622 research outputs found
Draco -- A Failure of the Tidal Model
We test whether the structural properties of the nearby dwarf spheroidal
(dSph) galaxy Draco, a well-studied Milky Way companion, can be reconciled with
the suggestion that dSphs are unbound tidal remnants with a large depth extent
along the line of sight. In order to apply the observational test of this
hypothesis suggested by Klessen & Zhao, we use public photometric data from the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to explore the width of Draco's blue horizontal
branch over a range of areas covering 0.06 square degrees to 6.25 square
degrees centered on Draco. The SDSS database is the only currently existing
database with sufficient depth and area coverage to permit a stringent test of
the tidal models. We show that blue horizontal branch stars extend beyond the
previously inferred limiting radii of Draco, consistent with the observed
absence of a truncated stellar surface density profile of this dSph. We
calculate new models for a galaxy without dark matter, using Draco's
morphological properties as constraints. The resulting models are unable to
reproduce the narrow observed horizontal branch width of Draco, which stays
roughly constant regardless of the field of view. We conclude that Draco cannot
be the remnant of a tidally disrupted satellite, but is probably strongly
dark-matter dominated. (ABSTRACT ABBREVIATED)Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures included, accepted for publication in ApJ,
high-resolution version available at
http://www.aip.de./~ralf/Publications/p22.abstract.htm
Chemical Evolution in the Carina Dwarf Spheroidal
We present metallicities for 487 red giants in the Carina dwarf spheroidal
(dSph) galaxy that were obtained from FLAMES low-resolution Ca triplet (CaT)
spectroscopy. We find a mean [Fe/H] of -1.91 dex with an intrinsic dispersion
of 0.25 dex, whereas the full spread in metallicities is at least one dex. The
analysis of the radial distribution of metallicities reveals that an excess of
metal poor stars resides in a region of larger axis distances. These results
can constrain evolutionary models and are discussed in the context of chemical
evolution in the Carina dSph.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, to be published in the proceedings of the
ESO/Arcetri-workshop on "Chemical Abundances and Mixing in Stars", 13.-17.
Sep. 2004, Castiglione della Pescaia, Italy, L. Pasquini, S. Randich (eds.
Population Gradients in Local Group Dwarf Spheroidals
We present a systematic and homogeneous analysis of population gradients for
the Local Group dwarf spheroidals (dSphs) Carina, Sculptor, Sextans, Tucana,
Andromeda I-III, V, and VI. For all of the Milky Way companions studied here we
find significant population gradients. The same is true for the remote dSph
Tucana located at the outskirts of the LG. Among the M 31 dSph companions only
Andromeda I and VI show obvious gradients. In all cases where a HB morphology
gradient is visible, the red HB stars are more centrally concentrated. The
occurence of a HB morphological gradient shows a correlation with a morphology
gradient in the red giant branch. It seems likely that metallicity is the
driver of the gradients in Sextans, Sculptor, Tucana, and Andromeda VI, while
age is an important factor in Carina. We find no evidence that the vicinity of
a nearby massive spiral galaxy influences the formation of the population
gradients.Comment: accepted for publication in AJ; 25 pages; 11 images in jpeg and png
forma
Dark Matter and Stellar Mass in the Luminous Regions of Disk Galaxies
We investigate the correlations among stellar mass (M_*), disk scale length
(R_d), and rotation velocity at 2.2 disk scale lengths (V_2.2) for a sample of
81 disk-dominated galaxies (disk/total >= 0.9) selected from the SDSS. We
measure V_2.2 from long-slit H-alpha rotation curves and infer M_* from galaxy
i-band luminosities (L_i) and g-r colors. We find logarithmic slopes of
2.60+/-0.13 and 3.05+/-0.12 for the L_i-V_2.2 and M_*-V_2.2 relations, somewhat
shallower than most previous studies, with intrinsic scatter of 0.13 dex and
0.16 dex. Our direct estimates of the total-to-stellar mass ratio within
2.2R_d, assuming a Kroupa IMF, yield a median ratio of 2.4 for M_*>10^10 Msun
and 4.4 for M_*=10^9-10^10 Msun, with large scatter at a given M_* and R_d. The
typical ratio of the rotation speed predicted for the stellar disk alone to the
observed rotation speed at 2.2R_d is ~0.65. The distribution of R_d at fixed
M_* is broad, but we find no correlation between disk size and the residual
from the M_*-V_2.2 relation, implying that this relation is an approximately
edge-on view of the disk galaxy fundamental plane. Independent of the assumed
IMF, this result implies that stellar disks do not, on average, dominate the
mass within 2.2R_d. We discuss our results in the context of infall models of
disk formation in cold dark matter halos. A model with a disk-to-halo mass
ratio m_d=0.05 provides a reasonable match to the R_d-M_* distribution for spin
parameters \lambda ranging from ~0.04-0.08, and it yields a reasonable match to
the mean M_*-V_2.2 relation. A model with m_d=0.1 predicts overly strong
correlations between disk size and M_*-V_2.2 residual. Explaining the wide
range of halo-to-disk mass ratios within 2.2R_d requires significant scatter in
m_d values, with systematically lower m_d for galaxies with lower .Comment: 18 pages, 2 tables, 7 figures, Accepted to ApJ, Table 1 updated,
otherwise minor change
The Progenitors of Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies
Dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies present an evolutionary puzzle that we
explore in 40 early- and late-type dwarfs in the Local Group and nearby field.
Although dSphs formed stars over extended periods, today all but one are free
of detectable interstellar matter (ISM), even in the Fornax dSph, where stars
still formed 100 Myr ago. Combining metallicities for red giants with HI data
from the literature, we show that the well-known offset in
luminosity-metallicity (L-Z) relations for dSphs and dwarf irregular (dIrr)
galaxies exists also when comparing only their old stellar populations: dSphs
have higher mean stellar metallicities for a fixed luminosity. Evidently
younger dSphs experienced more efficient enrichment than young dIrrs. Dwarf
galaxies, whose locus in the L-Z diagram is consistent with that of dSphs even
for baryonic luminosities, are the ``transition-type dwarfs'' Phoenix, DDO210,
LGS3, Antlia, and KKR25. They have mixed dIrr/dSph morphologies, low stellar
masses, low angular momentum, and HI contents of less than a few 10^6 solar
masses. Unlike dIrrs, many transition-type dwarfs would closely resemble dSphs
if their gas were removed; they are likely dSph progenitors. As gas removal is
key, we consider the empirical evidence for various gas removal processes. We
suggest that internal gas removal mechanisms are inadequate and favor ram
pressure stripping to make dSphs. A combination of initial conditions and
environment seems to support the formation of dSphs, which appear to form from
small galaxies with active early star formation, whose evolution halts due to
externally induced gas loss. Transition-type dwarfs then are dSphs that kept
their ISM, and therefore should replace dSphs in isolated locations where
stripping is ineffective. (Abridged)Comment: 25 pages in AASTeX two-column preprint style, 1 table, 3 figures.
Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal (April 2003 issue
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