933 research outputs found
The Hottest Horizontal-Branch Stars in omega Centauri - Late Hot Flasher vs. Helium Enrichment
UV observations of some massive globular clusters uncovered a significant
population of very hot stars below the hot end of the horizontal branch (HB),
the so-called blue hook stars. This feature might be explained either as
results of the late hot flasher scenario where stars experience the helium
flash while on the white dwarf cooling curve or by the progeny of the
helium-enriched sub-population recently postulated to exist in some clusters.
Moderately high resolution spectra of stars at the hot end of the blue HB in
omega Cen were analysed for atmospheric parameters and abundances using LTE and
Non-LTE model atmospheres. In the temperature range 30,000K to 50,000K we find
that 35% of our stars are helium-poor (log(n_He/n_H) < -2), 51% have solar
helium abundance within a factor of 3 (-1.5 <= log(n_He/n_H) <= -0.5) and 14%
are helium-rich (log(n_He/n_H)> -0.4). We also find carbon enrichment in step
with helium enrichment, with a maximum carbon enrichment of 3% by mass. At
least 14% of the hottest HB stars in omega Cen show helium abundances well
above the highest predictions from the helium enrichment scenario (Y = 0.42
corresponding to log(n_He/n_H) ~ -0.74). In addition, the most helium-rich
stars show strong carbon enrichment as predicted by the late hot flasher
scenario. We conclude that the helium-rich HB stars in omega Cen cannot be
explained solely by the helium-enrichment scenario invoked to explain the blue
main sequence. (Abridged)Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, uses aa.cls (enclosed), accepted as A&A Lette
Probing the evolution of the near-IR luminosity function of galaxies to z ~ 3 in the Hubble Deep Field South
[Abridged] We present the rest-frame Js-band and Ks-band luminosity function
of a sample of about 300 galaxies selected in the HDF-S at Ks<23 (Vega). We use
calibrated photometric redshift together with spectroscopic redshift for 25% of
the sample. The sample has allowed to probe the evolution of the LF in the
three redshift bins [0;0.8), [0.8;1.9) and [1.9;4) centered at the median
redshift z_m ~ [0.6,1.2,3]. The values of alpha we estimate are consistent with
the local value and do not show any trend with redshift. We do not see evidence
of evolution from z=0 to z_m ~ 0.6 suggesting that the population of local
bright galaxies was already formed at z<0.8. On the contrary, we clearly detect
an evolution of the LF to z_m ~ 1.2 characterized by a brightening of M* and by
a decline of phi*. To z_m ~ 1.2 M* brightens by about 0.4-0.6 mag and phi*
decreases by a factor 2-3. This trend persists, even if at a less extent, down
to z_m ~ 3 both in the Js-band and in the Ks-band LF. The decline of the number
density of bright galaxies seen at z>0.8 suggests that a significant fraction
of them increases their stellar mass at 1<z<2-3 and that they underwent a
strong evolution in this redshift range. On the other hand, this implies also
that a significant fraction of local bright/massive galaxies was already in
place at z>3. Thus, our results suggest that the assembly of high-mass galaxies
is spread over a large redshift range and that the increase of their stellar
mass has been very efficient also at very high redshift at least for a fraction
of them.Comment: 18 pages, 21 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA
Age, metallicity and star formation history of spheroidal galaxies in cluster at z~1.2
We present the analysis, based on spectra collected at the Large Binocular
Telescope, of the stellar populations in seven spheroidal galaxies in the
cluster XLSSJ0223 at 1.22. The aim is to constrain the epoch of their
formation and their star formation history. Using absorption line strenghts and
full spectral fitting, we derive for the stellar populations of the seven
spheroids a median age =2.40.6 Gyr, corresponding to a median
formation redshift $\sim2.6_{-0.5}^{+0.7}$ (lookback time =
11$_{-1.0}^{+0.6}$ Gyr). We find a significant scatter in age, showing that
massive spheroids, at least in our targeted cluster, are not coeval. The median
metallicity is [Z/H]=0.09$\pm$0.16, as for early-types in clusters at
0$<z<<\sigma_e_{dyn}\Sigma_e_{dyn}\Sigma_e_{dyn}\Sigma_ez\sim1.3$, i.e.
more massive spheroids are more metal rich, have lower stellar mass density and
tend to be older than lower-mass galaxies.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, 6 tables, published on MNRA
Chandra and optical/IR observations of CXOJ1415.2+3610, a massive, newly discovered galaxy cluster at z~1.5
(Abridged) We report the discovery of CXO J1415.2+3610, a distant (z~1.5)
galaxy cluster serendipitously detected in a deep, high-resolution Chandra
observation targeted to study the cluster WARP J1415.1+3612 at z=1.03. This is
the highest-z cluster discovered with Chandra so far. Moreover, the total
exposure time of 280 ks with ACIS-S provides the deepest X-ray observation
currently achieved on a cluster at z>1.5. We perform an X-ray spectral fit of
the extended emission of the intracluster medium (ICM) with XSPEC, and we
detect at a 99.5% confidence level the rest frame 6.7-6.9 keV Iron K_\alpha
line complex, from which we obtain z_X=1.46\pm0.025. The analysis of the
z-3.6\mu m color-magnitude diagram shows a well defined sequence of red
galaxies within 1' from the cluster X-ray emission peak with a color range [5 <
z-3.6 \mu m < 6]. The photometric redshift obtained by spectral energy
distribution (SED) fitting is z_phot=1.47\pm 0.25. After fixing the redshift to
z=1.46, we perform the final spectral analysis and measure the average gas
temperature with a 20% error, kT=5.8^{+1.2}_{-1.0} keV, and the Fe abundance
Z_Fe = 1.3_{-0.5}^{+0.8}Z_\odot. We fit the background subtracted surface
brightness with a single beta--model out to 35" and derive the deprojected
electron density profile. The ICM mass is 1.09_{-0.2}^{+0.3}\times 10^{13}
M_\odot within 300 kpc. The total mass is M_{2500}= 8.6_{-1.7}^{+2.1} \times 10
^{13} M_\odot for R_{2500}=(220\pm 55) kpc. Extrapolating the profile at larger
radii we find M_{500}= 2.1_{-0.5}^{+0.7} \times 10 ^{14} M_\odot for R_{500} =
510_{-50}^{+55}$ kpc. This analysis establishes CXOJ1415.2+3610 as one of the
best characterized distant galaxy clusters based on X-ray data alone.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, A\&A in press, minor modifications in the tex
A textbook example of ram-pressure stripping in the Hydra A/A780 cluster
In the current epoch, one of the main mechanisms driving the growth of galaxy clusters is the continuous accretion of group-scale halos. In this process, the ram pressure applied by the hot intracluster medium on the gas content of the infalling group is responsible for stripping the gas from its dark-matter halo, which gradually leads to the virialization of the infalling gas in the potential well of the main cluster. Using deep wide-field observations of the poor cluster Hydra A/A780 with XMM-Newton and Suzaku, we report the discovery of an infalling galaxy group 1.1 Mpc south of the cluster core. The presence of a substructure is confirmed by a dynamical study of the galaxies in this region. A wake of stripped gas is trailing behind the group over a projected scale of 760 kpc. The temperature of the gas along the wake is constant at kT ~ 1.3 keV, which is about a factor of two less than the temperature of the surrounding plasma. We observe a cold front pointing westwards compared to the peak of the group, which indicates that the group is currently not moving in the direction of the main cluster, but is moving along an almost circular orbit. The overall morphology of the group bears remarkable similarities with high-resolution numerical simulations of such structures, which greatly strengthens our understanding of the ram-pressure stripping process
- …