Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2002-08-24
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Unofficial proceedings of an invited talk at the Ringberg conference on "The Chemical Evolution of Dwarf Galaxies". Slides are
Scientific paper
The current status of carbon stars in the Local Group and beyond, is discussed. Although many carbon stars and late M-stars have been identified in Local Group galaxies, a coherent understanding in terms of the chemical evolution- and star formation history of a galaxy is still largely lacking. Although a few major new surveys have been carried out over the last three years, the observational data is still incomplete in many respects: 1) for some of the larger galaxies only a small fraction in area has been surveyed so far, 2) surveys have been conducted using different techniques, and some of the older surveys are incomplete in bolometric magnitude, 3) only for some galaxies is there information about the late M-star population, or it is sometimes unpublished even when the data is available, 4) not all galaxies in the Local Group have been surveyed, 5) especially for some of the older work insufficient data is available to determine bolometric magnitudes. I have correlated carbon star positions with the 2MASS 2nd incremental data release to obtain $JHK$, and bolometric magnitudes, to remedy this situation in some cases. From the existing observations one can derive the following: the formation of carbon stars is both a function of metallicity and star-formation history. In galaxies with a similar star formation history, there will be relatively more carbon stars formed in the system with the lower metallicity. On the other hand, the scarcity of AGB type carbon stars in some galaxies with the lowest metallicity indicates that these systems have had a low, if any, star-formation over the last few Gyrs.
No associations
LandOfFree
Carbon stars in the Local Group does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Carbon stars in the Local Group, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Carbon stars in the Local Group will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-398213