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arXiv 1002.0341astro-ph.CO
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近距离观察半人马座A星系群:I。早型矮星的金属丰度分布函数和居群梯度

A close look at the Centaurus A group of galaxies: I. Metallicity distribution functions and population gradients in early-type dwarfs

D. Crnojević, E. K. Grebel, A. Koch

摘要:

我们研究半人马座A群中的矮星系,以调查它们的金属丰度和可能的环境影响。半人马座A星系群(距离银河系约4 Mpc)包含大约50个已知的不同形态和恒星成分的矮伴星,因此使其成为研究这些星系如何演化的非常有趣的目标。在这里,我们提出的早期型矮星系人口在这个群体的结果。我们使用档案HST/ACS的数据来研究6个星系的恒星内容,以及从达特茅斯恒星演化模型的等时线。通过等时线插值,我们得到了红巨星上支恒星的光度金属丰度分布函数。这6个星系属于中等贫金属星系(<[Fe/H]>=-1.56 ~-1.08),金属丰度分布范围较大(σ_[Fe/H]=0.10 ~ 0.41 dex)。我们还调查了可能存在的中间年龄的恒星,并讨论这些如何影响我们的结果。矮星表现出平坦到弱的径向金属丰度梯度。对于两个最明亮,最富含金属的星系,我们发现至少有两个恒星亚群的统计学显著证据:在星系的中心发现了更多的金属丰富的恒星,而金属贫乏的恒星在星系内分布得更广。我们发现没有明确的趋势派生的物理性质作为(现今)星系的位置在组中的函数,这可能是由于我们调查的小样本。我们将我们的结果与当地组的早期型侏儒人口进行比较,并没有发现任何突出的差异,尽管半人马座A组是一个更密集的环境,可能处于更先进的动力学阶段。

英文摘要:

We study dwarf galaxies in the Centaurus A group to investigate their metallicity and possible environmental effects. The Centaurus A group (at ~4 Mpc from the Milky Way) contains about 50 known dwarf companions of different morphologies and stellar contents, thus making it a very interesting target to study how these galaxies evolve. Here we present results for the early-type dwarf galaxy population in this group. We use archival HST/ACS data to study the resolved stellar content of 6 galaxies, together with isochrones from the Dartmouth stellar evolutionary models. We derive photometric metallicity distribution functions of stars on the upper red giant branch via isochrone interpolation. The 6 galaxies are moderately metal-poor (<[Fe/H]>=-1.56 to -1.08), and metallicity spreads are observed (internal dispersions of sigma_[Fe/H]=0.10 to 0.41 dex). We also investigate the possible presence of intermediate-age stars, and discuss how these affect our results. The dwarfs exhibit flat to weak radial metallicity gradients. For the two most luminous, most metal-rich galaxies, we find statistically significant evidence for at least two stellar subpopulations: the more metal-rich stars are found in the center of the galaxies, while the metal-poor ones are more broadly distributed within the galaxies. We find no clear trend of the derived physical properties as a function of (present-day) galaxy position in the group, which may be due to the small sample we investigate. We compare our results to the early-type dwarf population of the Local Group, and find no outstanding differences, despite the fact that the Centaurus A group is a denser environment that is possibly in a more advanced dynamical stage.

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