We present our analysis of Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations in F555W (~V) and F814W (~I) of the Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy. The resulting V vs V-I color-magnitude diagrams reach V~27.1mag. The reddening of Carina is estimated to be E(V-I)=0.08+/-0.02 mag. A new estimate of the distance modulus of Carina, (m-M)0=19.87+/-0.11mag, has been derived primarily from existing photometry in the literature. The apparent distance moduli in V and I were determined to be (m-M)V=20.05+/-0.11mag and (m-M)I=19.98+/-0.12mag, respectively. These determinations assumed that Carina has a metallicity of [Fe/H]=-1.9+/-0.2dex. This space-based observation, when combined with previous ground-based observations, is consistent with (but does not necessarily prove) the following star formation scenario. The Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy formed its old stellar population in a short burst (<~3Gyr) at about the same time the Milky Way formed its globular clusters. The dominant burst of intermediate-age star formation then began in the central region of the galaxy where stars formed for several billion years before the process of star formation became efficient enough in the outer regions of the galaxy to allow for the formation of large numbers of stars. There has been negligible star formation during the last few billion years. This observation provides evidence that at least some dwarf galaxies can have complex global star formation histories with local variations of the rate of star formation as a function of time and position within the galaxy. (c) 1997 American Astronomical Society.
Photometry on the UVI system has been performed on the resolved stellar content of the blue compact dwarf galaxy UGC 6456 using Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. The resulting color-magnitude diagram (CMD) goes to about V=27.5 and reveals not only a young population of blue main-sequence stars and blue and red supergiants, but also an older evolved population of red giants and a fairly well represented asymptotic giant branch. The distance to the galaxy is estimated from the tip of the red giant branch to be 4.5Mpc, placing it about 1.5Mpc farther away than the major members of the M81 Group, with which it is usually associated. The youngest stars are generally associated with H ii regions shown on our Halpha image and are largely confined to the 745pc field of our PC images. A comparison of their distribution in the CMD with theoretical isochrones suggests ages from 4 to 10Myr. The population of older stars is found throughout all WFPC2 camera fields and seems to show an elliptical distribution with an aspect ratio of about 2.4 and an exponential falloff in surface density with distance from a center of symmetry that is not far from the centroid of the youngest stars. Theoretical modeling of the CMD at a metallicity of Z=0.001 suggests star formation in the age interval 1-2Gyr, a strong burst in the interval 600-800Myr, and a lower rate of star formation up to the present. The evidence is compatible with a scenario beginning with the formation of a population of low-metallicity stars, enriching a major residual of prestellar material that subsequently fueled an active episode of star formation. That burst of star formation must have been particularly spectacular and may be related to the activity we now see in the distant blue dwarf galaxies revealed in deep imaging.
The core of the nearby and very concentrated globular cluster NGC 6397 has been imaged through the f/96-F140W, f/48-F140W, f/96-F210M and f/48-F220W ultraviolet filters of the Faint Object Camera on board the Hubble Space Telescope down to an ultraviolet limiting magnitude of ~19. The most interesting objects in the field of view are six very bright centrally concentrated, blue stragglers observed for the first time in the UV. Using these and other data from ground-based observations, we have been able to deduce from a comparison with Kurucz's atmosphere models, temperatures of ~10000K and masses of ~1.6M_{sun}_ for the four brightest ones, which is remarkably close to twice the turn-off mass of NGC 6397. This finding supports the idea that two-star mechanisms (collisions, mergers) are at the origin of the blue stragglers in the core of NGC 6397. Since the central density is very high, collisions between main sequence stars are frequent, therefore providing the best formation mechanism. We have computed the number of such collisions in the core of NGC 6397 and found it to be of the same order as the number of bright blue stragglers observed there. Thanks to the HST resolution, we have also been able to resolve one object, previously classified as a yellow straggler, into a blend of a blue straggler and three redder stars.
Cepheid-based distances to seven Type Ia supernovae (SNe) host galaxies have been derived using the standard Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale pipeline. For the first time, this allows for a transparent comparison of data accumulated as part of three different HST projects: the Key Project, the Sandage et al. Type Ia supernovae (SNe) program, and the Tanvir et al. Leo I Group study. Reanalyzing the Tanvir et al. galaxy and six Sandage et al. galaxies, we find a mean (weighted) offset in true distance moduli of 0.12+/-0.07mag; i.e., 6% in linear distance, in the sense of reducing the distance scale or increasing H_0_. Adopting the reddening-corrected Hubble relations of Suntzeff et al. tied to a zero point based on SNe 1990N, 1981B, 1998bu, 1989B, 1972E, and 1960F and the photometric calibration of Hill et al. leads to a Hubble constant of H_0_=68+/-2(random)+/-5(systematic)km/s/Mpc. Adopting the Kennicutt et al. Cepheid period-luminosity-metallicity dependency decreases the inferred H_0_ by 4%. The H0 result from Type Ia SNe is now in good agreement, to within their respective uncertainties, with that from the Tully-Fisher and surface brightness fluctuation relations.
We report on the discovery of 29 Cepheid variables in the galaxy M101 using the original Wide Field Camera (WFC) and the new Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on the Hubble Space Telescope. We observed a field in M101 at 17 independent epochs in V (F555W), five epochs in I (F785LP/F814W), and one epoch in B (F439W), with a time interval baseline of 381 days. We have found Cepheids with periods ranging from 10 to 60 days. The data have been calibrated using WFPC2 observations with zero points derived from Omega Cen, Pal 4, and NGC 2419 observations. This calibration has been verified by using the Medium Deep Survey (MDS) WFC photometric zero points, and ground-based secondary standards in V and I. The V calibrations agree to +/-0.06mag, and the I calibrations agree to +/-0.4mag. We have constructed V and I period-luminosity (PL) relations and have derived apparent distance moduli based on a distance modulus for the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) of 18.50mag and a reddening of E(B-V)=0.10mag to the LMC Cepheids. Period-residual minimization was used to minimize the effects of Malmquist bias on the period-luminosity relation fitting process. Using a Galactic extinction law and the apparent V and I distance moduli, we have found a mean reddening for the M101 sample of E(B-V)=0.03mag and a true distance modulus to M101 of 29.34+/-0.17mag, corresponding to a distance of 7.4+/-0.6Mpc. The sources of error have been rigorously tracked through an error budget; systematic and random errors contribute roughly equally to the quoted error. The mean gas-phase metal abundances in the LMC and in the M101 outer field are similar so we expect metallicity effects to be minimal. These Cepheids will be used in conjunction with results from a Key Project search for Cepheids in an inner field, where the metallicity is larger by a factor of 5, to probe the effects of abundance on the Cepheid period-luminosity relation.
We present a complete morphologically classified sample of 144 faint field galaxies from the HST Medium Deep Survey with 20.0=<Imag<22.0mag. We compare the global properties of the ellipticals and early- and late-type spirals and find a non-negligible fraction (13/144) of compact blue [(V-I)<1.0mag] systems with r^1/4^ profiles. We give the differential galaxy number counts for ellipticals and early-type spirals independently and find that the data are consistent with no-evolution predictions based on conventional flat Schechter luminosity functions (LFs) and a standard cosmology. Conversely, late-type/irregulars show a steeply rising differential number count with slope ({delta}logN/{delta}m)=0.64+/-0.1. No-evolution models based on the Loveday et al. (1992ApJ...390..338L) and Marzke et al. (1994AJ....108..437M & 1994ApJ...428...43M) local luminosity functions underpredict the late-type/irregular counts by 1.0 and 0.5dex, respectively, at Imag=21.75mag. Examination of the irregulars alone shows that ~50% appear inert and the remainder have multiple cores. If the inert galaxies represent a non-evolving late-type population, then a Loveday-like LF ({alpha}=~-1.0) is ruled out for these types, and an LF with a steep faint end ({alpha}=~-1.5) is suggested. If multiple core structure indicates recent star formation, then the observed excess of faint blue field galaxies is likely a result of et evolutionary processes acting on a steep field LF for late-type/irregulars. The evolutionary mechanism is unclear, but 60% of the multiple-core irregulars show close companions. To reconcile a Marzke-like LF with the faint redshift surveys, this evolution must be preferentially occurring in the brightest late-type galaxies with z>=0.5 at m_I_=21.75mag.
We have detected 102 star clusters in M 33, from 35 deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFPC2 fields taken from our program and from the HST archive. Twenty-eight fields have V and I band imaging, and an additional seven fields are imaged in a single V filter. Eighty-two of the clusters were previously unknown. Integrated photometry reveals that 25 clusters have (V-I) colors typical of those found in Galactic globular clusters (only ten of these objects were previously known). Our discovery of 15 new globular cluster candidates increases previous estimates of the old cluster population in M 33 by ~60%. An additional eleven objects (only two were previously known) have colors expected for intermediate age clusters. The new clusters have a range of ages from 6 million years to >15Gyrs, and masses between 10^2^M_{sun}_-10^6^M_{sun}_, although these parameters are estimated from only one color.
We report the detection of Cepheid variable stars and a new distance to the Sc spiral NGC 3198. NGC 3198 is one of 25 galaxies that have been observed with the WFPC2 of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) for the purpose of measuring Cepheid distances. Eighteen of these galaxies were targeted by the HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale, whose objective is to calibrate a variety of secondary distant indicators and determine the Hubble constant to an accuracy of 10%. NGC 3198 was selected as part of this sample because its type and orientation make it very suitable as a Tully-Fisher calibrator. The WFPC2 data are comprised of 13 epochs in F555W ({~}V) and five epochs in F814W ({~}I). Two different crowded-field photometry packages (DAOPHOT/ALLFRAME and DoPHOT) were used. The magnitudes derived from these two packages agree to within a few percent. We identified 78 Cepheid candidates in the period range from eight to >50 days, of which 52 were selected for establishing the distance modulus. Period-luminosity relations were constructed in Johnson V and Kron-Cousins I by transforming the F555W and F814W to the standard system. We adopted a distance modulus of {mu}_o_=18.50{+/-}0.10 mag and mean reddening of E(B-V)=0.10 mag to the Large Magellanic Cloud Cepheids and found a true distance modulus to NGC 3198 of {mu}_o_=30.80{+/-}0.16 (random) {+/-}0.12 (systematic) mag. This modulus corresponds to a distance of 14.5 Mpc, with random and systematic errors of {+/-}1.2 and {+/-}0.9 Mpc, respectively.
The distance to NGC 3319 has been determined from Cepheid variable stars as part of the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. Thirteen and four epochs of observations, using filters F555W (V) and F814W (I), respectively, were made with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. Thirty-three Cepheid variables between periods of 8 and 47 days were discovered. Adopting a Large Magellanic Cloud distance modulus of 18.50{+/-}0.10 mag and extinction of E(V-I)=0.13 mag, a true reddening-corrected distance modulus (based on an analysis employing the ALLFRAME software package) of 30.78 {+/-}0.14 (random) {+/-}0.10 (systematic) mag and the extinction of E(V-I)=0.06 mag were determined for NGC 3319. This galaxy is the last galaxy observed for the HST H_o_ Key Project.
The distance to NGC 4725 has been derived from Cepheid variables as part of the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. Thirteen F555W (V) and four F814W (I) epochs of cosmic-ray-split Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 observations were obtained. Twenty Cepheids were discovered, with periods ranging from 12 to 49 days. Adopting a Large Magellanic Cloud distance modulus and extinction of 18.50{+/-}0.10 mag and E(V-I)=0.13 mag, respectively, a true reddening-corrected distance modulus (based on an analysis employing the ALLFRAME software package) of 30.50{+/-}0.16 (random) {+/-}0.17 (systematic) mag was determined for NGC 4725. The corresponding of distance of 12.6{+/-}1.0 (random) {+/-}1.0 (systematic) Mpc is in excellent agreement with that found with an independent analysis based upon the DoPHOT photometry package. With a foreground reddening of only E(V-I)=0.02, the inferred intrinsic reddening of this field in NGC 4725, E(V-I)=0.19, makes it one of the most highly reddened fields encountered by the HST Key Project to date.
