J/A+A/699/A291ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/699/A291doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.36990291CDSJofre P.Aguilera-Gomez C.Villarreal P.Cubillos F.A.Das P.Hua X.,Yates R.Silva P.Vitali S.Pena T.Signor T.Walsen K.Tissera P.,Rojas-Arriagada A.Johnston E.Gilmore G.Foley R.2025-08-01T20:03:20Z2025-07-17T09:20:52ZCDS support team

CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France

cds-question@unistra.fropen-star-clustersstellar-populationschemical-abundancesThe nature and formation history of our Galaxy's largest and most enigmatic stellar cluster, known as Omega Centauri (omega Cen) remains debated. Here, we offer a novel approach to disentangling the complex stellar populations within omega Cen based on phylogenetics methodologies from evolutionary biology. These include the Gaussian Mixture Model and Neighbor-Joining clustering algorithms applied to a set of chemical abundances of omega Cen stellar members. Instead of using the classical approach in astronomy of grouping them into separate populations, we focused on how the stars are related to each other. We could identify stars that likely formed in globular clusters versus those originating from prolonged in-situ star formation and how these stars interconnect. Our analysis supports the hypothesis that omega Cen might be a nuclear star cluster of a galaxy accreted by the Milky Way with a mass of about 10^9^M_{sun}_. Furthermore, we revealed the existence of a previously unidentified in-situ stellar population with a distinct chemical pattern unlike any known population found in the Milky Way to date. Our analysis of omega Cen is an example of the success of cross-disciplinary research and shows the vast potential of applying evolutionary biology tools to astronomical datasets, opening new avenues for understanding the chemical evolution of complex stellar systems.2025A&A...699A.291Jhttps://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/699/A291CatalogResearchIsServedByTAP VizieR generic serviceIsServedByConesearch servicerelated-toJ/ApJ/722/1373 : {omega} Centauri giants abundances (Johnson+, 2010)https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.htmlhttps://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/699/A291https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/699/A291http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/699/A291https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/699/A291https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/699/A291http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/699/A291GETtext/xml+votablehttps://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tapCone search capability for table J/A+A/699/A291/optical (Optical Data from Johnsom et al., 2010ApJ...722.1373J, Cat. J/ApJ/722/1373)https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/699/A291/optical?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/699/A291/optical?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/699/A291/optical?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true201.65619-47.22412170.005555555555555556Cone search capability for table J/A+A/699/A291/infrared (Infrared data from Meszaros et al., 2021MNRAS.505.1645M)https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/699/A291/infrared?https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/699/A291/infrared?http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/A+A/699/A291/infrared?GETtext/xml+votable180.050000true201.5492525-47.62265580.0055555555555555566/43225 43227-432281.9867573869263685e-19 3.916500758235022e-19https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/moc/J/A+A/699/A291?format=asciidefaultJ/A+A/699/A291/opticalOptical Data from Johnsom et al., 2010ApJ...722.1373J, Cat. J/ApJ/722/1373recnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintStarIDStarID used in the paper (SOP_NNN)meta.id;meta.maincharLEIDLEID identification numbermeta.idintGaiaDR3? GaiaDR3 source_idmeta.idnullableGmag? Apparent G magnitude taken from Gaia DR3magphot.mag;em.optdoublenullable[Fe/H]Metallicity [Fe/H]phys.abund.Zfloat[O/Fe]Abundance ratio of [O/Fe]phys.abundfloat[Na/Fe]Abundance ratio of [Na/Fe]phys.abundfloat[Al/Fe]Abundance ratio of [Al/Fe]phys.abundfloat[Si/Fe]Abundance ratio of [Si/Fe]phys.abundfloat[Ca/Fe]Abundance ratio of [Ca/Fe]phys.abundfloat[Sc/Fe]Abundance ratio of [Sc/Fe]phys.abundfloat[Ti/Fe]Abundance ratio of [Ti/Fe]phys.abundfloat[Ni/Fe]Abundance ratio of [Ni/Fe]phys.abundfloat[La/Fe]Abundance ratio of [La/Fe]phys.abundfloat[Eu/Fe]Abundance ratio of [Eu/Fe]phys.abundfloatSimbadSimbad column added by the CDSmeta.ref.urlchargmm3[1/3] Group assigned with the Gaussian Mixture Modelmeta.idint_RARight Ascension (J2000) from SIMBAD (not part of the original data)degpos.eq.ra;meta.main_DEDeclination (J2000) from SIMBAD (not part of the original data)degpos.eq.dec;meta.mainJ/A+A/699/A291/infraredInfrared data from Meszaros et al., 2021MNRAS.505.1645MSimbadSimbad column added by the CDSmeta.ref.urlcharrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintStarIDStarID used in the paper (SIR_NNN)meta.id;meta.maincharAPOGEEAPOGEE identifier (2MHHMMSSss+DDMMSSs)meta.idcharGaiaDR3? Gaia DR3 source_idmeta.idnullableGmag? Apparent G magnitude taken from Gaia DR3magphot.mag;em.optdoublenullable[Fe/H]Metallicity [Fe/H]phys.abund.Zfloat[O/Fe]Abundance ratio of [O/Fe]phys.abundfloat[Mg/Fe]Abundance ratio of [Mg/Fe]phys.abundfloat[Al/Fe]Abundance ratio of [Al/Fe]phys.abundfloat[Si/Fe]Abundance ratio of [Si/Fe]phys.abundfloat[Ca/Fe]Abundance ratio of [Ca/Fe]phys.abundfloat[Ce/Fe]Abundance ratio of [Ce/Fe]phys.abundfloatgmm3[1/4] Group assigned with the Gaussian Mixture Modelmeta.idint_RARight Ascension (J2000) from SIMBAD (not part of the original data)degpos.eq.ra;meta.main_DEDeclination (J2000) from SIMBAD (not part of the original data)degpos.eq.dec;meta.main