| Abstract | We investigated the absolute age of the Galactic globular cluster M71 (NGC 6838) using optical ground-based images (u', g', r', i', z') collected with the MegaCam camera at the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). We performed a robust selection of field and cluster stars by applying a new method based on the 3D (r', u'-g', g'-r') color–color–magnitude diagram. A comparison between the color–magnitude diagram (CMD) of the candidate cluster stars and a new set of isochrones at the locus of the main sequence turn-off (MSTO) suggests an absolute age of 12 ± 2 Gyr. The absolute age was also estimated using the difference in magnitude between the MSTO and the so-called main sequence knee, a well-defined bending occurring in the lower main sequence. This feature was originally detected in the near-infrared bands and explained as a consequence of an opacity mechanism (collisionally induced absorption of molecular hydrogen) in the atmosphere of cool low-mass stars. The same feature was also detected in the r', u'-g', and in the r', g'-r' CMD, thus supporting previous theoretical predictions by Borysow et al. The key advantage in using the ΔKnee TO as an age diagnostic is that it is independent of uncertainties affecting the distance, the reddening, and the photometric zero point. We found an absolute age of 12 ± 1 Gyr that agrees, within the errors, with similar age estimates, but the uncertainty is on average a factor of two smaller. We also found that the ΔKnee TO is more sensitive to the metallicity than the MSTO, but the dependence vanishes when using the difference in color between the MSK and the MSTO. |
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