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Kinematics and chemistry of recently discovered Reticulum 2 and Horologium 1 dwarf galaxies

Koposov, Sergey E. ; Casey, Andrew R. ; Belokurov, Vasily ; Lewis, James R. ; Gilmore, Gerard ; Worley, Clare ; Hourihane, Anna ; Randich, S. ; Bensby, Thomas LU orcid and Bragaglia, A. , et al. (2015) In Astrophysical Journal 811(1).
Abstract
We report on VLT/GIRAFFE spectra of stars in two recently discovered ultra-faint satellites, Reticulum 2 and Horologium 1, obtained as part of the Gaia-ESO Survey. We identify 18 members in Reticulum 2 and five in Horologium 1. We find Reticulum 2 to have a velocity dispersion of 3.22(-0.49)(+1.64) km s(-1) , implying a mass-to-light ratio (M/L) of similar to 500. The mean metallicity of Reticulum 2 is [Fe/H] = -2.46, with an intrinsic dispersion of similar to 0.3 dex and alpha-enhancement of similar to 0.4 dex. We conclude that Reticulum 2 is a dwarf galaxy. We also report on the serendipitous discovery of four stars in a previously unknown stellar substructure near Reticulum 2 with [Fe/H] similar to -2 and V-hel similar to 220 km s(-1),... (More)
We report on VLT/GIRAFFE spectra of stars in two recently discovered ultra-faint satellites, Reticulum 2 and Horologium 1, obtained as part of the Gaia-ESO Survey. We identify 18 members in Reticulum 2 and five in Horologium 1. We find Reticulum 2 to have a velocity dispersion of 3.22(-0.49)(+1.64) km s(-1) , implying a mass-to-light ratio (M/L) of similar to 500. The mean metallicity of Reticulum 2 is [Fe/H] = -2.46, with an intrinsic dispersion of similar to 0.3 dex and alpha-enhancement of similar to 0.4 dex. We conclude that Reticulum 2 is a dwarf galaxy. We also report on the serendipitous discovery of four stars in a previously unknown stellar substructure near Reticulum 2 with [Fe/H] similar to -2 and V-hel similar to 220 km s(-1), far from the systemic velocity of Reticulum 2. For Horologium 1 we infer a velocity dispersion of sigma (V) = 4.9(-0.9)(+2.8) km s(-1) and a M/L ratio of similar to 600, leading us to conclude that Horologium 1 is also a dwarf galaxy. Horologium 1 is slightly more metal-poor than Reticulum 2 ([Fe/H] = -2.76) and is similarly alpha-enhanced: [alpha/Fe] similar to 0.3 dex with a significant spread of metallicities of 0.17 dex. The line-of-sight velocity of Reticulum 2 is offset by 100 km s(-1) from the prediction of the orbital velocity of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), thus making its association with the Cloud uncertain. However, at the location of Horologium 1, both the backward-integrated orbit of the LMC and its halo are predicted to have radial velocities similar to that of the dwarf. Therefore, it is possible that Horologium 1 is or once was a member of the Magellanic family. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
stars: abundances, globular clusters: general, Galaxy: halo, dynamics, galaxies: kinematics and, galaxies: dwarf, galaxies: abundances
in
Astrophysical Journal
volume
811
issue
1
article number
62
publisher
American Astronomical Society
external identifiers
  • wos:000363471600063
  • scopus:84945578370
ISSN
0004-637X
DOI
10.1088/0004-637X/811/1/62
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0ab702d9-c894-4122-a156-14f003a45dea (old id 8395188)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:15:01
date last changed
2024-02-25 12:18:09
@article{0ab702d9-c894-4122-a156-14f003a45dea,
  abstract     = {{We report on VLT/GIRAFFE spectra of stars in two recently discovered ultra-faint satellites, Reticulum 2 and Horologium 1, obtained as part of the Gaia-ESO Survey. We identify 18 members in Reticulum 2 and five in Horologium 1. We find Reticulum 2 to have a velocity dispersion of 3.22(-0.49)(+1.64) km s(-1) , implying a mass-to-light ratio (M/L) of similar to 500. The mean metallicity of Reticulum 2 is [Fe/H] = -2.46, with an intrinsic dispersion of similar to 0.3 dex and alpha-enhancement of similar to 0.4 dex. We conclude that Reticulum 2 is a dwarf galaxy. We also report on the serendipitous discovery of four stars in a previously unknown stellar substructure near Reticulum 2 with [Fe/H] similar to -2 and V-hel similar to 220 km s(-1), far from the systemic velocity of Reticulum 2. For Horologium 1 we infer a velocity dispersion of sigma (V) = 4.9(-0.9)(+2.8) km s(-1) and a M/L ratio of similar to 600, leading us to conclude that Horologium 1 is also a dwarf galaxy. Horologium 1 is slightly more metal-poor than Reticulum 2 ([Fe/H] = -2.76) and is similarly alpha-enhanced: [alpha/Fe] similar to 0.3 dex with a significant spread of metallicities of 0.17 dex. The line-of-sight velocity of Reticulum 2 is offset by 100 km s(-1) from the prediction of the orbital velocity of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), thus making its association with the Cloud uncertain. However, at the location of Horologium 1, both the backward-integrated orbit of the LMC and its halo are predicted to have radial velocities similar to that of the dwarf. Therefore, it is possible that Horologium 1 is or once was a member of the Magellanic family.}},
  author       = {{Koposov, Sergey E. and Casey, Andrew R. and Belokurov, Vasily and Lewis, James R. and Gilmore, Gerard and Worley, Clare and Hourihane, Anna and Randich, S. and Bensby, Thomas and Bragaglia, A. and Bergemann, M. and Carraro, G. and Costado, M. T. and Flaccomio, E. and Francois, P. and Heiter, U. and Hill, V. and Jofre, P. and Lando, C. and Lanzafame, A. C. and de Laverny, P. and Monaco, L. and Morbidelli, L. and Sbordone, L. and Mikolaitis, S. and Ryde, Nils}},
  issn         = {{0004-637X}},
  keywords     = {{stars: abundances; globular clusters: general; Galaxy: halo; dynamics; galaxies: kinematics and; galaxies: dwarf; galaxies: abundances}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{American Astronomical Society}},
  series       = {{Astrophysical Journal}},
  title        = {{Kinematics and chemistry of recently discovered Reticulum 2 and Horologium 1 dwarf galaxies}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/811/1/62}},
  doi          = {{10.1088/0004-637X/811/1/62}},
  volume       = {{811}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}