Revealing the LMC halo

Details Revealing the LMC halo Revealing the LMC halo

Aug 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005noao.prop..212s&link_type=abstract

NOAO Proposal ID #2005B-0212

Physics

Scientific paper

The LMC is an irregular, disk dominated, bulge-less, nearly face-on galaxy. The presence of a stellar halo has not been proved, although there is tentative evidence for its existence. All galaxies that have been adequately examined have shown an extended field star halo: if LMC is an exception it will be of major importance. (Lambda)CDM cosmology predicts a dark matter halo for galaxies like the LMC. Verifying a stellar LMC halo (and its metal and age distribution), a key observation for galaxy formation scenarios, is made difficult by the large extent on the sky and because it is projected against the LMC disk. We propose to search a) for RR Lyraes as probes of an extended halo: if found, they represent an extended distribution of old stars, and serve as kinematic probes with follow-up spectroscopy; and b) for main-sequence turn-off stars (MSTO) which are numerous enough to outnumber background galaxies, and are blue enough to be distinguished from foreground stars. MSTO star counts will distinguish a putative spheroidal halo from the exponential disk. Control fields will be observed to account for unresolved background galaxies. The proposed extended Washington photometry will optimize contrast for MSTO stars, and also identify and obtain metallicities of bona-fide individual LMC giants (also potential kinematic probes). The age distribution will be derived from MSTO stars.

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