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Register a new userThe distinct stellar metallicity populations of simulated Local Group dwarfs
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A number of Local Group dwarf galaxies are known to have two spatially segregated stellar metallicity populations, a centrally concentrated metal-rich population and a more extended metal-poor population. In this work we discuss mechanisms that lead to the formation of two spatially segregated metallicity populations. Using a set of high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations of Local Group-like environments, we select a sample of satellite and field galaxies, spanning the stellar mass range $10^6-10^9$M$_{odot}$, that exhibit bimodality in their metallicity distributions. Among those, we identify a subsample with a strong spatial segregation in the two populations. We find three distinct mechanisms for their formation. In field dwarfs and in a small fraction of satellites, a merger causes the metal-poor stars to migrate to larger radii and encourages the available gas to sink to the centre of the dwarf. Most of the gas is subsequently blown out of the halo through star formation feedback, but the remaining gas is consumed in the formation of a metal-rich population. In the exclusive case of satellites that have retained some of their gas at infall, it is the compression of this gas by ram pressure near pericentre that triggers the formation of metal-rich stars, whilst simultaneously preventing star formation at larger radii through stripping. Additionally, in a small number of field and satellite dwarfs, interactions with gaseous filaments and other galaxies can result in the formation of a metal-rich population. Regardless of the formation mechanism, a history of mergers typically enhances the spatial segregation.
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We consider the origins of enigmatic stellar populations in four Local Group galactic nuclei, specifically the Milky Way, M31, M32 and M33. These are centrally concentrated blue stars, found in three out of the four nuclear star clusters (NSCs) considered here. Their origins are unknown, but could include blue straggler (BS) stars, extended horizontal branch stars and young recently formed stars. Here, we calculate order-of-magnitude estimates for various collision rates, as a function of the host NSC environment and distance from the cluster centre. These rates are sufficiently high that BSs, formed via collisions between main sequence (MS) stars, could contribute non-negligibly ($sim$ 1-10% in mass) to every surface brightness profile, with the exception of the Milky Way. Stellar evolution models show that the envelopes of red giant branch (RGB) stars must be nearly completely stripped to significantly affect their photometric appearance, which requires multiple collisions. Hence, the collision rates for individual RGB stars are only sufficiently high in the inner $lesssim$ 0.1 pc of M31 and M32 for RGB destruction to occur. Collisions between white dwarfs and MS stars, which should ablate the stars, could offer a steady and significant supply of gas in every NSC in our sample. The gas could either fragment to form new stars, or accrete onto old MS stars already present. Thus, collisional processes could contribute significantly to the observed blue excesses in M31 and M33; future studies should be aimed at better constraining theoretical predictions to compliment existing and future observational data.
The Solo (Solitary Local) Dwarf Galaxy survey is a volume limited, wide-field g- and i- band survey of all known nearby (<3 Mpc) and isolated (>300 kpc from the Milky Way or M31) dwarf galaxies. This set of 44 dwarfs are homogeneously analysed for quantitative comparisons to the satellite dwarf populations of the Milky Way and M31. In this paper, an analysis of the 12 closest Solo dwarf galaxies accessible from the northern hemisphere is presented, including derivation of their distances, spatial distributions, morphology, and extended structures, including their inner integrated light properties and their outer resolved star distributions. All 12 galaxies are found to be reasonably well described by two-dimensional Sersic functions, although UGC 4879 in particular shows tentative evidence of two distinct components. No prominent extended stellar substructures, that could be signs of either faint satellites or recent mergers, are identified in the outer regions of any of the systems examined.
We explore the chemical distribution of stars in a simulated galaxy. Using simulations of the same initial conditions but with two different feedback schemes (MUGS and MaGICC), we examine the features of the age-metallicity relation (AMR), and the three-dimensional age-metallicity-[O/Fe] distribution, both for the galaxy as a whole and decomposed into disc, bulge, halo, and satellites. The MUGS simulation, which uses traditional supernova feedback, is replete with chemical substructure. This sub- structure is absent from the MaGICC simulation, which includes early feedback from stellar winds, a modified IMF and more efficient feedback. The reduced amount of substructure is due to the almost complete lack of satellites in MaGICC. We identify a significant separation between the bulge and disc AMRs, where the bulge is considerably more metal-rich with a smaller spread in metallicity at any given time than the disc. Our results suggest, however, that identifying the substructure in observations will require exquisite age resolution, on the order of 0.25 Gyr. Certain satellites show exotic features in the AMR, even forming a sawtooth shape of increasing metallicity followed by sharp declines which correspond to pericentric passages. This fact, along with the large spread in stellar age at a given metallicity, compromises the use of metallicity as an age indicator, although alpha abundance provides a more robust clock at early times. This may also impact algorithms that are used to reconstruct star formation histories from resolved stellar populations, which frequently assume a monotonically-increasing AMR.
This project aims at exploiting the wide-field and limiting-magnitude capabilities of the LSST to fully characterise the resolved stellar populations in/around six Local Group stellar systems of different morphological type at ~30 to ~400 kpc distance from us. We selected targets that host red giant branch (RGB) stars which are within the reach of Gaia and not yet (all) saturated with the LSST. We will use RR Lyrae stars, Cepheids, SX Phoenicis, delta Scuti stars and Long Period Variables, along with the Color Magnitude Diagram of the resolved stellar populations in these 6 systems to: i) trace their different stellar generations over a spatial extension and with a depth that only the LSST can achieve; ii) measure their distances using variable stars of different type/parent stellar population and the Tip of the RGB; iii) map their 3D structures up to the periphery of their halos; iv) search for tidal streams; and v) study their Star Formation Histories over unprecedented large fractions of their bodies. Our ultimate goals are to provide a complete picture of these nearby stellar systems all the way through to their periphery, and to directly link and cross-calibrate the Gaia and LSST projects.
We present stellar metallicities in Leo I, Leo II, IC 1613, and Phoenix dwarf galaxies derived from medium (F390M) and broad (F555W, F814W) band photometry using the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) instrument aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. We measured metallicity distribution functions (MDFs) in two ways, 1) matching stars to isochrones in color-color diagrams, and 2) solving for the best linear combination of synthetic populations to match the observed color-color diagram. The synthetic technique reduces the effect of photometric scatter, and produces MDFs 30-50 % narrower than the MDFs produced from individually matched stars. We fit the synthetic and individual MDFs to analytical chemical evolution models (CEM) to quantify the enrichment and the effect of gas flows within the galaxies. Additionally, we measure stellar metallicity gradients in Leo I and II. For IC 1613 and Phoenix our data do not have the radial extent to confirm a metallicity gradient for either galaxy. We find the MDF of Leo I (dwarf spheroidal) to be very peaked with a steep metal rich cutoff and an extended metal poor tail, while Leo II (dwarf spheroidal), Phoenix (dwarf transition) and IC 1613 (dwarf irregular) have wider, less peaked MDFs than Leo I. A simple CEM is not the best fit for any of our galaxies, therefore we also fit the `Best Accretion Model of Lynden-Bell 1975. For Leo II, IC 1613 and Phoenix we find similar accretion parameters for the CEM, even though they all have different effective yields, masses, star formation histories and morphologies. We suggest that the dynamical history of a galaxy is reflected in the MDF, where broad MDFs are seen in galaxies that have chemically evolved in relative isolation and narrowly peaked MDFs are seen in galaxies that have experienced more complicated dynamical interactions concurrent with their chemical evolution.
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