Deep imaging of Eridanus II and its lone star cluster
- 1. Department of Physics, Texas Tech University, Box 41051, Lubbock, TX 79409-1051 (United States)
- 2. Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)
- 3. Department of Physics, Royal Military College of Canada, Box 17000, Station Forces, Kingston, ON K7L 7B4 (Canada)
- 4. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
Description
We present deep imaging of the most distant dwarf discovered by the Dark Energy Survey, Eridanus II (Eri II). Our Magellan/Megacam stellar photometry reaches ∼3 mag deeper than previous work and allows us to confirm the presence of a stellar cluster whose position is consistent with Eri II's center. This makes Eri II, at , the least luminous galaxy known to host a (possibly central) cluster. The cluster is partially resolved, and at it accounts for ∼4% of Eri II's luminosity. We derive updated structural parameters for Eri II, which has a half-light radius of ∼280 pc and is elongated (ϵ ∼ 0.48) at a measured distance of D ∼ 370 kpc. The color–magnitude diagram displays a blue, extended horizontal branch, as well as a less populated red horizontal branch. A central concentration of stars brighter than the old main-sequence turnoff hints at a possible intermediate-age (∼3 Gyr) population; alternatively, these sources could be blue straggler stars. A deep Green Bank Telescope observation of Eri II reveals no associated atomic gas.
Availability note (English)
Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/824/1/L14Additional details
Identifiers
Publishing Information
- Journal Title
- Astrophysical Journal Letters
- Journal Volume
- 824
- Journal Issue
- 1
- Journal Page Range
- [6 p.]
- ISSN
- 2041-8205
INIS
- Country of Publication
- United States
- Country of Input or Organization
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- INIS RN
- 51030875
- Subject category
- S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
- Descriptors DEI
- COLOR; CONCENTRATION RATIO; DIAGRAMS; DISTANCE; GALAXIES; LUMINOSITY; NONLUMINOUS MATTER; PHOTOMETRY; STAR CLUSTERS; TELESCOPES
- Descriptors DEC
- DIMENSIONLESS NUMBERS; INFORMATION; MATTER; OPTICAL PROPERTIES; ORGANOLEPTIC PROPERTIES; PHYSICAL PROPERTIES