge clusters, except for NGC 6717 and the inner halo NGC 6362 with ∼13.5 Gyr. We derived a weighted mean age difference between the multiple populations hosted by each GC of 41 ± 170 Myr adopting canonical He abundances; whereas for higher He in 2G stars, this difference reduces to 17 ± 170 Myr, but with individual uncertainties of 500 Myr.

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic globular clusters – XXI. Binaries among multiple stellar populations

Abstract A number of scenarios for the formation of multiple populations in globular clusters (GCs) predict that second generation (2G) stars form in a compact and dense subsystem embedded in a more extended first-generation (1G) system. If these scenarios are accurate, a consequence of the denser 2G formation environment is that 2G binaries should be more significantly affected by stellar interactions and disrupted at a larger rate than 1G binaries. The fractions and properties of binary stars can thus provide a dynamical fingerprint of the formation epoch of multiple-population GCs and their subsequent dynamical evolution. We investigate the connection between binaries and multiple populations in five GCs, NGC 288, NGC 6121 (M 4), NGC 6352, NGC 6362, and NGC 6838 (M 71). To do this, we introduce a new method based on the comparison of Hubble Space Telescope observations of binaries in the F275W, F336W, F438W, F606W, and F814W filters with a large number of simulated binaries. In the inner regions probed by our data, we do not find large differences between the local 1G and the 2G binary incidences in four of the studied clusters, the only exception being M 4 where the 1G binary incidence is about three times larger than the 2G incidence. The results found are in general agreement with the results of simulations predicting significant differences in the global 1G and 2G incidences and in the local values in the clusters’ outer regions but similar incidences in the inner regions. The significant difference found in M 4 is consistent with simulations with a larger fraction of wider binaries. Our analysis also provides the first evidence of mixed (1G–2G) binaries, a population predicted by numerical simulations to form in a cluster’s inner regions as a result of stellar encounters during which one component of a binary is replaced by a star of a different population.

Chemical Abundances along the 1G Sequence of the Chromosome Maps: The Globular Cluster NGC 3201*

Abstract The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters (GCs) has investigated multiple stellar populations by means of the “chromosome map” (ChM) diagnostic tool that maximizes the separation between stars with different chemical compositions. One of the most challenging features revealed by ChM analysis is the apparent inhomogeneity among stars belonging to the first population, a phenomenon largely attributed to He variations. However, this explanation is not supported by uniformity in the p-capture elements of these stars. The HST survey has revealed that the GC NGC 3201 shows exceptionally wide coverage in the parameter of the ChM. We present a chemical abundance analysis of 24 elements in 18 giants belonging to the first population of this GC and having a wide range in . As far as the p-capture elements are concerned, the chemical abundances are typical of first-generation (1G) stars, as expected from the location of our targets in the ChM. Based on radial velocities and chemical abundance arguments, we find that the three stars with the lowest values are binary candidates. This suggests that at least those stars could be explained with binarity. These results are consistent with evidence inferred from multiband photometry that evolved blue stragglers (BSs) populate the bluest part of the 1G sequence in the ChM. The remaining 15 spectroscopic targets show a small range in the overall metallicity by ∼0.10 dex, with stars at higher values having higher absolute abundances. We suggest that a small variation in metals and binarity governs the color spread of the 1G in the ChM and that evolved BSs contribute to the bluest tail of the 1G sequence.

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters – XIX. A chemical tagging of the multiple stellar populations over the chromosome maps

Abstract The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters (GCs) has investigated GCs and their stellar populations. In previous papers of this series we have introduced a pseudo two-colour diagram, or ‘chromosome map’ (ChM) that maximizes the separation between the multiple populations. We have identified two main classes of GCs: Type I, including ∼83 per cent of the objects, and Type II clusters. Both classes host two main groups of stars, referred to in this series as first (1G) and second generation (2G). Type II clusters host more complex ChMs, exhibiting two or more parallel sequences of 1G and 2G stars. We exploit spectroscopic elemental abundances from the literature to assign the chemical composition to the distinct populations as identified on the ChMs of 29 GCs. We find that stars in different regions of the ChM have different compositions: 1G stars share the same light-element content as field stars, while 2G stars are enhanced in N and Na and depleted in O. Stars with enhanced Al, as well as stars with depleted Mg, populate the extreme regions of the ChM. We investigate the intriguing colour spread among 1G stars observed in many Type I GCs, and find no evidence for internal variations in light elements among these stars, whereas either a ∼0.1 dex iron spread or a variation in He among 1G stars remains to be verified. In the attempt of analysing the global properties of the multiple-population phenomenon, we have constructed a universal ChM, which highlights that, though very variegate, the phenomenon has some common pattern among all the analysed GCs. The universal ChM reveals a tight connection with Na abundances, for which we have provided an empirical relation. The additional ChM sequences observed in Type II GCs are enhanced in metallicity and, in some cases, s-process elements. Omega Centauri can be classified as an extreme Type II GC, with a ChM displaying three main extended ‘streams’, each with its own variations in chemical abundances. One of the most noticeable differences is found between the lower and upper streams, with the latter, associated with higher He, being also shifted towards higher Fe and lower Li abundances. We publicly release the ChMs.

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. XVIII. Proper-motion Kinematics of Multiple Stellar Populations in the Core Regions of NGC 6352

Abstract We present the analysis of the radial distributions and kinematic properties of the multiple stellar populations (mPOPs) hosted in the globular cluster (GC) NGC 6352 as part of the Hubble Space Telescope “UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters” program. NGC 6352 is one of the few GCs for which the mPOP tagging in appropriate color–magnitude diagrams is clear in all evolutionary sequences. We computed high-precision stellar proper motions for the stars from the cluster’s core out to 75 arcsec (∼1.5 core radii, or ∼0.6 half-light radii). We find that, in the region explored, first- and second-generation stars share the same radial distribution and kinematic properties. Velocity dispersions, anisotropy radial profiles, differential rotation, and level of energy equipartition, all suggest that NGC 6352 is probably in an advanced evolutionary stage, and any possible difference in the structural and kinematic properties of its mPOPs have been erased by dynamical processes in the core of the cluster. We also provide an estimate of the mass of blue stragglers and of main-sequence binaries through kinematics alone. In general, in order to build a complete dynamical picture of this and other GCs, it will be essential to extend the analyses presented in this paper to the GCs’ outer regions where some memories of the initial differences in the mPOP properties, and those imprinted by dynamical processes, might still be present.

The Hubble Space Telescope UV legacy survey of galactic globular clusters – XVI. The helium abundance of multiple populations

Recent work, based on data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST ) UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters (GCs), has revealed that all the analysed clusters host two groups of first- (1G) and second-generation (2G) stars. In most GCs, both 1G and 2G stars host substellar populations with different chemical composition. We compare multiwavelength HST photometry with synthetic spectra to determine for the first time the average helium difference between the 2G and 1G stars in a large sample of 57 GCs and the maximum helium variation within each of them. We find that in all clusters 2G stars are consistent with being enhanced in helium with respect to 1G. The maximum helium variation ranges from less than 0.01 to more than 0.10 in helium mass fraction and correlates with both the cluster mass and the colour extension of the horizontal branch (HB). These findings demonstrate that the internal helium variation is one of the main (second) parameters governing the HB morphology.

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. XV. The Dynamical Clock: Reading Cluster Dynamical Evolution from the Segregation Level of Blue Straggler Stars

Abstract The parameter A +, defined as the area enclosed between the cumulative radial distribution of blue straggler stars (BSSs) and that of a reference population, is a powerful indicator of the level of BSS central segregation. As part of the Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic globular clusters (GCs), here we present the BSS population and the determination of A + in 27 GCs observed out to about one half-mass radius. In combination with 21 additional clusters discussed in a previous paper, this provides us with a global sample of 48 systems (corresponding to ∼32% of the Milky Way GC population), for which we find a strong correlation between A + and the ratio of cluster age to the current central relaxation time. Tight relations have also been found with the core radius and the central luminosity density, which are expected to change with the long-term cluster dynamical evolution. An interesting relation is emerging between A + and the ratio of the BSS velocity dispersion relative to that of main sequence turn-off stars, which measures the degree of energy equipartition experienced by BSSs in the cluster. These results provide further confirmation that BSSs are invaluable probes of GC internal dynamics and that A + is a powerful dynamical clock.

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic globular clusters – XIV. Multiple stellar populations within M 15 and their radial distribution★

In the context of the Hubble Space Telescope UV Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters (GCs), we derived high-precision, multi-band photometry to investigate the multiple stellar populations in the massive and metal-poor GC M 15. By creating for red-giant branch (RGB) stars of the cluster a 'chromosome map', which is a pseudo two-colour diagram made with appropriate combination of F275W, F336W, F438W, and F814W magnitudes, we revealed colour spreads around two of the three already known stellar populations. These spreads cannot be produced by photometric errors alone and could hide the existence of (two) additional populations. This discovery increases the complexity of the multiple-population phenomenon in M 15. Our analysis shows that M 15 exhibits a faint sub-giant branch (SGB), which is also detected in colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) made with optical magnitudes only. This poorly-populated SGB includes about 5% of the total number of SGB stars and evolves into a red RGB in the m_F336W vs. m_F336W-m_F814W CMD, suggesting that M 15 belongs to the class of Type II GCs. We measured the relative number of stars in each population at various radial distances from the cluster centre, showing that all of these populations share the same radial distribution within statistic uncertainties. These new findings are discussed in the context of the formation and evolution scenarios of the multiple populations.

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic globular clusters – XIII. ACS/WFC parallel-field catalogues

As part of the Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters, 110 parallel fields were observed with the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys, in the outskirts of 48 globular clusters, plus the open cluster NGC 6791. Totalling about $0.3$ square degrees of observed sky, this is the largest homogeneous Hubble Space Telescope photometric survey of Galalctic globular clusters outskirts to date. In particular, two distinct pointings have been obtained for each target on average, all centred at about $6.5$ arcmin from the cluster centre, thus covering a mean area of about $23\,{\rm arcmin^{2}}$ for each globular cluster. For each field, at least one exposure in both F475W and F814W filters was collected. In this work, we publicly release the astrometric and photometric catalogues and the astrometrised atlases for each of these fields.

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters – XII. The RGB bumps of multiple stellar populations

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters is providing a major breakthrough in our knowledge of Globular Clusters (GCs) and their stellar populations. Among the main results, we discovered that all the studied GCs host two main discrete groups consisting of first generation (1G) and second generation (2G) stars. We exploit the multiwavelength photometry from this project to investigate, for the first time, the Red Giant Branch Bump (RGBB) of the two generations in a large sample of GCs. We identified, with high statistical significance, the RGBB of 1G and 2G stars in 26 GCs and found that their magnitude separation as a function of the filter wavelength follows comparable trends. The comparison of observations to synthetic spectra reveals that the RGBB luminosity depends on the stellar chemical composition and that the 2G RGBB is consistent with stars enhanced in He and N and depleted in C and O with respect to 1G stars. For metal-poor GCs the 1G and 2G RGBB relative luminosity in optical bands mostly depends on helium content, Y. We used the RGBB observations in F606W and F814W bands to infer the relative helium abundance of 1G and 2G stars in 18 GCs, finding an average helium enhancement $\Delta$Y=0.011$\pm$0.002 of 2G stars with respect to 1G stars. This is the first determination of the average difference in helium abundance of multiple populations in a large number of clusters and provides a lower limit to the maximum internal variation of helium in GCs.

The “UV-route” to Search for Blue Straggler Stars in Globular Clusters: First Results from the HST UV Legacy Survey

Abstract We used data from the Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters to select the Blue Straggler Star (BSS) population in four intermediate/high density systems (namely NGC 2808, NGC 6388, NGC 6541, and NGC 7078) through a “UV-guided search.” This procedure consists of using the F275W images in each cluster to construct the master list of detected sources, and then force it to the images acquired in the other filters. Such an approach optimizes the detection of relatively hot stars and allows the detection of a complete sample of BSSs even in the central region of high-density clusters, because the light from the bright cool giants, which dominates the optical emission in old stellar systems, is sensibly reduced at UV wavelengths. Our UV-guided selections of BSSs have been compared to the samples obtained in previous, optical-driven surveys, clearly demonstrating the efficiency of the UV approach. In each cluster we also measured the parameter A +, defined as the area enclosed between the cumulative radial distribution of BSSs and that of a reference population, which traces the level of BSS central segregation and the level of dynamical evolution suffered by the system. The values measured for the four clusters studied in this paper nicely fall along the dynamical sequence recently presented for a sample of 25 clusters.

THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE UV LEGACY SURVEY OF GALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTERS. VIII. PRELIMINARY PUBLIC CATALOG RELEASE

ABSTRACT The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV Legacy Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters (GO-13297) has been specifically designed to complement the existing F606W and F814W observations of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) Globular Cluster Survey (GO-10775) by observing the most accessible 47 of the previous survey’s 65 clusters in three WFC3/UVIS filters F275W, F336W, and F438W. The new survey also adds super-solar metallicity open cluster NGC 6791 to increase the metallicity diversity. The combined survey provides a homogeneous 5-band data set that can be used to pursue a broad range of scientific investigations. In particular, the chosen UV filters allow the identification of multiple stellar populations by targeting the regions of the spectrum that are sensitive to abundance variations in C, N, and O. In order to provide the community with uniform preliminary catalogs, we have devised an automated procedure that performs high-quality photometry on the new UV observations (along with similar observations of seven other programs in the archive). This procedure finds and measures the potential sources on each individual exposure using library point-spread functions and cross-correlates these observations with the original ACS-Survey catalog. The catalog of 57 clusters we publish here will be useful to identify stars in the different stellar populations, in particular for spectroscopic follow-up. Eventually, we will construct a more sophisticated catalog and artificial-star tests based on an optimal reduction of the UV survey data, but the catalogs presented here give the community the chance to make early use of this HST Treasury survey.

TheHubble Space TelescopeUV Legacy Survey of Galactic globular clusters – XI. The horizontal branch in NGC 6388 and NGC 6441

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy survey of Galactic Globular Clusters (GC) is characterising many different aspects of their multiple stellar populations. The "Grundahl-jump" (G-jump) is a discontinuity in ultraviolet brightness of blue horizontal branch (HB) stars, signalling the onset of radiative metal levitation. The HB Legacy data confirmed that the G-jump is located at the same T$_{eff}$ ($\simeq$11,500 K) in nearly all clusters. The only exceptions are the metal-rich clusters NGC 6388 and NGC 6441, where the G-jump occurs at T$_{eff}\simeq$13-14,000K. We compute synthetic HB models based on new evolutionary tracks including the effect of helium diffusion, and approximately accounting for the effect of metal levitation in a stable atmosphere. Our models show that the G-jump location depends on the interplay between the timescale of diffusion and the timescale of the evolution in the T$_{eff}$ range 11,500 K$\lessapprox$T$_{eff}\lessapprox$14,000 K. The G-jump becomes hotter than 11,500 K only for stars that have, in this T$_{eff}$ range, a helium mass fraction Y>0.35. Similarly high Y values are also consistent with the modelling of the HB in NGC 6388 and NGC 6441. In these clusters we predict that a significant fraction of HB stars show helium in their spectra above 11,500 K, and full helium settling should only be found beyond the hotter G-jump.

TheHubble Space TelescopeUV Legacy Survey of Galactic globular clusters – IX. The Atlas of multiple stellar populations

We use high-precision photometry of red-giant-branch (RGB) stars in 57 Galactic globular clusters (GCs), mostly from the `Hubble Space Telescope (HST) UV Legacy Survey of Galactic globular clusters', to identify and characterize their multiple stellar populations. For each cluster the pseudo two-color diagram (or `chromosome map') is presented, built with a suitable combination of stellar magnitudes in the F275W, F336W, F438W and F814W filters that maximizes the separation between multiple populations. In the chromosome map of most GCs (Type I clusters), stars separate in two distinct groups that we identify with the first (1G) and the second generation (2G). This identification is further supported by noticing that 1G stars have primordial (oxygen-rich, sodium-poor) chemical composition, whereas 2G stars are enhanced in sodium and depleted in oxygen. This 1G-2G separation is not possible for a few GCs where the two sequences have apparently merged into an extended, continuous sequence. In some GCs (Type II clusters) the 1G and/or the 2G sequences appear to be split, hence displaying more complex chromosome maps. These clusters exhibit multiple SGBs also in purely optical color-magnitude diagrams, with the fainter SGB joining into a red RGB which is populated by stars with enhanced heavy-element abundance. We measure the RGB width by using appropriate colors and pseudo-colors. When the metallicity dependence is removed, the RGB width correlates with the cluster mass. The fraction of 1G stars ranges from ~8% to ~67% and anticorrelates with the cluster mass, indicating that incidence and complexity of the multiple population phenomenon both increase with cluster mass.

THEHUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPEUV LEGACY SURVEY OF GALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTERS. III. A QUINTUPLE STELLAR POPULATION IN NGC 2808

In this study we present first results from multi-wavelength Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of the Galactic globular cluster GC NGC2808 as an extension of the Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic GCs (GO-13297 and previous proprietary and HST archive data). Our analysis allowed us to disclose a multiple-stellar-population phenomenon in NGC2808 even more complex than previously thought. We have separated at least five different populations along the main sequence and the red giant branch (RGB), that we name A, B, C, D and E (though an even finer subdivision may be suggested by the data). We identified the RGB bump in four out of the five RGBs. To explore the origin of this complex CMD, we have combined our multi-wavelength HST photometry with synthetic spectra, generated by assuming different chemical compositions. The comparison of observed colors with synthetic spectra suggests that the five stellar populations have different contents of light elements and helium. Specifically, if we assume that NGC2808 is homogeneous in [Fe/H] (as suggested by spectroscopy for Populations B, C, D, E, but lacking for Population A) and that population A has a primordial helium abundance, we find that populations B, C, D, E are enhanced in helium by Delta Y~0.03, 0.03, 0.08, 0.13, respectively. We obtain similar results by comparing the magnitude of the RGB bumps with models. Planned spectroscopic observations will test whether also Population A has the same metallicity, or whether its photometric differences with Population B can be ascribed to small [Fe/H] and [O/H] differences rather than to helium.

The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of galactic globular clusters – II. The seven stellar populations of NGC 7089 (M2)⋆

We present high-precision multi-band photometry for the globular cluster (GC) M2. We combine the analysis of the photometric data obtained from the Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of Galactic GCs GO-13297, with chemical abundances by Yong et al.(2014), and compare the photometry with models in order to analyze the multiple stellar sequences we identified in the color-magnitude diagram (CMD). We find three main stellar components, composed of metal-poor, metal-intermediate, and metal-rich stars (hereafter referred to as population A, B, and C, respectively). The components A and B include stars with different $s$-process element abundances. They host six sub-populations with different light-element abundances, and exhibit an internal variation in helium up to Delta Y~0.07 dex. In contrast with M22, another cluster characterized by the presence of populations with different metallicities, M2 contains a third stellar component, C, which shows neither evidence for sub-populations nor an internal spread in light-elements. Population C does not exhibit the typical photometric signatures that are associated with abundance variations of light elements produced by hydrogen burning at hot temperatures. We compare M2 with other GCs with intrinsic heavy-element variations and conclude that M2 resembles M22, but it includes an additional stellar component that makes it more similar to the central region of the Sagittarius galaxy, which hosts a GC (M54) and the nucleus of the Sagittarius galaxy itself.