- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/767/62
- Title:
- RR Lyrae stars BV photometry in UMa I
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/767/62
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We have performed the first study of the variable star population of Ursa Major I (UMa I), an ultra-faint dwarf satellite recently discovered around the Milky Way (MW) by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Combining time series observations in the B and V bands from four different telescopes, we have identified seven RR Lyrae stars in UMa I, of which five are fundamental-mode (RRab) and two are first-overtone pulsators (RRc). Our V, B-V color-magnitude diagram of UMa I reaches V~23mag (at a signal-to-noise ratio of ~6) and shows features typical of a single old stellar population. The mean pulsation period of the RRab stars <P_ab_>=0.628, {sigma}=0.071 days (or <P_ab_>=0.599, {sigma}=0.032 days, if V4, the longest period and brightest variable, is discarded) and the position on the period-amplitude diagram suggest an Oosterhoff-intermediate classification for the galaxy. The RR Lyrae stars trace the galaxy horizontal branch (HB) at an average apparent magnitude of <V(RR)>=20.43+/-0.02mag (average on six stars and discarding V4), giving in turn a distance modulus for UMa I of (m-M)_0_=19.94+/-0.13mag, distance d=97.3_-5.7_^+6.0^kpc, in the scale where the distance modulus of the Large Magellanic Cloud is 18.5+/-0.1mag. Isodensity contours of UMa I red giants and HB stars (including the RR Lyrae stars identified in this study) show that the galaxy has an S-shaped structure, which is likely caused by the tidal interaction with the MW. Photometric metallicities were derived for six of the UMa I RR Lyrae stars from the parameters of the Fourier decomposition of the V-band light curves, leading to an average metal abundance of [Fe/H]=-2.29dex ({sigma}=0.06dex, average on six stars) on the Carretta et al. (2009, J/A+A/505/117) metallicity scale.
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- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/787/110
- Title:
- SAGA: Stromgren survey of seismic KIC stars
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/787/110
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Asteroseismology has the capability of precisely determining stellar properties that would otherwise be inaccessible, such as radii, masses, and thus ages of stars. When coupling this information with classical determinations of stellar parameters, such as metallicities, effective temperatures, and angular diameters, powerful new diagnostics for Galactic studies can be obtained. The ongoing Stromgren survey for Asteroseismology and Galactic Archaeology (SAGA) has the goal of transforming the Kepler field into a new benchmark for Galactic studies, similar to the solar neighborhood. Here we present the first results from a stripe centered at a Galactic longitude of 74{deg} and covering latitude from about 8{deg} to 20{deg}, which includes almost 1000 K giants with seismic information and the benchmark open cluster NGC 6819. We describe the coupling of classical and seismic parameters, the accuracy as well as the caveats of the derived effective temperatures, metallicities, distances, surface gravities, masses, and radii. Confidence in the achieved precision is corroborated by the detection of the first and secondary clumps in a population of field stars with a ratio of 2 to 1 and by the negligible scatter in the seismic distances among NGC 6819 member stars. An assessment of the reliability of stellar parameters in the Kepler Input Catalog is also performed, and the impact of our results for population studies in the Milky Way is discussed, along with the importance of an all-sky Stromgren survey.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/869/122
- Title:
- SDSS-DR14 and LAMOST DR6 spectra in GD-1 stream
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/869/122
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Combining data from Gaia DR2, SDSS DR14, and LAMOST DR6, we update the fit to model of the properties of the stellar stream GD-1 and find that it has an age of ~13Gyr, [Fe/H] of -2.2+/-0.12, and a distance from the Sun of ~8kpc. We tabulate six-dimensional (6D) phase-space fiducial points along the GD-1 stream orbit over a 90{deg} arc. The fitted orbit shows that the stream has an eccentricity e~0.3, perigalacticon of 14.2kpc, apogalacticon of 27.0kpc, and inclination i~40{deg}. There is evidence along the arc for four candidate stellar overdensities, one candidate gap, two candidate stellar underdensities, and that the stream is cut off at {phi}_1_~2{deg} (in the stream-aligned ({phi}_1_, {phi}_2_) coordinate system of Koposov+ 2010ApJ...712..260K). The spur originating at {phi}_1_~-40{deg} implies stars were pulled away from the stream trace by an encounter (potentially a dark matter subhalo). The narrowest place (FWHM~44.6pc) of the GD-1 trace is at ({phi}_1_, {phi}2^c^)~(-14{deg}, 0.15{deg}), which is ~(178.18{deg}, 52.19{deg}) in (RA, DE), where the progenitor is possibly located. We also find six blue horizontal branch and 10 blue stragglers spectroscopic stars in the GD-1 stream.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/863/134
- Title:
- SDSS low-metallicity blue compact dwarf galaxies
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/863/134
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We report a method of identifying candidate low-metallicity blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCDs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging data, and present 3m Lick Observatory and 10m W.M. Keck Observatory optical spectroscopic observations of 94 new systems that have been discovered with this method. The candidate BCDs are selected from Data Release 12 (DR12) of SDSS on the basis of their photometric colors and morphologies. Using the Kast spectrometer on the 3m telescope, we confirm that the candidate low-metallicity BCDs are emission-line galaxies, and we make metallicity estimates using the empirical R and S calibration methods. Follow-up observations on a subset of the lowest-metallicity systems are made at Keck using the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer, which allow for a direct measurement of the oxygen abundance. We determine that 45 of the reported BCDs are low-metallicity candidates with 12+log(O/H)<=7.65, including six systems which are either confirmed or projected to be among the lowest-metallicity galaxies known, at 1/30 of the solar oxygen abundance, or 12+log(O/H)~7.20.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/794/60
- Title:
- SDSS RGB stars distances
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/794/60
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present distance determinations for a large and clean sample of red giant branch stars selected from the ninth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Adelman-McCarthy et al. 2012ApJS..203...21A, Cat. V/139). The distances are calculated based on both observational cluster fiducials and theoretical isochrones. Distributions of distances from the two methods are very similar with peaks at about 10 kpc and tails extending to more than 70 kpc. We find that distances from the two methods agree well for the majority of the sample stars; though, on average, distances based on isochrones are 10% higher than those based on fiducials. We test the accuracy of our distance determinations using 332 stars from 10 Galactic globular and open clusters. The average relative deviation from the literature cluster distances is 4% for the fiducial-based distances and 8% for the isochrone-based distances, both of which are within the uncertainties. We find that the effective temperature and surface gravity derived from low-resolution spectra are not accurate enough to essentially improve the performance of distance determinations. However, for stars with significant extinction, effective temperature may help to better constrain their distances to some extent. We make our sample stars and their distances available from an online catalog. The catalog comprises 17941 stars with reasonable distance estimations reaching to more than 70 kpc, which is suitable for the investigation of the formation and evolution of the Galaxy, especially the Galactic halo.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/213/35
- Title:
- SHELS: complete galaxy redshift survey for R<=20.6
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/213/35
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The SHELS (Smithsonian Hectospec Lensing Survey) is a complete redshift survey covering two well-separated fields (F1 and F2) of the Deep Lens Survey to a limiting R=20.6. Here we describe the redshift survey of the F2 field (RA_J2000_=09h19m32.4s and DE_J2000_=+30{deg}00'00"). The survey includes 16294 new redshifts measured with the Hectospec on the MMT. The resulting survey of the 4deg^2^ F2 field is 95% complete to R=20.6, currently the densest survey to this magnitude limit. The median survey redshift is z=0.3; the survey provides a view of structure in the range 0.1<~z<~0.6. An animation displays the large-scale structure in the survey region. We provide a redshift, spectral index D_n_4000, and stellar mass for each galaxy in the survey. We also provide a metallicity for each galaxy in the range 0.2<z<0.38. To demonstrate potential applications of the survey, we examine the behavior of the index D_n_4000 as a function of galaxy luminosity, stellar mass, and redshift. The known evolutionary and stellar mass dependent properties of the galaxy population are cleanly evident in the data. We also show that the mass-metallicity relation previously determined from these data is robust to the analysis approach.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/208/7
- Title:
- Sodium excess objects. I. SDSS-DR7
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/208/7
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Several studies have reported the presence of sodium excess objects having neutral atomic absorption lines at 5895{AA} (Na.D) and 8190{AA} that are deeper than expected based on stellar population models that match the stellar continuum. The origin of these lines is therefore hotly debated. van Dokkum & Conroy (2010Natur.468..940V) proposed that low-mass stars (<~0.3M_{sun}_) are more prevalent in massive early-type galaxies, which may lead to a strong Na I 8190 line strength. It is necessary to test this prediction, however, against other prominent optical line indices such as Na.D, Mg b, and Fe 5270, which can be measured with a significantly higher signal-to-noise ratio than Na I 8190. We identified a new sample of roughly 1000 Na.D excess objects (NEOs; ~8% of galaxies in the sample) based on Na.D line strength in the redshift range 0.00<=z<=0.08 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR7 through detailed analysis of galaxy spectra. We explore the properties of these new objects here. The novelty of this work is that the galaxies were carefully identified through direct visual inspection of SDSS images, and we systematically compared the properties of NEOs and those of a control sample of galaxies with normal Na.D line strengths. We note that the majority of galaxies with high velocity dispersions ({sigma}_e_>250km/s) show Na.D excesses.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/325/1365
- Title:
- Solar neighbourhood metallicity distribution
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/325/1365
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a revised metallicity distribution of dwarfs in the solar neighbourhood. This distribution is centered on solar metallicity. We show that previous metallicity distributions, selected on the basis of spectral type, are biased against stars with solar metallicity or higher. A selection of G-dwarf stars is inherently biased against metal-rich stars and is not representative of the solar neighbourhood metallicity distribution. Using a sample selected on colour, we obtain a distribution where approximately half the stars in the solar neighbourhood have metallicities higher than [Fe/H]=0. The percentage of mid-metal-poor stars ([Fe/H}<-0.5) is approximately 4 per cent, in agreement with the present estimates of the thick disc.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/417/1823
- Title:
- Sombrero galaxy globular clusters
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/417/1823
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a large sample of over 200 integrated-light spectra of confirmed globular clusters (GCs) associated with the Sombrero (M104) galaxy taken with the Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph (DEIMOS) instrument on the Keck telescope. A significant fraction of the spectra have signal-to-noise ratio levels high enough to allow measurements of GC metallicities using the method of Brodie & Huchra. We find a distribution of spectroscopic metallicities in the range -2.2<[Fe/H]<+0.1 that is bimodal, with peaks at [Fe/H]~-1.4 and -0.6. Thus, the GC system of the Sombrero galaxy, like a few other galaxies now studied in detail, reveals a bimodal spectroscopic metallicity distribution supporting the long-held belief that colour bimodality reflects two metallicity subpopulations. This further suggests that the transformation from optical colour to metallicity for old stellar populations, such as GCs, is not strongly non-linear. We also explore the radial and magnitude distribution with metallicity for GC subpopulations but small number statistics prevent any clear trends in these distributions.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/866/22
- Title:
- Spectroscopic analysis of Tuc III stream
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/866/22
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a spectroscopic study of the tidal tails and core of the Milky Way satellite Tucana III, collectively referred to as the Tucana III stream, using the 2dF+AAOmega spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope and the IMACS spectrograph on the Magellan Baade Telescope. In addition to recovering the brightest nine previously known member stars in the Tucana III core, we identify 22 members in the tidal tails. We observe strong evidence for a velocity gradient of 8.0+/-0.4km/s/deg over at least 3{deg} on the sky. Based on the continuity in velocity, we confirm that the Tucana III tails are real tidal extensions of Tucana III. The large velocity gradient of the stream implies that Tucana III is likely on a radial orbit. We successfully obtain metallicities for four members in the core and 12 members in the tails. We find that members close to the ends of the stream tend to be more metal-poor than members in the core, indicating a possible metallicity gradient between the center of the progenitor halo and its edge. The spread in metallicity suggests that the progenitor of the Tucana III stream is likely a dwarf galaxy rather than a star cluster. Furthermore, we find that with the precise photometry of the Dark Energy Survey data, there is a discernible color offset between metal-rich disk stars and metal-poor stream members. This metallicity-dependent color offers a more efficient method to recognize metal-poor targets and will increase the selection efficiency of stream members for future spectroscopic follow-up programs on stellar streams.