We combine new narrowband photometry with archival Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) data for A2218 (z=0.18) and A2125 (z=0.25), two clusters with intermediate redshifts but very different cluster properties, in order to examine the evolution of galaxy populations. A2218 is a dense, elliptical-rich cluster (Bautz-Morgan type II) similar to the Coma Cluster in its evolutionary appearance, whereas A2125 is a less dense, more open cluster (Bautz-Morgan type II-III), although similar in richness to A2218.
We report new metallicity determinations for 39 red giants in a 220 arcmin2^2^ region, 1.8{deg} southwest of the bar of the Large Magellanic Cloud. These abundance measurements are based on spectroscopy of the Ca II infrared triplet.
In this paper we demonstrate how Stroemgren uvby photometry can be efficiently used to: 1. identify red giant branch stars that are members in a dwarf spheroidal galaxy; 2. derive age-independent metallicities for the same stars and quantify the associated errors. Stroemgren uvby photometry in a 11'x22' field centered on the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy was obtained using the Isaac Newton Telescope on La Palma. Members of the Draco dSph galaxy were identified using the surface gravity sensitive c1 index which discriminates between red giant and dwarf stars. Thus enabling us to distinguish the (red giant branch) members of the dwarf spheroidal galaxy from the foreground dwarf stars in our galaxy. The method is evaluated through a comparison of our membership list with membership classifications in the literature based on radial velocities and proper motions. The metallicity sensitive m1 index was used to derive individual and age-independent metallicities for the members of the Draco dSph galaxy. The derived metallicities are compared to studies based on high resolution spectroscopy and the agreement is found to be very good.
We report on the spread of [Fe/H] values in the massive Large Magellanic Cloud cluster NGC 1978, recently confirmed to harbor multiple populations of nearly the same age. We used accurate Stroemgren photometry of carefully selected cluster red giant branch stars along with a high-dispersion spectroscopy-based calibration of the metallicity-sensitive index m_1_. Once we accounted for the photometry quality, assessed from extensive artificial star tests to trace the photometric uncertainties as a function of the position of the cluster's center as well as the stellar brightness, and those from the metallicity calibration, we found that NGC 1978 exhibits a small metallicity spread of 0.035 dex (+/-0.019-0.023), depending on whether stars with individual {sigma}[Fe/H]=<0.15 dex or those located in the cluster's outer areas are considered. Such a spread in [Fe/H] is consistent with a cluster formation model with self-enrichment, if mass loss higher than 90% due to stellar evolutionary and galactic tidal effects is assumed. Nevertheless, scenarios in which the apparent [Fe/H] variation reflects CN abundance anomalies or less extreme mass-loss models with environmentally dependent self-enrichment should not be ruled out.
We present Stroemgren and near-infrared (NIR) photometry of the bulge cluster NGC 6528 and its surrounding field in Baade's Window. uvby images were collected with EFOSC2 on the New Technology Telescope (NTT, La Silla, ESO). The NIR catalogs are based on J,K-band VIRCAM at VISTA (Paranal, ESO) and SOFI at NTT photometry. We matched the aforementioned data sets with Hubble Space Telescope photometry to obtain proper-motion-cleaned samples of NGC 6528 and bulge stars. Furthermore, we were able to correct the Stroemgren-NIR photometry for differential reddening. The huge color sensitivity of the Stroemgren-NIR color-magnitude-diagrams (CMDs) helped us in separating age and metallicity effects.
A sample of 26 dwarf novae was observed in the Stroemgren photometric system. The observations were performed on 3 different seasons in 1986 January, February and July, with a 6-channel photometer attached to the 1.5m telescope if the Observatorio Astronomicao Nacional at San Pedro Martir, Baja California, Mexico. A number of standard stars were observed, and a nearby comparison star was observed for each object.
We present a photometric study of M13 multiple stellar populations over a wide field of view, covering approximately 6.5 half-light radii, using archival Isaac Newton Telescope observations to build an accurate multiband Stroemgren catalogue. The use of the Stroemgren index cy permits us to separate the multiple populations of M13 on the basis of their position on the red giant branch. The comparison with medium and high resolution spectroscopic analysis confirms the robustness of our selection criterion. To determine the radial distribution of stars in M13, we complemented our data set with Hubble Space Telescope observations of the cluster core, to compensate for the effect of incompleteness affecting the most crowded regions. From the analysis of the radial distributions, we do not find any significant evidence of spatial segregation. Some residuals may be present in the external regions where we observe only a small number of stars. This finding is compatible with the short dynamical time-scale of M13 and represents, to date, one of the few examples of fully spatially mixed multiple populations in a massive globular cluster.
Several large scale photometric and spectroscopic surveys are being undertaken to provide a more detailed picture of the Milky Way. Given the necessity of generalisation in the determination of, e.g., stellar parameters when tens and hundred of thousands of stars are considered it remains important to provide independent, detailed studies to verify the methods used in the surveys.
We have investigated the two open clusters NGC 6192 and NGC 6451 for which widely different reddening values and thus ages and distances via Stroemgren uvby photometry can be found in the literature. Our measurements allow us to disentangle the apparent discrepancies in the literature and to derive new accurate values. From appropriate calibrations we find that the overall abundance for NGC 6192 is about solar whereas a subsolar value for NGC 6451 was estimated. From two previous reported photometrically candidate CP stars, one within NGC 6192 shows Stroemgren indices typical for a B8Si star whereas the other object of NGC 6451 is most probably a foreground G-type star.
