Physics
Scientific paper
Aug 1999
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999noao.prop..290c&link_type=abstract
NOAO Proposal ID #1999B-0290
Physics
Scientific paper
Determining the star formation and chemical evolution histories in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) will provide us with a solid cornerstone for building an understanding of galaxy evolution. We have obtained unsurpassed color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) for stars in two LMC fields (one in the bar, one in the disk) using HST and CTIO imaging. The main factor limiting the accuracy the star-formation histories we derive from our CMDs is the age-metallicity degeneracy of CMDs and our poor understanding of the age-metallicity relationship in the LMC. We can conquer this problem by directly measuring the metallicity distribution in these fields via spectroscopy of individual stars. We will exploit the multiplexing capability of the new HYDRA spectrograph to obtain infrared spectra for 110 red giant stars in each field and determine metallicities, [Fe/H], with random errors of 0.1 to 0.15 dex per star from the strengths of the calcium triplet absorption lines at approximately 8500 Å. The metallicity distribution we derive will be accurate to ~30% in 0.15 dex bins. Supporting photometric observations with the 1.5-m will allow us to separate red giants from AGB stars in our fields. We will use the metallicities together with our CMDs to greatly improve our estimate of the star-formation history and investigate the chemical evolution of the LMC.
Bosler Tammy
Cole Andrew A.
Gallagher John Jay
Smecker-Hane Tammy
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