Attention:The NSF Public Access Repository (PAR) system and access will be unavailable from 11:00 PM ET on Thursday, August 13 until 12:00 AM ET on Friday, August 14 due to maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Atzberger, K R"

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. We present Magellan/IMACS and Magellan/MIKE spectroscopy of the ultra-faint dwarf (UFD) galaxy Pictor~II (Pic~II) that is located only 12 kpc from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). From the IMACS spectroscopy, we identify 13 member stars and measure a mean heliocentric velocity of , a velocity dispersion of , a mean metallicity of , and an upper limit on the metallicity dispersion of . We measure detailed elemental abundances for the brightest star, finding [Fe/H] = 3.3 , high [ α /Fe] ratios, and no detectable neutron capture elements, similar to stars in other UFDs. However, this star has an unusually high [Sc/Fe] ratio. The dynamical mass-to-light ratio ( M / L = 760 420 + 910 M L 1 ), size, and chemical abundances confirms that Pic~II is a dark matter-dominated dwarf galaxy. We perform detailed orbit modeling of Pic~II in a combined Milky Way (MW) and LMC potential and find that Pic~II is highly likely to be a long-term LMC satellite. Furthermore, we find that Pic II is likely still bound to the LMC today. Pic~II is the seventh LMC-associated UFD and among the most metal-poor UFDs known. We further update the morphological parameters with deeper Dark Energy Camera (DECam) photometry, compute the dark matter properties for dark matter indirect detection searches, verify the extremely low metallicity with narrowband CaHK imaging, and briefly discuss tidal influences of the LMC and MW. 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract We report the discovery of three Milky Way satellite candidates: Carina IV, Phoenix III, and DELVE 7, in the third data release of the DECam Local Volume Exploration survey (DELVE). The candidate systems were identified by cross-matching results from two independent search algorithms. All three are extremely faint systems composed of old, metal-poor stellar populations (τ ≳ 10 Gyr, [Fe/H] ≲−1.4). Carina IV (MV = −2.8;r1/2 = 40 pc) and Phoenix III (MV = −1.2;r1/2 = 19 pc) have half-light radii that are consistent with the known population of dwarf galaxies, while DELVE 7 (MV = 1.2;r1/2 = 2 pc) is very compact and seems more likely to be a star cluster, though its nature remains ambiguous without spectroscopic follow-up. The Gaia proper motions of stars in Carina IV ( M = 225 0 830 + 1180 M ) indicate that it is unlikely to be associated with the LMC, while DECam CaHK photometry confirms that its member stars are metal poor. Phoenix III ( M = 52 0 290 + 660 M ) is the faintest known satellite in the extreme outer stellar halo (DGC > 100 kpc), while DELVE 7 ( M = 6 0 40 + 120 M ) is the faintest known satellite withDGC > 20 kpc. 
    more » « less
    Free, publicly-accessible full text available March 11, 2027