The star formation histories of local group dwarf galaxies. II. Searching for signatures of reionization
- Department of Astronomy, University of California at Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
- Raytheon Company, 1151 East Hermans Road, Tucson, AZ 85756 (United States)
- Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, University of Minnesota, 116 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, New Mexico State University, Box 30001, 1320 Frenger Street, Las Cruces, NM 88003 (United States)
We search for signatures of reionization in the star formation histories (SFHs) of 38 Local Group dwarf galaxies (10{sup 4} < M{sub *} < 10{sup 9} M{sub ☉}). The SFHs are derived from color-magnitude diagrams using archival Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 imaging. Only five quenched galaxies (And V, And VI, And XIII, Leo IV, and Hercules) are consistent with forming the bulk of their stars before reionization, when full uncertainties are considered. Observations of 13 of the predicted 'true fossils' identified by Bovill and Ricotti show that only two (Hercules and Leo IV) indicate star formation quenched by reionization. However, both are within the virial radius of the Milky Way and evidence of tidal disturbance complicates this interpretation. We argue that the late-time gas capture scenario posited by Ricotti for the low mass, gas-rich, and star-forming fossil candidate Leo T is observationally indistinguishable from simple gas retention. Given the ambiguity between environmental effects and reionization, the best reionization fossil candidates are quenched low mass field galaxies (e.g., KKR 25).
- OSTI ID:
- 22365684
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 789, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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