The radial distribution of the two stellar populations in NGC 1851

We have analyzed ACS/WFC and WFPC2 images from HST, as well as ground-based data to study the radial distribution of the double sub-giant branch (SGB) recently discovered in the Galactic globular cluster NGC 1851. We found that the SGB split can be followed all the way from the cluster center out to at least 8´ from the center. Beyond this distance out to the tidal radius at ~11.7 arcmin, there are simply too few SGB stars to identify the sequences. The number ratio of the bright SGB to the faint SGB stars shows no significant radial trend. Furthermore, we have found that the ratio of blue horizontal-branch (HB) stars plus RR Lyrae to the red HB stars also remains constant from the cluster center to the outer envelope.

Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555, under GO-11233.