195 research outputs found
The emission distribution of RR Pictoris
We present time-resolved optical spectroscopy of the old nova RR Pic. Two
emission lines (Halpha and He I) are present in the observed part of the
spectrum and both show strong variability. Halpha has been used for Doppler
tomography in order to map the emission distribution in this system for the
first time. The resulting map shows the emission from the disc as well as two
additional emission sources on the leading and trailing side of the disc.
Furthermore we find evidence for the presence of either a disc-overflow or an
asymmetric outflow from the binary with velocities up to +- 1200km/s. The
origin of the outflow would be the emission source on the leading side of the
accretion disc.Comment: Latex, 7 pages, 10 figure
The peculiar Na-O anticorrelation of the bulge globular cluster NGC 6440
Context. Galactic Globular Clusters (GCs) are essential tools to understand
the earliest epoch of the Milky Way, since they are among the oldest objects in
the Universe and can be used to trace its formation and evolution. Current
studies using high resolution spectroscopy for many stars in each of a large
sample of GCs allow us to develop a detailed observational picture about their
formation and their relation with the Galaxy. However, it is necessary to
complete this picture by including GCs that belong to all major Galactic
components, including the Bulge. Aims. Our aim is to perform a detailed
chemical analyses of the bulge GC NGC 6440 in order to determine if this object
has Multiple Populations (MPs) and investigate its relation with the Bulge of
the Milky Way and with the other Galactic GCs, especially those associated with
the Bulge, which are largely poorly studied. Methods. We determined the stellar
parameters and the chemical abundances of light elements (Na, Al), iron-peak
elements (Fe, Sc, Mn, Co, Ni), -elements (O, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti) and heavy
elements (Ba, Eu) in seven red giant members of NGC 6440 using high resolution
spectroscopy from FLAMES@UVES. Results. We found a mean iron content of
[Fe/H]=-0.500.03 dex in agreement with other studies. We found no internal
iron spread. On the other hand, Na and Al show a significant intrinsic spread,
but the cluster has no significant O-Na anticorrelation nor exhibits a Mg-Al
anticorrelation. The -elements show good agreement with the Bulge field
star trend, although they are at the high alpha end and are also higher than
those of other GCs of comparable metallicity. The heavy elements are dominated
by the r-process, indicating a strong contribution by SNeII. The chemical
analysis suggests an origin similar to that of the Bulge field stars.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for publication in A&
Chemical analysis of NGC 6528: one of the most metal-rich bulge globular cluster
The Bulge Globular Clusters (GCs) are key tracers of this central ancient
component of our Galaxy. It is essential to understand their formation and
evolution to study that of the bulge, as well as their relationship with the
other Galactic GC systems (halo and disk GCs). Our main goals are to obtain
detailed abundances for a sample of seven red giant members of NGC 6528 in
order to characterize its chemical composition and study the relationship of
this GC with the bulge, and with other bulge, halo and disk GCs. Moreover, we
analyze this clusters behavior associated with the Multiple Populations
(MPs) phenomenon. We obtained the stellar parameters and chemical abundances of
light elements (Na, Al), iron-peak elements (V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu),
{\alpha}-elements (O, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti) and heavy elements (Zr, Ba, Eu) in seven
red giant members of NGC 6528 using high resolution spectroscopy from
FLAMES-UVES. We obtained in six stars of our sample a mean iron content of
[Fe/H]=-0.14+/-0.03 dex, in good agreement with other studies. We found no
significant internal iron spread. We detected one candidate variable star,
which was excluded from the mean in iron content, we derived a metallicity in
this star of [Fe/H]=-0.55+/-0.04 dex. Moreover, we found no extended O-Na
anticorrelation but instead only an intrinsic Na spread. In addition, NGC 6528
does not exhibit a Mg-Al anticorrelation, and no significant spread in either
Mg or Al. The {\alpha} and iron-peak elements show good agreement with the
bulge field star trend. The heavy elements are slightly dominated by the
r-process. The chemical analysis suggests an origin and evolution similar to
that of typical old Bulge field stars. Finally, we find remarkable agreement in
the chemical patterns of NGC 6528 and another bulge GC, NGC 6553, suggesting a
similar origin and evolution.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 12 pages, 13 figures, 4 table
Clues on the evolution of the Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy from the color distribution of its red giant stars
The thin red giant branch (RGB) of the Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy appears
at first sight quite puzzling and seemingly in contrast with the presence of
several distinct bursts of star formation. In this Letter, we provide a
measurement of the color spread of red giant stars in Carina based on new BVI
wide-field observations, and model the width of the RGB by means of synthetic
color-magnitude diagrams. The measured color spread, Sigma{V-I}=0.021 +/-
0.005, is quite naturally accounted for by the star-formation history of the
galaxy. The thin RGB appears to be essentially related to the limited age range
of its dominant stellar populations, with no need for a metallicity dispersion
at a given age. This result is relatively robust with respect to changes in the
assumed age-metallicity relation, as long as the mean metallicity over the
galaxy lifetime matches the observed value ([Fe/H] = -1.91 +/- 0.12 after
correction for the age effects). This analysis of photometric data also sets
some constraints on the chemical evolution of Carina by indicating that the
chemical abundance of the interstellar medium in Carina remained low throughout
each episode of star formation even though these episodes occurred over many
Gyr.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal Letter
First detection of the RGB-bump in the Sagittarius dSph
We present V, I photometry of the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal galaxy (Sgr)
for a region of ~ 1^{circ} times 1^{circ}, centered on the globular cluster M
54. This catalog is the largest database of stars (~500,000) ever obtained for
this galaxy. The wide area covered allows us to measure for the first time the
position of the RGB-bump, a feature that has been identified in most Galactic
globular clusters and only recently in a few galaxies of the Local Group. The
presence of a single-peaked bump in the RGB differential Luminosity Function
confirms that there is a dominant population in Sgr (Pop A).
The photometric properties of the Pop A RGB and the position of the RGB bump
have been used to constrain the range of possible ages and metallicities of
this population. The most likely solution lies in the range -0.6 < [M/H] <=
-0.4 and 4 Gyr <= age <= 8 Gyr.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, accepted by ApJ Letter
High-resolution abundance analysis of red giants in the metal-poor bulge globular cluster HP~1
The globular cluster HP~1 is projected at only 3.33 degrees from the Galactic
center. Together with its distance, this makes it one of the most central
globular clusters in the Milky Way. It has a blue horizontal branch (BHB) and a
metallicity of [Fe/H]~-1.0. This means that it probably is one of the oldest
objects in the Galaxy. Abundance ratios can reveal the nucleosynthesis pattern
of the first stars as well as the early chemical enrichment and early formation
of stellar populations. High-resolution spectra obtained for six stars were
analyzed to derive the abundances of the light elements C, N, O, Na, and Al,
the alpha-elements Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti, and the heavy elements Sr, Y , Zr, Ba,
La, and Eu.} High-resolution spectra of six red giants that are confirmed
members of the bulge globular cluster HP~1 were obtained with the 8m VLT
UT2-Kueyen telescope with the UVES spectrograph in FLAMES-UVES configuration.
The spectroscopic parameter derivation was based on the excitation and
ionization equilibrium of FeI and FeII. We confirm a mean metallicity of [Fe/H]
= -1.06~0.10, by adding the two stars that were previously analyzed in HP~1.
The alpha-elements O and Mg are enhanced by about +0.3<[O,Mg/Fe]<+0.5 dex, Si
is moderately enhanced with +0.15<[Si/Fe]<+0.35dex, while Ca and Ti show lower
values of -0.04<[Ca,Ti/Fe]<+0.28dex. The r-element Eu is also enhanced with
[Eu/Fe]~+0.4, which together with O and Mg is indicative of early enrichment by
type II supernovae. Na and Al are low, but it is unclear if Na-O are
anticorrelated. The heavy elements are moderately enhanced, with
-0.20<[La/Fe]<+0.43dex and 0.0<[Ba/Fe]<+0.75~dex, which is compatible with
r-process formation. The spread in Y, Zr, Ba, and La abundances, on the other
hand, appears to be compatible with the spinstar scenario or other additional
mechanisms such as the weak r-process.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures In press in Astronomy & Astrophysics (2016
Absolute Proper Motion of the Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy from Photographic and HST WFPC2 Data
We have measured the absolute proper motion of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal
galaxy from a combination of photographic plate material and HST WFPC2 data
that provide a time baseline of up to 50 years. The extragalactic reference
frame consists of 8 QSO images and 48 galaxies. The absolute proper motion is
mu_alpha cos(delta) = 0.59 +-0.16 mas/yr and mu_delta = -0.15 +- 0.16 mas/yr.
The corresponding orbit of Fornax is polar, with an eccentricity of 0.27, and a
radial period of 4.5 Gyr. Fornax's current location is near pericenter. The
direction of the motion of Fornax supports the notion that Fornax belongs to
the Fornax-LeoI-LeoII-Sculptor-Sextans stream as hypothesized by Lynden-Bell
(1976, 1982) and Majewski (1994).
According to our orbit determination, Fornax crossed the Magellanic plane
\~190 Myr ago, a time that coincides with the termination of the star-formation
process in Fornax. We propose that ram-pressure stripping due to the passage of
Fornax through a gaseous medium denser than the typical intragalactic medium
left behind from the LMC may have caused the end of star formation in Fornax.
The excess, anomalous clouds within the South Galactic pole region of the
Magellanic Stream whose origin has long been debated in the literature as
constituents of either the Magellanic Stream or of the extragalactic Sculptor
group, are found to lie along the orbit of Fornax. We speculate that these
clouds are stripped material from Fornax as the dwarf crossed the Magellanic
Clouds' orbit.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomical Journal. The version with
high resolution figures can be found at
ftp://pegasus.astro.yale.edu/pub/dana/paper
HST color-magnitude diagrams of 74 galactic globular clusters in the HST F439W and F555W bands
We present the complete photometric database and the color-magnitude diagrams
for 74 Galactic globular clusters observed with the HST/WFPC2 camera in the
F439W and F555W bands. A detailed discussion of the various reduction steps is
also presented, and of the procedures to transform instrumental magnitudes into
both the HST F439W and F555W flight system and the standard Johnson B and V
systems. We also describe the artificial star experiments which have been
performed to derive the star count completeness in all the relevant branches of
the color magnitude diagram. The entire photometric database and the
completeness function will be made available on the Web immediately after the
publication of the present paper.Comment: 21 pages, 77 figures. High resolution version of this paper can be
retrived at http://dipastro.pd.astro.it/globular
Halos of Spiral Galaxies. III. Metallicity Distributions
(Abriged) We report results of a campaign to image the stellar populations in
the halos of highly inclined spiral galaxies, with the fields roughly 10 kpc
(projected) from the nuclei. We use the F814W (I) and F606W (V) filters in the
Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, on board the Hubble Space telescope. Extended
halo populations are detected in all galaxies. The color-magnitude diagrams
appear to be completely dominated by giant-branch stars, with no evidence for
the presence of young stellar populations in any of the fields. We find that
the metallicity distribution functions are dominated by metal-rich populations,
with a tail extending toward the metal poor end. To first order, the overall
shapes of the metallicity distribution functions are similar to what is
predicted by simple, single-component model of chemical evolution with the
effective yields increasing with galaxy luminosity. However, metallicity
distributions significantly narrower than the simple model are observed for a
few of the most luminous galaxies in the sample. It appears clear that more
luminous spiral galaxies also have more metal-rich stellar halos. The
increasingly significant departures from the closed-box model for the more
luminous galaxies indicate that a parameter in addition to a single yield is
required to describe chemical evolution. This parameter, which could be related
to gas infall or outflow either in situ or in progenitor dwarf galaxies that
later merge to form the stellar halo, tends to act to make the metallicity
distributions narrower at high metallicity.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures (ApJ, in press
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