Kinematics of halo red giants

The orbital parameters of the CN-strong halo stars are compared to those of the inner- and outer-halo populations as described by Carollo et al. (2007Natur.450.1020C, 2010ApJ...712..692C), and to the orbital parameters of globular clusters with well-studied Galactic orbits.

The CN-strong field stars and the globular clusters both exhibit kinematics and orbital properties similar to the inner-halo population, indicating that stripped or destroyed globular clusters could be a significant source of inner-halo field stars, and suggesting that both the CN-strong stars and the majority of globular clusters are primarily associated with this population.