Browsing by Author "Pritzl, B."

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A large and homogeneous sample of SX Phe stars in the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy .
    (2006) Poretti, E.; Dell'Arciprete, L.; Clementini, G.; Held, E. V.; Greco, C.; Gullieuszik, M.; Maio, M.; Rizzi, L.; Catelan , Marcio; Smith, H. A.; Pritzl, B.; De Lee, N.; Rest, A.
    We report on the detection of sixty-one SX Phe stars in the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy using the Wide-Field Imager at the 2.2m ESO-MPI telescope. In spite of their extreme faintness (22.0...
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Looking for building blocks of the Galactic halo: variable stars in the Fornax, Bootes I, Canes Venatici II dwarfs and in NGC 2419
    (2010) Greco, Claudia; Clementini, Gisella; Held, E. V.; Poretti, E.; Catelan, Márcio; Federici, L.; Maio, M.; Gullieuszik, M.; Ripepi, V.; Dall'Ora, M.; Di Fabrizio, L.; Kinemuchi, K.; Di Crescienzo, M.; Marconi, M.; Musella, I.; Pritzl, B.; Rest, A.; De Lee, N.; Smith, H.
    Λ cold-dark-matter hierarchical models of galaxy formation suggest that the halo of the Milky Way (MW) has been assembled, at least in part, through accretion of protogalactic fragments partially resembling the present-day dwarf spheroidal (dSph) satellites of the MW. Investigation of the stellar populations of the MW's globular clusters (GCs) and dSph companions can thus provide excellent tests to infer the dominant Galaxy-formation scenario, whether merger/accretion or cloud collapse. Pulsating variable stars offer a very powerful tool in this context, since variables of different types allow tracing the different stellar generations in a galaxy and to reconstruct the galaxy's star-formation history and assembly back to the first epochs of galaxy formation. In particular, the RR Lyrae stars, belonging to the old population (t > 10 Gyr), witnessed the epoch of halo formation, and thus hold a crucial role to identify the MW satellites that may have contributed to build up the Galactic halo. In the MW, most GCs with an RR Lyrae population sharply divide into two distinct groups (Oosterhoff types I and II) based on the mean periods and relative proportion of fundamental-mode (RRab) and first-overtone (RRc) RR Lyrae stars. On the other hand, the Galactic-halo field RR Lyrae stars show a dominance of Oosterhoff I properties. Here, we investigate the Oosterhoff properties of a number of different stellar systems, starting from relatively undisturbed dwarf galaxies (the Fornax dSph and its globular clusters), through distorted and tidally disrupting ones (the Bootes and Canes Venatici II dSphs), to possible final relics of the disruption process (the Galactic globular cluster NGC 2419). We are addressing the crucial question of whether the RR Lyrae pulsation properties in these systems conform to the Oosterhoff dichotomy characterizing the MW variables. If they do not, the Galaxy's halo cannot have been assembled by dSph-like protogalactic fragments resembling the present-day dSph companions of the MW. We have reduced and combined long time series from different telescopes, both ground- and space-based. Variable stars have been detected with image-subtraction techniques using the package isis2.1. Periods, amplitudes and Oosterhoff type for all variable stars, as well as color-magnitude diagrams of the stellar populations are discussed for each stellar cluster analyzed....
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    RR Lyrae stars in M31 globular clusters: B514
    (2008) Contreras, R.; Federici, L.; Clementini, G.; Cacciari, C.; Merighi, R.; Kinemuchi, K.; Catelan , Marcio; Fusi Pecci, F.; Marconi, M.; Pritzl, B.; Smith, H.
    We present preliminary results of a variable star search in the metal-poor globular cluster B514 of the Andromeda galaxy (M31), based on Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 and Advanced Camera for Surveys observations. A large number of RR Lyrae stars have been identified for the first time in a globular cluster of M31. The average period of the RR Lyrae variables (< Pab > = 0.58 days and < Pc > = 0.35 days, for fundamental-mode and first-overtone pulsators, respectively) and the position in the period-amplitude diagram both suggest that B514 is likely an Oosterhoff I cluster, contrary to the general behaviour of the metal-poor globular clusters in the Milky Way, which show instead Oosterhoff type II pulsation properties....
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Spectral Analysis of NGC 6388 and NGC 6441
    (2005) Pritzl, B.; Catelan, Márcio
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    The Oosterhoff Dichotomy in the Milky Way and Other Local Group Galaxies
    (2010) Smith, Horace A.; Catelan, Marcio; Clementini, G.; Kuehn, C.; Pritzl, B.; Beers, T.; De Lee, N.; Kinemuchi, K.; Greco, C.; Ripepi, V.; Marconi, M.; Musella, I.; Moretti, M. I.; Dall'Ora, M.; Contreras, R.; Zorotovic, M.
    In 1939, P. Th. Oosterhoff investigated the properties of RR Lyrae stars in five of the globular clusters of the Milky Way. He discovered that these clusters divided into two groups, now known as Oosterhoff groups I and II, on the basis of the properties of their RR Lyrae stars. Subsequent studies of RR Lyrae variables in additional globular clusters found that most Milky Way globular clusters that contain significant numbers of RR Lyrae stars fall into one or another of the two Oosterhoff groups. Moreover, globular clusters of Oosterhoff group I tend to be more metal-rich than those of Oosterhoff group II. However, the dwarf galaxies surrounding the Milky Way, and their globular clusters, do not exhibit the Oosterhoff dichotomy. Moreover, the bulge globular clusters NGC 6388 and NGC 6441 cannot be easily assigned to one of the traditional Oosterhoff groups. We will discuss the implications of the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the Oosterhoff gap for stellar evolution and for the formation and evolution of the Galactic halo. This work has been supported in part by the National Science Foundation....