Abstract
We present analysis of the proper-motion (PM) field of the red clump stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) disk using the Gaia Early Data Release 3 catalog. Using a kinematic model based ...on old stars with 3D velocity measurements, we construct the residual PM field by subtracting the center-of-mass motion and internal rotation motion components. The residual PM field reveals asymmetric patterns, including larger residual PMs in the southern disk. Comparisons of the observed residual PM field with those of five numerical simulations of an LMC analog that is subject to the tidal fields of the Milky Way and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) show that the present-day LMC is not in dynamical equilibrium. We find that both the observed level of disk heating (PM residual rms of 0.057 ± 0.002 mas yr
−1
) and kinematic asymmetry are not reproduced by Milky Way tides or if the SMC impact parameter is larger than the size of the LMC disk. This measured level of disk heating provides a novel and important method to validate numerical simulations of the LMC–SMC interaction history. Our results alone put constraints on an impact parameter ≲10 kpc and impact timing <250 Myr. When adopting the impact timing constraint of ∼140–160 Myr ago from previous studies, our results suggest that the most recent SMC encounter must have occurred with an impact parameter of ∼5 kpc. We also find consistent radial trends in the kinematically and geometrically derived disk inclination and line-of-node position angles, indicating a common origin.
We present an analysis of the stellar kinematics of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) based on ~5900 new and existing velocities of massive red supergiants, oxygen-rich and carbon-rich asymptotic ...giant branch (AGB) stars, and other giants. After correcting the line-of-sight velocities for the LMC's space motion and accounting for asymmetric drift in the AGB population, we derive a rotation curve that is consistent with all of the tracers used, as well as that of published H I data. The amplitude of the rotation curve is v 0 = 87 ? 5 km s--1 beyond a radius R 0 = 2.4 ? 0.1 kpc and has a position angle of the kinematic line of nodes of Delta *c = 142? ? 5?. By examining the outliers from our fits, we identify a population of 376 stars, or 5% of our sample, that have line-of-sight velocities that apparently oppose the sense of rotation of the LMC disk. We find that these kinematically distinct stars are either counter-rotating in a plane closely aligned with the LMC disk, or rotating in the same sense as the LMC disk, but in a plane that is inclined by 54? ? 2? to the LMC. Their kinematics clearly link them to two known H I arms, which have previously been interpreted as being pulled out from the LMC. We measure metallicities from the Ca triplet lines of ~1000 LMC field stars and 30 stars in the kinematically distinct population. For the LMC field, we find a median Fe/H = --0.56 ? 0.02 with dispersion of 0.5 dex, while for the kinematically distinct stars the median Fe/H is --1.25 ? 0.13 with a dispersion of 0.7 dex. The metallicity differences provide strong evidence that the kinematically distinct population originated in the Small Magellanic Cloud. This interpretation has the consequence that the H I arms kinematically associated with the stars are likely falling into the LMC, instead of being pulled out.
In an attempt to constrain evolutionary models of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase at the limit of low masses and low metallicities, we have examined the luminosity functions and number ratios ...between AGB and red giant branch (RGB) stars from a sample of resolved galaxies from the ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury. This database provides Hubble Space Telescope optical photometry together with maps of completeness, photometric errors, and star formation histories for dozens of galaxies within 4 Mpc. We select 12 galaxies characterized by predominantly metal-poor populations as indicated by a very steep and blue RGB, and which do not present any indication of recent star formation in their color-magnitude diagrams. Thousands of AGB stars brighter than the tip of the RGB (TRGB) are present in the sample (between 60 and 400 per galaxy), hence, the Poisson noise has little impact in our measurements of the AGB/RGB ratio. We model the photometric data with a few sets of thermally pulsing AGB (TP-AGB) evolutionary models with different prescriptions for the mass loss. This technique allows us to set stringent constraints on the TP-AGB models of low-mass, metal-poor stars (with M < 1.5 M , ). Indeed, those which satisfactorily reproduce the observed AGB/RGB ratios have TP-AGB lifetimes between 1.2 and 1.8 Myr, and finish their nuclear burning lives with masses between 0.51 and 0.55 M . This is also in good agreement with recent observations of white dwarf masses in the M4 old globular cluster. These constraints can be added to those already derived from Magellanic Cloud star clusters as important mileposts in the arduous process of calibrating AGB evolutionary models.
The yellow supergiant content of nearby galaxies provides a critical test of massive star evolutionary theory. While these stars are the brightest in a galaxy, they are difficult to identify because ...a large number of foreground Milky Way stars have similar colors and magnitudes. We previously conducted a census of yellow supergiants within M31 and found that the evolutionary tracks predict a yellow supergiant duration an order of magnitude longer than we observed. Here we turn our attention to the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), where the metallicity is 10x lower than that of M31, which is important as metallicity strongly affects massive star evolution. The SMC's large radial velocity ({approx}160 km s{sup -1}) allows us to separate members from foreground stars. Observations of {approx}500 candidates yielded 176 near-certain SMC supergiants, 16 possible SMC supergiants, along with 306 foreground stars, and provide good relative numbers of yellow supergiants down to 12 M {sub sun}. Of the 176 near-certain SMC supergiants, the kinematics predicted by the Besancon model of the Milky Way suggest a foreground contamination of {<=}4%. After placing the SMC supergiants on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD) and comparing our results to the Geneva evolutionary tracks, we find results similar to those of the M31 study: while the locations of the stars on the HRD match the locations of evolutionary tracks well, the models overpredict the yellow supergiant lifetime by a factor of 10. Uncertainties about the mass-loss rates on the main sequence thus cannot be the primary problem with the models.
We map the dust distribution in the central 180 arcsec (∼680 pc) region of the M31 bulge, based on HST WFC3 and ACS observations in ten bands from near-ultraviolet (2700 Å) to near-infrared (1.5 μm). ...This large wavelength coverage gives us great leverage to detect not only dense dusty clumps, but also diffuse dusty molecular gas. We fit a pixel-by-pixel spectral energy distributions to construct a high-dynamic-range extinction map with unparalleled angular resolution (∼0.5 arcsec, i.e. ∼2 pc) and sensitivity (the extinction uncertainty, δAV
∼ 0.05). In particular, the data allow to directly fit the fractions of starlight obscured by individual dusty clumps, and hence their radial distances in the bulge. Most of these clumps seem to be located in a thin plane, which is tilted with respect to the M31 disc and appears face-on. We convert the extinction map into a dust mass surface density map and compare it with that derived from the dust emission as observed by Herschel. The dust masses in these two maps are consistent with each other, except in the low-extinction regions, where the mass inferred from the extinction tends to be underestimated. Further, we use simulations to show that our method can be used to measure the masses of dusty clumps in Virgo cluster early-type galaxies to an accuracy within a factor of ∼2.
ABSTRACT We have identified a new class of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds (SMC/LMC) using optical to infrared photometry, light curves, and optical ...spectroscopy. The strong dust production and long-period pulsations of these stars indicate that they are at the very end of their AGB evolution. Period-mass-radius relations for the fundamental-mode pulsators give median current stellar masses of in the LMC and in the SMC (with dispersions of 0.21 and 0.18 , respectively), and models suggest initial masses of <1.5 and <1.25 , respectively. This new class of stars includes both O-rich and C-rich chemistries, placing the limit where dredge-up allows carbon star production below these masses. A high fraction of the brightest among them should show S star characteristics indicative of atmospheric C/O 1, and many will form O-rich dust prior to their C-rich phase. These stars can be separated from their less-evolved counterparts by their characteristically red colors.
ABSTRACT
The Magellanic Cloud system represents a unique laboratory for study of both interacting dwarf galaxies and the ongoing process of the formation of the Milky Way and its halo. We focus on ...one aspect of this complex, three-body interaction – the dynamical perturbation of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) by the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and specifically potential tidal effects on the SMC’s eastern side. Using Gaia astrometry and the precise radial velocities (RVs) and multielement chemical abundances from Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2) Data Release 17, we explore the well-known distance bimodality on the eastern side of the SMC. Through estimated stellar distances, proper motions, and RVs, we characterize the kinematics of the two populations in the bimodality and compare their properties with those of SMC populations elsewhere. Moreover, while all regions explored by APOGEE seem to show a single chemical enrichment history, the metallicity distribution function (MDF), of the ‘far’ stars on the eastern periphery of the SMC is found to resemble that for the more metal-poor fields of the western periphery, whereas the MDF for the ‘near’ stars on the eastern periphery resembles that for stars in the SMC Centre. The closer eastern periphery stars also show RVs (corrected for SMC rotation and bulk motion) that are, on average, approaching us relative to all other SMC populations sampled. We interpret these trends as evidence that the near stars on the eastern side of the SMC represent material pulled out of the central SMC as part of its tidal interaction with the LMC.
Red supergiants (RSGs) are a short-lived stage in the evolution of moderately massive stars (10-25 M ), and as such their location in the H-R diagram provides an exacting test of stellar evolutionary ...models. Since massive star evolution is strongly affected by the amount of mass loss a star suffers, and since the mass-loss rates depend upon metallicity, it is highly desirable to study the physical properties of these stars in galaxies of various metallicities. Here we identify a sample of RSGs in M31, the most metal-rich of the Local Group galaxies. We determine the physical properties of these stars using both moderate resolution spectroscopy and broadband V - K photometry. We find that on average the RSGs of our sample are variable in V by 0.5 mag, smaller but comparable to the 0.9 mag found for Magellanic Cloud (MC) RSGs. No such variability is seen at K, also in accord with what we know of Galactic and MC RSGs. We find that there is a saturation effect in the model TiO band strengths with metallicities higher than solar. The physical properties we derive for the RSGs from our analysis with stellar atmosphere models agree well with the current evolutionary tracks, a truly remarkable achievement given the complex physics involved in each. We do not confirm an earlier result that the upper luminosities of RSGs depend upon metallicity; instead, the most luminous RSGs have log L/L ~5.2-5.3, broadly consistent but slightly larger than that recently observed by Smartt et al. as the upper luminosity limit to Type II-P supernovae, believed to have come from RSGs. We find that, on average, the RSGs are considerably more reddened than O and B stars, suggesting that circumstellar dust is adding a significant amount of extra extinction, ~0.5 mag, on average. This is in accord with our earlier findings on Milky Way and Magellanic Cloud stars. Finally, we call attention to a peculiar star whose spectrum appears to be heavily veiled, possibly due to scattering by an expanding dust shell.
The Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) survey is an ongoing Hubble Space Telescope (HST) multi-cycle program to obtain high spatial resolution imaging of one-third of the M31 disk at ...ultraviolet through near-infrared wavelengths. In this paper, we present the first installment of the PHAT stellar cluster catalog. When completed, the PHAT cluster catalog will be among the largest and most comprehensive surveys of resolved star clusters in any galaxy. The exquisite spatial resolution achieved with HST has allowed us to identify hundreds of new clusters that were previously inaccessible with existing ground-based surveys. We identify 601 clusters in the Year 1 sample, representing more than a factor of four increase over previous catalogs within the current survey area (390 arcmin super(2)). This work presents results derived from the first ~25% of the survey data; we estimate that the final sample will include ~2500 clusters. For the Year 1 objects, we present a catalog with positions, radii, and six-band integrated photometry. Along with a general characterization of the cluster luminosities and colors, we discuss the cluster luminosity function, the cluster size distributions, and highlight a number of individually interesting clusters found in the Year 1 search.
Abstract
We describe a large simulation of the stars to be observed by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The simulation is based on the
TRILEGAL
code, which ...resorts to large databases of stellar evolutionary tracks, synthetic spectra, and pulsation models, added to simple prescriptions for the stellar density and star formation histories of the main structures of the Galaxy, to generate mock stellar samples through a population synthesis approach. The main bodies of the Magellanic Clouds are also included. A complete simulation is provided for single stars, down to the
r
= 27.5 mag depth of the coadded Wide–Fast–Deep survey images. A second simulation is provided for a fraction of the binaries, including the interacting ones, as derived with the
BinaPSE
module of
TRILEGAL
. We illustrate the main properties and numbers derived from these simulations, including: comparisons with real star counts; the expected numbers of Cepheids, long-period variables, and eclipsing binaries; the crowding limits as a function of seeing and filter; the star-to-galaxy ratios. Complete catalogs are accessible through the NOIRLab Astro Data Lab, while the stellar density maps are incorporated in the LSST metrics analysis framework.
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