Asteroseismic sounding of bulge globular clusters with the Roman Space Telescope

Abstract

Globular clusters are relics of the early Universe and they hold clues to many aspects of stellar and galactic evolution. We propose to point the Roman Space Telescope at one or more clusters either as a part of or as an extension of the Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey. This would provide a unique opportunity to apply the powerful toolkit of asteroseismology to a globular cluster, an observation that is largely out of reach for any other time-domain photometric missions. In this white paper we present the possible targets in the vicinity of the notional survey fields. Potential science cases include precise determination of stellar parameters throughout the cluster, accurate estimation of the integrated mass loss for metal-poor and metal-rich clusters, asteroseismic analysis and mass estimation for RR Lyrae stars, and determination of the seismic ages of clusters. We provide comparisons with other photometric missions and recommendations for maximizing the scientific return from a dedicated globular cluster observing run.