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We report the discovery of three faint and ultra-faint dwarf galaxies -- Sculptor A, Sculptor B and Sculptor C -- in the direction of NGC 300 (D=2.0 Mpc), a Large Magellanic Cloud-mass galaxy. Deep ground-based imaging with Gemini/GMOS resolves all three dwarf galaxies into stars, each displaying a red giant branch indicative of an old, metal-poor stellar population. No young stars or HI gas are apparent, and the lack of a GALEX UV detection suggests that all three systems are quenched. Sculptor C (D=2.04$^{+0.10}_{-0.13}$ Mpc; $M_V$=$-$9.1$\pm$0.1 mag or $L_V$=(3.7$^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$)$\times$10$^5$ $L_{\odot}$) is consistent with being a satellite of NGC 300. Sculptor A (D=1.35$^{+0.22}_{-0.08}$ Mpc; $M_V$=$-$6.9$\pm$0.3 mag or $L_V$=(5$^{+1}_{-1}$)$\times$10$^4$ $L_{\odot}$) is likely in the foreground of NGC 300 and at the extreme edge of the Local Group, analogous to the recently discovered ultra-faint Tucana B in terms of its physical properties and environment. Sculptor B (D=2.48$^{+0.21}_{-0.24}$ Mpc; $M_V$=$-$8.1$\pm$0.3 mag or $L_V$=(1.5$^{+0.5}_{-0.4}$)$\times$10$^5$ $L_{\odot}$) is likely in the background, but future distance measurements are necessary to solidify this statement. It is also of interest due to its quiescent state and low stellar mass. Both Sculptor A and B are $\gtrsim$2-4 $r_{vir}$ from NGC 300 itself. The discovery of three dwarf galaxies in isolated or low-density environments offers an opportunity to study the varying effects of ram pressure stripping, reionization and internal feedback in influencing the star formation history of the faintest stellar systems., Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures. ApJ Letters submitted

We empirically assess estimates from v3.0 of the JWST NIRCam Exposure Time Calculator (ETC) using observations of resolved stars in Local Group targets taken as part of the Resolved Stellar Populations Early Release Science (ERS) Program. For bright stars, we find that: (i) purely Poissonian estimates of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are in good agreement between the ETC and observations, but non-ideal effects (e.g., flat field uncertainties) are the current limiting factor in the photometric precision that can be achieved; (ii) source position offsets, relative to the detector pixels, have a large impact on the ETC saturation predictions and introducing sub-pixel dithers in the observation design can improve the saturation limits by up to ~1 mag. For faint stars, for which the sky dominates the error budget, we find that the choice in ETC extraction strategy (e.g., aperture size relative to point spread function size) can affect the exposure time estimates by up to a factor of 5. We provide guidelines for configuring the ETC aperture photometry to produce SNR predictions in line with the ERS data. Finally, we quantify the effects of crowding on the SNRs over a large dynamic range in stellar density and provide guidelines for approximating the effects of crowding on SNRs predicted by the ETC., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 18 pages, 9 Figures, 2 Tables

We present observations of the Eridanus supergroup obtained with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) as part of the pre-pilot survey for the Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind Survey (WALLABY). The total number of detected HI sources is 55, of which 12 are background galaxies not associated with the Eridanus supergroup. Two massive HI clouds are identified and large HI debris fields are seen in the NGC 1359 interacting galaxy pair, and the face-on spiral galaxy NGC 1385. We describe the data products from the source finding algorithm and present the basic parameters. The presence of distorted HI morphology in all detected galaxies suggests ongoing tidal interactions within the subgroups. The Eridanus group has a large fraction of HI deficient galaxies as compared to previously studied galaxy groups. These HI deficient galaxies are not found at the centre of the group. We find that galaxies in the Eridanus supergroup do not follow the general trend of the atomic gas fraction versus stellar mass scaling relation, which indicates that the scaling relation changes with environmental density. In general, the majority of these galaxies are actively forming stars., Comment: 20 pages, 14 Figures, 5 Tables. Accepted by MNRAS. Supplementary material is published online

We present the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) WALLABY pre-pilot observations of two `dark' HI sources (with HI masses of a few times 10^8 Msol and no known stellar counterpart) that reside within 363 kpc of NGC 1395, the most massive early-type galaxy in the Eridanus group of galaxies. We investigate whether these `dark' HI sources have resulted from past tidal interactions or whether they are an extreme class of low surface brightness galaxies. Our results suggest that both scenarios are possible, and not mutually exclusive. The two `dark' HI sources are compact, reside in relative isolation and are more than 159 kpc away from their nearest HI-rich galaxy neighbour. Regardless of origin, the HI sizes and masses of both `dark' HI sources are consistent with the HI size-mass relationship that is found in nearby low-mass galaxies, supporting the possibility that these HI sources are an extreme class of low surface brightness galaxies. We identified three analogues of candidate primordial `dark' HI galaxies within the TNG100 cosmological, hydrodynamic simulation. All three model analogues are dark matter-dominated, have assembled most of their mass 12-13 Gyr ago, and have not experienced much evolution until cluster infall 1-2 Gyr ago. Our WALLABY pre-pilot science results suggest that the upcoming large area HI surveys will have a significant impact on our understanding of low surface brightness galaxies and the physical processes that shape them., Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We report results of a novel high-energy follow-up observation of a potential Fast Radio Burst. The radio burst was detected by VLA/realfast and followed-up by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in very low latency utilizing new operational capabilities of Swift (arXiv:2005.01751), with pointed soft X-ray and UV observations beginning at T0+32 minutes, and hard X-ray/gamma-ray event data saved around T0. These observations are $>10$x faster than previous X-ray/UV follow-up of any radio transient to date. No emission is seen coincident with the FRB candidate at T0, with a 0.2s fluence $5\sigma$ upper limit of $1.35\times10^{-8}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ (14-195 keV) for a SGR 1935+2154-like flare, nor at T0+32 minutes down to $3\sigma$ upper limits of 22.18 AB mag in UVOT u band, and $3.33\times10^{-13}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ from 0.3-10 keV for the 2 ks observation. The candidate FRB alone is not significant enough to be considered astrophysical, so this note serves as a technical demonstration. These new Swift operational capabilities will allow future FRB detections to be followed up with Swift at even lower latencies than demonstrated here: 15-20 minutes should be regularly achievable, and 5-10 minutes occasionally achievable. We encourage FRB detecting facilities to release alerts in low latency to enable this science., Comment: Technical note and capability update for the community. We encourage low latency FRB alerts from relevant facilities to enable this science

Increasing the statistics of evolved massive stars in the Local Group enables investigating their evolution at different metallicities. During the late stages of stellar evolution, the physics of some phenomena, such as episodic and systematic mass loss, are not well constrained. For example, the physical properties of red supergiants (RSGs) in different metallicity regimes remain poorly understood. Thus, we initiated a systematic study of RSGs in dwarf irregular galaxies (dIrrs) in the Local Group. The target selection is based on 3.6 $\mu$m and 4.5 $\mu$m photometry from archival Spitzer Space Telescope images of nearby galaxies. We selected 46 targets in the dIrrs IC 10, IC 1613, Sextans B, and the Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte (WLM) galaxy that we observed with the GTC-OSIRIS and VLT-FORS2 instruments. We used several photometric techniques together with a spectral energy distribution analysis to derive the luminosities and effective temperatures of known and newly discovered RSGs. We identified and spectroscopically confirmed 4 new RSGs, 5 previously known RSGs, and 5 massive asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. We added known objects from previous observations. In total, we present spectral classification and fundamental physical parameters of 25 late-type massive stars in the following dIrrs: Sextans A, Sextans B, IC 10, IC 1613, Pegasus, Phoenix, and WLM. This includes 17 RSGs and 8 AGB stars that have been identified here and previously. Based on our observational results and PARSEC evolutionary models, we draw the following conclusions: (i) a trend to higher minimum effective temperatures at lower metallicities and (ii) the maximum luminosity of RSGs appears to be constant at $log$($L/L$$_{\odot}$) $\approx$ $5.5$, independent of the metallicity of the host environment (up to $\mathrm{[Fe/H]}$ $\approx$ $-1$ dex)., Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures, in press (A&A)

We report a tentative detection of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of WLM, an isolated, low-mass (log$M_*/M_\odot\approx7.6$), dwarf irregular galaxy in the Local Group (LG). We analyze an HST/COS archival spectrum of a quasar sightline (PHL2525), which is 45 kpc (0.5 virial radius) from WLM and close to the Magellanic Stream (MS). Along this sightline, two ion absorbers are detected in Si II, Si III, Si IV, C II, and C IV at velocities of $\sim$-220 km s$^{-1}$ (Component v-220) and $\sim$-150 km s$^{-1}$ (Component v-150). To identify their origins, we study the position-velocity alignment of the components with WLM and the nearby MS. Near the Magellanic longitude of PHL2525, the MS-related neutral and ionized gas moves at $\lesssim-190$ km s$^{-1}$, suggesting an MS origin for Component v-220, but not for Component v-150. Because PHL2525 passes near WLM and Component v-150 is close to WLM's systemic velocity ($\sim$-132 km s$^{-1}$), it is likely that Component v-150 arises from the galaxy's CGM. This results in a total Si mass in WLM's CGM of $M_{\rm Si}^{\rm CGM}\sim(0.2-1.0)\times10^5~M_\odot$ using assumption from other COS dwarf studies. Comparing $M_{\rm Si}^{\rm CGM}$ to the total Si mass synthesized in WLM over its lifetime ($\sim$1.3$\times10^5~M_\odot$), we find $\sim$3% is locked in stars, $\sim$6% in the ISM, $\sim$15%-77% in the CGM, and the rest ($\sim$14%-76%) is likely lost beyond the virial radius. Our finding resonates with other COS dwarf galaxy studies and theoretical predictions that low-mass galaxies can easily lose metals into their CGM due to stellar feedback and shallow gravitational potential., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Studying the formation and evolution of galaxies at the earliest cosmic times, and their role in reionization, requires the deepest imaging possible. Ultra-deep surveys like the HUDF and HFF have pushed to mag \mAB$\,\sim\,$30, revealing galaxies at the faint end of the LF to $z$$\,\sim\,$9$\,-\,$11 and constraining their role in reionization. However, a key limitation of these fields is their size, only a few arcminutes (less than a Mpc at these redshifts), too small to probe large-scale environments or clustering properties of these galaxies, crucial for advancing our understanding of reionization. Achieving HUDF-quality depth over areas $\sim$100 times larger becomes possible with a mission like the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), a 2.4-m telescope with similar optical properties to HST, with a field of view of $\sim$1000 arcmin$^2$, $\sim$100$\times$ the area of the HST/ACS HUDF. This whitepaper motivates an Ultra-Deep Field survey with WFIRST, covering $\sim$100$\,-\,$300$\times$ the area of the HUDF, or up to $\sim$1 deg$^2$, to \mAB$\,\sim\,$30, potentially revealing thousands of galaxies and AGN at the faint end of the LF, at or beyond $z$\,$\sim$\,9$\,-\,$10 in the epoch of reionization, and tracing their LSS environments, dramatically increasing the discovery potential at these redshifts. (Note: This paper is a somewhat expanded version of one that was submitted as input to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey, with this version including an Appendix (which exceeded the Astro2020 page limits), describing how the science drivers for a WFIRST Ultra Deep Field might map into a notional observing program, including the filters used and exposure times needed to achieve these depths.)

The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) is expected to launch in the mid-2020s. With its wide-field near-infrared (NIR) camera, it will survey the sky to unprecedented detail. As part of normal operations and as the result of multiple expected dedicated surveys, WFIRST will produce several relatively wide-field (tens of square degrees) deep (limiting magnitude of 28 or fainter) fields. In particular, a planned supernova survey is expected to image 3 deep fields in the LSST footprint roughly every 5 days over 2 years. Stacking all data, this survey will produce, over all WFIRST supernova fields in the LSST footprint, ~12-25 deg^2 and ~5-15 deg^2 regions to depths of ~28 mag and ~29 mag, respectively. We suggest LSST undertake mini-surveys that will match the WFIRST cadence and simultaneously observe the supernova survey fields during the 2-year WFIRST supernova survey, achieving a stacked depth similar to that of the WFIRST data. We also suggest additional observations of these same regions throughout the LSST survey to get deep images earlier, have long-term monitoring in the fields, and produce deeper images overall. These fields will provide a legacy for cosmology, extragalactic, and transient/variable science., Comment: White Paper in response to LSST Call for Observing Strategy Input

The survey for DUST in Nearby Galaxies with Spitzer (DUSTiNGS) identified several candidate Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars in nearby dwarf galaxies and showed that dust can form even in very metal-poor systems (Z ~ 0.008 $Z_\odot$). Here, we present a follow-up survey with WFC3/IR on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), using filters that are capable of distinguishing carbon-rich (C-type) stars from oxygen-rich (M-type) stars: F127M, F139M, and F153M. We include six star-forming DUSTiNGS galaxies (NGC 147, IC 10, Pegasus dIrr, Sextans B, Sextans A, and Sag DIG), all more metal-poor than the Magellanic Clouds and spanning 1 dex in metallicity. We double the number of dusty AGB stars known in these galaxies and find that most are carbon rich. We also find 26 dusty M-type stars, mostly in IC 10. Given the large dust excess and tight spatial distribution of these M-type stars, they are most likely on the upper end of the AGB mass range (stars undergoing Hot Bottom Burning). Theoretical models do not predict significant dust production in metal-poor M-type stars, but we see evidence for dust excess around M-type stars even in the most metal-poor galaxies in our sample (12+log(O/H) = 7.26-7.50). The low metallicities and inferred high stellar masses (up to ~10 $M_\odot$) suggest that AGB stars can produce dust very early in the evolution of galaxies (~30 Myr after they form), and may contribute significantly to the dust reservoirs seen in high-redshift galaxies., Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Increasing the statistics of spectroscopically confirmed evolved massive stars in the Local Group enables the investigation of the mass loss phenomena that occur in these stars in the late stages of their evolution. We aim to complete the census of luminous mid-IR sources in star-forming dwarf irregular (dIrr) galaxies of the Local Group. To achieve this we employed mid-IR photometric selection criteria to identify evolved massive stars, such as red supergiants (RSGs) and luminous blue variables (LBVs), by using the fact that these types of stars have infrared excess due to dust. The method is based on 3.6 $\mu$m and 4.5 $\mu$m photometry from archival ${\it Spitzer}$ Space Telescope images of nearby galaxies. We applied our criteria to 4 dIrr galaxies: Pegasus, Phoenix, Sextans A, and WLM, selecting 79 point sources, which we observed with the VLT/FORS2 spectrograph in multi-object spectroscopy mode. We identified 13 RSGs, of which 6 are new discoveries, also 2 new emission line stars, and 1 candidate yellow supergiant. Among the other observed objects we identified carbon stars, foreground giants, and background objects, such as a quasar and an early-type galaxy that contaminate our survey. We use the results of our spectroscopic survey to revise the mid-IR and optical selection criteria for identifying RSGs from photometric measurements. The optical selection criteria are more efficient in separating extragalactic RSGs from foreground giants than mid-IR selection criteria, however the mid-IR selection criteria are useful for identifying dusty stars in the Local Group. This work serves as a basis for further investigation of the newly discovered dusty massive stars and their host galaxies., Comment: 19 pages, 7 tables, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

The DUSTiNGS survey (DUST in Nearby Galaxies with Spitzer) is a 3.6 and 4.5 micron imaging survey of 50 nearby dwarf galaxies designed to identify dust-producing Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars and massive stars. Using two epochs, spaced approximately six months apart, we identify a total of 526 dusty variable AGB stars (sometimes called "extreme" or x-AGB stars; [3.6]-[4.5]>0.1 mag). Of these, 111 are in galaxies with [Fe/H] < -1.5 and 12 are in galaxies with [Fe/H] < -2.0, making them the most metal-poor dust-producing AGB stars known. We compare these identifications to those in the literature and find that most are newly discovered large-amplitude variables, with the exception of approximately 30 stars in NGC 185 and NGC 147, one star in IC 1613, and one star in Phoenix. The chemical abundances of the x-AGB variables are unknown, but the low metallicities suggest that they are more likely to be carbon-rich than oxygen-rich and comparisons with existing optical and near-IR photometry confirms that 70 of the x-AGB variables are confirmed or likely carbon stars. We see an increase in the pulsation amplitude with increased dust production, supporting previous studies suggesting that dust production and pulsation are linked. We find no strong evidence linking dust production with metallicity, indicating that dust can form in very metal-poor environments., Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

We present a study of the variation of spatial structure of stellar populations within dwarf galaxies as a function of the population age. We use deep Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys imaging of nearby dwarf galaxies in order to resolve individual stars and create composite colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) for each galaxy. Using the obtained CMDs, we select Blue Helium Burning stars (BHeBs), which can be unambiguously age-dated by comparing the absolute magnitude of individual stars with stellar isochrones. Additionally, we select a very young (<10 Myr) population of OB stars for a subset of the galaxies based on the tip of the young main-sequence. By selecting stars in different age ranges we can then study how the spatial distribution of these stars evolves with time. We find, in agreement with previous studies, that stars are born within galaxies with a high degree of substructure which is made up of a continuous distribution of clusters, groups and associations from parsec to hundreds of parsec scales. These structures disperse on timescales of tens to hundreds of Myr, which we quantify using the two-point correlation function and the Q-parameter developed by Cartwright & Whitworth (2004). On galactic scales, we can place lower limits on the time it takes to remove the original structure (i.e., structure survives for at least this long), tevo, which varies between ~100~Myr (NGC~2366) and ~350 Myr (DDO~165). This is similar to what we have found previously for the SMC (~80~Myr) and the LMC (~175 Myr). We do not find any strong correlations between tevo and the luminosity of the host galaxy., Comment: 15 pages, 14, MNRAS in press

We analyze five epochs of Spitzer Space Telescope/Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) observations of the nearby spiral galaxy M33. Each epoch covered nearly a square degree at 3.6, 4.5, and 8.0 microns. The point source catalog from the full dataset contains 37,650 stars. The stars have luminosities characteristic of the asymptotic giant branch and can be separated into oxygen-rich and carbon-rich populations by their [3.6] - [4.5] colors. The [3.6] - [8.0] colors indicate that over 80% of the stars detected at 8.0 microns have dust shells. Photometric comparison of epochs using conservative criteria yields a catalog of 2,923 variable stars. These variables are most likely long-period variables amidst an evolved stellar population. At least one-third of the identified carbon stars are variable., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. See published article for full resolution figures and electronic tables

We investigate the energy sources of the infrared (IR) emission and their relation to the radio continuum emission at various spatial scales within the Scd galaxy M33. We use the wavelet transform to analyze IR data at the Spitzer wavelengths of 24, 70, and 160$\mu$m, as well as recent radio continuum data at 3.6cm and 20cm. An H$\alpha$ map serves as a tracer of the star forming regions and as an indicator of the thermal radio emission. We find that the dominant scale of the 70$\mu$m emission is larger than that of the 24$\mu$m emission, while the 160$\mu$m emission shows a smooth wavelet spectrum. The radio and H$\alpha$ maps are well correlated with all 3 MIPS maps, although their correlations with the 160$\mu$m map are weaker. After subtracting the bright HII regions, the 24 and 70$\mu$m maps show weaker correlations with the 20cm map than with the 3.6cm map at most scales. We also find a strong correlation between the 3.6cm and H$\alpha$ emission at all scales. Comparing the results with and without the bright HII regions, we conclude that the IR emission is influenced by young, massive stars increasingly with decreasing wavelength from 160 to 24$\mu$m. The radio-IR correlations indicate that the warm dust-thermal radio correlation is stronger than the cold dust-nonthermal radio correlation at scales smaller than 4kpc. A perfect 3.6cm-H$\alpha$ correlation implies that extinction has no significant effect on H$\alpha$ emitting structures., Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Journal