Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · astro-ph/0504281

The Complex Star Formation History of NGC 1569

L. Angeretti·M. Tosi·L. Greggio·E. Sabbi·A. Aloisi·Claus Leitherer
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

We present new results on the star formation history of the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 1569. The data were obtained with Hubble Space Telescope's NICMOS/NIC2 in the F110W (J) and F160W (H) near-infrared (NIR) filters and interpreted with the synthetic color-magnitude diagram method. The galaxy experienced a complex star formation (SF) activity. The best fit to the data is found by assuming three episodes of activity in the last 1-2 Gyr. The most recent and strong episode constrained by these NIR data started ~37 Myr ago and ended ~13 Myr ago, although we cannot exclude the possibility that up to three SF episodes occurred in this time interval. The average star-formation rate (SFR) of the episode is 3.2 Msun yr-1 kpc-2, in agreement with literature data. A previous episode produced stars between 150 Myr and 40 Myr ago, with a mean SFR about 2/3 lower than the mean SFR of the youngest episode. An older SF episode occurred about 1 Gyr ago. All these SFRs are 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than those derived for late-type dwarfs of the Local Group. In all cases an initial mass function similar to Salpeter's allows for a good reproduction of the data, but we cannot exclude flatter mass functions. These results have been obtained adopting a distance of 2.2 Mpc and a reddening E(B-V)=0.56. A larger distance would require younger episodes and higher SFRs. We have explored some possible scenarios using the astrated mass in the best fit model, in order to constrain the past star formation history. We cannot rule out a low rate in the past SF but we can safely conclude that the last 1-2 Gyr have been peculiar.

Explore related subjects

astro-ph

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

L. Angeretti, M. Tosi, L. Greggio, E. Sabbi, A. Aloisi, Claus Leitherer. 2005-04-12. The Complex Star Formation History of NGC 1569. https://doi.org/10.1086/429677

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2022

MOND: A consequence of the geometric Leibniz Clock

Leibniz considered the notion of the 'empty physical space' to be a meaningless abstraction, and he held firmly to the view that the only significant thing was the set of relationships between 'objects', whatever these 'objects' might be. Similarly, he was equally clear in expressing his views about Newton's universal time, which he also considered to be a meaningless abstraction. In effect, for him, time was no more than a synonym for ordered change within a material system. The process of giving quantitative realization to this duality of non-Newtonian ideas forms the core of this work. A primary result arising is that every gravitating particle is no more than a clock - the geometric Leibniz Clock - which provides all the basic things: it conserves energy and angular momentum and satisfies the Weak Equivalence Principle. When the Clock is applied to model the concept of a galactic object within which all motions are circular, the characteristic properties of the MOND galaxy (asymptotic flatness, a critical acceleration scale, the baryonic Tully-Fisher relationship) are quantitatively reproduced in the resulting Leibniz galaxy. In short, the characteristic essence of MOND has its source in the geometric Leibniz Clock.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2020

Cosmic Variance and Its Effect on the Luminosity Function Determination in Deep High z Surveys

We study cosmic variance in deep high redshift surveys and its influence on the determination of the luminosity function for high redshift galaxies. For several survey geometries relevant for HST and JWST instruments, we characterize the distribution of the galaxy number counts. This is obtained by means of analytic estimates via the two point correlation function in extended Press-Schechter theory as well as by using synthetic catalogs extracted from N-body cosmological simulations of structure formation. We adopt a simple luminosity - dark halo mass relation to investigate the environment effects on the fitting of the luminosity function. We show that in addition to variations of the normalization of the luminosity function, a steepening of its slope is also expected in underdense fields, similarly to what is observed within voids in the local universe. Therefore, to avoid introducing artificial biases, caution must be taken when attempting to correct for field underdensity, such as in the case of HST UDF i-dropout sample, which exhibits a deficit of bright counts with respect to the average counts in GOODS. A public version of the cosmic variance calculator based on the two point correlation function integration is made available on the web.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2020

Receiver control for the Submillimeter Array

Efficient operation of a submillimeter interferometer requires remote (preferably automated) control of mechanically tuned local oscillators, phase-lock loops, mixers, optics, calibration vanes and cryostats. The present control system for these aspects of the Submillimeter Array (SMA) will be described. Distributed processing forms the underlying architecture and the software is split between hardware platforms in a leader/follower arrangement. In each antenna cabin, a serial network of up to ten independent 80C196 microcontroller boards attaches to the real-time PowerPC computer (running LynxOS). A multi-threaded, gcc-compiled leader program on the PowerPC accepts top-level requests via remote procedure calls (RPC), subsequently dispatches tuning commands to the relevant follower microcontrollers, and regularly reports the system status to optical-fiber-based reflective memory for common access by the telescope monitor and error reporting system. All serial communication occurs asynchronously via encoded, variable-length packets. The microcontrollers respond to the requested commands and queries by accessing non-volatile, rewriteable lookup-tables (when appropriate) and executing embedded software that operates additional electronic devices (DACs, ADCs, etc.). Since various receiver hardware components require linear or rotary motion, each microcontroller also implements a position servo via a one-millisecond interrupt service routine which drives a DC-motor/encoder combination that remains standard across each subsystem.

astro-ph↗