211 research outputs found
The polar ring galaxy AM1934-563 revisited
We report long-slit spectroscopic observations of the dust-lane polar-ring
galaxy AM1934-563 obtained with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT)
during its performance-verification phase. The observations target the spectral
region of the Ha, [NII] and [SII] emission-lines, but show also deep NaI
stellar absorption lines that we interpret as produced by stars in the galaxy.
We derive rotation curves along the major axis of the galaxy that extend out to
about 8 kpc from the center for both the gaseous and the stellar components,
using the emission and absorption lines. We derive similar rotation curves
along the major axis of the polar ring and point out differences between these
and the ones of the main galaxy. We identify a small diffuse object visible
only in Ha emission and with a low velocity dispersion as a dwarf HII galaxy
and argue that it is probably metal-poor. Its velocity indicates that it is a
fourth member of the galaxy group in which AM1934-563 belongs. We discuss the
observations in the context of the proposal that the object is the result of a
major merger and point out some observational discrepancies from this
explanation. We argue that an alternative scenario that could better fit the
observations may be the slow accretion of cold intergalactic gas, focused by a
dense filament of galaxies in which this object is embedded (abridged).Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, submitted to MNRAS. Some figures were bitmapped
to reduce the size. Full resolution version is available from
http://www.saao.ac.za/~akniazev/pub/AM1934_563.pd
The metallicity extremes of the Sagittarius dSph using SALT spectroscopy of PNe
In this work we present the first spectroscopic results obtained with the
Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) telescope during its
perfomance-verification phase. We find that the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal
galaxy (Sgr) Sgr contains a youngest stellar population with [O/H] -0.2 and age
t>1 Gyr, and an oldest population with [O/H]=-2.0. The values are based on
spectra of two planetary nebulae (PNe), using empirical abundance
determinations. We calculated abundances for O, N, Ne, Ar, S, Cl, Fe, C and He.
We confirm the high abundances of PN StWr2-21 with 12+log(O/H) = 8.57+/-0.02
dex. The other PN studied, BoBn1, is an extraordinary object in that the neon
abundance exceeds that of oxygen. The abundances of S, Ar and Cl in BoBn1 yield
the original stellar metallicity, corresponding to 12+log(O/H) = 6.72+/-0.16
dex which is 1/110 of the solar value. The actual [O/H] is much higher: third
dredge-up enriched the material by a factor of ~12 in oxygen, ~240 in nitrogen
and ~70 in neon. Neon as well as nitrogen and oxygen content may have been
produced in the intershell of low-mass AGB stars. Well defined broad WR lines
are present in the spectrum of StWr2-21 and absent in the spectrum of BoBn1.
This puts the fraction of [WR]-type central PNe stars to 67% for dSph galaxies.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, accepted to MNRA
Planetary Nebulae as a Probe of the Local Group Galaxies Evolution
We present the latest results from our study of PNe and HII regions in two Local Group dwarf irregular galaxies IC 10 and NGC 682
Optical Follow-up of New SMC Wing Be/X-ray Binaries
We investigate the optical counterparts of recently discovered Be/X-ray
binaries in the Small Magellanic Cloud. In total four sources, SXP101, SXP700,
SXP348 and SXP65.8 were detected during the Chandra Survey of the Wing of the
SMC. SXP700 and SXP65.8 were previously unknown. Many optical ground based
telescopes have been utilised in the optical follow-up, providing coverage in
both the red and blue bands. This has led to the classification of all of the
counterparts as Be stars and confirms that three lie within the Galactic
spectral distribution of known Be/X-ray binaries. SXP101 lies outside this
distribution becoming the latest spectral type known. Monitoring of the Halpha
emission line suggests that all the sources bar SXP700 have highly variable
circumstellar disks, possibly a result of their comparatively short orbital
periods. Phase resolved X-ray spectroscopy has also been performed on SXP65.8,
revealing that the emission is indeed harder during the passage of the X-ray
beam through the line of sight.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
Properties of the solar neighbor WISE J072003.20-084651.2
The severe crowding towards the Galactic plane suggests that the census of
nearby stars in that direction may be incomplete. Recently, Scholz reported a
new M9 object at an estimated distance d~7 pc (WISE J072003.20-084651.2;
hereafter WISE0720) at Galactic latitude b=2.3 degr.
Our goals are to determine the physical characteristics of WISE0720, its
kinematic properties, and to address the question if it is a binary object, as
suggested in the discovery paper.
Optical and infrared spectroscopy from the Southern African Large Telescope
and Magellan, respectively, and spectral energy distribution fitting were used
to determine the spectral type of WISE0720. The measured radial velocity,
proper motion and parallax yielded its Galactic velocities. We also
investigated if WISE0720 may show X-ray activity based on archival data.
Our spectra are consistent with spectral type L0+/-1. We find no evidence for
binarity, apart for a minor 2-sigma level difference in the radial velocities
taken at two different epochs. The spatial velocity of WISE0720 does not
connect it to any known moving group, instead it places the object with high
probability in the old thin disk or in the thick disk. The spectral energy
distribution fit hints at excess in the 12 and 22 micron WISE bands which may
be due to a redder companion, but the same excess is visible in other late type
objects, and it more likely implies a shortcoming of the models (e.g., issues
with the effective wavelengths of the filters for these extremely cool objects,
etc.) rather than a disk or redder companion. The optical spectrum shows some
Halpha emission, indicative of stellar activity. Archival X-ray observations
yield no detection.Comment: A&A, accepted; 9 pages, 6 figure
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