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Register a new userCa II triplet spectroscopy of RGB stars in NGC 6822: kinematics and metallicities
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We present a detailed analysis of the chemistry and kinematics of red giants in the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822. Spectroscopy at 8500 Angstroms was acquired for 72 red giant stars across two fields using FORS2 at the VLT. Line of sight extinction was individually estimated for each target star to accommodate the variable reddening across NGC 6822. The mean radial velocity was found to be v_helio = (52.8 +/- 2.2) km/s with dispersion rms = 24.1 km/s, in agreement with other studies. Ca II triplet equivalent widths were converted into [Fe/H] metallicities using a V magnitude proxy for surface gravity. The average metallicity was [Fe/H] = (-0.84 +/- 0.04) with dispersion rms = 0.31 dex and interquartile range 0.48. Our assignment of individual reddening values makes our analysis more sensitive to spatial variations in metallicity than previous studies. We divide our sample into metal-rich and metal-poor stars; the former are found to cluster towards small radii with the metal-poor stars more evenly distributed across the galaxy. The velocity dispersion of the metal-poor stars is higher than that of the metal-rich stars; combined with the age-metallicity relation this indicates that older populations have either been dynamically heated or were born in a less disclike distribution. The low ratio (v_rot/v_rms) suggests that within the inner 10, NGC 6822s stars are dynamically decoupled from the HI gas, possibly in a thick disc or spheroid.
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We present the first determination of the radial velocities and metallicities of 78 red giant stars in the isolated dwarf irregular galaxy WLM. Observations of the calcium II triplet in these stars were made with FORS2 at the VLT-UT2 in two separated fields of view in WLM, and the [Fe/H] values were conformed to the Carretta & Gratton (1997) metallicity scale. The mean metallicity is <[Fe/H]> = -1.27 +/- 0.04 dex, with a standard deviation of 0.37. We find that the stars in the inner field are more metal rich by [Fe/H] =0.30 +/- 0.06 dex. These results are in agreement with previous photometric studies that found a radial population gradient, as well as the expectation of higher metallicities in the central star forming regions. Age estimates using Victoria-Regina stellar models show that the youngest stars in the sample (< 6 Gyr) are more metal rich by [Fe/H] = 0.32 +/- 0.08 dex. These stars also show a lower velocity dispersion at all elliptical radii compared to the metal-poor stars. Kinematics for the whole red giant sample suggest a velocity gradient approximately half that of the gas rotation curve, with the stellar component occupying a thicker disk decoupled from the HI rotation plane. Taken together, the kinematics, metallicities, and ages in our sample suggest a young metal-rich, and kinematically cold stellar population in the central gas-rich regions of WLM, surrounded by a separate dynamically hot halo of older, metal poor stars.
Context: Open clusters are key to studying the formation and evolution of the Galactic disc. However, there is a deficiency of radial velocity and chemical abundance determinations for open clusters in the literature. Aims: We intend to increase the number of determinations of radial velocities and metallicities from spectroscopy for open clusters. Methods: We acquired medium-resolution spectra (R~8000) in the infrared region Ca II triplet lines (~8500 AA) for several stars in five open clusters with the long-slit IDS spectrograph on the 2.5~m Isaac Newton Telescope (Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, Spain). Radial velocities were obtained by cross-correlation fitting techniques. The relationships available in the literature between the strength of infrared Ca II lines and metallicity were also used to derive the metallicity for each cluster. Results: We obtain <V_r> = 48.6+/-3.4, -58.4+/-6.8, 26.0+/-4.3 and -65.3+/-3.2 km s-1 for Berkeley 23, NGC 559, NGC 6603 and NGC 7245, respectively. We found [Fe/H] =-0.25+/-0.14 and -0.15+/-0.18 for NGC 559 and NGC 7245, respectively. Berkeley 23 has a low metallicity, [Fe/H] =-0.42+/-0.13, similar to other open clusters in the outskirts of the Galactic disc. In contrast, we derived a high metallicity ([Fe/H] =+0.43+/-0.15) for NGC 6603, which places this system among the most metal rich known open clusters. To our knowledge, this is the first determination of radial velocities and metallicities from spectroscopy for these clusters, except NGC 6603, for which radial velocities had been previously determined. We have also analysed ten stars in the line of sight to King 1. Because of the large dispersion obtained in both radial velocity and metallicity, we cannot be sure that we have sampled true cluster members.
Context: The Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) phase is characterised by substantial mass loss that is accompanied by the formation of dust. In extreme cases this will make the star no longer visible in the optical. For a better understanding of AGB evolution it is important to identify and characterise these very red AGB stars. Aims: The first aim of this article is to improve the census of red AGB stars in three Local Group galaxies, based on near-IR spectroscopic observations of new candidates with red 2MASS (J-K) colours. The opportunity is taken to compare the near-IR spectra with those of Milky Way stars. Methods: We used ISAAC on the ESO VLT to take J and H-band spectra of 36 targets in Fornax, Sculptor and NGC 6822. Results: Twelve new C-stars are found in Fornax, and one is confirmed in Sculptor. All C-stars have (J-K) > 1.6, and are brighter than -3.55 in bolometric magnitude. Ten new oxygen-rich late-type giant stars are identified in Fornax, but none is extremely red or very luminous. Five luminous O-rich AGB stars are identified in NGC 6822, of which 3 show water absorption, indicative of spectral type M. Again, none is as red as Milky Way OH/IR stars, but in this galaxy the list of candidate AGB stars is biased against very red objects. In some C-stars with (J-K)>2 an extremely strong 1.53 $mu$m absorption band is found. These stars are probably all Mira variables and the feature is related to the low temperature, high density chemistry that is a first step towards dust formation and mass loss.
We present Magellan/M2FS, VLT/GIRAFFE, and Gemini South/GMOS spectroscopy of the newly discovered Milky Way satellite Reticulum II. Based on the spectra of 25 Ret II member stars selected from Dark Energy Survey imaging, we measure a mean heliocentric velocity of 62.8 +/- 0.5 km/s and a velocity dispersion of 3.3 +/- 0.7 km/s. The mass-to-light ratio of Ret II within its half-light radius is 470 +/- 210 Msun/Lsun, demonstrating that it is a strongly dark matter-dominated system. Despite its spatial proximity to the Magellanic Clouds, the radial velocity of Ret II differs from that of the LMC and SMC by 199 and 83 km/s, respectively, suggesting that it is not gravitationally bound to the Magellanic system. The likely member stars of Ret II span 1.3 dex in metallicity, with a dispersion of 0.28 +/- 0.09 dex, and we identify several extremely metal-poor stars with [Fe/H] < -3. In combination with its luminosity, size, and ellipticity, these results confirm that Ret II is an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy. With a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = -2.65 +/- 0.07, Ret II matches Segue~1 as the most metal-poor galaxy known. Although Ret II is the third-closest dwarf galaxy to the Milky Way, the line-of-sight integral of the dark matter density squared is log J = 18.8 +/- 0.6 Gev^2/cm^5 within 0.2 degrees, indicating that the predicted gamma-ray flux from dark matter annihilation in Ret II is lower than that of several other dwarf galaxies.
We present a study of the nearby post-merger giant elliptical galaxy, NGC 5128 (Centaurus A), in which we use the properties of its globular cluster (GC) and planetary nebula (PN) systems to constrain its evolution. Using photometric and spectroscopic data for 215 GCs presented in Paper I, we study trends in age, metallicity, and kinematics for the GC system. We confirm that the GC metallicity distribution is bimodal, and show that these two sub-populations have different properties. Using spectral line index measurements of the brightest clusters, the metal-poor GCs have old ages like the Milky Way globular clusters, while the metal-rich GCs have H-beta line-strengths that could be interpreted as a mean age of ~5 (+3/-2) Gyr. Both populations appear to have [Mg/Fe] ratios consistent with that of the Galactic GC system, although this quantity is not very well-constrained. The kinematics of the metal-rich GCs are similar to those of the planetary nebulae, exhibiting significant rotation about a misaligned axis, while the metal-poor GCs have a higher velocity dispersion and show a weaker kinematic correlation with the field stars. The total gravitating mass of NGC 5128 derived from the GCs is in excellent agreement with the value derived from stellar (PN) kinematics. We suggest that these and other data support a picture in which the main body of NGC 5128 was formed 3-8 Gyr ago by the dissipational merger of two unequal-mass disk galaxies supplemented by the continual accretion of both gas-rich and gas-poor satellites.
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