2,130 research outputs found
Model color-magnitude diagrams for Hubble Space Telescope observations of Local Group dwarf galaxies
In this paper, we discuss a method to conduct a quantitative study of the
star formation history (SFH) of Local Group (LG) galaxies using (HST) data.
This method has proven to be successful in the analysis of the SFH of the same
kind of galaxies using ground-based observations. It is based on the comparison
of observed CMDs with a set of model CMDs. The latter are computed assuming
different evolutionary scenarios, and include a detailed simulation of
observational effects. HST CMDs are ~3 mags deeper than typical ground-based
CMDs, allowing the observation, for all LG galaxies, of a part of the CMD that
up till now had remained accessible only for the very nearest galaxies. A very
important feature that will become accessible is the HB+red-clump. The
distribution of stars along this structure is quite sensitive to age and
metallicity and should provide a very important improvement in the time
resolution of the SFH for stars older than ~2-3 Gyr. We show and discuss four
model CMDs which would be comparable with CMDs from deep HST observations.
These model CMDs represent the following evolutionary scenarios corresponding
to a wide range of dwarf galaxy sub-types from dI to dE: A) a constant SFR from
15Gyr ago to the present time; B) as A), but with the SFR stopped 0.5 Gyr ago;
C) a constant SFR in the age range 10-9Gyr and D) as C) but in the age range
15-12 Gyr. In all four cases a range of metallicity from Z=0.0001 to Z=0.004
has been assumed. The present analysis is just a first qualitative approach to
what one may expect to find in the CMDs of LG galaxies. However a complete set
of model CMDs must be computed to analize the data for each galaxy, using the
crowding effects derived for that particular galaxy.Comment: 2 fi
Probing the Galaxy I. The galactic structure towards the galactic pole
Observations of (B-V) colour distributions towards the galactic poles are
compared with those obtained from synthetic colour-magnitude diagrams to
determine the major constituents in the disc and spheroid. The disc is
described with four stellar sub-populations: the young, intermediate, old, and
thick disc populations, which have respectively scale heights of 100 pc, 250
pc, 0.5 kpc, and 1.0 kpc. The spheroid is described with stellar contributions
from the bulge and halo. The bulge is not well constrained with the data
analyzed in this study. A non-flattened power-law describes the observed
distributions at fainter magnitudes better than a deprojected R^{1/4}-law.
Details about the age, metallicity, and normalizations are listed in Table 1.
The star counts and the colour distributions from the stars in the intermediate
fields towards the galactic anti-centre are well described with the stellar
populations mentioned above. Arguments are given that the actual solar offset
is about 15 pc north from the galactic plane.Comment: 11 pages TeX, 4 separate pages with additional figures, accepted for
publication in A&
GAIA: AGB stars as tracers of star formation histories in the Galaxy and beyond
We discuss the tracing of star formation histories with ESA's space
astrometry mission GAIA, emphasizing the advantages of AGB stars for this
purpose. GAIA's microarcsecond-level astrometry, multi-band photometry and
spectroscopy will provide individual distances, motions, effective
temperatures, gravities and metallicities for vast numbers of AGB stars in the
Galaxy and beyond. Reliable ages of AGB stars can be determined to distances of
\~200 kpc in a wide range of ages and metallicities, allowing star formation
histories to be studied in a diversity of astrophysical environments.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, to be appear in 'Mass-Losing Pulsating Stars and
their Circumstellar Matter', eds. Y. Nakada, M. Honma & M. Seki, Kluwer ASSL
series, vol. 28
The Near-Infrared Photometric Properties of Bright Giants in the Central Regions of the Galactic Bulge
Images recorded through broad (J, H, K), and narrow (CO, and 2.2micron
continuum) band filters are used to investigate the photometric properties of
bright (K < 13.5) stars in a 6 x 6 arcmin field centered on the SgrA complex.
The giant branch ridgelines in the (K, J-K) and (K, H-K) color-magnitude
diagrams are well matched by the Baade's Window (BW) M giant sequence if the
mean extinction is A_K ~ 2.8 mag. Extinction measurements for individual stars
are estimated using the M_K versus infrared color relations defined by M giants
in BW, and the majority of stars have A_K between 2.0 and 3.5 mag. The
extinction is locally high in the SgrA complex, where A_K ~ 3.1 mag.
Reddening-corrected CO indices, CO_o, are derived for over 1300 stars with J,
H, and K brightnesses, and over 5300 stars with H and K brightnesses. The
distribution of CO_o values for stars with K_o between 11.25 and 7.25 can be
reproduced using the M_K versus CO_o relation defined by M giants in BW. The
data thus suggest that the most metal-rich giants in the central regions of the
bulge and in BW have similar photometric properties and 2.3micron CO strengths.
Hence, it appears that the central region of the bulge does not contain a
population of stars that are significantly more metal-rich than what is seen in
BW.Comment: 29 pages, including 14 figure
Detection of Surface Brightness Fluctuations in Elliptical Galaxies imaged with the Advanced Camera for Surveys. B- and I-band measurements
Taking advantage of the exceptional capabilities of ACS on board of HST, we
derive Surface Brightness Fluctuation (SBF) measurements in the B and I bands
from images of six elliptical galaxies with . Given the
low S/N ratio of the SBF signal in the blue band images, the reliability of the
measurements is verified both with numerical simulations and experimental data
tests.
This paper presents the first published B- and I-band SBF measurements for
distant ( 20 Mpc) galaxies, essential for the comparisons of the models
to observations of normal ellipticals. By comparing I-band data with our new
Simple Stellar Population (SSP) models we find an excellent agreement and we
confirm that I-band SBF magnitudes are mainly sensitive to the metallicity of
the dominant stellar component in the galaxy, and are not strongly affected by
the contribution of possible secondary stellar components. As a consequence
I-band fluctuations magnitudes are ideal for distance studies. On the other
hand, we show that standard SSP models do not reproduce the B-band SBF
magnitudes of red ((B-I)_0 \gsim 2.1) galaxies in our sample. We explore the
capability of two non--canonical models in properly reproducing the high
sensitivity of B SBF to the presence of even small fractions of bright, hot
stars (metal poor stars, hot evolved stars, etc.). The disagreement is solved
both by taking into account hot (Post--AGB) stars in SSP models and/or by
adopting Composite Stellar Population models. Finally, we suggest a limit value
of the S/N for the B-band SBF signal required to carry out a detailed study of
stellar population properties based on this technique.Comment: ApJ accepte
The Many Possible Interpretations of Microlensing Event OGLE-2002-BLG-055
Microlensing event OGLE-2002-BLG-055 is characterized by a smooth, slightly
asymmetric single-lens curve with an isolated, secure data point that is ~0.6
magnitudes brighter than neighboring points separated by a few days. It was
previously suggested that the single deviant data point and global asymmetry
were best explained by a planetary companion to the primary lens with mass
ratio log(q)=-3 to -2, and parallax effects induced by the motion of the Earth.
We revisit the interpretation of OGLE-2002-BLG-055, and show that the data can
be explained by wide variety of models. We find that the deviant data point can
be fit by a large number of qualitatively different binary-lens models whose
mass ratios range, at the ~3-sigma level, from log(q) ~ -4 to -1. This range is
consistent with a planet, brown dwarf, or M-dwarf companion for reasonable
primary masses of M> 0.8 M_sun. A subset of these binary-lens fits consist of a
family of continuously degenerate models whose mass ratios differ by an
order-of-magnitude, but whose light curves differ by <2% for the majority of
the perturbation. The deviant data point can also explained by a binary
companion to the source with secondary/primary flux ratio of ~1%. This model
has the added appeal that the global asymmetry is naturally explained by the
acceleration of the primary induced by the secondary. The binary-source model
yields a measurement of the Einstein ring radius projected on source plane of
\hat r_E=1.87 +/- 0.40 AU. OGLE-2002-BLG-055 is an extreme example that
illustrates the difficulties and degeneracies inherent in the interpretation of
weakly perturbed and/or poorly sampled microlensing light curves.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Minor changes. Accepted to ApJ, to
appear in the August 10, 2004 issue (v611
The visual orbits of the spectroscopic binaries HD 6118 and HD 27483 from the Palomar Testbed Interferometer
We present optical interferometric observations of two double-lined
spectroscopic binaries, HD 6118 and HD 27483, taken with the Palomar Testbed
Interferometer (PTI) in the K band. HD 6118 is one of the most eccentric
spectroscopic binaries and HD 27483 a spectroscopic binary in the Hyades open
cluster. The data collected with PTI in 2001-2002 allow us to determine
astrometric orbits and when combined with the radial velocity measurements
derive all physical parameters of the systems. The masses of the components are
2.65 +/- 0.27 M_Sun and 2.36 +/- 0.24 M_Sun for HD 6118 and 1.38 +/- 0.13 M_Sun
and 1.39 +/- 0.13 M_Sun for HD 27483. The apparent semi-major axis of HD 27483
is only 1.2 mas making it the closest binary successfully observed with an
optical interferometer.Comment: submitted to Ap
Near-Infrared Adaptive Optics Imaging of the Central Regions of Nearby Sc Galaxies: I. M33
Near-infrared images obtained with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT)
Adaptive Optics Bonnette (AOB) are used to investigate the stellar content
within 18 arcsec of the center of the Local Group spiral galaxy M33. AGB stars
with near-infrared spectral-energy distributions similar to those of giants in
the solar neighborhood and Baade's Window are detected over most of the field.
The bolometric luminosity function (LF) of these stars has a discontinuity near
M_{bol} = -5.25, and comparisons with evolutionary tracks suggest that most of
the AGB stars formed in a burst of star formation 1 - 3 Gyr in the past. The
images are also used to investigate the integrated near-infrared photometric
properties of the nucleus and the central light concentration. The nucleus is
bluer than the central light concentration, in agreement with previous studies
at visible wavelengths. The CO index of the central light concentration 0.5
arcsec from the galaxy center is 0.05, which corresponds to [Fe/H] = -1.2 for
simple stellar systems. Hence, the central light concentration could not have
formed from the chemically-enriched material that dominates the present-day
inner disk of M33.Comment: 23 pages of text + 11 figures; to appear in A
CCD BV survey of 42 open clusters
We present results of a photometric survey whose aim was to derive structural
and astrophysical parameters for 42 open clusters. While our sample is
definitively not representative of the total open cluster sample in the Galaxy,
it does cover a wide range of cluster parameters and is uniform enough to allow
for simple statistical considerations. BV wide-field CCD photometry was
obtained for open clusters for which photometric, structural, and dynamical
evolution parameters were determined. The limiting and core radii were
determined by analyzing radial density profiles. The ages, reddenings, and
distances were obtained from the solar metallicity isochrone fitting. The mass
function was used to study the dynamical state of the systems, mass segregation
effect and to estimate the total mass and number of cluster members. This study
reports on the first determination of basic parameters for 11 out of 42
observed open clusters. The angular sizes for the majority of the observed
clusters appear to be several times larger than the catalogue data indicate.
The core and limiting cluster radii are correlated and the latter parameter is
3.2 times larger on average. The limiting radius increases with the cluster's
mass, and both the limiting and core radii decrease in the course of dynamical
evolution. For dynamically not advanced clusters, the mass function slope is
similar to the universal IMF slope. For more evolved systems, the effect of
evaporation of low-mass members is clearly visible. The initial mass
segregation is present in all the observed young clusters, whereas the
dynamical mass segregation appears in clusters older than about log(age)=8.
Low-mass stars are deficient in the cores of clusters older than log(age)=8.5
and not younger than one relaxation time.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure
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