arXiv subjects

Yazan Momany

Publications and source records attributed to Yazan Momany.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

Simulating the Legacy Survey of Space and Time stellar content with TRILEGAL

We describe a large simulation of the stars to be observed by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The simulation is based on the TRILEGAL code, which resorts to large databases of stellar evolutionary tracks, synthetic spectra, and pulsation models, added to simple prescriptions for the stellar density and star formation histories of the main structures of the Galaxy, to generate mock stellar samples through a population synthesis approach. The main bodies of the Magellanic Clouds are also included. A complete simulation is provided for single stars, down to the $r=27.5$ mag depth of the co-added wide-fast-deep survey images. A second simulation is provided for a fraction of the binaries, including the interacting ones, as derived with the BinaPSE module of TRILEGAL. We illustrate the main properties and numbers derived from these simulations, including: comparisons with real star counts; the expected numbers of Cepheids, long-period variables and eclipsing binaries; the crowding limits as a function of seeing and filter; the star-to-galaxy ratios, etc. Complete catalogs are accessible through the NOIRLab Astro Data Lab, while the stellar density maps are incorporated in the LSST metrics analysis framework (MAF).

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arXiv2015

Envelope Overshooting in Low Metallicity Intermediate- and High-mass Stars: a test with the Sagittarius Dwarf Irregular Galaxy

We check the performance of the {\sl\,PARSEC} tracks in reproducing the blue loops of intermediate age and young stellar populations at very low metallicity. We compute new evolutionary {\sl\,PARSEC} tracks of intermediate- and high-mass stars from 2\Msun to 350\Msun with enhanced envelope overshooting (EO), EO=2\HP and 4\HP, for very low metallicity, Z=0.0005. The input physics, including the mass-loss rate, has been described in {\sl\,PARSEC}~V1.2 version. By comparing the synthetic color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) obtained from the different sets of models with envelope overshooting EO=0.7\HP (the standard {\sl\,PARSEC} tracks), 2\HP and 4\HP, with deep observations of the Sagittarius dwarf irregular galaxy (SagDIG), we find an overshooting scale EO=2\HP to best reproduce the observed loops. This result is consistent with that obtained by \citet{Tang_etal14} for Z in the range 0.001-0.004. We also discuss the dependence of the blue loop extension on the adopted instability criterion and find that, contrary to what stated in literature, the Schwarzschild criterion, instead of the Ledoux criterion, favours the development of blue loops. Other factors that could affect the CMD comparisons such as differential internal extinction or the presence of binary systems are found to have negligible effects on the results. We thus confirm that, in presence of core overshooting during the H-burning phase, a large envelope overshooting is needed to reproduce the main features of the central He-burning phase of intermediate- and high-mass stars.

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arXiv2015

On the serendipitous discovery of a Li-rich giant in the globular cluster NGC 362

We have serendipitously identified the first lithium-rich giant star located close to the red giant branch bump in a globular cluster. Through intermediate-resolution FLAMES spectra we derived a lithium abundance of A(Li)=2.55 (assuming local thermodynamical equilibrium), which is extremely high considering the star's evolutionary stage. Kinematic and photometric analysis confirm the object as a member of the globular cluster NGC 362. This is the fourth Li-rich giant discovered in a globular cluster but the only one known to exist at a luminosity close to the bump magnitude. The three previous detections are clearly more evolved, located close to, or beyond the tip of their red giant branch. Our observations are able to discard the accretion of planets/brown dwarfs, as well as an enhanced mass-loss mechanism as a formation channel for this rare object. Whilst the star sits just above the cluster bump luminosity, its temperature places it towards the blue side of the giant branch in the colour-magnitude diagram. We require further dedicated observations to unambiguously identify the star as a red giant: we are currently unable to confirm whether Li production has occurred at the bump of the luminosity function or if the star is on the pre zero-age horizontal branch. The latter scenario provides the opportunity for the star to have synthesised Li rapidly during the core helium flash or gradually during its red giant branch ascent via some extra mixing process.

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arXiv2014

Lithium abundances in globular cluster giants: NGC 6218 (M12) and NGC 5904 (M5)

Convergent lines of evidence suggest that globular clusters host multiple stellar populations. It appears that they experience at least two episodes of star formation whereby a fraction of first-generation stars contribute astrated ejecta to form the second generation(s). To identify the polluting progenitors we require distinguishing chemical signatures such as that provided by lithium. Theoretical models predict that lithium can be synthesised in AGB stars, whereas no net Li production is expected from other candidates. It has been shown that in order to reproduce the abundance pattern found in M4, Li production must occur within the polluters, favouring the AGB scenario. Here we present Li and Al abundances for a large sample of RGB stars in M12 and M5. These clusters have a very similar metallicity, whilst demonstrating differences in several cluster properties. Our results indicate that the first-generation and second-generation stars share the same Li content in M12; we recover an abundance pattern similar to that observed in M4. In M5 we find a higher degree of complexity and a simple dilution model fails in reproducing the majority of the stellar population. In both clusters we require Li production across the different stellar generations, but production seems to have occurred to different extents. We suggest that such a difference might be related to the cluster mass with the Li production being more efficient in less-massive clusters. This is the first time a statistically significant correlation between the Li spread within a GC and its luminosity has been demonstrated. Finally, although Li-producing polluters are required to account for the observed pattern, other mechanisms, such as MS depletion, might have played a role in contributing to the Li internal variation, though at relatively low level.

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arXiv2014

The Blue Straggler Population in Dwarf Galaxies

In this chapter I review the recent developments regarding the study of Blue Stragglers (BSS) in dwarf galaxies. The loose density environment of dwarf galaxies resembles that of the Galactic Halo, hence it is natural to compare their common BSS properties. At the same time, it is unescapable to compare with the BSS properties in Galactic Globular clusters, which constitute the reference point for BSS studies. Admittedly, the literature on BSS in dwarf galaxies is not plentiful. The limitation is mostly due to the large distance to even the closest dwarf galaxies. Nevertheless, recent studies have allowed a deeper insight on the BSS photometric properties that are worth examining.

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arXiv2011

A Fossil Bulge Globular Cluster revealed by VLT Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics

The globular cluster HP1 is projected on the bulge, very close to the Galactic center. The Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) Demonstrator (MAD) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) allowed to acquire high resolution deep images that, combined with first epoch New Technology Telescope (NTT) data, enabled to derive accurate proper motions. The cluster and bulge field stellar contents were disentangled by means of this process, and produced unprecedented definition in the color-magnitude diagrams for this cluster. The metallicity of [Fe/H] ~ -1.0 from previous spectroscopic analysis is confirmed, which together with an extended blue horizontal branch, imply an age older than the halo average. Orbit reconstruction results suggest that HP1 is spatially confined within the bulge.

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arXiv2010

Multiple stellar populations in Galactic globular clusters: observational evidence

An increasing number of both photometric and spectroscopic observations over the last years have shown the existence of distinct sub-populations in many Galactic globular clusters and shattered the paradigm of globulars hosting single, simple stellar populations. These multiple populations manifest themselves in a split of different evolutionary sequences in the cluster color-magnitude diagrams and in star-to-star abundance variations. In this paper we will summarize the observational scenario.

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arXiv2008

A new red giant-based distance modulus of 13.3 Mpc to the Antennae galaxies and its consequences

The Antennae galaxies are the closest example of an ongoing major galaxy merger, and thereby represent a unique laboratory for furthering the understanding of the formation of exotic objects (e.g., tidal dwarf galaxies, ultra-luminous X-ray sources, super-stellar clusters, etc). In a previous paper HST/WFPC2 observations were used to demonstrate that the Antennae system might be at a distance considerably less than that conventionally assumed in the literature. Here we report new, much deeper HST/ACS imaging that resolves the composite stellar populations, and most importantly, reveals a well-defined red giant branch. The tip of this red giant branch (TRGB) is unambiguously detected at Io(TRGB)=26.65 +/- 0.09 mag. Adopting the most recent calibration of the luminosity of the TRGB then yields a distance modulus for the Antennae of (m-M)o= 30.62 +/- 0.17 corresponding to a distance of 13.3 +/- 1.0 Mpc. This is consistent with our earlier result, once the different calibrations for the standard candle are considered. We briefly discuss the implications of this now well determined shorter distance.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Na-O Anticorrelation and HB. II. The Na-O anticorrelation in the globular cluster NGC 6752

We are studying the Na-O anticorrelation in several globular clusters of different Horizontal Branch (HB) morphology in order to derive a possible relation between (primordial) chemical inhomogeneities and morphological parameters of the cluster population. We used the multifiber spectrograph FLAMES on the ESO Very Large Telescope UT2 and derived atmospheric parameters and elemental abundances of Fe, O and Na for about 150 red giant stars in the Galactic globular cluster NGC 6752. The average metallicity we derive is [Fe/H]=-1.56, in agreement with other results from red giants, but lower than obtained for dwarfs or early subgiants. In NGC 6752 there is not much space for an intrinsic spread in metallicity: on average, the rms scatter in [Fe/H] is 0.037+/-0.003 dex, while the scatter expected on the basis of the major error sources is 0.039+/-0.003 dex. The distribution of stars along the Na-O anticorrelation is different to what was found in the first paper of this series for the globular cluster NGC 2808: in NGC 6752 it is skewed toward more Na-poor stars, and it resembles more the one in M 13. Detailed modeling is required to clarify whether this difference may explain the very different distributions of stars along the HB.

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arXiv2005

The near-IR luminosity-metallicity relation of dwarf irregular galaxies

We report on the recent developments of our long-term investigation of the near-IR luminosity-metallicity relation for dwarf irregular galaxies in nearby groups. A very well-defined relation is emerging from our observational database, and a preliminary discussion of its implications is given.

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arXiv2004

Transforming observational data and theoretical isochrones into the ACS/WFC Vega-mag system

We propose a zero-point photometric calibration of the data from the ACS/WFC on board the Hubble Space Telescope, based on a spectrum of Vega and the most up to date in-flight transmission curves of the camera. This calibration is accurate at the level of a few hundredths of a magnitude. The main purpose of this effort is to transform the entire set of evolutionary models by Pietrinferni et al. (2004) into a simple observational photometric system for ACS/WFC data, and make them available to the astronomical community. We provide the zero points for the most used ACS/WFC bands, and give basic recipes for calibrating both the observed data and the models. We also present the Colour Magnitude Diagram (CMD) from ACS data of 5 Galactic globular clusters, spanning the metallicity range -2.2<[Fe/H]<-0.04, and provide fiducial points representing their sequences from several magnitudes below the turnoff to the red giant branch tip. The observed sequences are compared with the models in the newly defined photometric system.

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arXiv2004

Metallicities on the Double Main Sequence of omega Centauri Imply Large Helium Enhancement

Having shown in a recent paper that the main sequence of omega Centauri is split into two distinct branches, we now present spectroscopic results showing that the bluer sequence is_less_ metal-poor. We have carefully combined GIRAFFE@VLT spectra of 17 stars on each side of the split into a single spectrum for each branch, with adequate S/N to show clearly that the stars of the blue main sequence are less metal poor by 0.3 dex than those of the dominant red one. From an analysis of the individual spectra, we could not detect any abundance spread among the blue main sequence stars, while the red main sequence stars show a 0.2 dex spread in metallicity. We use stellar-structure models to show that only greatly enhanced helium can explain the color difference between the two main sequences, and we discuss ways in which this enhancement could have arisen.

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arXiv2001

Population gradients in nearby dwarf galaxies

Recent results on the detection of substructure in dwarf spheroidal galaxies are discussed. In most cases they show that, when a galaxy experiences multiple SF episodes, the intermediate age population is more centrally concentrated than the old population, and that the recent SF is even more concentrated towards the central regions. Moreover, it appears that the spatial distribution of stars becomes more and more irregular as younger and younger subpopulations are considered. We illustrate how wide-area observations, allowing a substantial coverage of dwarf spheroidals (in particular the satellites of the Milky Way), has provided evidence for cosmologically old populations in every dSph galaxy. All these results are placed in the broader scenario of population gradients in nearby dwarf galaxies of different morphological types.

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arXiv1999

The elusive old population of the dwarf spheroidal galaxy Leo I

We report the discovery of a significant old population in the dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy Leo I as a result of a wide-area search with the ESO New Technology Telescope. Studies of the stellar content of Local Group dwarf galaxies have shown the presence of an old stellar population in almost all of the dwarf spheroidals. The only exception was Leo I, which alone appeared to have delayed its initial star formation episode until just a few Gyr ago. The color-magnitude diagram of Leo I now reveals an extended horizontal branch, unambiguously indicating the presence of an old, metal-poor population in the outer regions of this galaxy. Yet we find little evidence for a stellar population gradient, at least outside R > 2' (0.16 kpc), since the old horizontal branch stars of Leo I are radially distributed as their more numerous intermediate-age helium-burning counterparts. The discovery of a definitely old population in the predominantly young dwarf spheroidal galaxy Leo I points to a sharply defined first epoch of star formation common to all of the Local Group dSph's as well as to the halo of the Milky Way.

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arXiv1999

Stellar populations in the Phoenix dwarf galaxy

We have obtained deep BVI CCD photometry of Phoenix, a galaxy considered a transition case between dwarf spheroidal and dwarf irregular galaxies. A comparison of our data with the RGBs of Galactic globular clusters gives a mean metal abundance [Fe/H] = -1.81+/-0.10 dex. The presence of an intrinsic color dispersion in the upper red RGB suggests an abundance range of about 0.5 dex, although a range in age may also affect the RGB width. For the first time, a HB has been revealed at V~23.8. The HB is predominantly red yet moderately extended to the blue, which indicates the presence of a significant population with age comparable to that of old halo GGCs. This HB morphology in a metal-poor system indicates a mild "second parameter" effect. From the mean level of the HB we derived a true distance modulus 23.21+/-0.08, in good agreement with the distance modulus 23.04+/-0.07 estimated from the cutoff of the RGB at I~23.1. We find a radial gradient in the HB morphology, and our CMDs show a small number of stars above the RGB tip, that most likely are AGB stars of an intermediate age population. Their number indicates that the fraction of intermediate age population in Phoenix is approximately 30-40%. A young stellar population is definitely present in Phoenix, consistent with a star formation episode started at least 0.6 Gyr ago, up to 1x10^{8} yr ago. Both young stars and AGB stars are centrally concentrated, which indicates that recent star formation preferentially occurred in the inner galaxy regions. In many respects, Phoenix appears not dissimilar from dwarf spheroidal galaxies in the Local Group.

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