Stellar Populations and Mass Loss in M15: A Spitzer Space Telescope Detection of Dust in the Intracluster Medium

M. L. Boyer, C. E. Woodward, J. Th. van Loon, K. D. Gordon, A. Evans, R. D. Gehrz, L. A. Helton, & E. F. Polomski 2006, AJ, 132, 1415

We present Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC and MIPS observations of the galactic globular cluster M15 (NGC 7078), one of the most metal-poor clusters with a [Fe/H] = -2.4. Our Spitzer images reveal a population of dusty red giants near the cluster center, a previously detected planetary nebula (PN) designated K648, and a possible detection of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) arising from mass loss episodes from the evolved stellar population. Our analysis suggests 9 (+/-2) x 10^-4 solar masses of dust is present in the core of M15, and this material has accumulated over a period of approximately 10^6 years, a timescale ten times shorter than the last galactic plane crossing event. We also present Spitzer IRS follow up observations of K648, including the detection of the [NeII] 12.81 micron line, and discuss abundances derived from infrared fine structure lines.

[XXX/astro-ph Preprint] [ADS Entry]

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