scholarly journals Constraints on Interactions and Mergers from dSph Galaxies and Globular Clusters

1999 ◽  
Vol 186 ◽  
pp. 52-52
Author(s):  
E.K. Grebel

Observations at high redshifts are revealing numerous interactions and ongoing mergers. Our own Milky Way is currently merging with the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy. Past mergers with dwarf galaxies may have contributed significantly to the Galactic halo and possibly to the thick disk. The properties of Local Group dSphs and halo globular clusters impose constraints on the merger history of the Milky Way.

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (S351) ◽  
pp. 317-320
Author(s):  
Søren S. Larsen

AbstractThis contribution gives an update on on-going efforts to characterise the detailed chemical abundances of Local Group globular clusters (GCs) from integrated-light spectroscopy. Observations of a sample of 20 GCs so far, located primarily within dwarf galaxies, show that at low metallicities the [α/Fe] ratios are generally indistinguishable from those in Milky Way GCs. However, the “knee” above which [α/Fe] decreases towards Solar-scaled values occurs at lower metallicities in the dwarfs, implying that GCs follow the same trends seen in field stars. Efforts are underway to establish NLTE corrections for integrated-light abundance measurements, and preliminary results for Mn are discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 613 ◽  
pp. A56 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. Larsen ◽  
J. P. Brodie ◽  
A. Wasserman ◽  
J. Strader

Context. Globular clusters (GCs) are emerging as powerful tracers of the chemical composition of extragalactic stellar populations. Aims. We present new abundance measurements for 11 GCs in the Local Group galaxies NGC 147, NGC 6822, and Messier 33. These are combined with previously published observations of four GCs in the Fornax and Wolf–Lundmark–Melotte (WLM) galaxies. Methods. The abundances were determined from analyses of integrated-light spectra obtained with the HIRES spectrograph on the Keck I telescope and with UVES on the Very Large Telescope (VLT). We used our analysis technique that was developed for this purpose and tested on Milky Way GCs. Results. We find that the clusters with [Fe∕H] < −1.5 are all α-enhanced at about the same level as Milky Way GCs. Their Na abundances are also generally enhanced relative to Milky Way halo stars, suggesting that these extragalactic GCs resemble their Milky Way counterparts in containing large numbers of Na-rich stars. For [Fe∕H] > −1.5, the GCs in M33 are also α-enhanced, while the GCs that belong to dwarfs (NGC 6822 SC7 and Fornax 4) have closer to solar-scaled α-element abundances. The abundance patterns in SC7 are remarkably similar to those in the Galactic GC Ruprecht 106, including significantly subsolar [Na∕Fe] and [Ni∕Fe] ratios. In NGC 147, the GCs with [Fe∕H] < −2.0 account for about 6% of the total luminosity of stars in the same metallicity range, a lower fraction than those previously found in the Fornax and WLM galaxies, but substantially higher than in the Milky Way halo. Conclusions. At low metallicities, the abundance patterns suggest that GCs in the Milky Way, dwarf galaxies, and M33 experienced similar enrichment histories and/or processes. At higher metallicities, the lower levels of α-enhancement in the GCs found in dwarf galaxies resemble the abundance patterns observed in field stars in nearby dwarfs. Constraining the presence of multiple populations in these GCs is complicated by lack of information about detailed abundances in field stars of the corresponding metallicities. We suggest that correlations such as [Na∕Fe] versus [Ni∕Fe] may prove useful for this purpose if an accuracy of ~ 0.1 dex or better can be reached for integrated-light measurements.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (S351) ◽  
pp. 170-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo P. Schiavon ◽  
J. Ted Mackereth ◽  
Joel Pfeffer ◽  
Rob A. Crain ◽  
Jo Bovy

AbstractWe summarise recent results from analysis of APOGEE/Gaia data for stellar populations in the Galactic halo, disk, and bulge, leading to constraints on the contribution of dwarf galaxies and globular clusters to the stellar content of the Milky Way halo. Intepretation of the extant data in light of cosmological numerical simulations suggests that the Milky Way has been subject to an unusually intense accretion history at z ≳ 1.5.


Author(s):  
Nelson Caldwell ◽  
Jay Strader ◽  
David J. Sand ◽  
Beth Willman ◽  
Anil C. Seth

AbstractObservations of globular clusters in dwarf galaxies can be used to study a variety of topics, including the structure of dark matter halos and the history of vigorous star formation in low-mass galaxies. We report on the properties of the faint globular cluster (MV ~ −3.4) in the M31 dwarf galaxy Andromeda I. This object adds to the growing population of low-luminosity Local Group galaxies that host single globular clusters.


2020 ◽  
Vol 496 (1) ◽  
pp. L70-L74
Author(s):  
Henriette Wirth ◽  
Kenji Bekki ◽  
Kohei Hayashi

ABSTRACT Recent observational studies of γ-ray emission from massive globular clusters (GCs) have revealed possible evidence of dark matter (DM) annihilation within GCs. It is, however, still controversial whether the emission comes from DM or from millisecond pulsars. We here present the new results of numerical simulations, which demonstrate that GCs with DM can originate from nucleated dwarfs orbiting the ancient Milky Way. The simulated stripped nuclei (i.e. GCs) have the central DM densities ranging from 0.1 to several M⊙ pc−3, depending on the orbits and the masses of the host dwarf galaxies. However, GCs born outside the central regions of their hosts can have no/little DM after their hosts are destroyed and the GCs become the Galactic halo GCs. These results suggest that only GCs originating from stellar nuclei of dwarfs can possibly have DM. We further calculate the expected γ-ray emission from these simulated GCs and compare them to observations of ω Cen. Given the large range of DM densities in the simulated GCs, we suggest that the recent possible detection of DM annihilation from GCs should be more carefully interpreted.


1973 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 35-48
Author(s):  
Steven Van Agt

Interest in dwarf spheroidal galaxies is motivated by a number of reasons; an important one on the occasion of this colloquium is the abundance of variable stars. The theory of stellar evolution and stellar pulsations is now able to predict from theoretical considerations characteristic properties of variable stars in the colour-magnitude diagram (Iben, 1971). By observing the variable stars in the field, and in as wide a selection of objects as possible, more insight can be obtained into the history of the oldest members of our Galaxy (the globular clusters) and of the dwarf spheroidal galaxies in the Local Group. It is worthwhile to explore the spheroidal galaxies as observational tests for the theoretical predictions of conditions in space away from our Galaxy. The numbers of variable stars in the dwarf spheroidal galaxies are such that we may expect well-defined relations to emerge once reliable magnitude sequences have been set up, the variable stars found, and their periods determined. Six dwarf spheroidal galaxies are presently known in the Local Group within a distance of 250 kpc. In Table I, which lists members of the Local Group, they are at the low-luminosity end of the sequence of elliptical galaxies (van den Bergh, 1968).


2020 ◽  
Vol 492 (3) ◽  
pp. 3631-3646 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Ted Mackereth ◽  
Jo Bovy

ABSTRACT The stellar mass in the halo of the Milky Way is notoriously difficult to determine, owing to the paucity of its stars in the solar neighbourhood. With tentative evidence from Gaia that the nearby stellar halo is dominated by a massive accretion event – referred to as Gaia-Enceladus or Sausage – these constraints are now increasingly urgent. We measure the mass in kinematically selected mono-abundance populations (MAPs) of the stellar halo between −3 &lt; [Fe/H] &lt; −1 and 0.0 &lt; [Mg/Fe] &lt; 0.4 using red giant star counts from APOGEE DR14. We find that MAPs are well fit by single power laws on triaxial ellipsoidal surfaces, and we show that that the power-law slope α changes such that high [Mg/Fe] populations have α ∼ 4, whereas low [Mg/Fe] MAPs are more extended with shallow slopes, α ∼ 2. We estimate the total stellar mass to be $M_{*,\mathrm{tot}} = 1.3^{+0.3}_{-0.2}\times 10^{9}\ \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$, of which we estimate ${\sim}0.9^{+0.2}_{-0.1} \times 10^{9}\ \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ to be accreted. We estimate that the mass of accreted stars with e &gt; 0.7 is M*,accreted, e &gt; 0.7 = 3 ± 1 (stat.) ± 1 (syst.) × 108 M⊙, or ${\sim}30{-}50{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the accreted halo mass. If the majority of these stars are the progeny of a massive accreted dwarf, this places an upper limit on its stellar mass, and implies a halo mass for the progenitor of ∼1010.2 ± 0.2 M⊙. This constraint not only shows that the Gaia-Enceladus/Sausage progenitor may not be as massive as originally suggested, but that the majority of the Milky Way stellar halo was accreted. These measurements are an important step towards fully reconstructing the assembly history of the Milky Way.


1996 ◽  
Vol 169 ◽  
pp. 403-410
Author(s):  
R.M. Rich

It is reasonable to say that if Jan Oort were alive today, he would no doubt find recent developments in the study of the Galactic bulge to be fascinating. Oort considered the Galactic bulge in two contexts. First, he was interested in the use of the RR Lyrae stars as probes to determine the distance to the Galactic Center. No doubt, Oort would have been excited about the growing evidence of the bulge's triaxiality, as well as by the debate over the age of the bulge. His second interest was in the nature of activity at the center, an issue that I will not discuss in this review. The latter also remains an unsolved problem of the Milky Way, and (based on his work) one that might have been nearer to his heart than this one. Yet the question of when the bulge formed is ultimately a question about the formation history of the Galaxy. The oldest stars (those whose ages we are certain of) are found in Galactic globular clusters, the sum total of which are ≈ 5 × 107M⊙. The field population of the bulge is ≈ 2–3 × 1010M⊙, an order of magnitude more massive than the field population of the metal poor spheroid. So if the bulge formed all at once, and early, then the Milky Way had a luminous, even cataclysmic youth. But if the bulge formed later in the history of our galaxy, as a starburst or dynamical instability of the central disk, then the young Milky Way may have been inconspicuous and primeval galaxies may be hard to find indeed. If our bulge formed very early, its stellar population might have much in common with the giant ellipticals, while a late bulge might teach us much about processes that affect galaxy evolution.


2004 ◽  
Vol 217 ◽  
pp. 116-117
Author(s):  
P. Flin ◽  
M. Biernacka ◽  
J. Krywult

The statistical analysis of six nearby groups of galaxies, connected with the Milky Way, M31, M81, M101, NGC5128 and NGC5236 shows an isotropic distribution of galaxy planes, similarly to galaxies within the Local Group. Also planes of galaxies in the nearby (Vr < 500 km s−1) region of the Local Supercluster exhibit random distribution, disregarding their membership to groups. The result shows that strong environmental effects observed among dwarf galaxies do not change generally random distribution of galaxy planes in this region.


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