Statistics
Scientific paper
Jul 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002hst..prop.9453b&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #9453
Statistics
Hst Proposal Id #9453
Scientific paper
With the advent of the ACS, we can cross a critical threshold in the study of galaxy formation: For the first time, we can resolve the old main sequence stars in the Andromeda halo, and thus directly determine the ages of the halo stars in a giant galaxy other than our own. As the nearest giant galaxy, Andromeda offers the best testing ground for understanding galaxy formation and evolution. Resolution of its halo will tell us about its spread in age and metallicity, thus providing a formation history. Via extensive simulations, we demonstrate that we can unambiguously characterize the halo population via a deep F606W/F814W color-magnitude diagram reaching below the main sequence turnoff. The data will distinguish whether the halo formed quickly or through protracted infall and merging episodes, and would detect even a few percent trace of intermediate age stars. Our field was carefully chosen to meet two criteria: an optimal stellar density ensuring adequate statistics while avoiding overcrowding, and the inclusion of an Andromeda globular cluster matched to the peak halo metallicity. We also propose very brief observations in the same two bands of five Galactic globular clusters spanning a wide metallicity range, thus establishing population templates in the ACS photometric system that will be used to calibrate and interpret the Andromeda data.
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