Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/119125
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- Title
- Kinematic subpopulations in dwarf spheroidal galaxies
- Related
- Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 402, No. 2 (2010), p.1357-1368
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15975.x
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date
- 2010
- FoR/RFCD Code(s)
-
020100 Astronomical and Space Sciences
- Author/Creator
- Ural, Ugar
- Author/Creator
- Wilkinson, Mark I
- Author/Creator
- Koch, Andreas
- Author/Creator
- Gilmore, Gerard
- Author/Creator
- Beers, Timothy C
- Author/Creator
- Belokurov, Vasily
- Author/Creator
- Evans, N. Wyn
- Author/Creator
- Grebel, Eva K
- Author/Creator
- Vidrih, Simon
- Author/Creator
- Zucker, Daniel B
- Description
- We present new spectroscopic data for 26 stars in the recently discovered Canes Venatici I (CVn I) dwarf spheroidal galaxy, obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph North (GMOS-N) on the Gemini North telescope. We use these data to investigate the recent claim of the presence of two dynamically inconsistent stellar populations in this system. While we find no evidence for kinematically distinct subpopulations in our sample, we also show that the available kinematic data set in CVnI is likely too small to draw robust conclusions about its subpopulations. We are, however, able to obtain a mass estimate for CVn I that is consistent with all available data, including previously published data. We discuss possible differences between our sample and the earlier data set, and study the general detectability of subpopulations in small kinematic samples. We conclude that, in the absence of additional supporting observational evidence (e.g. metallicity gradients), subpopulations in small kinematic samples (typically fewer than 100 stars) should be treated with caution, as their identification depends on multiple parameters and rarely produces a signal at a high confidence level. It is therefore essential to explicitly determine the statistical significance of any suggested subpopulation.
- Description
- 12 page(s)
- Subject Keyword
- 020100 Astronomical and Space Sciences
- Subject Keyword
- stellar dynamics
- Subject Keyword
- galaxies: individual: CVn I dSph
- Subject Keyword
- galaxies: kinematics and dynamics
- Subject Keyword
- Local Group
- Subject Keyword
- dark matter
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Organisation
- Macquarie University. Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/119125
- Identifier
- ISSN:0035-8711
- Identifier
- mq-rm-2010004064
- Language
- eng
- Reviewed
