Stellar population in M53

We use low-resolution spectra to measure the strength of CN and CH features at ~3800 and 4300{AA}, respectively. The strengths of these features are used to classify stars into a CN-enhanced and CN-normal population and to measure C and N abundances in all 94 stars.

We find the red giant branch stars to be evenly split between the two populations identified, and observe the presence of CN-enhanced stars on the asymptotic giant branch. In addition, we identify five CH star candidates based on the strength of their CN and CH band features, and the presence of a P-branch in their CH band. We compare our identification of multiple populations to those based on the Na-O anticorrelation and pseudo-color indices in Hubble Space Telescope UV photometry, and find general agreement between all three methods.