Homogeneous Photometry VI: Variable Stars in the Leo I Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy

We have characterized the pulsation properties of 164 candidate RR Lyrae variables (RRLs) and 55 candidate Anomalous and/or short-period Cepheids in Leo I dwarf spheroidal galaxy. On the basis of its RRLs Leo I is confirmed to be an Oosterhoff-intermediate type galaxy, like several other dwarfs. We show that in their pulsation properties, the RRLs representing the oldest stellar population in the galaxy are not significantly different from those of five other nearby, isolated dwarf spheroidal galaxies. A similar result is obtained when comparing them to RR Lyrae stars in recently discovered ultra-faint dwarf galaxies. We are able to compare the period distributions and period-amplitude relations for a statistically significant sample of ab type RR Lyrae stars in dwarf galaxies (~1300stars) with those in the Galactic halo field (~14,000stars) and globular clusters (~1000stars). Field RRLs show a significant change in their period distribution when moving from the inner (dG14kpc) halo regions. This suggests that the halo formed from (at least) two dissimilar progenitors or types of progenitor. Considered together, the RRLs in classical dwarf spheroidal and ultra-faint dwarf galaxies-as observed today-do not appear to follow the well defined pulsation properties shown by those in either the inner or the outer Galactic halo, nor do they have the same properties as RRLs in globular clusters. In particular, the samples of fundamental-mode RRLs in dwarfs seem to lack High Amplitudes and Short Periods ("HASP":AV>1.0mag and P <0.48d) when compared with those observed in the Galactic halo field and globular clusters. The observed properties of RRLs do not support the idea that currently existing classical dwarf spheroidal and ultra-faint dwarf galaxies are surviving representative examples of the original building blocks of the Galactic halo.Comment: 49 pages in referee format, 12 figure

Spatial dependence of the Star Formation History in the Central Regions of the Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy

We present the Star Formation History (SFH) and the age-metallicity relation (AMR) in three fields of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy. They sample a region spanning from the centre of the galaxy to beyond one core radius, which allows studying galactocentric gradients. In all the cases, we found stars as old as 12 Gyr, together with intermediate-age and young stellar populations. The last star formation events, as young as 1 Gyr old, are mainly located in the central region, which may indicate that the gas reservoir in the outer parts of the galaxy would have been exhausted earlier than in the centre or removed by tidal interactions. The AMR is smoothly increasing in the three analyzed regions and similar to each other, indicating that no significant metallicity gradient is apparent within and around the core radius of Fornax. No significant traces of global UV-reionization or local SNe feedback are appreciated in the early SFH of Fornax. Our study is based on FORS1@VLT photometry as deep as I~24.5 and the IAC-star/IAC-pop/MinnIAC suite of codes for the determination of the SFH in resolved stellar populations.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, 4 table

On the use of asymmetric PSF on NIR images of crowded stellar fields

We present data collected using the camera PISCES coupled with the Firt Light Adaptive Optics (FLAO) mounted at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). The images were collected using two natural guide stars with an apparent magnitude of R<13 mag. During these observations the seeing was on average ~0.9". The AO performed very well: the images display a mean FWHM of 0.05 arcsec and of 0.06 arcsec in the J- and in the Ks-band, respectively. The Strehl ratio on the quoted images reaches 13-30% (J) and 50-65% (Ks), in the off and in the central pointings respectively. On the basis of this sample we have reached a J-band limiting magnitude of ~22.5 mag and the deepest Ks-band limiting magnitude ever obtained in a crowded stellar field: Ks~23 mag. J-band images display a complex change in the shape of the PSF when moving at larger radial distances from the natural guide star. In particular, the stellar images become more elongated in approaching the corners of the J-band images whereas the Ks-band images are more uniform. We discuss in detail the strategy used to perform accurate and deep photometry in these very challenging images. In particular we will focus our attention on the use of an updated version of ROMAFOT based on asymmetric and analytical Point Spread Functions. The quality of the photometry allowed us to properly identify a feature that clearly shows up in NIR bands: the main sequence knee (MSK). The MSK is independent of the evolutionary age, therefore the difference in magnitude with the canonical clock to constrain the cluster age, the main sequence turn off (MSTO), provides an estimate of the absolute age of the cluster. The key advantage of this new approach is that the error decreases by a factor of two when compared with the classical one. Combining ground-based Ks with space F606W photometry, we estimate the absolute age of M15 to be 13.70+-0.80 Gyr.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, presented at the SPIE conference 201

The ACS LCID project. IX. Imprints of the early Universe in the radial variation of the star formation history of dwarf galaxies

Based on Hubble Space Telescope observations from the Local Cosmology from Isolated Dwarfs project, we present the star formation histories, as a function of galactocentric radius, of four isolated Local Group dwarf galaxies: two dSph galaxies, Cetus and Tucana, and two transition galaxies (dTrs), LGS-3 and Phoenix. The oldest stellar populations of the dSphs and dTrs are, within the uncertainties, coeval ($\sim 13 Gyr$) at all galactocentric radii. We find that there are no significative differences between the four galaxies in the fundamental properties (such as the normalized star formation rate or age-metallicity relation) of their outer regions (radii greater than four exponential scale lengths); at large radii, these galaxies consist exclusively of old ($\geq 10.5 Gyr$) metal-poor stars. The duration of star formation in the inner regions vary from galaxy to galaxy, and the extended central star formation in the dTrs produces the dichotomy between dSph and dTr galaxy types. The dTr galaxies show prominent radial stellar population gradients: the centers of these galaxies host young ($\leq 1 Gyr$) populations while the age of the last formation event increases smoothly with increasing radius. This contrasts with the two dSph galaxies. Tucana shows a similar, but milder, gradient, but no gradient in age is detected Cetus. For the three galaxies with significant stellar population gradients, the exponential scale length decreases with time. These results are in agreement with outside-in scenarios of dwarf galaxy evolution, in which a quenching of the star formation toward the center occurs as the galaxy runs out of gas in the outskirts.Comment: Accepted to be published in Ap

The ACS LCID Project XI. On the early time resolution of LG dwarf galaxy SFHs: Comparing the effects of reionization in models with observations

The analysis of the early star formation history (SFH) of nearby galaxies, obtained from their resolved stellar populations is relevant as a test for cosmological models. However, the early time resolution of observationally derived SFHs is limited by several factors. Thus, direct comparison of observationally derived SFHs with those derived from theoretical models of galaxy formation is potentially biased. Here we investigate and quantify this effect. For this purpose, we analyze the duration of the early star formation activity in a sample of four Local Group dwarf galaxies and test whether they are consistent with being true fossils of the pre-reionization era; i.e., if the quenching of their star formation occurred before cosmic reionization by UV photons was completed. Two classical dSph (Cetus and Tucana) and two dTrans (LGS-3 and Phoenix) isolated galaxies with total stellar masses between $1.3\times 10^6$ to $7.2\times 10^6$ M$_\odot$ have been studied. Accounting for time resolution effects, the SFHs peak as much as 1.25 Gyr earlier than the optimal solutions. Thus, this effect is important for a proper comparison of model and observed SFHs. It is also shown that none of the analyzed galaxies can be considered a true-fossil of the pre-reionization era, although it is possible that the {\it outer regions} of Cetus and Tucana are consistent with quenching by reionization.Comment: To be published by the Ap

Dark halo structure in the Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy: joint analysis of multiple stellar components

Photometric and spectroscopic observations of the Carina dSph revealed that this galaxy contains two dominant stellar populations of different age and kinematics. The co-existence of multiple populations provides new constraints on the dark halo structure of the galaxy, because different populations should be in equilibrium in the same dark matter potential well. We develop non-spherical dynamical models including such multiple stellar components and attempt to constrain the properties of the non-spherical dark halo of Carina. We find that Carina probably has a larger and denser dark halo than found in previous works and a less cuspy inner dark matter density profile, even though the uncertainties of dark halo parameters are still large due to small volume of data sample. Using our fitting results, we evaluate astrophysical factors for dark matter annihilation and decay and find that Carina should be one of the most promising detectable targets among classical dSph galaxies. We also calculate stellar velocity anisotropy profiles for both stellar populations and find that they are both radially anisotropic in the inner regions, while in the outer regions the older population becomes more tangentially biased than the intermediate one. This is consistent with the anisotropy predicted from tidal effects on the dynamical structure of a satellite galaxy and thereby can be considered as kinematic evidence for the tidal evolution of Carina.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures and 3 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

The galaxy "missing dark matter" NGC1052-DF4 is undergoing tidal disruption

The existence of long-lived galaxies lacking dark matter represents a challenge to our understanding of how galaxies form. Here, we present evidence that explains the lack of dark matter in one of such galaxies: NGC1052-DF4. Deep optical imaging of the system has detected tidal tails in this object caused by its interaction with its neighbouring galaxy NGC1035. As stars are more centrally concentrated than the dark matter, the tidal stripping will remove a significant percentage of the dark matter before affecting the stars of the galaxy. Only ~7% of the stellar mass of the galaxy is in the tidal tails, suggesting that the stars of NGC1052-DF4 are starting only now to be affected by the interaction, while the percentage of remaining dark matter is <1%. This naturally explains the low content of dark matter inferred for this galaxy and reconciles these type of galaxies with our current models of galaxy formation.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ; The main results of the paper are shown in figures 5 and

Stellar photometry with Multi Conjugate Adaptive Optics

We overview the current status of photometric analyses of images collected with Multi Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) at 8-10m class telescopes that operated, or are operating, on sky. Particular attention will be payed to resolved stellar population studies. Stars in crowded stellar systems, such as globular clusters or in nearby galaxies, are ideal test particles to test AO performance. We will focus the discussion on photometric precision and accuracy reached nowadays. We briefly describe our project on stellar photometry and astrometry of Galactic globular clusters using images taken with GeMS at the Gemini South telescope. We also present the photometry performed with DAOPHOT suite of programs into the crowded regions of these globulars reaching very faint limiting magnitudes Ks ~21.5 mag on moderately large fields of view (~1.5 arcmin squared). We highlight the need for new algorithms to improve the modeling of the complex variation of the Point Spread Function across the field of view. Finally, we outline the role that large samples of stellar standards plays in providing a detailed description of the MCAO performance and in precise and accurate colour{magnitude diagrams.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, SPIE 201