Neutron-Capture Element Abundances in the Globular Cluster M15.

High-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio, blue-violet spectra of three red giant branch tip stars in M15 have been obtained with the Keck I High-Resolution Echelle Spectrograph. These spectra have been analyzed to determine the abundances of several neutron-capture elements, including the radioactive chronometer element thorium. There are two principal results of this study. First, the abundances of the heavier (Z>/=56) elements for each of the three stars is well matched by a scaled solar system r-process abundance distribution. Second, a weighted mean-observed Th/Eu ratio for the stars implies an age for the neutron-capture material in M15 stars of 14+/-3 Gyr, in reasonable agreement with other recent age estimates for Galactic globular clusters.

Comments on the Formation of Globular Clusters from Coalesced Clouds.

If a substantial fraction of the proto-Galactic halo was constituted of cloudy structures of sizes 1 kpc or larger, then collisions between these clouds would have been common during the infall of the Galaxy. Such collisions would have shaped the properties of the clouds from which globular clusters formed. If Milky Way globular clusters formed from progenitor clouds which in turn had been constructed from the coalescence of smaller cloud structures, then cluster properties that could naturally be accounted for include: (1) the low percentage of stars in globular clusters relative to the halo field, (2) the chemical homogeneity of globular clusters with respect to heavy elements, and (3) the fact that the lowest metallicity globular clusters are not as metal-poor as some halo field stars.