Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2000
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000aas...19713402s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, 197th AAS Meeting, #134.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 33, p.719
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We report preliminary results of a >4 degrees2 survey of the Leo II dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy using the Washington M and T2 filters and the stellar gravity-sensitive DDO51 filter. Using the technique outlined by Majewski et al. (2000, AJ, 119, 760), we map the spatial distribution of potential Leo II giant stars. The distribution of candidate Leo II giants shows several intruiging features, including a small outcropping from the main body of the dSph that extends to the tidal radius. This outcropping is also apparent on the starcount contour maps of Irwin & Hatzidimitriou (1995). We have revised Leo II's structural parameters from a deep UBV survey using both classical starcount methods and an analysis of the surface brightness profile of unresolved stars in a star-subtracted image of the dSph. The outcropping appears to be aligned with this revised major axis. A few potential Leo II RGB stars lie outside of its tidal radius. However, the signal is not much greater than the statistical noise. Spectroscopic follow-up will be needed to determine if these extra-tidal stars are indeed associated with Leo II. The small signal, however, suggests that Leo II has either undergone little tidal disruption by the Milky Way or that any tidal debris has drifted away from the dSph during what is speculated to be a very long orbital period along a very eccentric orbit. We acknowledge support for this research from NSF CAREER Award grant AST 97-02521, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Research Corporation.
Majewski Stan
Patterson Roger
Siegel Malcolm
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