Description
We study the red giant populations of two dwarf elliptical (dE) galaxies, AM 1339-445 and AM 1343-452. The galaxies are members of the Centaurus A group (D~3.8Mpc), and are classified as outlying (R~350kpc) satellites of Cen A. The analysis is based on near-IR photometry for individual red giant stars, derived from images obtained with ISAAC on the VLT, and on optical V and I photometry, derived from WFPC2 images retrieved from the HST science archive. The data enable us to investigate the stellar populations of these galaxies in the vicinity of the red giant branch (RGB) tip. In both systems we find stars above the RGB tip, which we interpret as intermediate-age upper-AGB stars. Their luminosities suggest ages of approximately 6.5+/-1 and 4+/-1Gyr as estimates for the epoch of the last episode of significant star formation in these systems. In both cases the number of upper-AGB stars suggests that ~15% of the total stellar population is in the form of intermediate-age stars.
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