Bibcode
de Boer, T. J. L.; Tolstoy, E.; Hill, V.; Saha, A.; Olsen, K.; Starkenburg, E.; Lemasle, B.; Irwin, M. J.; Battaglia, G.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 539, id.A103, 18 pp.
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3
2012
Journal
Citations
149
Refereed citations
137
Description
We have combined deep photometry in the B, V and I bands from
CTIO/MOSAIC of the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy, going down to the
oldest main sequence turn-offs, with spectroscopic metallicity
distributions of red giant branch stars. This allows us to obtain the
most detailed and complete star formation history to date, as well as an
accurate timescale for chemical enrichment. The star formation history
shows that Sculptor is dominated by old (>10 Gyr), metal-poor stars,
but that younger, more metal-rich populations are also present. Using
star formation histories determined at different radii from the centre
we show that Sculptor formed stars with an increasing central
concentration with time. The old, metal-poor populations are present at
all radii, while more metal-rich, younger stars are more centrally
concentrated. We find that within an elliptical radius of 1 degree, or
1.5 kpc from the centre, a total mass in stars of 7.8 × 10^6
M