Chemical enrichment mechanisms in<i>ω</i>Centauri: clues from neutron-capture elements

Abstract

Context. In the complex picture of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters (GCs), a special role is played by NGC 5139 (ω Centauri). At variance with the majority of GCs, ω Cen exhibits significant star-to-star variations in metallicity and in relative neutron-capture element abundance ratios with respect to Fe, along with split evolutionary sequences as revealed from colour–magnitude diagrams. Combining information from photometry and spectroscopy, several studies suggested that an age spread of several Gyr has to be invoked to explain (at least partially) some of the observed features. However, a comprehensive understanding of the formation, evolution and chemical enrichment processes is still not at hand.