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Languages : en
Pages : 149
Book Description
Membership studies of evolved open clusters reveal many alternative pathway stellar products whose evolution cannot be explained using single-star evolutionary models. These stars are neither rare nor anomalous, and in fact are a common occurrence in cluster populations. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the origin and evolutionary pathways of such stars through the careful study of X-ray binaries in NGC 6819 and white dwarf (WD) companions of mass transfer-formed blue straggler stars (BSSs) in NGC 188. I present the first X-ray study of the intermediate-age open cluster NGC 6819, using observations from XMM-Newton. This study of NGC 6819 is part of a systematic survey to investigate the relationship between the number of X-ray sources and cluster dynamics in the regime of massive open clusters. Of the 12 X-ray sources within the half-light radius of NGC 6819, four sources challenge single-star evolutionary models, including a candidate quiescent low-mass X-ray binary. Next, I present the first results from a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) far-ultraviolet (FUV) campaign to search for WD companions of BSSs as indicators of mass transfer formation. I find direct observational detections of young (
