Abstract
This chapter presents an overview of the main observational results obtained to date about Blue Straggler Stars (BSSs) in Galactic Globular Clusters (GCs). The BSS specific frequency, radial distribution, chemical composition and rotational properties are presented and discussed in the framework of using this stellar population as probe of GC internal dynamics. In particular, the shape of the BSS radial distribution has been found to be a powerful tracer of the dynamical age of stellar systems, thus allowing the definition of the first empirical “dynamical clock”.
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Acknowledgements
Most of the results discussed in this chapter have been obtained within the project Cosmic-Lab (PI: Ferraro, see http://www.cosmic-lab.eu), a 5-year project funded by the European European Research Council under the 2010 Advanced Grant call (contract ERC-2010-AdG-267675). We warmly thank the other team members involved in this research: Giacomo Beccari, Paolo Miocchi, Mario Pasquato, Nicoletta Sanna and Rodrigo Contreras Ramos. The authors dedicate this chapter to the memory of Bob Rood, a pioneer in the theory of the evolution of low mass stars and a dear friend who shared our enthusiasm for the BSS topic and who unexpectedly passed away on 2 November 2011.
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Ferraro, F.R., Lanzoni, B., Dalessandro, E., Mucciarelli, A., Lovisi, L. (2015). Blue Straggler Stars in Globular Clusters: A Powerful Tool to Probe the Internal Dynamical Evolution of Stellar Systems. In: Boffin, H., Carraro, G., Beccari, G. (eds) Ecology of Blue Straggler Stars. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 413. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44434-4_5
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