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We report the spectroscopic analysis of 20 halo ab-type RR Lyrae stars with heliocentric distances between 15 and 165 kpc, conducted using medium-resolution spectra from the Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle (MIKE) spectrograph. We obtain the systemic line-of-sight velocities of our targets with typical uncertainties of 5–10 km s−1 and compute orbital parameters for a subsample out to 50 kpc from the Galactic centre, including proper motion data from Gaia DR3. The orientation of our stars’ orbits, determined for an isolated Milky Way and for a model perturbed by the Large Magellanic Cloud, appears to suggest an accreted origin for at least half of the sample. In addition, we derive atmospheric parameters and chemical abundance ratios for seven stars beyond 20 kpc. The derived α-abundances of five of these stars follow a Milky Way halo-like trend, while the other two display an underabundance of α-elements for their [Fe/H], indicating an association with accretion events. Furthermore, based on the [Sr/Ba] ratio, we can speculate about the conditions for the formation of a potential chemically peculiar carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) RR Lyrae star. By analysing the stars’ orbital parameters and abundance ratios, we find hints of association of two of our stars with two massive satellites, namely the Large Magellanic Cloud and Sagittarius. Overall, our results are in line with the suggestion that the accretion of sub-haloes largely contributes to the outer halo stellar populations.

 

We present new empirical infrared period–luminosity–metallicity (PLZ) and period–Wesenheit–metallicity (PWZ) relations for RR Lyae based on the latest Gaia Early Data Release 3 (EDR3) parallaxes. The relations are provided in the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) W1 and W2 bands, as well as in the W(W1,V− W1) and W(W2,V− W2) Wesenheit magnitudes. The relations are calibrated using a very large sample of Galactic halo field RR Lyrae stars with homogeneous spectroscopic [Fe/H] abundances (over 1000 stars in the W1 band), covering a broad range of metallicities (−2.5 ≲ [Fe/H] ≲ 0.0). We test the performance of our PLZ and PWZ relations by determining the distance moduli of both galactic and extragalactic stellar associations: the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy in the Local Group (finding${\overline{\mu }}_0=19.47\pm 0.06$), the Galactic globular clusters M4 (${\overline{\mu }}_0=11.16\pm 0.05$), and the Reticulum globular cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud (${\overline{\mu }}_0=18.23\pm 0.06$). The distance moduli determined through all our relations are internally self-consistent (within ≲0.05 mag) but are systematically smaller (by ∼2–3σ) than previous literature measurements taken from a variety of methods/anchors. However, a comparison with similar recent RR Lyrae empirical relations anchored with EDR3 likewise shows, to varying extents, a systematically smaller distance modulus for PLZ/PWZ RR Lyrae relations.

 

We present new period-ϕ₃₁-[Fe/H] relations for first-overtone RRL stars (RRc), calibrated over a broad range of metallicities (−2.5 ≲ [Fe/H] ≲ 0.0) using the largest currently available set of Galactic halo field RRL with homogeneous spectroscopic metallicities. Our relations are defined in the optical (ASAS-SNVband) and, inaugurally, in the infrared (WISEW1andW2bands). OurV-band relation can reproduce individual RRc spectroscopic metallicities with a dispersion of 0.30 dex over the entire metallicity range of our calibrator sample (an rms smaller than what we found for other relations in literature including nonlinear terms). Our infrared relation has a similar dispersion in the low- and intermediate-metallicity range ([Fe/H] ≲ −0.5), but tends to underestimate the [Fe/H] abundance around solar metallicity. We tested our relations by measuring both the metallicity of the Sculptor dSph and a sample of Galactic globular clusters, rich in both RRc and RRab stars. The average metallicity we obtain for the combined RRL sample in each cluster is within ±0.08 dex of their spectroscopic metallicities. The infrared and optical relations presented in this work will enable deriving reliable photometric RRL metallicities in conditions where spectroscopic measurements are not feasible; e.g., in distant galaxies or reddened regions (observed with upcoming Extremely Large Telescopes and the James Webb Space Telescope), or in the large sample of new RRL that will be discovered in large-area time-domain photometric surveys (such as the LSST and the Roman space telescope).

 

This paper presents a new optical imaging survey of four deep drilling fields (DDFs), two Galactic and two extragalactic, with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the 4-m Blanco telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). During the first year of observations in 2021, >4000 images covering 21 deg2 (seven DECam pointings), with ∼40 epochs (nights) per field and 5 to 6 images per night per filter in g, r, i, and/or z have become publicly available (the proprietary period for this program is waived). We describe the real-time difference-image pipeline and how alerts are distributed to brokers via the same distribution system as the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). In this paper, we focus on the two extragalactic deep fields (COSMOS and ELAIS-S1) characterizing the detected sources, and demonstrating that the survey design is effective for probing the discovery space of faint and fast variable and transient sources. We describe and make publicly available 4413 calibrated light curves based on difference-image detection photometry of transients and variables in the extragalactic fields. We also present preliminary scientific analysis regarding the Solar system small bodies, stellar flares and variables, Galactic anomaly detection, fast-rising transients and variables, supernovae, and active Galactic nuclei.

 

ABSTRACT Accurate metallicities of RR Lyrae are extremely important in constraining period–luminosity–metallicity (PLZ) relationships, particularly in the near-infrared. We analyse 69 high-resolution spectra of Galactic RR Lyrae stars from the Southern African Large Telescope. We measure metallicities of 58 of these RR Lyrae stars with typical uncertainties of 0.15 dex. All but one RR Lyrae in this sample has accurate ($\sigma _{\varpi }\lesssim 10{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) parallax from Gaia. Combining these new high-resolution spectroscopic abundances with similar determinations from the literature for 93 stars, we present new PLZ relationships in WISE W1 and W2 magnitudes, and the Wesenheit magnitudes W(W1, V − W1) and W(W2, V − W2). 

The ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Reticulum II (Ret II) exhibits a unique chemical evolution history, with${72}_{-12}^{+10}$% of its stars strongly enhanced inr-process elements. We present deep Hubble Space Telescope photometry of Ret II and analyze its star formation history. As in other ultra-faint dwarfs, the color–magnitude diagram is best fit by a model consisting of two bursts of star formation. If we assume that the bursts were instantaneous, then the older burst occurred around the epoch of reionization, forming ∼80% of the stars in the galaxy, while the remainder of the stars formed ∼3 Gyr later. When the bursts are allowed to have nonzero durations, we obtain slightly better fits. The best-fitting model in this case consists of two bursts beginning before reionization, with approximately half the stars formed in a short (100 Myr) burst and the other half in a more extended period lasting 2.6 Gyr. Considering the full set of viable star formation history models, we find that 28% of the stars formed within 500 ± 200 Myr of the onset of star formation. The combination of the star formation history and the prevalence ofr-process-enhanced stars demonstrates that ther-process elements in Ret II must have been synthesized early in its initial star-forming phase. We therefore constrain the delay time between the formation of the first stars in Ret II and ther-process nucleosynthesis to be less than 500 Myr. This measurement rules out anr-process source with a delay time of several Gyr or more, such as GW170817.

 

Time series observations of a single dithered field centred on the diffuse dwarf satellite galaxy Crater II were obtained with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) at the 4m Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile, uniformly covering up to two half-light radii. Analysis of the g and i time series results in the identification and characterization of 130 periodic variable stars, including 98 RR Lyrae stars, 7 anomalous Cepheids, and 1 SX Phoenicis star belonging to the Crater II population, and 24 foreground variables of different types. Using the large number of ab-type RR Lyrae stars present in the galaxy, we obtained a distance modulus to Crater II of (m − M)0 = 20.333 ± 0.004 (stat) ±0.07 (sys). The distribution of the RR Lyrae stars suggests an elliptical shape for Crater II, with an ellipticity of 0.24 and a position angle of 153°. From the RR Lyrae stars, we infer a small metallicity dispersion for the old population of Crater II of only 0.17 dex. There are hints that the most metal-poor stars in that narrow distribution have a wider distribution across the galaxy, while the slightly more metal-rich part of the population is more centrally concentrated. Given the features in the colour–magnitude diagram of Crater II, the anomalous Cepheids in this galaxy must have formed through a binary evolution channel of an old population.