TY - JOUR
T1 - The Isaac Newton Telescope Monitoring Survey of Local Group Dwarf Galaxies. IV. The Star Formation History of Andromeda VII Derived from Long-period Variable Stars
AU - Navabi, Mahdieh
AU - Saremi, Elham
AU - Javadi, Atefeh
AU - Noori, Majedeh
AU - Van Loon, Jacco Th
AU - Khosroshahi, Habib G.
AU - McDonald, Iain
AU - Alizadeh, Mina
AU - Danesh, Arash
AU - Gozaliasl, Ghassem
AU - Molaeinezhad, Alireza
AU - Parto, Tahere
AU - Raouf, Mojtaba
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/4/1
Y1 - 2021/4/1
N2 - We have examined the star formation history (SFH) of Andromeda VII (And VII), the brightest and most massive dwarf spheroidal (dSph) satellite of the Andromeda galaxy (M31). Although M31 is surrounded by several dSph companions with old stellar populations and low metallicity, it has a metal-rich stellar halo with an age of 6-8 Gyr. This indicates that any evolutionary association between the stellar halo of M31 and its dSph system is frail. Therefore, the question is whether And VII (a high-metallicity dSph located ∼220 kpc from M31) can be associated with M31's young, metal-rich halo. Here we perform the first reconstruction of the SFH of And VII employing long-period variable (LPV) stars. As the most evolved asymptotic giant branch and red supergiant stars, the birth mass of LPVs can be determined by connecting their near-infrared photometry to theoretical evolutionary tracks. We found 55 LPV candidates within two half-light radii, using multiepoch imaging with the Isaac Newton Telescope in the i and V bands. Based on their birth mass function, the star formation rate (SFR) of And VII was obtained as a function of cosmic time. The main epoch of star formation occurred ≃ 6.2 Gyr ago with an SFR of 0.006 ± 0.002 M o˙ yr-1. Over the past 6 Gyr, we find slow star formation, which continued until 500 Myr ago with an SFR ∼ 0.0005 ± 0.0002 M o˙ yr-1. We determined And VII's stellar mass M = (13.3 ± 5.3) × 106 M o˙ within a half-light radius r 12=3.8 ± 0.3 and metallicity Z = 0.0007, and we also derived its distance modulus of μ = 24.38 mag.
AB - We have examined the star formation history (SFH) of Andromeda VII (And VII), the brightest and most massive dwarf spheroidal (dSph) satellite of the Andromeda galaxy (M31). Although M31 is surrounded by several dSph companions with old stellar populations and low metallicity, it has a metal-rich stellar halo with an age of 6-8 Gyr. This indicates that any evolutionary association between the stellar halo of M31 and its dSph system is frail. Therefore, the question is whether And VII (a high-metallicity dSph located ∼220 kpc from M31) can be associated with M31's young, metal-rich halo. Here we perform the first reconstruction of the SFH of And VII employing long-period variable (LPV) stars. As the most evolved asymptotic giant branch and red supergiant stars, the birth mass of LPVs can be determined by connecting their near-infrared photometry to theoretical evolutionary tracks. We found 55 LPV candidates within two half-light radii, using multiepoch imaging with the Isaac Newton Telescope in the i and V bands. Based on their birth mass function, the star formation rate (SFR) of And VII was obtained as a function of cosmic time. The main epoch of star formation occurred ≃ 6.2 Gyr ago with an SFR of 0.006 ± 0.002 M o˙ yr-1. Over the past 6 Gyr, we find slow star formation, which continued until 500 Myr ago with an SFR ∼ 0.0005 ± 0.0002 M o˙ yr-1. We determined And VII's stellar mass M = (13.3 ± 5.3) × 106 M o˙ within a half-light radius r 12=3.8 ± 0.3 and metallicity Z = 0.0007, and we also derived its distance modulus of μ = 24.38 mag.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85104632579&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/abdec1
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/abdec1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85104632579
SN - 0004-637X
VL - 910
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
IS - 2
M1 - 127
ER -