We derive quantitative star formation histories of the four suspected tidal dwarf galaxies in the M 81 group, Holmberg IX, BK3N, Arp-loop (A0952+69), and Garland, using Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 images in F606W and F814W obtained as part of a Snapshot survey of dwarf galaxies in the Local Universe.
We present deep CCD photometry in the VI passbands using the WIYN 3.5m telescope of a field located approximately 20 southeast of the center of M33; this field includes the region studied by Mould & Kristian in 1986ApJ...305..591M. The color-magnitude diagram (CMD) extends to I~25 and shows a prominent red giant branch (RGB), along with significant numbers of asymptotic giant branch and young main-sequence stars.
We used HST-WFPC2 to study the white dwarf luminosity function of the old open cluster NGC 188 in order to determine a lower limit to the age of the cluster (~5Gyr) by looking at the faint end of the cooling sequence (down to V~26.5).
The globular cluster NGC 6352, which on the basis of its Galactic position, radial velocity, and [Fe/H] is a member of the (thick) disk system of globular clusters, has been observed to below the main-sequence turnoff (MSTO) using the Hubble Space Telescope. These observations, which were obtained before the repair mission, were analyzed using the flux-conserving iterative/recursive deconvolution algorithm developed at the University of North Carolina. This algorithm can produce more precise photometry than standard PSF-fitting methods with the aberrated images. The V, (V-Ic) color-magnitude diagram constructed from these observations places the cluster turnoff at V=18.80+/-0.10. Observations with the CTIO 0.9m telescope have been used to photometer the brighter stars in the cluster, providing a calibration of the HST data and an estimate of the cluster's reddening, E(B-V)=0.21+/-0.03. From spectroscopic observations of the strengths of the Ca II triplet lines in red giants in the cluster and from previous measurements in the literature, we find that NGC 6352 is only slightly more metal rich (Delta[Fe/H]=0.08+/-0.05) than the prototypical disk globular cluster, 47 Tuc. From the difference in V magnitude between the horizontal branch and the MSTO, we find that NGC 6352 is essentially the same age as 47 Tuc (formally, older by 0.7+/-2.2Gyr). Comparisons with the latest Yale isochrones support this result and yield 14.5+/-2Gyr for the age of 47 Tuc from the photometry of Hesser et al. (1987PASP...99..739H), which is consistent with other determinations. The old age obtained for NGC 6352 provides additional evidence that the disk system of globular clusters is very old and is in fact older or comparable in age to several globular clusters populating the Galactic halo.
CCD photometry in the VRI and Gunn z bands was obtained for the populous bulge globular cluster NGC 6356. The analysis of the red giant branch indicates that it is metal-rich, intermediate between 47 Tuc and NGC 6528; we estimate [Fe/H]=~-0.4. The red giant clump is clearly detected. The horizontal branch morphology is red and compact. We derive a reddening of E(B-V)=0.2410.04 and a distance d=15.010.4kpc from the Sun. We also present VI colour magnitude diagrams of 47 Tuc for comparison. NGC 6356 and 47 Tuc are important reference objects for studies of more reddened metal-rich bulge clusters.
We present results from a wide-area photometric survey of the Phoenix dwarf galaxy, one of the rare dwarf irregular/dwarf spheroidal transition-type galaxies (dTs) of the Local Group (LG). These objects offer the opportunity to study the existence of possible evolutionary links between the late- and early-type LG dwarf galaxies, since the properties of dTs suggest that they may be dwarf irregulars in the process of transforming into dwarf spheroidals. Using FORS at the Very Large Telescope (VLT), we have acquired VI photometry of Phoenix. The data reach a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N)~10 just below the horizontal branch of the system and consist of a mosaic of images that covers an area of 26x26arcmin^2^ centred on the coordinates of the optical centre of the galaxy.
Pismis 23 and Stephenson 2 are two very reddened open clusters, projected close to the Galactic plane. We present VI and JH photometry for Pismis 23 and I and Gunn z for Stephenson 2. We derive a relatively old age of ~700Myr for Pismis 23, with a reddening value of E(B-V)=1.73 and a distance d_{sun}_~2.6kpc from the Sun. Stephenson 2 has a clump of red supergiants, indicating a young age of about 20Myr, somewhat younger and more distant (d_{sun}_~6kpc) than recently reported in the literature. The age estimate for such a young object is crucial for the distance estimate. The high reddening of these two clusters relative to predictions from the diffuse interstellar medium at their distances is due to discrete intervening clouds.
Catalogs of V and I photometry for two 20 square degree regions near the South Galactic Pole, containing 30,000 and 19,000 stars, have been constructed using a CCD in time delay integration mode. Internal and external comparisons indicate a characteristic photometric accuracy ranging from 0.02mag at V~12 to 0.05 at V~18-18.5.
We have studied the stellar populations near the nucleus of the nearby spiral galaxy M33 using archival observations of the Hubble Space Telescope Planetary Camera in the F555W and F785LP passbands. The I vs (V-I) color-magnitude diagram reveals a young stellar population with a blue main sequence and red supergiants, and stars in a blue loop that are Cepheid candidates. An old red giant branch is clearly visible, with a break at I=20.7mag which is, within the observational errors, identical to the giant branch termination point of the Mould & Kristian (1986ApJ...305..591M) halo field. However, red giants are seen up to I=19.5mag, and many bright red giants are undetected in the V band. We find evidence for a wide abundance spread of at least 1.5dex from metal-poor (~M15) to metal-rich (>=47Tucanae) in the Population II stars, in sharp contrast to the M33 halo field of Mould & Kristian (1986ApJ...305..591M) which is metal-poor (~M92) with a narrow abundance range. We show that the various stellar populations have different spatial distributions. The Population II stars are more centrally concentrated than the Population I stars. The red giants brighter than I=20.7 (the termination point for a Galactic globular cluster giant branch) are found to be more centrally concentrated than the (presumably) old red giants. The most-centrally concentrated bright Population II giants are probably associated with the many bright red giants that are undetected in the V band. These infrared-bright giants were probably created in an intermediate-age burst of star formation that took place well after the formation of the oldest halo stars but long before the recent burst of star formation seen in nearby OB associations. This stellar population probably corresponds to the bulge identified in the infrared H band by Minniti et al. (1993ApJ...410L..79M).
A colour magnitude diagram (CMD) extending to V=~19mag is given for 444 stars in the region of the galactic cluster Berkeley 66. The V and I photometry of a nearby field is also reported. This object appears very faint, highly contaminated by foreground stars and very reddened. The apparent distance modulus (m-M) and the colour excess E_V-I_ are guessed to be 17.5 and 1.1, respectively, with an uncertainty of at least 30%. Adopting these values the comparison of the CMD with theoretical isochrones from the Padova group provides an age around 1.0Gyr.
