186 research outputs found
Dwarf Cepheids in the Carina Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy
We have discovered 20 dwarf Cepheids (DC) in the Carina dSph galaxy from the
analysis of individual CCD images obtained for a deep photometric study of the
system. These short-period pulsating variable stars are by far the most distant
(~100 kpc) and faintest (V ~ 23.0) DCs known. The Carina DCs obey a
well-defined period-luminosity relation, allowing us to readily distinguish
between overtone and fundamental pulsators in nearly every case. Unlike RR Lyr
stars, the pulsation mode turns out to be uncorrelated with light-curve shape,
nor do the overtone pulsators tend towards shorter periods compared to the
fundamental pulsators. Using the period-luminosity (PL) relations from Nemec et
al. (1994 AJ, 108, 222) and McNamara (1995, AJ, 109, 1751), we derive (m-M)_0 =
20.06 +/- 0.12, for E(B-V) = 0.025 and [Fe/H] = -2.0, in good agreement with
recent, independent estimates of the distance/reddening of Carina. The error
reflects the uncertainties in the DC distance scale, and in the metallicity and
reddening of Carina. The frequency of DCs among upper main sequence stars in
Carina is approximately 3%. The ratio of dwarf Cepheids to RR Lyr stars in
Carina is 0.13 +/- 0.10, though this result is highly sensitive to the
star-formation history of Carina and the evolution of the Horizontal Branch. We
discuss how DCs may be useful to search effectively for substructure in the
Galactic halo out to Galactocentric distances of ~100 kpc.Comment: 20 pages of text, 7 figure
Photometry Results for the Globular Clusters M10 and M12: Extinction Maps, Color-Magnitude Diagrams, and Variable Star Candidates
We report on photometry results of the equatorial globular clusters (GCs) M10
and M12. These two clusters are part of our sample of GCs which we are probing
for the existence of photometrically varying eclipsing binary stars. During the
search for binaries in M10 and M12, we discovered the signature of differential
reddening across the fields of the clusters. The effect is stronger for M10
than for M12. Using our previously described dereddening technique, we create
differential extinction maps for the clusters which dramatically improve the
appearance of the color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). Comparison of our maps with
the dust emissivity maps of Schlegel, Finkbeiner, & Davis (SFD) shows good
agreement in terms of spatial extinction features. Several methods of adding an
E_{V-I} zero point to our differential maps are presented of which isochrone
fitting proved to be the most successful. Our E_{V-I} values fall within the
range of widely varying literature values. More specifically, our reddening
zero point estimate for M12 agrees well with the SFD estimate, whereas the one
for M10 falls below the SFD value. Our search for variable stars in the
clusters produced a total of five variables: three in M10 and two in M12. The
M10 variables include a binary system of the W Ursa Majoris (W UMa) type, a
background RR Lyrae star, and an SX Phoenicis pulsator, none of which is
physically associated with M10. M12's variables are two W UMa binaries, one of
which is most likely a member of the cluster. We present the phased photometry
lightcurves for the variable stars, estimate their distances, and show their
locations in the fields and the CMDs of the GCs.Comment: 22 pages, 21 figures, to be published in AJ October 2002. For a
higher-resolution version of this paper, please visit
http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu/~kaspar/M10_M12_photometry.ps.gz (gzipped
postscript) or http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu/~kaspar/M10_M12_photometry.pdf
(pdf file
The Star Formation History of the Carina Dwarf Galaxy
We have analyzed deep B and V photometry of the Carina dwarf spheroidal
reaching below the old main-sequence turnoff to about V = 25. Using simulated
color-magnitude diagrams to model a range of star formation scenarios, we have
extracted a detailed, global star formation history. Carina experienced three
significant episodes of star formation at about 15 Gyr, 7 Gyr, and 3 Gyr.
Contrary to the generic picture of galaxy evolution, however, the bulk of star
formation, at least 50%, occured during the episode 7 Gyr ago, which may have
lasted as long as 2 Gyr. For unknown reasons, Carina formed only 10-20% of its
stars at an ancient epoch and then remained quiescent for more than 4 Gyr. The
remainder (~30%) formed relatively recently, only 3 Gyr ago. Interest in the
local population of dwarf galaxies has increased lately due to their potential
importance in the understanding of faint galaxy counts. We surmise that objects
like Carina, which exhibits the most extreme episodic behavior of any of the
dwarf spheroidal companions to the Galaxy, are capable of contributing to the
observed excess of blue galaxies at B = 24 only if the star formation occurred
instantaneously.Comment: 23 pages of text, 20 figures, 8 tables. AJ, in pres
The random case of Conley's theorem: III. Random semiflow case and Morse decomposition
In the first part of this paper, we generalize the results of the author
\cite{Liu,Liu2} from the random flow case to the random semiflow case, i.e. we
obtain Conley decomposition theorem for infinite dimensional random dynamical
systems. In the second part, by introducing the backward orbit for random
semiflow, we are able to decompose invariant random compact set (e.g. global
random attractor) into random Morse sets and connecting orbits between them,
which generalizes the Morse decomposition of invariant sets originated from
Conley \cite{Con} to the random semiflow setting and gives the positive answer
to an open problem put forward by Caraballo and Langa \cite{CL}.Comment: 21 pages, no figur
Stellar populations in NGC 5128 with the VLT: evidence for recent star formation
We resolve stars of the nearest giant elliptical galaxy NGC 5128 using VLT
with FORS1 and ISAAC. We construct deep U, V and Ks color-magnitude and
color-color diagrams in two different halo fields (in the halo and in the
north-eastern diffuse shell). In the outer, shell field, at ~14 kpc from the
center of the galaxy, there is a significant recent star formation with stars
as young as 10 Myr, approximately aligned with the prominent radio and x-ray
jet from the nucleus of the host AGN. Ionized gas filaments are evident in
ultraviolet images near the area where neutral HI and CO molecular gas was
previously observed. The underlying stellar population of the halo of the giant
elliptical is predominantly old with a very broad metallicity distribution. The
presence of an extended giant branch reaching M_bol=-5 mag suggests the
existence of a significant intermediate-age AGB population in the halo of this
galaxy.Comment: 18 pages, 18 figures; to be published in A&A; high res. version at
http://www.eso.org/~mrejkuba/cenA_starsVLT.p
Old Stellar Populations in Nearby Dwarf Galaxies
What can we learn from the somewhat arduous study of old stellar populations in nearby galaxies? Unless the nearby universe is subtly anomalous, it should contain a relatively normal selection of galaxies whose histories are representative of field galaxies in general throughout the Universe. We can therefore take advantage of our ability to resolve local galaxies into individual stars to directly, and accurately, measure star formation histories. The star formation histories are determined from numerical models, based on stellar evolution tracks, of colour-magnitude diagrams. The most accurate information on star formation rates extending back to the earliest epoches can be obtained from the structure of the main sequence. However, the oldest main sequence turnoffs are very faint, and it is often necessary to use the brighter, more evolved, populations to infer the star formation history at older times. A complete star formation history can be compared with the spectroscopic properties of galaxies seen over a large range of lookback times in redshift surveys. There is considerable evidence that the faint blue galaxies seen in large numbers in cosmological surveys are the progenitors of the late-type irregular galaxies seen in copious numbers in the Local Group, and beyond. We consider how the ``Madau-diagram'', the star formation history of the Universe, would look if the Local Group were to be considered representative of the Universe as a whole
A close look at the Centaurus A group of galaxies: I. Metallicity distribution functions and population gradients in early-type dwarfs
We study dwarf galaxies in the Centaurus A group to investigate their
metallicity and possible environmental effects. The Centaurus A group (at ~4
Mpc from the Milky Way) contains about 50 known dwarf companions of different
morphologies and stellar contents, thus making it a very interesting target to
study how these galaxies evolve. Here we present results for the early-type
dwarf galaxy population in this group. We use archival HST/ACS data to study
the resolved stellar content of 6 galaxies, together with isochrones from the
Dartmouth stellar evolutionary models. We derive photometric metallicity
distribution functions of stars on the upper red giant branch via isochrone
interpolation. The 6 galaxies are moderately metal-poor (=-1.56 to
-1.08), and metallicity spreads are observed (internal dispersions of
sigma_[Fe/H]=0.10 to 0.41 dex). We also investigate the possible presence of
intermediate-age stars, and discuss how these affect our results. The dwarfs
exhibit flat to weak radial metallicity gradients. For the two most luminous,
most metal-rich galaxies, we find statistically significant evidence for at
least two stellar subpopulations: the more metal-rich stars are found in the
center of the galaxies, while the metal-poor ones are more broadly distributed
within the galaxies. We find no clear trend of the derived physical properties
as a function of (present-day) galaxy position in the group, which may be due
to the small sample we investigate. We compare our results to the early-type
dwarf population of the Local Group, and find no outstanding differences,
despite the fact that the Centaurus A group is a denser environment that is
possibly in a more advanced dynamical stage.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
The Blue Straggler Population in Dwarf Galaxies
In this chapter I review the recent developments regarding the study of Blue
Stragglers (BSS) in dwarf galaxies. The loose density environment of dwarf
galaxies resembles that of the Galactic Halo, hence it is natural to compare
their common BSS properties. At the same time, it is unescapable to compare
with the BSS properties in Galactic Globular clusters, which constitute the
reference point for BSS studies. Admittedly, the literature on BSS in dwarf
galaxies is not plentiful. The limitation is mostly due to the large distance
to even the closest dwarf galaxies. Nevertheless, recent studies have allowed a
deeper insight on the BSS photometric properties that are worth examining.Comment: Chapter 6, in Ecology of Blue Straggler Stars, H.M.J. Boffin, G.
Carraro & G. Beccari (Eds), Astrophysics and Space Science Library, Springe
The ACS LCID Project: RR Lyrae stars as tracers of old population gradients in the isolated dwarf spheroidal galaxy Tucana
We present a study of the radial distribution of RR Lyrae variables, which
present a range of photometric and pulsational properties, in the dwarf
spheroidal galaxy Tucana. We find that the fainter RR Lyrae stars, having a
shorter period, are more centrally concentrated than the more luminous, longer
period RR Lyrae variables. Through comparison with the predictions of
theoretical models of stellar evolution and stellar pulsation, we interpret the
fainter RR Lyrae stars as a more metal-rich subsample. In addition, we show
that they must be older than about 10 Gyr. Therefore, the metallicity gradient
must have appeared very early on in the history of this galaxy.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures in emulateapj style. Submitted to ApJ Letter
- âŠ