Description
We present deep V and I photometry of the isolated dwarf galaxy VV124=UGC4879, obtained from archival images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope - Advanced Camera for Surveys. In the color-magnitude diagrams of stars at distances larger than 40" from the center of the galaxy, we clearly identify for the first time a well-populated old Horizontal Branch (HB). We show that the distribution of these stars is more extended than that of Red Clump stars. This implies that very old and metal poor populations becomes more and more dominant in the outskirts of VV124. We also identify a massive (M=1.2+/-0.2x10^4^M_{sun}_) young (age=250+/-50Myr) star cluster (C1), as well as another of younger age (C2<~30+/-10Myr) with a mass similar to classical open clusters (M<=3.3+/-0.5x10^3^M_{sun}_). Both clusters lie at projected distances smaller than 100pc from the center of the galaxy.
|