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arXiv 0909.1430astro-ph.GAastro-ph.CO
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解析M81的恒星外围:微弱的扩展结构成分的证据

Resolving the Stellar Outskirts of M81: Evidence for a Faint, Extended Structural Component

M. K. Barker, A. M. N. Ferguson, M. Irwin, N. Arimoto, P. Jablonka

摘要:

我们提出了一个广泛的领域人口普查的解决恒星星族在北半部的M81,进行与Suprime-Cam的8米斯巴鲁望远镜和覆盖面积约0.3平方度。由此得到的色星等图比红巨星分支(RGB)尖端低一个星等,可以详细比较年轻和年老恒星的空间分布。年龄小于1亿年的恒星的表面密度与中性氢的表面密度相关,其方式类似于圆盘平均的肯尼卡特-施密特关系。我们将这种相关性追溯到约2 x 10^20 cm^{-2}的气体密度,低于通常用H-α通量探测的密度。漫射光和分辨的RGB恒星计数都显示出令人信服的证据,证明在明亮的光盘之外有一个微弱的、扩展的结构组件,表面亮度分布更平坦。恒星数使我们能够探测到比单独使用漫射光更微弱的分量。根据其RGB恒星的颜色,我们估计该组成部分在32 - 44 kpc的去投影半径处有一个峰值全球金属丰度[M/H] ~ -1.1 +/-0.3,假设年龄为10 Gyr,距离为3.6 Mpc。它的RGB星的空间分布遵循幂律表面密度分布,I(r)~ r^{-gamma},gamma ~ 2。[摘要]

英文摘要:

We present a wide field census of resolved stellar populations in the northern half of M81, conducted with Suprime-Cam on the 8-m Subaru telescope and covering an area ~ 0.3 square degrees. The resulting color-magnitude diagram reaches over one magnitude below the red giant branch (RGB) tip, allowing a detailed comparison between the young and old stellar spatial distributions. The surface density of stars with ages <~ 100 Myr is correlated with that of neutral hydrogen in a manner similar to the disk-averaged Kennicutt-Schmidt relation. We trace this correlation down to gas densities of ~ 2 x 10^20 cm^{-2}, lower than typically probed with H-alpha flux. Both diffuse light and resolved RGB star counts show compelling evidence for a faint, extended structural component beyond the bright optical disk, with a much flatter surface brightness profile. The star counts allow us to probe this component to significantly fainter levels than is possible with the diffuse light alone. From the colors of its RGB stars, we estimate this component has a peak global metallicity [M/H] ~ -1.1 +/- 0.3 at deprojected radii 32 - 44 kpc assuming an age of 10 Gyr and distance of 3.6 Mpc. The spatial distribution of its RGB stars follows a power-law surface density profile, I(r) ~ r^{-gamma}, with gamma ~ 2. [Abridged]

机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来,可能存在错误,请以论文正文为准。

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