Search for: All records

Abstract Andromeda XVIII is an isolated dwarf galaxy 579 kpc away from the nearest large galaxy, M31. It is a candidate “backsplash galaxy” that might have been affected by a close passage to M31. We present new Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopy of Andromeda XVIII to assess the likelihood that it is a backsplash galaxy. We estimated the velocities, metallicities ([Fe/H]), andα-enhancements ([α/Fe]) for 56 probable members. Based on the abundances of 38 stars with low errors (δ[Fe/H] < 0.3), parameters for the simplest chemical evolution models were estimated using the maximum likelihood coupled with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method. The metallicity distribution is inconsistent with these models, due to a sharp metal-rich cutoff. We estimated Andromeda XVIII’s mean heliocentric velocity, rotation velocity, position angle of the rotation axis, and velocity dispersion using the maximum likelihood coupled with an MCMC. There is no evidence for bulk rotation, though subpopulations might be rotating. The mean heliocentric velocity is −337.2 km s⁻¹, such that the line-of-sight velocity relative to M31 is lower than the escape velocity from M31. Together, the metallicity distribution and the mean velocity are consistent with a sudden interruption of star formation. For possible causes of this quenching, we considered gas loss due to ram pressure stripping during a close passage by M31 or due to a past major merger. However, we cannot rule out internal feedback (i.e., a terminal wind). 

Abstract The “two-process model” is a promising technique for interpreting stellar chemical abundance data from large-scale surveys (e.g., the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV/V and the Galactic Archeology with HERMES survey), enabling more quantitative empirical studies of differences in chemical enrichment history between galaxies without relying on detailed yield and evolution models. In this work, we fit two-process model parameters to (1) a luminous giant Milky Way (MW) sample and (2) stars comprising the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy (Sgr). We then use these two sets of model parameters to predict the abundances of 14 elements of stars belonging to the MW and in five of its massive satellite galaxies, analyzing the residuals between the predicted and observed abundances. We find that the model fit to (1) results in large residuals (0.1–0.3 dex) for most metallicity-dependent elements in the metal-rich ([Mg/H] > −0.8) stars of the satellite galaxies. However, the model fit to (2) results in small or no residuals for all elements across all satellite galaxies. Therefore, despite the wide variation in [X/Mg]–[Mg/H] abundance patterns of the satellite galaxies, the two-process framework provides an accurate characterization of their abundance patterns across many elements, but these multielement patterns are systematically different between the dwarf galaxy satellites and the MW disks. We consider a variety of scenarios for the origin of this difference, highlighting the possibility that a large inflow of pristine gas to the MW disk diluted the metallicity of star-forming gas without changing abundance ratios. 

Abstract The Hubble Tension, a >5σdiscrepancy between direct and indirect measurements of the Hubble constant (H₀), has persisted for a decade and motivated intense scrutiny of the paths used to inferH₀. Comparing independently derived distances for a set of galaxies with different standard candles, such as the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) and Cepheid variables, can test for systematics in the middle rung of the distance ladder. TheIband is the preferred filter for measuring the TRGB due to constancy with color, a result of low sensitivity to population differences in age and metallicity supported by stellar models. We use James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations with the maser host NGC 4258 as our geometric anchor to measureI-band (F090W versus F090W − F150W) TRGB distances to eight hosts of 10 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) within 28 Mpc: NGC 1448, NGC 1559, NGC 2525, NGC 3370, NGC 3447, NGC 5584, NGC 5643, and NGC 5861. We compare these with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Cepheid-based relative distance moduli for the same galaxies and anchor. We find no evidence of a difference between their weighted means, 0.01 ± 0.04 (stat) ± 0.04 (sys) mag. We produce 14 variants of the TRGB analysis, altering the smoothing level and color range used to measure the tips to explore their impact. For some hosts, this changes the identification of the strongest peak, but this causes little change to the sample mean difference, producing a full range of 0.00–0.02 mag, all consistent at 1σwith no difference. The result matches past comparisons ofI-band TRGB and Cepheids when both use HST. SNe and anchor samples observed with JWST are too small to yield a measure ofH₀that is competitive with the HST sample of 42 SNe Ia and 4 anchors; however, they already provide a vital systematic cross-check to HST measurements of the distance ladder. 

Understanding the detailed properties of stars in the infrared is of critical importance with new missions focusing on the infrared (JWST, Roman). The ground-based wide-field infrared instrument, FourStar, on the Magellan telescope contains a number of medium band filters that are optimized for photometric redshifts, but also provide nearly continuous spectral coverage for stars. These filters, however, lack absolute calibration. In this project, we adapted a technique used for galaxies to be used for stars. We used multi-band photometry to fit a likely SED model to each star and then generated synthetic photometry from the SED model to produce the magnitude of the star in a given filter. Statistically, we then determined the zero point in each filter in each image. This will be used to calibrate a large survey aiming to better understand near-infrared properties of stars for application to the extragalactic distance scale (with JWST and Roman). 

Understanding the detailed properties of stars in the infrared is of critical importance with new missions focusing on the infrared (JWST, Roman). The ground-based wide-field infrared instrument, FourStar, on the Magellan telescope contains a number of medium band filters that are optimized for photometric redshifts, but also provide nearly continuous spectral coverage for stars. These filters, however, lack absolute calibration. In this project, we adapted a technique used for galaxies to be used for stars. We used multi-band photometry to fit a likely SED model to each star and then generated synthetic photometry from the SED model to produce the magnitude of the star in a given filter. Statistically, we then determined the zero point in each filter in each image. This will be used to calibrate a large survey aiming to better understand near-infrared properties of stars for application to the extragalactic distance scale (with JWST and Roman). 

Abstract We present near-infraredJHKphotometry for the resolved stellar populations in 13 nearby galaxies: NGC 6822, IC 1613, NGC 3109, Sextans B, Sextans A, NGC 300, NGC 55, NGC 7793, NGC 247, NGC 5253, Cen A, NGC 1313, and M83, acquired from the 6.5 m Baade–Magellan telescope. We measure distances to each galaxy using the J-region asymptotic giant branch (JAGB) method, a new standard candle that leverages the constant luminosities of color-selected, carbon-rich AGB stars. While only single-epoch, random-phase photometry is necessary to derive JAGB distances, our photometry is time-averaged over multiple epochs, thereby decreasing the contribution of the JAGB stars’ intrinsic variability to the measured dispersions in their observed luminosity functions. To cross-validate these distances, we also measure near-infrared tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) distances to these galaxies. The residuals obtained from subtracting the distance moduli from the two methods yield an rms scatter ofσ_JAGB−TRGB= ±0.07 mag. Therefore, all systematics in the JAGB method and TRGB method (e.g., crowding, differential reddening, star formation histories) must be contained within these ±0.07 mag bounds for this sample of galaxies because the JAGB and TRGB distance indicators are drawn from entirely distinct stellar populations and are thus affected by these systematics independently. Finally, the composite JAGB star luminosity function formed from this diverse sample of galaxies is well described by a Gaussian function with a modal value ofM_J= –6.20 ± 0.003 mag (stat), indicating that the underlying JAGB star luminosity function of a well-sampled full star formation history is highly symmetric and Gaussian based on over 6700 JAGB stars in the composite sample. 

Abstract By comparing Cepheid brightnesses with geometric distance measures including Gaia EDR3 parallaxes, most recent analyses conclude metal-rich Cepheids are brighter, quantified asγ∼ −0.2 mag dex⁻¹. While the value ofγhas little impact on the determination of the Hubble constant in contemporary distance ladders (due to the similarity of metallicity across these ladders),γplays a role in gauging the distances to metal-poor dwarf galaxies like the Magellanic Clouds and is of considerable interest in testing stellar models. Recently, B. F. Madore & W. L. Freedman (hereafter MF25) recalibrated Gaia EDR3 parallaxes by adding to them a magnitude offset to match certain historic Cepheid parallaxes, which otherwise differ by ∼1.6σ. A calibration that adjusts Gaia parallaxes by applying a magnitude offset (i.e., a multiplicative correction in parallax) differs significantly from the Gaia Team’s calibration, which is additive in parallax space—especially at distances much closer than 1 kpc or beyond 10 kpc, outside the ∼2–3 kpc range on which the MF25 calibration was based. The MF25 approach reducesγto zero. If broadly applied, it places nearby cluster distances like the Pleiades too close compared to independent measurements, while leaving distant quasars with negative parallaxes. We conclude that the MF25 proposal for Gaia calibration andγ∼ 0 produces farther-reaching consequences, many of which are strongly disfavored by the data. 

Abstract Quantifying the connection between galaxies and their host dark matter halos has been key for testing cosmological models on various scales. BelowM_⋆∼ 10⁹M_⊙, such studies have primarily relied on the satellite galaxy population orbiting the Milky Way (MW). Here we present new constraints on the connection between satellite galaxies and their host dark matter subhalos using the largest sample of satellite galaxies in the Local Volume (D≲ 12 Mpc) to date. We use 250 confirmed and 71 candidate dwarf satellites around 27 MW-like hosts from the Exploration of Local VolumE Satellites (ELVES) Survey and use the semianalyticalSatGenmodel for predicting the population of dark matter subhalos expected in the same volume. Through a Bayesian model comparison of the observed and the forward-modeled satellite stellar mass functions (SSMFs), we infer the satellite stellar-to-halo mass relation. We find that the observed SSMF is best reproduced when subhalos at the low-mass end are populated by a relation of the form $M_{\star }\propto M_{\mathrm{peak}}^{\alpha }$, with a moderate slope of ${\alpha }_{\mathrm{const}}=2.10\pm 0.01$and a low scatter, constant as a function of the peak halo mass, of ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{const}}={0.06}_{-0.05}^{+0.07}$. A model with a steeper slope (α_grow= 2.39 ± 0.06) and a scatter that grows with decreasingM_peakis also consistent with the observed SSMF but is not required. Our new model for the satellite–subhalo connection, based on hundreds of Local Volume satellite galaxies, is in line with what was previously derived using only MW satellites. 

Abstract Isolated dwarf galaxies usually exhibit robust star formation but satellite dwarf galaxies are often devoid of young stars, even in Milky Way–mass groups. Dwarf galaxies thus offer an important laboratory of the environmental processes that cease star formation. We explore the balance of quiescent and star-forming galaxies (quenched fractions) for a sample of ∼400 satellite galaxies around 30 Local Volume hosts from the Exploration of Local VolumE Satellites (ELVES) Survey. We present quenched fractions as a function of satellite stellar mass, projected radius, and host halo mass, to conclude that overall, the quenched fractions are similar to the Milky Way, dropping below 50% at satellite M * ≈ 10 8 M ⊙ . We may see hints that quenching is less efficient at larger radii. Through comparison with the semianalytic modeling code SatGen , we are also able to infer average quenching times as a function of satellite mass in host halo-mass bins. There is a gradual increase in quenching time with satellite stellar mass rather than the abrupt change from rapid to slow quenching that has been inferred for the Milky Way. We also generally infer longer average quenching times than recent hydrodynamical simulations. Our results are consistent with models that suggest a wide range of quenching times are possible via ram pressure stripping, depending on the clumpiness of the circumgalactic medium, the orbits of the satellites, and the degree of earlier preprocessing. 

Abstract The tip of the red giant branch provides a luminous standard candle for calibrating distance ladders that reach Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) hosts. However, recent work reveals that tip measurements vary at the ∼0.1 mag level for different stellar populations and locations within a host, which may lead to inconsistencies along the distance ladder. We pursue a calibration of the tip using 11 Hubble Space Telescope fields around the maser host, NGC 4258, that is consistent with SN Ia hosts by standardizing tip measurements via their contrast ratios. We find F814W-band tips that exhibit a full 0.3 mag range and 0.1 mag dispersion. We do not find any correlation between Hicolumn density and the apparent tip to 0.04 ± 0.03 mag/cm⁻². We search for a tip–contrast relation (TCR) and measure the TCR within the fields of NGC 4258 of −0.015 ± 0.008 mag/R, whereRis the contrast ratio. This value is consistent with the TCR originally discovered in the GHOSTS sample of −0.023 ± 0.005 mag/R. Combining these measurements, we find a global TCR of −0.021 ± 0.004 mag/Rand a calibration of $M_I^{\mathrm{TRGB}}=-4.025\pm 0.035-(R-4)\times 0.021$mag. We also use stellar models to simulate single age and metallicity stellar populations with [Fe/H] from −2.0 to −0.7 and ages from 3 to 12 Gyr and reconstruct the global TCR found here to a factor of ∼2. This work is combined in a companion analysis with tip measurements of nearby SN Ia hosts to measureH₀.