Photometric Metallicities for 367,324 Stars of ω Centauri

Abstract ω Centauri is the most massive and chemically complex multipopulation globular cluster with a wide metallicity range that has been extensively studied photometrically and spectroscopically. Using the wide metallicity range of ω Cen, Hubble Space Telescope (HST) photometry (F275W, F336W, F435W, F625W), and MUSE spectroscopy ([M/H]), we derive [M/H]- and M F625W -dependent stellar loci to estimate photometric metallicities from HST colors. Our tests yield metallicity precisions of 0.10 dex for giants and 0.22 dex for fainter dwarfs. We construct a photometric metallicity catalog from simultaneous F336W, F435W, and F625W observations (plus F275W where available), containing 20,778 giants and 346,546 dwarfs. A subsample of 20,533 giants is used to study the spatial metallicity distribution and gradient. We find no significant metallicity gradient within the half-light radius, consistent with previous work. Moreover, the previously reported ringlike structure is less pronounced in our data, and no physically significant irregular two-dimensional metallicity pattern is detected, indicating that the stellar subpopulations are well mixed within the half-light radius. Our catalog significantly extends the metallicity sample of ω Cen, and this approach can be applied to other HST data to estimate photometric metallicities.