Browsing by Author "Mackey, Dougal"

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    Detailed study of the Milky Way globular cluster Laevens 3
    (2019) Longeard, Nicolas; Martin, Nicolas; Ibata, Rodrigo A.; Collins, Michelle L. M.; Laevens, Benjamin P. M.; Bell, Eric; Mackey, Dougal
    We present a photometric and spectroscopic study of the Milky Way satellite Laevens 3. UsingMegaCam/Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope g and i photometry andKeck II/DEIMOS multi-object spectroscopy, we refine the structural and stellar properties of the system. The Laevens 3 colour-magnitude diagram shows that it is quite metal-poor, old (13.0 +/- 1.0Gyr), and at a distance of 61.4 +/- 1.0 kpc, partly based on two RR Lyrae stars. The system is faint (M-V = -2.8(-0.3)(+0.2) mag) and compact (r(h) = 11.4 +/- 1.0 pc). From the spectroscopy, we constrain the systemic metallicity ([Fe/H](spectro) = -1.8 +/- 0.1 dex) but the metallicity and velocity dispersions are both unresolved. Using Gaia DR2, we infer a mean proper motion of (mu(alpha)*, mu(delta)) = (0.51 +/- 0.28,-0.83 +/- 0.27) mas yr(-1), which, combined with the system's radial velocity (< v(r)> = -70.2 +/- 0.5km s(-1)), translates into a halo orbit with a pericenter and apocenter of 40.7(-14.7)(+5.6) and 85.6(-5.9)(+17.2) kpc, respectively. Overall, Laevens 3 shares the typical properties of the Milky Way's outer halo globular clusters. Furthermore, we find that this system shows signs of mass segregation that strengthens our conclusion that Laevens 3 is a globular cluster.
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    The Pristine Dwarf-Galaxy survey - II. In-depth observational study of the faint Milky Way satellite Sagittarius II
    (2020) Longeard, Nicolas; Martin, Nicolas; Starkenburg, Else; Ibata, Rodrigo A.; Collins, Michelle L. M.; Laevens, Benjamin P. M.; Mackey, Dougal; Rich, R. Michael; Aguado, David S.; Arentsen, Anke; Jablonka, Pascale; Hernandez, Jonay I. Gonzalez; Navarro, Julio F.; Sanchez-Janssen, Ruben
    We present an extensive study of the Sagittarius II (Sgr II) stellar system using MegaCam g and i photometry, narrow-band, metallicity-sensitive calcium H&K doublet photometry and Keck II/DEIMOS multiobject spectroscopy. We derive and refine the Sgr II structural and stellar properties inferred at the time of its discovery. The colour-magnitude diagram implies Sgr II is old (12.0 +/- 0.5 Gyr) and metal poor. The CaHK photometry confirms the metal-poor nature of the satellite ([Fe/H](CaHK) = -2.32 +/- 0.04 dex) and suggests that Sgr II hosts more than one single stellar population (sigma(CaHK)([FeH]) = 0.11(-0.03)(+0.05) dex). Using the Ca infrared triplet measured from our highest signal-to-noise spectra, we confirm the metallicity and dispersion inferred from the Pristine photometric metallicities ([Fe/H](spectro) = -2.23 +/- 0.05 dex, sigma(spectro)([Fe/H]) = 0.10(-0.04)(+0.06) dex). The velocity dispersion of the system is found to be sigma(v) = 2.7(-1.0)(+1.3) km s(-1) after excluding two potential binary stars. Sgr II's metallicity and absolute magnitude (M-V = -5.7 +/- 0.1 mag) place the system on the luminosity-metallicity relation of the Milky Way dwarf galaxies despite its small size. The low but resolved metallicity and velocity dispersions paint the picture of a slightly dark-matter-dominated satellite (M/L = 23.0(-23.0)(+32.8) M-circle dot L-circle dot(-1)). Furthermore, using the Gaia Data Release 2, we constrain the orbit of the satellite and find an apocentre of 118.4(-23.7)(+28.4) kpc and a pericentre of 54.8(-6.1)(+3.3) kpc. The orbit of Sgr II is consistent with the trailing arm of the Sgr stream and indicates that it is possibly a satellite of the Sgr dSph that was tidally stripped from the dwarf's influence.