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  • On the Nature of Ultra-fain...
    Conn, Blair C.; Jerjen, Helmut; Kim, Dongwon; Schirmer, Mischa

    The Astrophysical journal, 01/2018, Volume: 852, Issue: 2
    Journal Article

    We use deep Gemini/GMOS-S g, r photometry to study the three ultra-faint dwarf galaxy candidates DES1, Eridanus III (Eri III), and Tucana V (Tuc V). Their total luminosities, MV(DES1) = −1.42 0.50 and MV(Eri III) = −2.07 0.50, and mean metallicities, and , are consistent with them being ultra-faint dwarf galaxies, as they fall just outside the 1 confidence band of the luminosity-metallicity relation for Milky Way satellite galaxies. However, their positions in the size-luminosity relation suggest that they are star clusters. Interestingly, DES1 and Eri III are at relatively large Galactocentric distances, with DES1 located at and Eri III at . In projection, both objects are in the tail of gaseous filaments trailing the Magellanic Clouds and have similar 3D separations from the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC): kpc and kpc, respectively. It is plausible that these stellar systems are metal-poor SMC satellites. Tuc V represents an interesting phenomenon in its own right. Our deep photometry at the nominal position of Tuc V reveals a low-level excess of stars at various locations across the GMOS field without a well-defined center. An SMC Northern Overdensity-like isochrone would be an adequate match to the Tuc V color-magnitude diagram, and the proximity to the SMC (12 1; kpc) suggests that Tuc V is either a chance grouping of stars related to the SMC halo or a star cluster in an advanced stage of dissolution.