scholarly journals Recovering the ages and metallicities of stars of a complex stellar population system

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S258) ◽  
pp. 245-252
Author(s):  
Sebastian L. Hidalgo ◽  
Antonio Aparicio ◽  
Carme Gallart

AbstractWe present a new method to solve for the star-formation history (SFH) of a complex stellar population system from the analysis of the color-magnitude diagram (CMD). The SFH is obtained in four steps: i) computing a synthetic CMD, ii) simulating observational effects, iii) parameterization and sampling of the synthetic and observed CMDs, and iv) solving and averaging the solutions. The consistency and stability of the method have been tested using a mock stellar population.The method has been used to solve the SFH of a set of six isolated Local Group dwarf galaxies observed with HST. The main goal is to probe the effects of cosmological processes, such as reionization in the early star formation, or the ability of SNe feedback to remove gas in small halos, in dwarf galaxies free from environmental effects due to the strong interaction with the host galaxy.

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S255) ◽  
pp. 392-396
Author(s):  
Matteo Monelli ◽  

AbstractWe present here the latest results of the LCID project (Local Cosmology from Isolated Dwarfs), aimed at recovering the full star formation history (SFH) of six isolated dwarf galaxies of the Local Group (LG). Our method of analysis is based on the IAC-pop code, which derives the SFH of a resolved stellar system by comparing the observed and a model color-magnitude diagram (CMD). We summarize here basic technical issues and the main results concerning our sample of galaxies. We show that LeoA is the only object showing a clear delay in the onset of the major SF event, while all the other galaxies present a dominant component older than 10 Gyrs.


1999 ◽  
Vol 190 ◽  
pp. 343-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Smecker-Hane ◽  
J. S. Gallagher ◽  
Andrew Cole ◽  
P. B. Stetson ◽  
E. Tolstoy

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is unique among galaxies in the Local Group in that it is the most massive non-spiral, is relatively gas-rich, and is actively forming stars. Determining its star-formation rate (SFR) as a function of time will be a cornerstone in our understanding of galaxy evolution. The best method of deriving a galaxy's past SFR is to compare the densities of stars in a color-magnitude diagram (CMD), a Hess diagram, with model Hess diagrams. The LMC has a complex stellar population with ages ranging from 0 to ~ 14 Gyr and metallicities from −2 ≲ [Fe/H] ≲ −0.4, and deriving its SFR and simultaneously constraining model input parameters (distance, age-metallicity relation, reddening, and stellar models) requires well-populated CMDs that span the magnitude range 15 ≤ V ≤ 24. Although existing CMDs of field stars in the LMC show tantalizing evidence for a significant burst of star formation that occurred ~ 3 Gyr ago (for examples, see Westerlund et al. 1995; Vallenari et al. 1996; Elson, et al. 1997; Gallagher et al. 1999, and references therein), estimates of the enhancement in the SFR vary from factors of 3 to 50. This uncertainty is caused by the relatively large photometric errors that plague crowded ground-based images, and the small number statistics that plague CMDs created from single Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) images.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (S329) ◽  
pp. 287-291
Author(s):  
Francisco Najarro ◽  
Diego de la Fuente ◽  
Tom R. Geballe ◽  
Don F. Figer ◽  
D. John Hillier

AbstractWe present results from our ongoing infrared spectroscopic studies of the massive stellar content at the Center of the Milky Way. This region hosts a large number of apparently isolated massive stars as well as three of the most massive resolved young clusters in the Local Group. Our survey seeks to infer the presence of a possible top-heavy recent star formation history and to test massive star formation channels: clusters vs isolation.


1999 ◽  
Vol 192 ◽  
pp. 464-468
Author(s):  
R.E. Schulte-Ladbeck ◽  
U. Hopp ◽  
M. M. Crone

There are no examples of Blue Compact Dwarf (BCD) galaxies known within the Local Group (LG). Multicolor HST/WFPC2 observations of the nearby BCD VII Zw 403 (= UGC 6456) now resolve single stars with the quality (in terms of limiting magnitude and completeness) previously achieved for LG dwarfs from the ground. We use the MI, V - I color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of several LG dwarfs as templates to assess the stellar content and star-formation history (SFH) of the BCD VII Zw 403. This is the first BCD for which a clear spatial segregation of the resolved stellar content into a “core-halo” structure is detected: active star formation is observed in the central region of VII Zw 403, while in “Baade's red sheet”, this young population is strikingly absent. If BCD halos are home to dominant ancient stellar populations, then the fossil record conflicts with delayed-format ion scenarios for dwarfs. We present a sketch of the SFH in the core and halo of VII Zw 403.


2021 ◽  
Vol 923 (2) ◽  
pp. 164
Author(s):  
Elham Saremi ◽  
Atefeh Javadi ◽  
Mahdieh Navabi ◽  
Jacco Th. van Loon ◽  
Habib G. Khosroshahi ◽  
...  

Abstract An optical monitoring survey in the nearby dwarf galaxies was carried out with the 2.5 m Isaac Newton Telescope. 55 dwarf galaxies and four isolated globular clusters in the Local Group were observed with the Wide Field Camera. The main aims of this survey are to identify the most evolved asymptotic giant branch stars and red supergiants at the endpoint of their evolution based on their pulsational instability, use their distribution over luminosity to reconstruct the star-formation history (SFH), quantify the dust production and mass loss from modeling the multiwavelength spectral energy distributions, and relate this to luminosity and radius variations. In this second of a series of papers, we present the methodology used to estimate SFH based on long-period variable (LPV) stars and then derive it for Andromeda I (And I) dwarf galaxy as an example of the survey. Using our identified 59 LPV candidates within two half-light radii of And I and Padova stellar evolution models, we estimated the SFH of this galaxy. A major epoch of star formation occurred in And I peaking around 6.6 Gyr ago, reaching 0.0035 ± 0.0016 M ⊙ yr−1 and only slowly declining until 1–2 Gyr ago. The presence of some dusty LPVs in this galaxy corresponds to a slight increase in recent star formation peaking around 800 Myr ago. We evaluate a quenching time around 4 Gyr ago (z < 0.5), which makes And I a late-quenching dSph. A total stellar mass (16 ± 7) × 106 M ⊙ is calculated within two half-light radii of And I for a constant metallicity Z = 0.0007.


2022 ◽  
Vol 924 (1) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Alexa Villaume ◽  
Aaron J. Romanowsky ◽  
Jean Brodie ◽  
Pieter van Dokkum ◽  
Charlie Conroy ◽  
...  

Abstract We use the Keck Cosmic Web Imager integral field unit spectrograph to (1) measure the global stellar population parameters for the ultra-diffuse galaxy (UDG) Dragonfly 44 (DF44) to much higher precision than previously possible for any UDG and (2) for the first time measure spatially resolved stellar population parameters of a UDG. We find that DF44 falls below the mass–metallicity relation established by canonical dwarf galaxies both in and beyond the Local Group. We measure a flat radial age gradient ( m logage = + 0.01 − 0.08 + 0.08 log Gyr kpc−1) and a flat to positive metallicity gradient ( m [ Fe / H ] = + 0.09 − 0.12 + 0.11 dex kpc−1), which are inconsistent with the gradients measured in similarly pressure-supported dwarf galaxies. We also measure a negative [Mg/Fe] gradient ( m [ Mg / Fe ] = − 0.20 − 0.18 + 0.18 ) dex kpc−1 such that the central 1.5 kpc of DF44 has stellar population parameters comparable to metal-poor globular clusters. Overall, DF44 does not have internal properties similar to other dwarf galaxies and is inconsistent with it having been puffed up through a prolonged, bursty star formation history, as suggested by some simulations. Rather, the evidence indicates that DF44 experienced an intense epoch of “inside-out” star formation and then quenched early and catastrophically, such that star formation was cut off more quickly than in canonical dwarf galaxies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 490 (1) ◽  
pp. 1186-1201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew S Graus ◽  
James S Bullock ◽  
Alex Fitts ◽  
Michael C Cooper ◽  
Michael Boylan-Kolchin ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We explore the radial variation of star formation histories (SFHs) in dwarf galaxies simulated with Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) physics. The sample contains 26 field dwarf galaxies with Mstar = 105–109 M⊙. We find age gradients are common in our dwarfs, with older stars dominant at large radii. The strength of the gradient correlates with overall galaxy age such that earlier star formation produces a more pronounced gradient. The relation between formation time and strength of the gradient is driven by both mergers and star formation feedback. Mergers can both steepen and flatten the age gradient depending on the timing of the merger and SFHs of the merging galaxy. In galaxies without significant mergers, feedback pushes stars to the outskirts. The strength of the age gradient is determined by the subsequent evolution of the galaxy. Galaxies with weak age gradients constantly grow to z  = 0, meaning that young star formation occurs at a similar radius to which older stars are heated to. In contrast, galaxies with strong age gradients tend to maintain a constant half-mass radius over time. If real galaxies have age gradients as we predict, stellar population studies that rely on sampling a limited fraction of a galaxy can give a biased view of its global SFH. Central fields can be biased young by Gyrs while outer fields are biased old. Fields positioned near the 2D half-light radius will provide the least biased measure of a dwarf galaxy’s global SFH.


2019 ◽  
Vol 490 (4) ◽  
pp. 5538-5550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saundra M Albers ◽  
Daniel R Weisz ◽  
Andrew A Cole ◽  
Andrew E Dolphin ◽  
Evan D Skillman ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present the star formation history (SFH) of the isolated (D ∼ 970 kpc) Local Group dwarf galaxy Wolf–Lundmark–Melotte (WLM) measured from colour–magnitude diagrams (CMDs) constructed from deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging. Our observations include a central ($0.5 \, r_h$) and outer field ($0.7 \, r_h$) that reach below the oldest main-sequence turn-off. WLM has no early dominant episode of star formation: 20 per cent of its stellar mass formed by ∼12.5 Gyr ago ($z$ ∼ 5). It also has an SFR that rises to the present with 50 per cent of the stellar mass within the most recent 5 Gyr ($z$ &lt; 0.7). There is evidence of a strong age gradient: the mean age of the outer field is 5 Gyr older than the inner field despite being only 0.4 kpc apart. Some models suggest such steep gradients are associated with strong stellar feedback and dark-matter core creation. The SFHs of real isolated dwarf galaxies and those from the Feedback in Realistic Environment suite are in good agreement for M⋆($z$ = 0) ∼ 107–109M⊙, but in worse agreement at lower masses ($M_{\star }(z=0) \sim 10^5\!-\!10^7 \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$). These differences may be explainable by systematics in the models (e.g. reionization model) and/or observations (HST field placement). We suggest that a coordinated effort to get deep CMDs between HST/JWST (crowded central fields) and WFIRST (wide-area halo coverage) is the optimal path for measuring global SFHs of isolated dwarf galaxies.


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