We have developed a method to identify planetary nebula (PN) candidates in imaging data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). This method exploits the SDSS five-band sampling of emission lines in PN spectra, which results in a color signature disti
nct from that of other sources. Selection criteria based on this signature can be applied to nearby galaxies in which PNe appear as point sources. We applied these criteria to the whole area of M31 as scanned by the SDSS, selecting 167 PN candidates that are located in the outer regions of M31. The spectra of 80 selected candidates were then observed with the 2.2m telescope at Calar Alto Observatory. These observations and cross-checks with literature data show that our method has a selection rate efficiency of about 90%, but the efficiency is different for the different groups of PNe candidates. In the outer regions of M31, PNe trace different well-known morphological features like the Northern Spur, the NGC205 Loop, the G1 Clump, etc. In general, the distribution of PNe in the outer region 8<R<20 kpc along the minor axis shows the extended disk - a rotationally supported low surface brightness structure with an exponential scale length of 3.21+/-0.14 kpc and a total mass of ~10^10 M_{sun}, which is equivalent to the mass of M33. We report the discovery of three PN candidates with projected locations in the center of Andromeda NE, a very low surface brightness giant stellar structure in the outer halo of M31. Two of the PNe were spectroscopically confirmed as genuine PNe. These two PNe are located at projected distances along the major axis of ~48 Kpc and ~41 Kpc from the center of M31 and are the most distant PNe in M31 found up to now.
WISE J104915.57$-$531906.1 is a L/T brown dwarf binary located 2pc from the Sun. The pair contains the closest known brown dwarfs and is the third closest known system, stellar or sub-stellar. We report comprehensive follow-up observations of this ne
wly uncovered system. We have determined the spectral types of both components (L8+/-1, for the primary, agreeing with the discovery paper; T1.5+/-2 for the secondary, which was lacking spectroscopic type determination in the discovery paper) and, for the first time, their radial velocities (V_rad~23.1, 19.5 km/s) using optical spectra obtained at the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and other facilities located at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). The relative radial velocity of the two components is smaller than the range of orbital velocities for theoretically predicted masses, implying that they form a gravitationally bound system. We report resolved near-infrared JHK_S photometry from the IRSF telescope at the SAAO which yields colors consistent with the spectroscopically derived spectral types. The available kinematic and photometric information excludes the possibility that the object belongs to any of the known nearby young moving groups or associations. Simultaneous optical polarimetry observations taken at the SAAO 1.9-m give a non-detection with an upper limit of 0.07%. For the given spectral types and absolute magnitudes, 1Gyr theoretical models predict masses of 0.04--0.05 M_odot for the primary, and 0.03--0.05 M_odot for the secondary.
The nearby Lynx-Cancer void is a good laboratory to study the effect of very rarefied environment on the evolution of the least massive dwarf galaxies. A recently compiled sample of this voids galaxies includes about one hundred objects with M_B in t
he range -12 to -18 mag. Good quality images are available in the SDSS database for ~80% of the sample. Their u,g,r,i,z photometry allows one to derive galaxy stellar mass (and, incorporating HI data, gas mass-fraction) and ages of visible stellar populations, and hence, the epoch of their formation (first SF episode). We present the first photometric results of the ongoing study of the Lynx-Cancer void.
Does the void environment have a sizable effect on the evolution of dwarf galaxies? If yes, the best probes should be the most fragile least massive dwarfs. We compiled a sample of about one hundred dwarfs with M_B in the range -12 to -18 mag, fallin
g within the nearby Lynx-Cancer void. The goal is to study their evolutionary parameters -- gas metallicity and gas mass-fraction, and to address the epoch of the first substantial episode of Star Formation. Here we present and discuss the results of O/H measurements in 38 void galaxies, among which several the most metal-poor galaxies are found with the oxygen abundances of 12+log(O/H)=7.12-7.3 dex.
We investigate the spatial extent and structure of the Pegasus dwarf irregular galaxy using deep, wide-field, multicolour CCD photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and new deep HI observations. We study an area of ~0.6 square degrees ce
ntred on the Pegasus dwarf that was imaged by SDSS. Using effective filtering in colour-magnitude space we reduce the contamination by foreground Galactic field stars and increase significantly the contrast in the outer regions of the Pegasus dwarf. Our extended surface photometry, reaches down to a surface brightness magnitude mu_r~32 mag/sq.arcsec. It reveals a stellar body with a diameter of ~8 kpc that follows a Sersic surface brightness distribution law, which is composed of a significantly older stellar population than that observed in the ~2 kpc main body. The galaxy is at least five times more extended than listed in NED. The faint extensions of the galaxy are not equally distributed around its circumference; the north-west end is more jagged than the south-east end. We also identified a number of stellar concentrations, possibly stellar associations, arranged in a ring around the main luminous body. New HI observations were collected at the Arecibo Observatory as part of the ALFALFA survey. They reveal an HI distribution somewhat elongated in RA and about 0.3 deg. wide, with the region of highest column density coincident with the luminous galaxy. The HI rotation curve shows a solid-body rotation behaviour, with opposite ends differing by 15 km/s. There is a stream to lower velocities about 5 arcmin from the centre of the galaxy. We were able to measure ugriz colours in a number of apertures using the SDSS data and compared these with predictions of evolutionary synthesis models. (abridged)
We report the discovery of the first symbiotic star (V=21.6, K_S=15.8 mag) in the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy NGC6822. This star was identified during a spectral survey of Ha emission-line objects using the Southern African Large Telescope (SA
LT) during its performance-verification phase. The observed strong emission lines of HI and HeII suggest a high electron density and T* < 130 000 K for the hot companion. The infrared colours allow us to classify this object as an S-type symbiotic star, comprising a red giant losing mass to a compact companion. The red giant is an AGB carbon star, and a semi-regular variable, pulsating in the first overtone with a period of 142 days. Its bolometric magnitude is M_bol=-4.4 mag. We review what is known about the luminosities of extragalactic symbiotic stars, showing that most, possibly all, contain AGB stars. We suggest that a much larger fraction of Galactic symbiotic stars may contain AGB stars than was previously realised.
In this work we present the first spectroscopic results obtained with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) telescope during its perfomance-verification phase. We find that the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy (Sgr) Sgr contains a youngest s
tellar population with [O/H] -0.2 and age t>1 Gyr, and an oldest population with [O/H]=-2.0. The values are based on spectra of two planetary nebulae (PNe), using empirical abundance determinations. We calculated abundances for O, N, Ne, Ar, S, Cl, Fe, C and He. We confirm the high abundances of PN StWr2-21 with 12+log(O/H) = 8.57+/-0.02 dex. The other PN studied, BoBn1, is an extraordinary object in that the neon abundance exceeds that of oxygen. The abundances of S, Ar and Cl in BoBn1 yield the original stellar metallicity, corresponding to 12+log(O/H) = 6.72+/-0.16 dex which is 1/110 of the solar value. The actual [O/H] is much higher: third dredge-up enriched the material by a factor of ~12 in oxygen, ~240 in nitrogen and ~70 in neon. Neon as well as nitrogen and oxygen content may have been produced in the intershell of low-mass AGB stars. Well defined broad WR lines are present in the spectrum of StWr2-21 and absent in the spectrum of BoBn1. This puts the fraction of [WR]-type central PNe stars to 67% for dSph galaxies.
We present the results of the first spectroscopic observations of two planetary nebula (PN) candidates in the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy IC10. Using several spectral classification diagrams we show that the brightest PN candidate (PN7) is not
a PN, but rather a compact HII region consisting of two components with low electron number densities. After the rejection of this PN candidate, the IC10 planetary nebula luminosity function cutoff becomes very close to the standard value. With the compiled spectroscopic data for a large number of extragalactic PNe, we analyse a series of diagnostic diagrams to generate quantitative criteria for separating PNe from unresolved HII regions. We show that, with the help of the diagnostic diagrams and the derived set of criteria, PNe can be distinguished from HII regions with an efficiency of ~99.6%. With the obtained spectroscopic data we confirm that another, 1.7 mag fainter PN candidate (PN9) is a genuine PN. We argue that, based on all currently available PNe data, IC10 is located at a distance 725+63-33 kpc (distance modulus (m-M) = 24.30+0.18-0.10).
We report long-slit spectroscopic observations of the dust-lane polar-ring galaxy AM1934-563 obtained with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) during its performance-verification phase. The observations target the spectral region of the Ha, [
NII] and [SII] emission-lines, but show also deep NaI stellar absorption lines that we interpret as produced by stars in the galaxy. We derive rotation curves along the major axis of the galaxy that extend out to about 8 kpc from the center for both the gaseous and the stellar components, using the emission and absorption lines. We derive similar rotation curves along the major axis of the polar ring and point out differences between these and the ones of the main galaxy. We identify a small diffuse object visible only in Ha emission and with a low velocity dispersion as a dwarf HII galaxy and argue that it is probably metal-poor. Its velocity indicates that it is a fourth member of the galaxy group in which AM1934-563 belongs. We discuss the observations in the context of the proposal that the object is the result of a major merger and point out some observational discrepancies from this explanation. We argue that an alternative scenario that could better fit the observations may be the slow accretion of cold intergalactic gas, focused by a dense filament of galaxies in which this object is embedded (abridged).
