2,605 research outputs found
Deep imaging of Eridanus II and its lone star cluster
We present deep imaging of the most distant dwarf discovered by the Dark
Energy Survey, Eridanus II (Eri II). Our Magellan/Megacam stellar photometry
reaches mag deeper than previous work, and allows us to confirm the
presence of a stellar cluster whose position is consistent with Eri II's
center. This makes Eri II, at , the least luminous galaxy known to
host a (possibly central) cluster. The cluster is partially resolved, and at
it accounts for of Eri II's luminosity. We derive
updated structural parameters for Eri II, which has a half-light radius of
pc and is elongated (), at a measured
distance of kpc. The color-magnitude diagram displays a blue,
extended horizontal branch, as well as a less populated red horizontal branch.
A central concentration of stars brighter than the old main sequence turnoff
hints at a possible intermediate-age ( Gyr) population; alternatively,
these sources could be blue straggler stars. A deep Green Bank Telescope
observation of Eri II reveals no associated atomic gas.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; ApJL accepte
Calcium-Rich Gap Transients: Tidal Detonations of White Dwarfs?
We hypothesize that at least some of the recently discovered class of
calcium-rich gap transients are tidal detonation events of white dwarfs (WDs)
by black holes (BHs) or possibly neutron stars. We show that the properties of
the calcium-rich gap transients agree well with the predictions of the tidal
detonation model. Under the predictions of this model, we use a follow-up X-ray
observation of one of these transients, SN 2012hn, to place weak upper limits
on the detonator mass of this system that include all intermediate-mass BHs
(IMBHs). As these transients are preferentially in the stellar haloes of
galaxies, we discuss the possibility that these transients are tidal
detonations of WDs caused by random flyby encounters with IMBHs in dwarf
galaxies or globular clusters. This possibility has been already suggested in
the literature but without connection to the calcium-rich gap transients. In
order for the random flyby cross-section to be high enough, these events would
have to be occurring inside these dense stellar associations. However, there is
a lack of evidence for IMBHs in these systems, and recent observations have
ruled out all but the very faintest dwarf galaxies and globular clusters for a
few of these transients. Another possibility is that these are tidal
detonations caused by three-body interactions, where a WD is perturbed toward
the detonator in isolated multiple star systems. We highlight a number of ways
this could occur, even in lower-mass systems with stellar-mass BHs or neutron
stars. Finally, we outline several new observational tests of this scenario,
which are feasible with current instrumentation.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in MNRA
Antlia B: A faint dwarf galaxy member of the NGC 3109 association
We report the discovery of Antlia B, a faint dwarf galaxy at a projected
distance of 72 kpc from NGC 3109 (15 mag), the primary
galaxy of the NGC 3109 dwarf association at the edge of the Local Group. The
tip of the red giant branch distance to Antlia B is =1.290.10 Mpc,
which is consistent with the distance to NGC 3109. A qualitative analysis
indicates the new dwarf's stellar population has both an old, metal poor red
giant branch (10 Gyr, [Fe/H]2), and a younger blue population
with an age of 200-400 Myr, analogous to the original Antlia dwarf,
another likely satellite of NGC 3109. Antlia B has \ion{H}{1} gas at a velocity
of =376 km s, confirming the association with NGC 3109
(=403 km s). The HI gas mass
(M=2.80.210 M), stellar luminosity
(=9.70.6 mag) and half light radius (=27329 pc) are
all consistent with the properties of dwarf irregular and dwarf spheroidal
galaxies in the Local Volume, and is most similar to the Leo P dwarf galaxy.
The discovery of Antlia B is the initial result from a Dark Energy Camera
survey for halo substructure and faint dwarf companions to NGC 3109 with the
goal of comparing observed substructure with expectations from the
+Cold Dark Matter model in the sub-Milky Way regime.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to ApJ
Preliminary Results from the Caltech Core-Collapse Project (CCCP)
We present preliminary results from the Caltech Core-Collapse Project (CCCP),
a large observational program focused on the study of core-collapse SNe.
Uniform, high-quality NIR and optical photometry and multi-epoch optical
spectroscopy have been obtained using the 200'' Hale and robotic 60''
telescopes at Palomar, for a sample of 50 nearby core-collapse SNe. The
combination of both well-sampled optical light curves and multi-epoch
spectroscopy will enable spectroscopically and photometrically based subtype
definitions to be disentangled from each other. Multi-epoch spectroscopy is
crucial to identify transition events that evolve among subtypes with time. The
CCCP SN sample includes every core-collapse SN discovered between July 2004 and
September 2005 that was visible from Palomar, found shortly (< 30 days) after
explosion (based on available pre-explosion photometry), and closer than ~120
Mpc. This complete sample allows, for the first time, a study of core-collapse
SNe as a population, rather than as individual events. Here, we present the
full CCCP SN sample and show exemplary data collected. We analyze available
data for the first ~1/3 of the sample and determine the subtypes of 13 SNe II
based on both light curve shapes and spectroscopy. We discuss the relative SN
II subtype fractions in the context of associating SN subtypes with specific
progenitor stars.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the meeting "The Multicoloured
Landscape of Compact Objects and their Explosive Origins", Cefalu, Italy,
June 2006, to be published by AIP, Eds. L. Burderi et a
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