Bibcode
Evans, C. J.; Castro, N.; Gonzalez, O. A.; Garcia, M.; Bastian, N.; Cioni, M.-R. L.; Clark, J. S.; Davies, B.; Ferguson, A. M. N.; Kamann, S.; Lennon, D. J.; Patrick, L. R.; Vink, J. S.; Weisz, D. R.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 622, id.A129, 11 pp.
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2
2019
Journal
Citations
29
Refereed citations
22
Description
We present the first stellar spectroscopy in the low-luminosity
(MV ˜ -9.3 mag), dwarf galaxy Leo P. Its significantly
low oxygen abundance (3% solar) and relative proximity (˜1.6 Mpc)
make it a unique galaxy in which to investigate the properties of
massive stars with near-primordial compositions akin to those in the
early Universe. From our VLT-MUSE spectroscopy we find the first direct
evidence for an O-type star in the prominent H II region, providing an
important test case to investigate the potential environmental
dependence of the upper end of the initial mass function in the dwarf
galaxy regime. We classify 14 further sources as massive stars (and 17
more as candidate massive stars), most likely B-type objects. From
comparisons with published evolutionary models we argue that the
absolute visual magnitudes of massive stars in very metal-poor systems
such as Leo P and I Zw 18 may be fainter by ˜0.5 mag compared to
Galactic stars. We also present spectroscopy of two carbon stars
identified previously as candidate asymptotic-giant-branch stars. Two of
three further candidate asymptotic-giant-branch stars display Ca II
absorption, confirming them as cool, evolved stars; we also recover Ca
II absorption in the stacked data of the next brightest 16 stars in the
upper red giant branch. These discoveries will provide targets for
future observations to investigate the physical properties of these
objects and to calibrate evolutionary models of luminous stars at such
low metallicity. The MUSE data also reveal two 100 pc-scale ring
structures in Hα emission, with the H II region located on the
northern edge of the southern ring. Lastly, we report serendipitous
observations of 20 galaxies, with redshifts ranging from z = 0.39, to a
close pair of star-forming galaxies at z = 2.5.
Related projects
Physical properties and evolution of Massive Stars
This project aims at the searching, observation and analysis of massive stars in nearby galaxies to provide a solid empirical ground to understand their physical properties as a function of those key parameters that gobern their evolution (i.e. mass, spin, metallicity, mass loss, and binary interaction). Massive stars are central objects to
Sergio
Simón Díaz