arXiv subjects

Andreas Koch

Publications and source records attributed to Andreas Koch.

98 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

Kinematic sub-populations in dwarf spheroidal galaxies

We present new spectroscopic data for twenty six stars in the recently-discovered Canes Venatici I (CVnI) dwarf spheroidal galaxy. We use these data to investigate the recent claim of the presence of two dynamically inconsistent stellar populations in this system (Ibata et al., 2006). We do not find evidence for kinematically distinct populations in our sample and we are able to obtain a mass estimate for CVnI that is consistent with all available data, including previously published data. We discuss possible differences between our sample and the earlier data set and study the general detectability of sub-populations in small kinematic samples. We conclude that in the absence of supporting observational evidence (for example, metallicity gradients), sub-populations in small kinematic samples (typically fewer than 100 stars) should be treated with extreme caution, as their detection depends on multiple parameters and rarely produces a signal at the 3sigma confidence level. It is therefore essential to determine explicitly the statistical significance of any suggested sub-population.

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arXiv2008

The Bulge Radial Velocity Assay (BRAVA): I. Sample Selection and a Rotation Curve

Results from the Bulge Radial Velocity Assay (BRAVA) are presented. BRAVA uses M giant stars, selected from the 2MASS catalog to lie within a bound of reddening corrected color and luminosity, as targets for the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 4-m Hydra multi-object spectrograph. Three years of observations investigate the kinematics of the Galactic bulge major and minor axes with ~3300 radial velocities from 32 bulge fields and one disk field. We construct a longitude-velocity plot for the bulge stars and find that, contrary to previous studies, the bulge does not rotate as a solid body; for |l|<4 degree the rotation curve has a slope of roughly 100 km/s/kpc and flattens considerably at greater l, reaching a maximum rotation of 75 km/s. We compare our rotation curve and velocity dispersion profile to both the self-consistent model of Zhao (1996) and to N-body models; neither satisfactorily fit both measured rotation and dispersion. We place the bulge on the plot of (Vmax/sigma) vs. epsilon and find that the bulge lies near the oblate rotator line, and very close to the parameters of NGC 4565, an edge-on spiral galaxy with a bulge similar to that of the Milky Way. We find that our summed velocity distribution of bulge stars appears to be sampled from a Gaussian distribution, with sigma=116+/-2 km/s for our summed bulge fields.

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arXiv2008

Age Determination of Six Intermediate-age SMC Star Clusters with HST/ACS

We present a photometric analysis of the star clusters Lindsay 1, Kron 3, NGC339, NGC416, Lindsay 38, and NGC419 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), observed with the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in the F555W and F814W filters. Our color magnitude diagrams (CMDs) extend ~3.5 mag deeper than the main-sequence turnoff points, deeper than any previous data. Cluster ages were derived using three different isochrone models: Padova, Teramo, and Dartmouth, which are all available in the ACS photometric system. Fitting observed ridgelines for each cluster, we provide a homogeneous and unique set of low-metallicity, single-age fiducial isochrones. The cluster CMDs are best approximated by the Dartmouth isochrones for all clusters, except for NGC419 where the Padova isochrones provided the best fit. The CMD of NGC419 shows several main-sequence turn-offs, which belong to the cluster and to the SMC field. We thus derive an age range of 1.2-1.6 Gyr for NGC419. Interestingly, our intermediate-age star clusters have a metallicity spread of ~0.6 dex, which demonstrates that the SMC does not have a smooth, monotonic age-metallicity relation. We find an indication for centrally concentrated blue straggler star candidates in NGC416, while for the other clusters these are not present. Using the red clump magnitudes, we find that the closest cluster, NGC419 (~50kpc), and the farthest cluster, Lindsay 38 (~67kpc), have a relative distance of ~17kpc, which confirms the large depth of the SMC.

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arXiv2008

A new abundance scale for the globular cluster 47 Tuc

We present chemical abundances for O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti and Fe in eight red giants and one turnoff star in the metal rich globular cluster 47 Tuc, based on spectroscopy with the MIKE high resolution spectrograph on the Magellan 6.5-m Clay telescope. A robust line by line differential abundance analysis technique, relative to the K-giant Arcturus, was used to reduce systematic errors from atmospheric and atomic parameters. Our derived mean LTE [Fe/H] of -0.76 +- 0.01 +- 0.04 dex (random and systematic error, respectively) is more metal poor by about 0.1 dex than recent literature results. The chemical element ratios in this nearby globular cluster most closely resemble those of the Galactic bulge, although there is a non-negligible overlap with the composition of thick-disk stars. We find that the [Al/Fe] and [Na/Fe] ratios coincide with the upper boundary of the trends seen in the bulge and thick disk. There is only a small intrinsic scatter in the majority of the abundance ratios, indicating that 47 Tuc is mostly a rather chemically homogeneous system.

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arXiv2008

What is a galaxy? How Cold is Cold Dark Matter? Recent progress in Near Field Cosmology

There has been a vast recent improvement in photometric and kinematic data for star clusters, Ultra Compact dwarfs, galactic nuclei, and local dSph galaxies, with Subaru contributing substantially to the photometric studies in particular. These data show that there is a bimodal distribution in half-light radii, with stable star clusters always being smaller than 35pc, while stable galaxies are always larger than 120pc. We extend the previously known observational relationships and interpret them in terms of a more fundamental pair of intrinsic properties of dark matter itself: dark matter forms cored mass distributions, with a core scale length of greater than about 100pc, and always has a maximum central mass density with a narrow range. The dark matter in dSph galaxies appears to be clustered such that there is a mean volume mass density within the stellar distribution which has the very low value of about 0.1$M_{\odot}$ pc$^{-3}$. None of the dSphs displays kinematics which require the presence of an inner cusp, while in two dSphs there is evidence that the density profile is shallow (cored) in the inner regions. The maximum central dark matter density derived is model dependent, but is likely to have a mean value (averaged over a volume of radius 10pc) of about 0.1$M_{\odot}$ pc$^{-3}$, which is 5GeV/c$^2$cm$^{-3}$). Galaxies are embedded in dark matter halos with these properties; smaller systems containing dark matter are not observed.

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arXiv2007

A Wide-Field View of Leo II -- A Structural Analysis Using the SDSS

Using SDSS I data, we have analysed the stellar distribution of the Leo II dwarf spheroidal galaxy (distance of 233 kpc) to search for evidence of tidal deformation. The existing SDSS photometric catalogue contains gaps in regions of high stellar crowding, hence we filled the area at the centre of Leo II using the DAOPHOT algorithm applied to the SDSS images. The combined DAOPHOT-SDSS dataset contains three-filter photometry over a 4x4 square degree region centred on Leo II. By defining a mask in three-filter colour-magnitude space, we removed the majority of foreground field stars. We have measured the following Leo II structural parameters: a core radius of r_c = 2.64 +/- 0.19 arcmin (178 +/- 13 pc), a tidal radius of r_t = 9.33 +/- 0.47 arcmin (632 +/- 32 pc) and a total V-band luminosity of L_V = (7.4 +/- 2.0) times 10^5 L_sun (M_V = -9.9 +/- 0.3). Our comprehensive analysis of the Leo II structure did not reveal any significant signs of tidal distortion. The internal structure of this object contains only mild isophotal twisting. A small overdensity was discovered appoximately 4.5 tidal radii from the Leo II centre, however we conclude it is unlikely to be material tidally stripped from Leo II based on its stellar population, and is most likely a foreground overdensity of stars. Our results indicate that the influence of the Galactic graviational field on the structure of Leo II has been relatively mild. We rederived the mass-to-light ratio of this system using existing kinematic data combined with our improved structural measurements, and favour the scenario in which Leo II is strongly dominated by dark matter with (M/L)_V ~ 100 in solar units.

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arXiv2007

The Observed properties of Dark Matter on small spatial scales

We present a synthesis of recent photometric and kinematic data for several of the most dark-matter dominated galaxies. There is a bimodal distribution in half-light radii, with stable star clusters always being smaller than $\sim30$pc, while stable galaxies are always larger than $\sim120$pc. We extend the previously known observational relationships and interpret them in terms of a more fundamental pair of intrinsic properties of dark matter itself: dark matter forms cored mass distributions, with a core scale length of greater than about 100pc, and always has a maximum central massdensity with a narrow range. The dark matter in dSph galaxies appears to be clustered such that there is a mean volume mass density within the stellar distribution which has the very low value of about 0.1$\Msun$ pc$^{-3}$ (about 5GeV/c$^2$ cm$^{-3}$). All dSphs have velocity dispersions equivalent to circular velocities at the edge of their light distributions of $\sim 15$km s$^{-1}$. In two dSphs there is evidence that the density profile is shallow (cored) in the inner regions, and so far none of the dSphs display kinematics which require the presence of an inner cusp. The maximum central dark matter density derived is model dependent, but is likely to have a mean value (averaged over a volume of radius 10pc) of $\sim0.1\Msun$ pc$^{-3}$ (about 5GeV/c$^2$ cm$^{-3}$) for our proposed cored dark mass distributions (where it is similar to the mean value), or $\sim60\Msun$ pc$^{-3}$ (about 2TeV/c$^2$ cm$^{-3}$) if the dark matter density distribution is cusped. Galaxies are embedded in dark matter halos with these properties; smaller systems containing dark matter are not observed.

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arXiv2004

R-process and alpha-elements in the Galactic disk: Kinematic correlations

Recent studies of elemental abundances in the Galactic halo and in the Galactic disk have underscored the possibility to kinematically separate different Galactic subcomponents. Correlations between the galactocentric rotation velocity and various element ratios were found, providing an important means to link different tracers of star formation and metal enrichment to the Galactic components of different origin (collapse vs. accretion). In the present work we determine stellar kinematics for a sample of 124 disk stars, which we derive from their orbits based on radial velocities and proper motions from the the literature. Our stars form a subsample of the Edvardsson et al. (1993) sample and we concentrate on three main tracers: (i) Europium as an r-process element is predominantly produced in Supernovae of type II. (ii) Likewise, alpha-elements, such as Ca, Si, Mg, are synthesised in SNe II, contrary to iron, which is being produced preferentially in SNe Ia. (iii) The s-process element Barium is a measure of the relative contribution of AGB stars to the Galaxy's enrichment history and has been shown to be an indicator for distinguishing between thin and thick disk stars. All such studies reveal, basically, that stars with low galactocentric rotational velocity tend to have high abundances of alpha-elements and Eu, but lower abundances of, e.g., Ba.

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