Bibcode
Kalirai, Jason S.; Zucker, Daniel B.; Guhathakurta, Puragra; Geha, Marla; Kniazev, Alexei Y.; Martínez-Delgado, David; Bell, Eric F.; Grebel, Eva K.; Gilbert, Karoline M.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 705, Issue 1, pp. 1043-1055 (2009).
Advertised on:
11
2009
Journal
Citations
28
Refereed citations
24
Description
Andromeda X (And X) is a newly discovered low-luminosity M31 dwarf
spheroidal galaxy (dSph) found by Zucker et al. in the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey (SDSS; York et al.). In this paper, we present the first
spectroscopic study of individual red giant branch stars in And X, as a
part of the Spectroscopic and Photometric Landscape of Andromeda's
Stellar Halo (SPLASH) Survey. Using the Keck II telescope and
multiobject DEIMOS spectrograph, we target two spectroscopic masks over
the face of the galaxy and measure radial velocities for ~100 stars with
a median accuracy of σ v ~ 3 km s-1. The
velocity histogram for this field confirms three populations of stars
along the sight line: foreground Milky Way dwarfs at small negative
velocities, M31 halo red giants over a broad range of velocities, and a
very cold velocity "spike" consisting of 22 stars belonging to And X
with v rad = -163.8 ± 1.2 km s-1. By
carefully considering both the random and systematic velocity errors of
these stars (e.g., through duplicate star measurements), we derive an
intrinsic velocity dispersion of just σ v = 3.9
± 1.2 km s-1 for And X, which for its size, implies a
minimum mass-to-light ratio of M/LV = 37+26
-19 assuming that the mass traces the light. Based on the
clean sample of member stars, we measure the median metallicity of And X
to be [Fe/H] = -1.93 ± 0.11, with a slight radial metallicity
gradient. The dispersion in metallicity is large,
σ([Fe/H]phot) = 0.48, possibly hinting that the galaxy
retained much of its chemical enrichment products. And X has a total
integrated luminosity (MV = -8.1 ± 0.5) that straddles
the classical Local Group dSphs and the new SDSS ultra-low luminosity
galaxies. The galaxy is among the most metal-poor dSphs known,
especially relative to those with MV < -8, and has the
second lowest intrinsic velocity dispersion of the entire sample. Our
results suggest that And X is less massive by a factor of 4 when
compared to Milky Way dSphs of comparable luminosity (e.g., Draco and
Ursa Minor). We discuss the potential for better understanding the
formation and evolution mechanisms for M31's system of dSphs through
(current) kinematic and chemical abundance studies, especially in
relation to the Milky Way sample.
Data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which
is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute
of Technology, the University of California, and the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible
by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.
Based on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope, operated
on the island of La Palma jointly by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway,
and Sweden, in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of
the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias; these observations were
funded by the Optical Infrared Coordination Network (OPTICON), a major
international collaboration supported by the Research Infrastructures
Programme of the European Commission's Sixth Framework Programme.