The Main Sequence of the Very Old Globular Cluster NGC 6397

Extract

We present photographic photometry for 1135 stars in the globular cluster NGC 6397, which, at a distance of 2.4 kpc, is most likely the second nearest globular to the Sun. The Racine wedge with the CTIO Yale 1 m telescope (Δm=3. 60 mag), the CTIO 4 m telescope (Δm=6. 83 mag) and the ESO 3.6 m telescope (Δm=3. 87 mag) was used to extend the photoelectric calibration from V≃16.1 to V≃20.7. The main sequence turnoff at V=16.7 and B-V=0.52 with respectively M_v =4.30 and (B-V)_o =0.36 yields (m-M)_v=12.40 and E(B-V)=0.16. Using the models of Iben and Rood (1970) and the isochrones of Demarque and McClure (1977), we deduce the cluster's age to be 17 × 10⁹ years. This makes this object the oldest of the nine globular clusters with age determination and gives a lower limit to the age of the universe, rendering H_o ≤ 57 km sec⁻¹ Mpc⁻¹ if q_o ≥ 0 is assumed. The large age spread of 6 billion years between NGC 6397 and 47 Tuc (the youngest counterpart with age data) indicates both that the protogalaxy underwent a slow collapse phase and that the abundances in globular clusters are lower for the oldest. The fact that the galactocentric distances for these clusters have the narrow range of 6 <R < 13 kpc makes it highly important to secure age data for extremely metal poor globulars far out in the halo.