NGC 6822 as a Probe of Dwarf Galactic Evolution

Abstract

NGC 6822 is the closest isolated dwarf irregular galaxy to the Milky Way. Its proximity and stellar mass (10⁸ M_⊙, large for a dwarf galaxy) allow for a detailed study of its kinematic properties. The red giant branch (RGB) stars at the galaxy's center are particularly interesting because they are aligned on an axis perpendicular to the galaxy's more extended H I disk. We detected a velocity gradient among the RGB population using spectra from Keck/Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph (DEIMOS). This rotation is aligned with the H I disk, but the sense of rotation is about the major axis of the central RGB population. We measured the rotation velocity (v) and velocity dispersion (σ) of the RGB population in five metallicity bins. We found an increase of rotation support (v/σ) with increasing metallicity, driven primarily by decreasing dispersion. We also deduced an increasing radial distance for lower metallicity stars at −0.5 kpc dex⁻¹ by relating the observed stellar kinematics to position via NGC 6822's H I velocity curve. While the inverted metallicity gradient-like distribution could be interpreted as evidence for an outside-in formation scenario, it may instead indicate that stellar feedback disturbed a centrally star-forming galaxy over time.