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The Quenching of the Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxies in the Reionization Era
- Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- We present new constraints on the star formation histories of six ultra-faint dwarf galaxies: Bootes I, Canes Venatici II, Coma Berenices, Hercules, Leo IV, and Ursa Major I. Our analysis employs a combination of high-precision photometry obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope, medium-resolution spectroscopy obtained with the DEep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph on the W.M. Keck Observatory, and updated Victoria-Regina isochrones tailored to the abundance patterns appropriate for these galaxies. The data for five of these Milky Way satellites are best fit by a star formation history where at least 75% of the stars formed by z~10 (13.3 Gyr ago). All of the galaxies are consistent with 80% of the stars forming by z~6 (12.8 Gyr ago) and 100% of the stars forming by z~3 (11.6 Gyr ago). The similarly ancient populations of these galaxies support the hypothesis that star formation in the smallest dark matter sub-halos was suppressed by a global outside influence, such as the reionization of the universe.<br />Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. 13 pages, 5 color and 3 grayscale figures, 2 tables
Details
- Database :
- arXiv
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsarx.1410.0681
- Document Type :
- Working Paper
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/796/2/91