Search

Intermediate resolution spectra at the Ca II triplet have been obtained for 55 candidate red giants in the field of the globular cluster M22 with the VLT/FORS instrument. Spectra were also obtained for a number of red giants in standard globular clusters to provide a calibration of the observed line strengths with overall abundance [Fe/H]. For the 41 M22 member stars that lie within the V-V_HB bounds of the calibration, we find an abundance distribution that is substantially broader than that expected from the observed errors alone. We argue that this broad distribution cannot be the result of differential reddening. Instead we conclude that, as has long been suspected, M22 is similar to omega Cen in having an intrinsic dispersion in heavy element abundance. The observed M22 abundance distribution rises sharply to a peak at [Fe/H] = -1.9 with a broad tail to higher abundances: the highest abundance star in our sample has [Fe/H] = -1.45 dex. If the unusual properties of omega Cen have their origin in a scenario in which the cluster is the remnant nucleus of a disrupted dwarf galaxy, then such a scenario likely applies also to M22., Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

A sample of RR Lyrae (RRL) variables from the Southern Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt Object survey in regions overlapping the expected position of debris from the interaction of the Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf galaxy with the Milky Way (RA ~ 20 and 21.5 h; distance 16-21 kpc) has been followed up spectroscopically and photometrically. The 21 photometrically confirmed type ab RRLs have mean [Fe/H] = -1.79 +/- 0.08, consistent with the abundances found for RRLs in a different portion of the Sgr tidal debris stream. The distribution of velocities in the Galactic standard of rest frame (V_GSR) of the 26 RRLs in the region is not consistent with a smooth halo population. Upon comparison with the Sgr disruption models of Law et al (2005), a prominent group of five stars having highly negative radial velocities (V_GSR ~ -175 kms-1) is consistent with predictions for old trailing debris when the Galactic halo is modeled as oblate. The observations also require that the recent trailing debris stream has a broader spread perpendicular to the Sgr plane than predicted by the models. We have also investigated the possible association of the Virgo Stellar Stream (VSS) with Sgr debris by comparing radial velocities for RRLs in the region with the same models, finding similarities in the velocity-position trends. As suggested by our earlier work, the stars in the VSS region with large negative V_GSR values are likely to be old leading Sgr debris, but we find that while old trailing Sgr debris may well make a contribution at positive V_GSR values, it is unlikely to fully account for the VSS feature. Overall we find that further modeling is needed, as trailing arm data generally favors oblate models while leading arm data favors prolate models, with no single potential fitting all the observed data., Comment: 42 pages, 13 Figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal (Abstract is abridged version, full resolution figures available at http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~gdc/papers/)

We observed six fields of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) with the Advanced Camera for Survey on board the Hubble Space Telescope in the F555W and F814W filters. These fields sample regions characterized by very different star and gas densities, and, possibly, by different evolutionary histories. We find that the SMC was already forming stars ~12 Gyr ago, even if the lack of a clear horizontal branch suggests that in the first few billion years the star formation activity was low. Within the uncertainties of our two-band photometry, we find evidence of a radial variation in chemical enrichment, with the SMC outskirts characterized by lower metallicity than the central zones. From our CMDs we also infer that the SMC formed stars over a long interval of time until ~2-3 Gyr ago. After a period of modest activity, star formation increased again in the recent past, especially in the bar and the wing of the SMC, where we see an enhancement in the star-formation activity starting from ~500 Myr ago. The inhomogeneous distribution of stars younger than ~100 Myr indicates that recent star formation has mainly developed locally., Comment: 38 pages, 12 figures, to be published on ApJ (accepted)

We report the discovery from Hubble Space Telescope ACS images of an extended globular cluster, denoted by Scl-dE1 GC1, in the Sculptor Group dwarf Elliptical galaxy Scl-dE1 (Sc22). The distance of the dE is determined as 4.3 +/- 0.25 Mpc from the I magnitude of the tip of the red giant branch in the color-magnitude diagram. At this distance the half-light radius of Scl-dE1 GC1 is ~22 pc, placing it among the largest clusters known, particularly for globular clusters associated with dwarf galaxies. The absolute magnitude of Scl-dE1 GC1 is Mv = -6.7 and, to within the photometric uncertainties of the data, the cluster stellar population appears indistinguishable from that of the dE. We suggest that there may be two modes of globular cluster formation in dwarf galaxies, a "normal" mode with half-light radii of typically 3 pc, and an "extended" mode with half-light radii of ~10 pc or more., Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 1 Table. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal

The results of an Halpha photometric survey of 30 dwarf galaxies of various morphologies in the Centaurus A and Sculptor groups are presented. Of these 30, emission was detected in 13: eight are of late-type, two are early-type and three are of mixed-morphology. The typical flux detection limit of 2e-16 erg s-1 cm-2, translates into a Star Formation Rate (SFR) detection limit of 4e-6 M_sol yr-1 . In the light of these results, the morphology-density relation is reexamined: It is shown that, despite a number of unaccounted parameters, there are significant correlations between the factors determining the morphological type of a galaxy and its environment. Dwarf galaxies in high density regions have lower current SFR and lower neutral gas content than their low density counterparts, confirming earlier results from the Local Group and other denser environments. The effect of environment is also seen in the timescale formed from the ratio of blue luminosity to current SFR - dwarfs in higher density environments have larger values, indicating relatively higher past average SFR. The influence of environment extends very far and no dwarfs from our sample can be identified as 'field' objects., Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures, accepted in AJ

A subset of the RR Lyrae (RRL) candidates identified from the Southern Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt Object (SEKBO) survey data has been followed up photometrically (n=106) and spectroscopically (n=51). Period and light curve fitting reveals a 24 +/_ 7% contamination of SEKBO survey data by non-RRLs. This paper focuses on the region of the Virgo Stellar Stream (VSS), particularly on its extension to the South of the declination limits of the SDSS and of the QUEST RRL survey. The distribution of radial velocities in the Galactic standard of rest frame (V_GSR) for the 11 RRLs observed in the VSS region has two apparent peaks. The larger peak coincides with the four RRLs having =127 +/_ 10 kms-1 and dispersion sigma=27 kms-1, marginally larger than that expected from the errors alone. The two type ab RRLs in this group have <[Fe/H]>=-1.95 +/_ 0.1. Both the radial velocities and metal abundances are consistent with membership in the VSS. The second velocity peak, which occurs at =-175 +/_ 10 kms-1 may indicate the presence of stars from the Sgr leading tidal tail, which is expected to have large negative velocities in this region. We explore the extent of the VSS by constructing luminosity functions from the SEKBO data and comparing them to data synthesized with the Besancon Galactic model. Analysis of the excess over the model predictions reveals the VSS as a large (~760 deg^2) overdensity centered at roughly (RA, Dec) ~ (186deg, -4deg), spanning a length of ~15 kpc in projection, assuming a heliocentric distance of 19kpc. The data reveal for the first time the more southern regions of the stream and trace it to Dec ~ -15deg and Galactic latitudes as low as b ~ 45deg., Comment: 37 pages, 15 figs, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

We have used the two-degree field (2dF) multi-fibre spectrograph of the Anglo-Australian Telescope to search for candidate members of the unusual globular cluster omega Centauri at and beyond the cluster tidal radius. Velocities with an accuracy of ~10 kms-1 were obtained for 4105 stars selected to lie in the vicinity of the lower giant branch in the cluster colour-magnitude diagram and which cover an area on the sky of ~2.4x3.9 deg2 centered on the cluster. Within the velocity interval 190-270 kms-1, the cluster member candidates have a steeply declining surface density distribution consistent with the adopted tidal radius of 57`. For stars in the sample beyond the tidal radius, an analysis of line-strengths from the spectra, as well as radial velocities, identifies only six stars as possible candidates for extra-tidal association with the cluster. If all six of these stars are indeed related to the cluster, then a maximum of 0.7 +/- 0.2 per cent of the total cluster mass is contained in the region between one and two tidal radii. Given this limit, we conclude that there is no compelling evidence for any significant extra-tidal population in omega Cen. The effects of tidal shocks on the outer parts of the cluster are consistent with this limit. Theories for the origin of omega Cen frequently suggest that the cluster is the former nucleus of a tidally stripped dwarf galaxy. Our results require that the stripping process must have been largely complete at early epochs, consistent with dynamical models of the process. The stripped former dwarf galaxy stars are therefore now widely distributed around the Galaxy., Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in AJ

A color-magnitude diagram (CMD) based on HST/ACS data is presented for the Sculptor group dwarf galaxy ESO540-032. The CMD is dominated by an old red giant population but there is a small population of blue stars confined to the central regions of the galaxy as orginally noted by Jerjen and Rejkuba from ground-based data. From the luminosity of the red giant branch tip the distance is determined as 3.7 +/- 0.2 Mpc consistent with previous estimates. The mean metallicity is estimated as [Fe/H] = -1.7 +/- 0.2 from the color of the red giant branch. Isochrone fits indicate an age for the blue star population of ~100 Myr, perhaps less. New HI observations with the Australian Telescope Compact Array confirm that the dwarf contains approximately 10^6 solar masses of HI, centered on the optical image. The HI mass to blue luminosity ratio is 0.15, comparable to the Phoenix dwarf in the Local Group. These properties clearly confirm ESO540-032 as a transition-type dwarf in the Sculptor group., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Galaxies in the Local Volume, eds B Koribalski and H. Jerjen, Springer Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, in press

Abundance ratios of carbon, nitrogen and strontium relative to iron, calculated using spectrum synthesis techniques, are given for a sample of main sequence and turnoff stars that belong to the globular cluster omega Centauri. The variations of carbon, nitrogen and/or strontium show several different abundance patterns as a function of [Fe/H]. The source of the enhancements/depletions in carbon, nitrogen and/or strontium may be enrichment from asymptotic giant branch stars of low (1--3 solar masses) and intermediate (3--8 solar masses) mass. Massive rotating stars which produce excess nitrogen without carbon and oxygen overabundances may also play a role. These abundances enable different contributors to be considered and incorporated into the evolutionary picture of omega Cen., Comment: 43 Pages, 13 Figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

In this contribution initial results from colour-magnitude diagrams for five dEs in the M81 group are presented. The colour-magnitude diagrams, derived from HST/ACS images, reach well below the red giant branch tip and allow evaluation of distances and mean metallicities. Further, the intermediate-age upper-AGB stars seen in the diagrams allow estimates of the epochs of the last significant episode of star formation in the dEs. These epochs, and the relative numbers of upper-AGB to red giant branch stars, vary significantly from dE to dE. Preliminary inferences from similar HST/ACS data for five early-type dwarfs in the Sculptor group are also discussed., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figs, to appear in "From Stars to Galaxies", eds Vallenari, Tantalo, Portinari & Morretti, ASP Conf. Series

Abundance ratios relative to iron for carbon, nitrogen, strontium and barium are presented for a metal-rich main sequence star ([Fe/H]=--0.74) in the globular cluster omega Centauri. This star, designated 2015448, shows depleted carbon and solar nitrogen, but more interestingly, shows an enhanced abundance ratio of strontium [Sr/Fe] ~ 1.6 dex, while the barium abundance ratio is [Ba/Fe]<0.6 dex. At this metallicity one usually sees strontium and barium abundance ratios that are roughly equal. Possible formation scenarios of this peculiar object are considered., Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Accepted to ApJL

We present the results of a 21 cm neutral hydrogen (HI) line detection experiment in the direction of 18 low luminosity dwarf galaxies of the Centaurus A group, using the Australia Telescope National Facility 64m Parkes Radio Telescope and the Australia Telescope Compact Array. Five dwarfs have HI masses between M_HI=4x10^5 to M_HI=2.1x10^7 Msol and 0.0410^7 Msol or M_HI<10^6 Msol. This gap may be explained by the ram pressure stripping mechanism at work in this dense environment where all galaxies with M_HI<10^7 Msol have been stripped of their gas. The required intergalactic medium density to achieve this is ~10^-3 cm^-3., Comment: 7 figures, 2 tables

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is the only dwarf galaxy in the Local Group known to have formed and preserved populous star clusters continuously over the past 12 Gyr. These clusters provide a unique, closely spaced set of single-age, single-metallicity tracers for a detailed study of the SMC's age-metallicity relation. Spectroscopic metallicity measurements, however, exist only for 6 of its clusters. Here we present metallicities for 7 additional SMC clusters based on Ca II triplet observations. The total sample comprises clusters spanning an age range of 12 Gyr. Complemented by age estimates from literature these objects provide us with a well-sampled, well-defined age-metallicity relation. We compare our first results with the chemical evolution history of the SMC in terms of a simple closed box model. We find that the general trend is well reproduced by this model., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of "Globular Clusters - Guides to Galaxies", Concepcion, Chile, March 6th-10th, 2006

We present a metallicity distribution based on photometry and spectra for 442 omega Cen cluster members that lie at the main sequence turnoff region of the color-magnitude diagram. This distribution is similar to that found for the red giant branch. The distribution shows a sharp rise to a mean of [Fe/H] = -1.7 with a long tail to higher metallicities. Ages have then been determined for the stars using theoretical isochrones enabling the construction of an age-metallicity diagram. Interpretation of this diagram is complicated by the correlation of the errors in the metallicities and ages. Nevertheless, after extensive Monte-Carlo simulations, we conclude that our data show that the formation of the cluster took place over an extended period of time: the most metal-rich stars in our sample ([Fe/H] ~ -0.6) are younger by 2-4 Gyrs than the most metal-poor population., Comment: 53 pages, 20 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ

We study the red giant populations of two dE galaxies, AM 1339-445 and AM 1343-452, with the aim of investigating the number and luminosity of any upper asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars present. The galaxies are members of the Centaurus A group (D~3.8 Mpc) and are classified as outlying (R~350 kpc) satellites of Cen A. The analysis is based on near-IR photometry for individual red giant stars, derived from images obtained with ISAAC on the VLT. The photometry, along with optical data derived from WFPC2 images retrieved from the HST science archive, enable us to investigate the stellar populations of the dEs in the vicinity of the red giant branch (RGB) tip. In both systems we find stars above the RGB tip, which we interpret as intermediate-age upper-AGB stars. The presence of such stars is indicative of extended star formation in these dEs similar to that seen in many, but not all, dEs in the Local Group. For AM 1339-445, the brightest of the upper-AGB stars have Mbol~-4.5 while those in AM 1343-452 have Mbol~-4.8 mag. These luminosities suggest ages of approximately 6.5+/-1 and 4+/-1 Gyr as estimates for the epoch of the last episode of significant star formation in these systems. In both cases the number of upper-AGB stars suggests that ~15% of the total stellar population is in the form of intermediate-age stars, considerably less than is the case for outlying dE satellites of the Milky Way such as Fornax and LeoI., Comment: 18 pages, 19 figures, A&A accepted; high resolution version available from: http://www.eso.org/~mrejkuba/CenA_dEs_I.pdf

We have imaged the recently discovered stellar overdensity located approximately one core radius from the center of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy using the Magellan Clay 6.5m telescope with the Magellan Instant Camera (MagIC). Superb seeing conditions allowed us to probe the stellar populations of this overdensity and of a control field within Fornax to a limiting magnitude of R=26. The color-magnitude diagram of the overdensity field is virtually identical to that of the control field with the exception of the presence of a population arising from a very short (less than 300 Myr in duration) burst of star formation 1.4 Gyr ago. Coleman et al. have argued that this overdensity might be related to a shell structure in Fornax that was created when Fornax captured a smaller galaxy. Our results are consistent with this model, but we argue that the metallicity of this young component favors a scenario in which the gas was part of Fornax itself., Comment: 24 pages including 8 figures and 3 tables. Accepted by Astronomical Journal

Using the 2dF multi-fibre instrument on the AAT, moderate resolution spectra have been obtained for a large sample of stars on the main sequence and at the turnoff in the unusual globular cluster omega Centauri. We investigate the behaviour of CH, CN and SrII line strength indices as a function of overall abundance for the main sequence sample. A number of stars do not follow the relations defined by the majority. These anomalous objects can be categorised into (at least) three types. (1) Carbon enhanced stars, which represent about 5% of the sample, and which are found at all metallicities. Spectrum synthesis calculations show that the atmospheres of these stars are typically enhanced in C by factors of between 3 and 10. (2) Nitrogen enhanced stars, revealed for [Fe/H] > -1.3 by strong CN indices, which make up ~40% of the cluster main sequence population above this metallicity. These stars are enhanced in N by factors of up to 100. Our data, however, provide no constraints of their relative numbers at lower [Fe/H]. (3) Stars with enhancements of the s-process element Sr by factors of 30 to 60. The possible origins for these abundance anomalies are discussed., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of IAU Symp 228 "From Lithium to Uranium: Element Tracers of Early Cosmic Evolution", eds V. Hill, P. Francois and F. Primas

In this contribution initial results are presented from a program to study in detail the stellar populations of dwarf Spheroidal (dSph) galaxies in three nearby groups. The long-term aim of the program is to assess the influence of environment in governing the evolution of these low-luminosity systems. Specific results described here include the detection and measurement of intermediate-age upper-AGB populations in dSphs in the M81 and Cen A groups, and the discovery that four of the five low-luminosity early-type dwarfs in the low density Sculptor group contain modest amounts of neutral hydrogen gas., Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. To appear in the Proceedings of IAU Colloquium 198 "Near Field Cosmology with dwarf Elliptical Galaxies", eds H. Jerjen and B. Bingelli

The results of a wide-field survey of the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy are presented. Our aims were to obtain an accurate map of the outer structure of Sculptor, and to determine the level of interaction between this system and the Galaxy. Photometry was obtained in two colours down to the magnitude limits of V=20 and I=19, covering a 3.1 times 3.1 square deg area centred on Sculptor. The resulting colour-magnitude data were used as a mask to select candidate horizontal branch and red giant branch stars for this system. Previous work has shown that the red horizontal branch (HB) stars are more concentrated than the blue HB stars. We have determined the radial distributions of these two populations and show that the overall Sculptor density profile is well described by a two component model based on a combination of these radial distributions. Additionally, spectra of the Ca ii triplet region were obtained for over 700 candidate red giant stars over the 10 square deg region using the 2dF instrument on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. These spectra were used to remove foreground Galactic stars based on radial velocity and Ca ii triplet strength. The final list of Sculptor members contained 148 stars, seven of which are located beyond the nominal tidal radius. Both the photometric and spectroscopic datasets indicate no significant extra-tidal structure. These results support at most a mild level of interaction between this system and the Galaxy, and we have measured an upper mass limit for extra-tidal material to be 2.3 +/- 0.6% of the Sculptor luminous mass. This lack of tidal interaction indicates that previous velocity dispersion measurements (and hence the amount of dark matter detected) in this system are not strongly influenced by the Galactic tidal field., Comment: 53 pages, 23 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. Some figures are reduced in size, and a full version is available at: ftp://ftp.mso.anu.edu.au/pub/coleman/sculptor.pdf

We present the results from a {\it Hubble Space Telescope/ACS} study of the supernovae associated with gamma-ray bursts 040924 ($z=0.86$) and 041006 ($z=0.71$). We find evidence that both GRBs were associated with a SN 1998bw-like supernova dimmed by $\sim 1.5$ and $\sim 0.3$ magnitudes, respectively, making GRB 040924 the faintest GRB-associated SN ever detected. We study the luminosity dispersion in GRB/XRF-associated SNe and compare to local Type Ibc supernovae from the literature. We find significant overlap between the two samples, suggesting that GRB/XRF-associated SNe are not necessarily more luminous nor produce more $^{56}$Ni than local SNe. Based on the current (limited) datasets, we find that the two samples may share a similar $^{56}$Ni production mechanism., Comment: ApJ accepted (in press). Revised version. High-resolution figures available at http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~ams/GRB-SNe.html

(Abridged) We present the results of variable star searches of the M31 dwarf spheroidal companions Andromeda I and Andromeda III using the Hubble Space Telescope. A total of 100 variable stars were found in Andromeda I, while 56 were found in Andromeda III. One variable found in Andromeda I and another in Andromeda III may be Population II Cepheids. In addition to this variable in Andromeda III, another four variables are anomalous Cepheids. We found 72 fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars and 26 first-overtone mode RR Lyrae stars in Andromdea I giving mean periods of 0.575 day and 0.388 day, respectively. One likely RR Lyrae was not classified. For Andromeda III, 39 RR Lyrae stars are pulsating in the fundamental mode with a mean period of 0.657 day and 12 are in the first-overtone mode with a mean period of 0.402 day. While Andromeda I has a mean period that is consistent with its metallicity, the mean period of the fundamental mode RR Lyrae in Andromeda III is larger than expected. In Andromeda I, we found two RR Lyrae stars which are noticeably fainter than the horizontal branch. We discuss the possibility that these stars are associated with the recently discovered stellar stream in the halo of M31. We find =25.14+/-0.04 mag for Andromeda I resulting in a distance of 765+/-25 kpc. For Andromeda III, =25.01+/-0.04 mag giving a distance of 740+/-20 kpc. The relation between specific frequency of anomalous Cepheids and mean metallicity of the galaxy in the M31 dwarf spheroidal galaxies follows the same relation as the Galactic dwarf spheroidal galaxies., Comment: 25 pages, including 14 figures and 9 tables, emulateapj v. 6/22/04 style. Accepted by the Astronomical Journal for approximate publication date of April 2005. A full-resolution preprint can be found at http://www.macalester.edu/~pritzl/

The results of a photometric survey of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy are presented herein. Accurate photometry in two colours (V and I) was collected over a 10 square degree area centred on the Fornax system with the aim of searching for extra-tidal structure. The data were complete to a magnitude of V=20, or approximately one magnitude brighter than the Fornax red clump stars. Stars were selected with a colour and magnitude lying near the Fornax red giant branch, thereby reducing contamination from the field star population. We were thus able to probe the outer structure of this dwarf galaxy. Immediately visible was a shell-like structure located 1.3 degrees NW from the centre of Fornax, approximately 30 arcmin beyond the nominal tidal radius at this position angle. We have measured the absolute visual magnitude of this feature to be M_V ~ -7. The feature is aligned with a previously reported shell (age approximately 2 Gyr) located near the core radius of Fornax. A statistical analysis of the extra-tidal stellar distribution further revealed two lobes situated on the Fornax minor axis which are aligned with the two shell-like features. The two-lobed structure combined with the two shells provide strong evidence that Fornax has experienced a merger event in the relatively recent past., Comment: 79 pages including 24 figures. Accepted for publication in AJ, scheduled for the March 2005 issue. Some figures are low resolution, and a full version of the paper is available at the ftp address: ftp://ftp.mso.anu.edu.au/pub/coleman/

In the search for tidal structure in Galactic satellite systems, we have conducted a photometric survey over a 10 square degree area centred on the Fornax dSph galaxy. The survey was made in two colours, and the resulting colour-magnitude data were used as a mask to select candidate Fornax RGB stars, thereby increasing the contrast of Fornax stars to background sources in the outer regions. Previously, we reported the presence of a shell (age 2 Gyr) located towards the centre of Fornax. In this contribution we reveal a second shell, significantly larger than the first, located 1.3 degrees NW from the centre of Fornax, outside the nominal tidal radius. Moreover, the distribution of Fornax RGB stars reveals two lobes extending to the spatial limit of our survey, and aligned with the minor axis and with the two shells. These results support the hypothesis of a merger between Fornax and a gas-rich companion approximately 2 Gyr ago., Comment: Four pages,accepted for the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia. Contribution the annual ASA meeting, Brisbane 2004

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has a unique cluster formation history in that nearly all of its globular clusters were formed either $\sim$ 13 Gyr ago or less than $\sim$ 3 Gyr ago. It is not clear what physical mechanism is responsible for the most recent cluster formation episode and thus the mysterious age gap between the LMC clusters. We first present results of gas dynamical N-body simulations of the evolution of the LMC in the context of its Galactic orbit and interactions with the SMC, paying special attention to the effect of tidal forces. We find that the first close encounter between the LMC and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) about 4 Gyr ago was the beginning of a period of strong tidal interaction which likely induced dramatic gas cloud collisions, leading to an enhancement of the formation of globular clusters which has been sustained by strong tidal interactions to the present day. The tidal interaction results in the formation of a barred, elliptical, thick disk in the LMC. The model also predicts the presence of a large, diffuse stellar stream circling the Galaxy, which originated from the LMC., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures (f2.copy.jpg for high-res color figure), accepted by ApJL

We present initial results from a wide field photometric survey of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy. The focus here is on a small overdensity of stars located approximately 17 arcmin (670 pc in projection) from the centre of Fornax. Based on imaging data in both V and I bands down to approximately V = 21, the dimensions of the feature are approximately 1.7 arcmin by 3.2 arcmin (68 pc by 128 pc) with an average surface brightness of 25.8 mag/arcsec^2 in V. A follow-up analysis using the deep B and R band data obtained by Stetson et al. (1998) indicates that the overdensity is apparently dominated by a relatively young stellar population with an age of approximately 2 Gyr, though the current data do not rule out the presence of older stars. Our preferred interpretation is that the overdensity represents shell structure in the Fornax dSph galaxy, a phenomenon previously unseen in dwarf galaxies. The shell may be the remnant of a merger with Fornax of a smaller, gas-rich system that occured approximately 2 Gyr ago. The comparitively recent star formation seen in some dSph and dE galaxies may then also be the result of infall of small relatively gas-rich systems., Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures. To appear in the February issue of the Astronomical Journal. Version with full-resolution figures available at http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~coleman/thesis/fornaxpaper/Coleman.pdf

(abridged) We present the results of a variable star search in Andromeda II, a dwarf spheroidal galaxy companion to M31, using HST/WFPC2 observations. Seventy-three variables were found, one of which is an anomalous Cepheid while the others are RR Lyrae stars. The anomalous Cepheid has properties consistent with those found in other dwarf spheroidal galaxies. For the RR Lyrae stars, the mean periods are 0.571 day and 0.363 day for the fundamental mode and first-overtone mode stars, respectively. With this fundamental mode mean period and the mean metallicity determined from the red giant branch (<[Fe/H]>=-1.49), Andromeda II follows the period-metallicity relation defined by the Galactic globular clusters and other dwarf spheroidal galaxies. We also find that the properties of the RR Lyrae stars themselves indicate a mean abundance that is consistent with that determined from the red giants. There is, however, a significant spread among the RR Lyrae stars in the period-amplitude diagram, which is possibly related to the metallicity spread in Andromeda II indicated by the width of the red giant branch in Da Costa et al. In addition, the abundance distribution of the RR Lyrae stars is notably wider than the distribution expected from the abundance determination errors alone. The mean magnitude of the RR Lyrae stars, =24.87+/-0.03, implies a distance d=665+/-20 kpc to Andromeda II. We also demonstrate that the specific frequency of anomalous Cepheids in dwarf spheroidal galaxies correlates with the mean metallicity of their parent galaxy, and that the Andromeda II and Andromeda VI anomalous Cepheids appear to follow the same relation as those in the Galactic dwarf spheroidals., Comment: 16 pages, including 10 figures and 5 tables, emulateapj5/apjfonts style. Accepted by the Astronomical Journal. Approximate publication date of January 2004

g', r', and i' images obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini North are used to investigate the metallicity and stellar content of the M31 dwarf spheroidal companion galaxy And V. Red giant branch (RGB) stars are traced out to radii in excess of 126 arcsec from the galaxy center, indicating that And V extends over a diameter approaching 1 kpc. The mean g'-i' color of the RGB does not change with radius. Based on the slope of the RGB in the (i', g'-i') color-magnitude diagram we conclude that [Fe/H] = -2.2 +/- 0.1. This metallicity is lower than earlier estimates, and places And V squarely on the relation between metallicity and integrated brightness defined by other dwarf spheroidal and dwarf elliptical galaxies. We also fail to find a statistically significant population of luminous asymptotic giant branch stars near the center of the galaxy., Comment: 17 pages of text and 7 postscript figures; to appear in the Astronomical Journal

The Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 camera has been used to image Andromeda III, a dwarf spheroidal companion (dSph) to M31. The resulting color-magnitude (c-m) diagrams reveal the morphology of the horizontal branch (HB) in this dwarf galaxy. We find that like Andromeda I and Andromeda II, and like most of the Galactic dSph companions, the HB morphology of And III is predominantly red, redder than that of both And I and And II despite And III having a lower mean metallicity. We interpret this red HB morphology as indicating that the bulk of the And III population is ~3 Gyr younger than the age of the majority of Galactic globular clusters. Nevertheless, the And III c-m diagram does reveal a few blue HB stars, and a number of RR Lyrae variables are also evident in the data. This indicates that And III does contain an `old' population of age comparable to that of the Galactic globular clusters. There is no evidence, however, for any young stars in And III despite a claimed association between this dSph and an HI cloud. As was the case for And II, but not And I, no radial gradient was detected in the And III HB morphology. And III is ~75 kpc from the center of M31, comparable to the Galactocentric distances of Sculptor and Draco. Comparison with standard globular cluster red giant branches indicates <[Fe/H]> = -1.88 +/-0.11, consistent with the absolute-magnitude - mean abundance relation followed by dSph galaxies. The same comparison yields an intrinsic abundance dispersion of sigma([Fe/H]) = 0.12, a low value compared to the Galactic dSphs of comparable luminosity to And III. The list of candidate variables reveals one definite and one probable Anomalous Cepheid variables., Comment: 30 pages including 1 table, 10 figures, Fig 1 as jpeg to save space. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal, July 2002 issue

Copper abundances are presented for 40 red-giant stars in Omega Cen as well as 15 red-giant members of the globular clusters NGC288, NGC362, NGC3201, NGC6752, and M4. A comparison with the halo field star pattern indicates that, unlike the field stars, Omega Cen displays a constant ratio of [Cu/Fe] -0.5 all the way from [Fe/H]=-2.0 to -0.8. At the metallicity of [Fe/H]= -0.8, the values of [Cu/Fe] in Omega Cen fall below the corresponding mean ratio in the field stars by roughly 0.5 dex. If copper is produced primarily in type Ia supernovae (SN Ia), the lack of an increase in [Cu/Fe] in Omega Cen would suggest very little contribution from SN Ia to its chemical evolution within the metallicity range from [Fe/H] of -2.0 up to -0.8., Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, 6 tables, submitted to Astronomical Journal. Previous version missing 2 figures and 6 tables

The characteristics of the cluster systems of the Magellanic Clouds, as inferred from integrated properties, are compared with those from individual cluster studies and from the field population. The agreement is generally satisfactory though in the case of the LMC, the lack of clusters older than ~3 Gyr is not reflected in the field population. The possible origin(s) for this cluster ``age-gap'' are discussed. The SMC cluster age-metallicity relation is also presented and discussed., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of IAU Symposium 207, "Extragalactic Star Clusters", eds E. Grebel, D. Geisler and D. Minniti

We present the results of a quantitative study of the degree of extension to the boundary of the classical convective core within intermediate mass stars. The basis of our empirical study is the stellar population of four young populous clusters in the Magellanic Clouds which has been detailed in Keller, Bessell & Da Costa (2000). The sample affords a meaningful comparison with theoretical scenarios with varying degrees of convective core overshoot and binary star fraction. Two critical properties of the population, the main-sequence luminosity function and the number of evolved stars, form the basis of our comparison between the observed data set and that simulated from the stellar evolutionary models. On the basis of this comparison we conclude that the case of no convective core overshoot is excluded at a 2 sigma level., Comment: 27 pages, 12 figures, AJ accepted

The HST WFPC2 camera has been used to image Andromeda II, a dwarf spheroidal (dSph) companion to M31. The resulting color-magnitude diagrams reveal the morphology of the horizontal branch (HB) in this dwarf galaxy. We find that like Andromeda I, and like most of the Galactic dSph companions, the HB morphology of And II is predominantly red. Unlike And I, however, there is no evidence for a radial gradient in HB morphology in the And II data. At least 50% of the total stellar population in And II is younger than the age of the globular clusters. On the other hand, the existence of blue HB and RR Lyrae variable stars in And II argues for the existence of an additional old (age > 10 Gyr) population. Thus And II has had an extended epoch of star formation like many of the Galactic dSphs. Our derived distance confirms the association of And II with M31, rather than with M33 to which And II lies closer on the sky. The true distance of And II from the center of M31 is between 160 and 230 kpc. With the current samples of dSph companions, the size of the Galaxy's and M31's dSph satellite systems are comparable, with outer radii of order 250 kpc. The And II red giant branch colors yield a mean abundance of <[Fe/H]> = -1.49 +/- 0.11 and a surprisingly large internal abundance spread, which can be characterized by sigma(int)([Fe/H]) ~ 0.36 dex, considerably larger than that derived for And I (0.21) from an identical analysis of similar data. Thus despite having very similar luminosities and mean metal abundances, these two M31 dSph companions have clearly had different chemical evolution histories. We conclude that the diversity of evolutionary histories evident among the Galactic dSph companions is now also firmly established among the dSph satellites of M31., Comment: 71 pages including 13 figures and 1 table. To appear in the February 2000 issue of the AJ

We have carried out Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 F160BW, F555W and F656N imaging of four young populous clusters: NGC 330 in the Small Magellanic Cloud and NGC 1818, NGC 2004 and NGC 2100 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We report photometric results for these four clusters, including identification using photometric colours of the cluster Be star population. We present theoretical WFPC2 and broad band colours and bolometric corrections for LMC and SMC metallicities. The use of the far-UV F160BW filter enables accurate determination of the effective temperatures for stars in the vicinity of the main sequence turnoff and on the unevolved main sequence., Comment: 33 pages, 14 figures, AJ accepted

We report on the chemical abundances of stars in the Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph) derived from low-resolution spectra. We have determined values of [Fe/H] for 52 stars from the reduced equivalent width of the Ca II infrared triplet lines. The Carina dSph has a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = -1.99 +/- 0.08 and an intrinsic metallicity dispersion 0.25 dex (1 sigma). By directly determining the chemical abundances of Carina stars through spectroscopy, we can overcome the age-metallicity degeneracy inherent in color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) and determine its star-formation history with unprecedented accuracy., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in in "Spectro-Photometric Dating of Stars and Galaxies", eds. I. Hubeny, S. Heap & R. Cornett, (ASP: San Francisco), ASP Conf. Series, in press

In the first part of this contribution the observed velocity dispersions in Galactic halo dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies are reviewed, and the consequences for dark matter content outlined. The results are suggestive of a dSph dark matter mass of ~2x10^7 solar masses, independent of the luminosity of the dSph. Alternatives to the dark matter interpretation are also briefly discussed. In the second part of the contribution the emphasis is on the stellar populations of Galactic dSphs. Recent results for the ages of the oldest populations are presented. These data, together with similar recent results for Galactic halo and LMC globular clusters, indicate that regardless of the subsequent star formation history, the initial epoch of star formation was well synchronized throughout the entire proto-Galactic halo. The implications of the first high dispersion studies of element abundance ratios in Galactic dSph red giants are also discussed. For the Sagittarius dSph in particular, the observed abundance ratios show good agreement with expectations for an episodic star formation history, and such a history is in fact deduced from colour-magnitude diagrams studies., Comment: 14 pages, 2 Figs. To be published in The Third Stromlo Symposium - The Galactic Halo: Bright Stars and Dark Matter, eds B K Gibson, T S Axelrod and M E Putman, ASP Conference Series, in press

We have obtained spectra at the Ca II triplet of individual red giants in seven SMC star clusters whose ages range from ~4 to 12 Gyr. The spectra have been used to determine mean abundances for six of the star clusters to a typical precision of 0.12 dex. When combined with existing data for other objects, the resulting SMC age-metallicity relation is generally consistent with that for a simple model of chemical evolution, scaled to the present-day SMC mean abundance and gas mass fraction. Two of the clusters (Lindsay 113 and NGC 339), however, have abundances that ~0.5 dex lower than that expected from the mean age-metallicity relation. It is suggested that the formation of these clusters, which have ages of ~5 Gyr, may have involved the infall of uneriched gas, perhaps from the Magellanic Stream. The spectra also yield radial velocities for the seven clusters. The resulting velocity dispersion is 16 +/- 4 km/sec, consistent with those of the SMC planetary nebula and carbon star populations., Comment: 28 pages including 4 figures

We have obtained HST WFPC2 images through the F555W and F814W filters of two M81 group dE's: BK5N and a new system, designated F8D1. The resulting color-magnitude diagrams show the upper two magnitudes of the red giant branch. Surface brightness and total magnitude measurements indicate that BK5N and F8D1 have similar central surface brightness (24.5 and 25.4 mag/arcsec^2 in V, respectively), but F8D1's larger length scale results in it being 3 magnitudes more luminous than BK5N. BK5N lies on the relation between central surface brightness and absolute magnitude defined by Local Group dwarf ellipticals, but F8D1 does not. F8D1 is more luminous for its central surface brightness than the relation predicts, similar to the large low surface brightness dwarf galaxies found in, for example, Virgo. The mean color of the giant branch is used to establish the mean abundance of each galaxy. F8D1, the more luminous galaxy, is significantly more metal rich ([Fe/H] ~ -1.0) than BK5N ([Fe/H] ~ -1.7). Both BK5N and F8D1 lie on the relation between absolute magnitude and metal abundance defined by Local Group dwarf ellipticals. However, as regards the relation between central surface brightness and metal abundance, BK5N again follows the Local Group dwarfs, while F8D1 deviates significantly from this relation. This suggests that the total amount of luminous matter is more fundamental in controlling metal enrichment than the surface density of luminous matter. We also discuss the intermediate age stars, and note 1 globular cluster in F8D1. (edited), Comment: To appear in Feb. 1998 AJ. 18 figures, 5 of which are jpg. The jpg's can be incorporated into the main ps file by changing the figures to ps files, then uncommenting the appropriate lines in the captions in the .tex file. Error in title corrected

Star-to-star abundance variations of C, N, O, Na and Al in globular-cluster red giants have been recently supplemented by the finding that [Mg/Fe] is depleted in stars with extremely large [Al/Fe] (Shetrone 1996a). This and other new spectroscopic results allow us to test current models of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis, as well as those of the formation and chemical enrichment of globular clusters. In an effort to explain self-consistently these observations we have considered two possibilities: (1) a deep mixing scenario which assumes that in red giants some kind of (extra)mixing transports products of nuclear reactions from the hydrogen burning shell (HBS) to the base of the convective envelope; and (2) a combination of primordial and deep mixing scenarios. It is shown that (1) cannot account for the anticorrelation of [Mg/Fe] vs. [Al/Fe] without additional ad hoc assumptions, among which we identify a strong but still undetected low energy resonance in the reaction 24Mg(p,gamma)25Al, and episodical increases of the HBS temperature up to the value T approx. 74x10^6 K. In (2) intermediate mass AGB stars are assumed to produce the decreased 24Mg and increased 25Mg initial abundances in some globular-cluster low mass stars and Al is synthesized at the expense of 25Mg in the HBS and transported to the surface of the red giant by extramixing. We discuss advantages and deficiencies of both scenarios and propose some observational tests., Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures included; submitted to A&A

Images have been obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 camera of Andromeda I, a dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy that lies in the outer halo of M31. The resulting color-magnitude diagrams reveal for the first time the morphology of the horizontal branch in this system. We find that, in a similar fashion to many of the galactic dSph companions, the horizontal branch (HB) of And~I is predominantly red. Combined with the metal abundance of this dSph, this red HB morphology indicates that And I can be classified as a ``second parameter'' system in the outer halo of M31. This result then supports the hypothesis that the outer halo of M31 formed in the same extended chaotic manner as is postulated for the outer halo of the Galaxy., Comment: 26 pages using aas2pp4.sty, including 2 tables and 7 figures, to be published in AJ. Figure 1 is in gif form. To include in main ps file, use xv to create a ps file called Da_Costa.fig1.ps and uncomment appropriate lines in .tex file

Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 images of the Local Group dwarf galaxy Tucana reveal an unbiased sample of distant field galaxies. While a large number of these galaxies can be classified according to standard Hubble types, a significant number of these galaxies can be identified as "ring" galaxies, a morphology likely induced through galaxy collisions. We have identified seven ring galaxy candidates in our fields. Assuming these galaxies lie between the redshifts of 0.1 and 1 and that there has been no evolution in the galaxy interaction rate, then the probability of finding a single ring galaxy in our field of view is less than 1%. Alternatively, if the galaxy interaction rate increases as (1 + z)**4.5, which represents a high-end estimate of the dependence of the galaxy merger rate on redshift, the probability increases to ~10%. Thus, these observations provide support for a galaxy interaction rate that increases steeply at moderate redshift. We also suggest several additional factors that may play an important role in producing the relatively large number of ring galaxies we have detected., Comment: Postscript file, 13 Pages, 1 fig. available upon request, accepted in ApJ Letters (date not set)