Bibcode
Martínez-Vázquez, C. E.; Monelli, M.; Bernard, Edouard J.; Gallart, C.; Stetson, Peter B.; Skillman, Evan D.; Bono, Giuseppe; Cassisi, Santi; Fiorentino, Giuliana; McQuinn, Kristen B. W.; Cole, Andrew A.; McConnachie, Alan W.; Martin, Nicolas F.; Dolphin, Andrew E.; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael; Aparicio, A.; Hidalgo, S. L.; Weisz, Daniel R.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 850, Issue 2, article id. 137, 26 pp. (2017).
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12
2017
Journal
Citations
34
Refereed citations
27
Description
We present a census of variable stars in six M31 dwarf spheroidal
satellites observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. We detect 870 RR
Lyrae (RRL) stars in the fields of And I (296), II (251), III (111), XV
(117), XVI (8), and XXVIII (87). We also detect a total of 15 Anomalous
Cepheids, three eclipsing binaries, and seven field RRL stars compatible
with being members of the M31 halo or the Giant Stellar Stream. We
derive robust and homogeneous distances to the six galaxies using
different methods based on the properties of the RRL stars. Working with
the up-to-date set of Period-Wesenheit (I, B–I) relations
published by Marconi et al., we obtain distance moduli of μ
0 = [24.49, 24.16, 24.36, 24.42, 23.70, 24.43] mag
(respectively), with systematic uncertainties of 0.08 mag and
statistical uncertainties <0.11 mag. We have considered an enlarged
sample of 16 M31 satellites with published variability studies, and
compared their pulsational observables (e.g., periods and amplitudes)
with those of 15 Milky Way satellites for which similar data are
available. The properties of the (strictly old) RRL in both satellite
systems do not show any significant difference. In particular, we found
a strikingly similar correlation between the mean period distribution of
the fundamental RRL pulsators (RRab) and the mean metallicities of the
galaxies. This indicates that the old RRL progenitors were similar at
the early stage in the two environments, suggesting very similar
characteristics for the earliest stages of evolution of both satellite
systems.
and 13739.
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