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تسجيل مستخدم جديدCa II Triplet Spectroscopy of Small Magellanic Cloud Red Giants. III. Abundances and Velocities for a Sample of 14 Clusters
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We obtained spectra of red giants in 15 Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) clusters in the region of the CaII lines with FORS2 on the Very Large Telescope (VLT). We determined the mean metallicity and radial velocity with mean errors of 0.05 dex and 2.6 km/s, respectively, from a mean of 6.5 members per cluster. One cluster (B113) was too young for a reliable metallicity determination and was excluded from the sample. We combined the sample studied here with 15 clusters previously studied by us using the same technique, and with 7 clusters whose metallicities determined by other authors are on a scale similar to ours. This compilation of 36 clusters is the largest SMC cluster sample currently available with accurate and homogeneously determined metallicities. We found a high probability that the metallicity distribution is bimodal, with potential peaks at -1.1 and -0.8 dex. Our data show no strong evidence of a metallicity gradient in the SMC clusters, somewhat at odds with recent evidence from CaT spectra of a large sample of field stars Dobbie et al. (2014). This may be revealing possible differences in the chemical history of clusters and field stars. Our clusters show a significant dispersion of metallicities, whatever age is considered, which could be reflecting the lack of a unique AMR in this galaxy. None of the chemical evolution models currently available in the literature satisfactorily represents the global chemical enrichment processes of SMC clusters.
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We have obtained near-infrared spectra covering the Ca II triplet lines for a number of stars associated with 16 SMC clusters using the VLT + FORS2. These data compose the largest available sample of SMC clusters with spectroscopically derived abunda
nces and velocities. Our clusters span a wide range of ages and provide good areal coverage of the galaxy. Cluster members are selected using a combination of their positions relative to the cluster center as well as their abundances and radial velocities. We determine mean cluster velocities to typically 2.7 km/s and metallicities to 0.05 dex (random errors), from an average of 6.4 members per cluster. (continued in paper)
We have obtained metallicities of ~ 360 red giant stars distributed in 15 Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) fields from near-infrared spectra covering the CaII triplet lines using the VLT + FORS2. The errors of the derived [Fe/H] values range from 0.09 to
0.35 dex per star, with a mean of 0.17 dex. The metallicity distribution of the whole sample shows a mean value of [Fe/H] = -1.00 +- 0.02, with a dispersion of 0.32 +- 0.01, in agreement with global mean [Fe/H] values found in previous studies. We find no evidence of a metallicity gradient in the SMC. In fact, on analysing the metallicity distribution of each field, we derived mean values of [Fe/H] = -0.99 +- 0.08 and [Fe/H] = -1.02 +- 0.07 for fields located closer and farther than 4 deg. from the center of the galaxy, respectively. In addition, there is a clear tendency for the field stars to be more metal-poor than the corresponding cluster they surround, independent of their positions in the galaxy and of the clusters age. We argue that this most likely stems from the field stars being somewhat older and therefore somewhat more metal-poor than most of our clusters.
We present results from the largest CaII triplet line metallicity study of Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) field red giant stars to date, involving 3037 objects spread across approximately 37.5 sq. deg., centred on this galaxy. We find a median metallic
ity of [Fe/H]=-0.99+/-0.01, with clear evidence for an abundance gradient of -0.075+/-0.011 dex / deg. over the inner 5 deg. We interpret the abundance gradient to be the result of an increasing fraction of young stars with decreasing galacto-centric radius, coupled with a uniform global age-metallicity relation. We also demonstrate that the age-metallicity relation for an intermediate age population located 10kpc in front of the NE of the Cloud is indistinguishable from that of the main body of the galaxy, supporting a prior conjecture that this is a stellar analogue of the Magellanic Bridge. The metal poor and metal rich quartiles of our RGB star sample (with complementary optical photometry from the Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey) are predominantly older and younger than approximately 6Gyr, respectively. Consequently, we draw a link between a kinematical signature, tentatively associated by us with a disk-like structure, and the upsurges in stellar genesis imprinted on the star formation history of the central regions of the SMC. We conclude that the increase in the star formation rate around 5-6Gyr ago was most likely triggered by an interaction between the SMC and LMC.
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
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