Hubble Space Telescope observations of the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy
- Creators
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Grillmair, Carl J.
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Mould, Jeremy R.
- Holtzman, Jon A.
- Worthey, Guy
- Ballester, Gilda E.
- Burrows, Christopher J.
- Clarke, John T.
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Crisp, David
- Evans, Robin W.
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Gallagher, John S., III
- Griffiths, Richard E.
- Hester, J. Jeff
- Hoessel, John G.
- Scowen, Paul A.
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Stapelfeldt, Karl R.
- Trauger, John T.
- Watson, Alan M.
- Westphal, James A.
Abstract
We present an F606W-F814W color-magnitude diagram for the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy based on Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) images. The luminosity function is well sampled to ~3 mag below the turnoff. We see no evidence for multiple turnoffs and conclude that, at least over the field of view of the WFPC2, star formation was primarily single-epoch. If the observed number of blue stragglers is due to extended star formation, then roughly 6% (upper limit) of the stars could be half as old as the bulk of the galaxy. The color difference between the red giant branch and the turnoff is consistent with an old population and is very similar to that observed in the old, metal-poor Galactic globular clusters M68 and M92. Despite its red horizontal branch, Draco appears to be older than M68 and M92 by 1.6 ± 2.5 Gyr, lending support to the argument that the "second parameter" that governs horizontal-branch morphology must be something other than age. Draco's observed luminosity function is very similar to that of M68, and the derived initial mass function is consistent with that of the solar neighborhood.
Additional Information
© 1998 American Astronomical Society. Received 1997 June 18; revised 1997 September 24. We are grateful to Gary da Costa for a critical reading of an earlier version of this manuscript. This research was conducted by the WFPC2 Investigation Definition Team, supported in part by NASA grant NAS 7-1260.Attached Files
Published - 970220.web.pdf
Submitted - 9709259v1.pdf
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Additional details
- Alternative title
- Hubble Space Telescope Observations of the Draco Dwarf Spheroidal
- Eprint ID
- 53966
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20150121-152955114
- NAS 7-1260
- NASA
- NAS 5-26555
- NASA
- Created
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2015-01-22Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)