Abstract
We report the discovery of a new ultra-faint stellar system found near the Magellanic Clouds in the DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey. This new system, DELVE J0155−6815 (DELVE 2), is ...located at a heliocentric distance of
D
⊙
= 71 ± 4 kpc, which places it at a 3D physical separation of 12 ± 3 kpc from the center of the Small Magellanic Cloud and
from the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). DELVE 2 is identified as a resolved overdensity of old (
τ
> 13.3 Gyr) and metal-poor (
dex) stars with a projected half-light radius of
and an absolute magnitude of
. The size and luminosity of DELVE 2 are consistent with both the population of recently discovered ultra-faint globular clusters and the smallest ultra-faint dwarf galaxies. However, its photometrically derived age and metallicity would place it among the oldest and most metal-poor globular clusters in the Magellanic system. In the absence of spectroscopic measurements of the system’s metallicity dispersion and internal kinematics, we are unable to conclusively classify this system at this time. DELVE 2 is detected in
Gaia
DR2 with a clear proper-motion signal, with multiple blue horizontal-branch stars near the centroid of the system with proper motions consistent with the systemic mean. We measure the system proper motion to be
=
mas yr
−1
. We compare the spatial position and proper motion of DELVE 2 with simulations of the accreted satellite population of the LMC and find that it is very likely to be associated with the LMC.
Abstract
We report the discovery of Pegasus IV, an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy found in archival data from the Dark Energy Camera processed by the DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey. Pegasus IV is a ...compact, ultra-faint stellar system (
r
1
/
2
=
41
−
6
+
8
pc;
M
V
= −4.25 ± 0.2 mag) located at a heliocentric distance of
90
−
6
+
4
kpc
. Based on spectra of seven nonvariable member stars observed with Magellan/IMACS, we confidently resolve Pegasus IV’s velocity dispersion, measuring
σ
v
=
3.3
−
1.1
+
1.7
km s
−1
(after excluding three velocity outliers); this implies a mass-to-light ratio of
M
1
/
2
/
L
V
,
1
/
2
=
167
−
99
+
224
M
⊙
/
L
⊙
for the system. From the five stars with the highest signal-to-noise spectra, we also measure a systemic metallicity of Fe/H =
−
2.63
−
0.30
+
0.26
dex, making Pegasus IV one of the most metal-poor ultra-faint dwarfs. We tentatively resolve a nonzero metallicity dispersion for the system. These measurements provide strong evidence that Pegasus IV is a dark-matter-dominated dwarf galaxy, rather than a star cluster. We measure Pegasus IV’s proper motion using data from Gaia Early Data Release 3, finding (
μ
α
*
,
μ
δ
) = (0.33 ± 0.07, −0.21 ± 0.08) mas yr
−1
. When combined with our measured systemic velocity, this proper motion suggests that Pegasus IV is on an elliptical, retrograde orbit, and is currently near its orbital apocenter. Lastly, we identify three potential RR Lyrae variable stars within Pegasus IV, including one candidate member located more than 10 half-light radii away from the system’s centroid. The discovery of yet another ultra-faint dwarf galaxy strongly suggests that the census of Milky Way satellites is still incomplete, even within 100 kpc.
Abstract
We report the discovery of six ultra-faint Milky Way satellites identified through matched-filter searches conducted using Dark Energy Camera (DECam) data processed as part of the second ...data release of the DECam Local Volume Exploration (DELVE) survey. Leveraging deep Gemini/GMOS-N imaging (for four candidates) as well as follow-up DECam imaging (for two candidates), we characterize the morphologies and stellar populations of these systems. We find that these candidates all share faint absolute magnitudes (
M
V
≥ −3.2 mag) and old, metal-poor stellar populations (
τ
> 10 Gyr, Fe/H < −1.4 dex). Three of these systems are more extended (
r
1/2
> 15 pc), while the other three are compact (
r
1/2
< 10 pc). From these properties, we infer that the former three systems (Boötes V, Leo Minor I, and Virgo II) are consistent with ultra-faint dwarf galaxy classifications, whereas the latter three (DELVE 3, DELVE 4, and DELVE 5) are likely ultra-faint star clusters. Using data from the Gaia satellite, we confidently measure the proper motion of Boötes V, Leo Minor I, and DELVE 4, and tentatively detect a proper-motion signal from DELVE 3 and DELVE 5; no signal is detected for Virgo II. We use these measurements to explore possible associations between the newly discovered systems and the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal, the Magellanic Clouds, and the Vast Polar Structure, finding several plausible associations. Our results offer a preview of the numerous ultra-faint stellar systems that will soon be discovered by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and highlight the challenges of classifying the faintest stellar systems.
We study the dynamics of faint stellar substructures around the Umbrella Galaxy, NGC 4651, which hosts a dramatic system of streams and shells formed through the tidal disruption of a nucleated dwarf ...elliptical galaxy. We elucidate the basic characteristics of the system (colours, luminosities, stellar masses) using multiband Subaru/Suprime-Cam images. The implied stellar mass ratio of the ongoing merger event is ∼1:50. We identify candidate kinematic tracers (globular clusters, planetary nebulae, H ii regions) and follow up a subset with Keck/DEIMOS (DEep Imaging Multi-object Spectrograph) spectroscopy to obtain velocities. We find that 15 of the tracers are likely associated with halo substructures, including the probable stream progenitor nucleus. These objects delineate a kinematically cold feature in position–velocity phase space. We model the stream using single test particle orbits, plus a rescaled pre-existing N-body simulation. We infer a very eccentric orbit with a period of ∼0.35 Gyr and turning points at ∼2–4 and ∼40 kpc, implying a recent passage of the satellite through the disc, which may have provoked the visible disturbances in the host galaxy. This work confirms that the kinematics of low surface brightness substructures can be recovered and modelled using discrete tracers – a breakthrough that opens up a fresh avenue for unravelling the detailed physics of minor merging.
Abstract
We present the discovery of a candidate ultra-faint Milky-Way satellite, Eridanus IV (DELVE J0505−0931), detected in photometric data from the DECam Local Volume Exploration survey (DELVE). ...Eridanus IV is a faint (
M
V
= − 4.7 ± 0.2), extended (
r
1
/
2
=
75
−
13
+
16
pc
), and elliptical (
ϵ
= 0.54 ± 0.1) system at a heliocentric distance of
76.7
−
6.1
+
4.0
kpc
, with a stellar population that is well described by an old, metal-poor isochrone (age of
τ
∼ 13.0 Gyr and metallicity of Fe/H ≲ − 2.1 dex). These properties are consistent with the known population of ultra-faint Milky-Way satellite galaxies. Eridanus IV is also prominently detected using proper-motion measurements from Gaia Early Data Release 3, with a systemic proper motion of
(
μ
α
cos
δ
,
μ
δ
)
=
(
+
0.25
±
0.06
,
−
0.10
±
0.05
)
mas yr
−1
measured from its horizontal branch and red-giant-branch member stars. We find that the spatial distribution of likely member stars hints at the possibility that the system is undergoing tidal disruption.
We report the detection of a pair of degree-long tidal tails associated with the globular cluster Palomar 14, using images obtained at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. We reveal a power-law ...departure from a King profile at large distances to the cluster center. The density map constructed with the optimal matched filter technique shows a nearly symmetrical and elongated distribution of stars on both sides of the cluster, forming an S-shape characteristic of mass loss. This evidence may be the telltale signature of tidal stripping in action. This, together with its large Galactocentric distance, imposes strong constraints on its orbit and/or origin: (1) it must follow an external orbit confined to the peripheral region of the Galactic halo and/or (2) it formed in a satellite galaxy later accreted by the Milky Way.
Abstract
We report the detection of three RR Lyrae (RRL) stars (two RRc and one RRab) in the ultra-faint dwarf (UFD) galaxy Centaurus I (Cen I) and two Milky Way (MW)
δ
Scuti/SX Phoenicis stars based ...on multi-epoch
giz
DECam observations. The two RRc stars are located within two times the half-light radius (
r
h
) of Cen I, while the RRab star (CenI-V3) is at ∼6
r
h
. The presence of three distant RRL stars clustered this tightly in space represents a 4.7
σ
excess relative to the smooth distribution of RRL in the Galactic halo. Using the newly detected RRL stars, we obtain a distance modulus to Cen I of
μ
0
= 20.354 ± 0.002 mag (
σ
= 0.03 mag), a heliocentric distance of
D
⊙
= 117.7 ± 0.1 kpc (
σ
= 1.6 kpc), with systematic errors of 0.07 mag and 4 kpc. The location of the Cen I RRL stars in the Bailey diagram is in agreement with other UFD galaxies (mainly Oosterhoff II). Finally, we study the relative rate of RRc+RRd (RRcd) stars (
f
cd
) in UFD and classical dwarf galaxies. The full sample of MW dwarf galaxies gives a mean of
f
cd
= 0.28. While several UFD galaxies, such as Cen I, present higher RRcd ratios, if we combine the RRL populations of all UFD galaxies, the RRcd ratio is similar to the one obtained for the classical dwarfs (
f
cd
∼ 0.3). Therefore, there is no evidence for a different fraction of RRcd stars in UFD and classical dwarf galaxies.
In this article, we present a new clustering algorithm for Person Name Disambiguation in web search results. The algorithm groups web results according to the individuals they refer to. The best ...state‐of‐the‐art approaches require training data in order to learn thresholds for deciding when to group the webpages. However, the ambiguity level of person names on the web could not be previously estimated and the results of those methods strongly depend on the thresholds obtained with the training collections. We present the concept of adaptive threshold, which avoids the need of a previous supervised learning process, depending only on the content of the compared documents to decide if they refer to the same person. We evaluated our approach using three datasets reaching close results to those obtained by the most successful algorithms in the state‐of‐the‐art that require such a learning process, and outperforming the results of those obtained by algorithms that do not require it.
One of the most fascinating unresolved problems of modern astrophysics is how the galaxies we observe today were formed. The Lambda-Cold Dark Matter paradigm predicts that large spiral galaxies such ...as the Milky Way formed through accretion and tidal disruption of satellite galaxies. The galaxies of the Local Group provide the best laboratory in which to investigate these galaxy formation processes because they can be studied with sufficiently high resolution to exhume fossils of galactic evolution embedded in the spatial distribution, kinematics, and chemical abundances of their oldest stars. Based on the twentieth Winter School of the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics, this volume provides a firm grounding for graduate students and early career researchers working on Local Group cosmology. It presents modules from eight eminent and experienced scientists at the forefront of Local Group research, and includes overviews of observational techniques, diagnostic tools, and various theoretical models.
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