Beyond the Main Sequence: Binary Evolution Pathways to Blue Stragglers in the Gaia Era I. Galactic Open and Globular Clusters

Abstract: Context. The study of blue straggler stars (BSS) provides insight into the mechanisms of stellar mass exchange during binary stellar evolution and the complex gravitational interactions within dense stellar systems. In combination, they enhance our understanding of the possible life cycles of stars and the evolutionary pathways of star clusters. Aim. We study the populations of BSSs in 41 globular clusters (GCs) and 42 open clusters (OCs) adopting photometry, proper motion, and parallax from the Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3), confirming their cluster membership. We find a total of 4399 BSSs: all GCs show the presence of BSSs (3965 or ~90% of the sample), whereas only 42 out of 129 studied OCs show the presence of BSSs (434 or ~10% of the sample). Clusters younger than ~500 Myr do not host any BSSs. Methods. We derive their astrophysical parameters such as effective temperature, surface gravity, and mass based on color-temperature relations, isochrone models and Gaia DR3 spectroscopy (if available). We find values for $T_{\rm eff}=(6800 \pm 585) \ {\rm K}$ and $(7570 \pm 1400) \ {\rm K}$; and an average mass of $\langle M_{\rm BSS} \rangle = (1.02 \pm 0.1) \ {M_\odot}$ and $\langle M_{\rm BSS} \rangle = (1.75 \pm 0.45) \ {M_\odot}$ for GCs and OCs, respectively. We finally compute the difference of the BSS mass and the main sequence turn-off (MSTO) mass of its respective cluster, normalized by the MSTO mass, for every identified BSS. Results. Based on this parameter and BSSs ages derived from isochrone models, we find: i) GC BSSs that are most likely to be formed through collisions show a "boost" for ages ~ 1-2 Gyr, in agreement with ages for core-collapse events in GCs reported in previous studies; ii) a double sequence for GC BSSs that could indicate the hint of a pre/post-merger or close-binary scenario.