Description
We present deep VI-band photometry of the globular cluster M54, a nearby field in the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy, and a control field. The color-magnitude diagrams reach well below the oldest main-sequence turnoffs, thus enabling an analysis of the galaxy's age-metallicity relation with unprecedented clarity. We also study the variable stars in the direction of M54. From 67 RR Lyrae variables, we confirm and improve on our previous estimates of the cluster horizontal branch magnitude, foreground reddening, and horizontal branch morphology. These values are used in determining the ages of M54 and the Sagittarius field populations. We confirm our previous result that M54 is the same age as Galactic globular clusters of similar metallicity.
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