The Recent Star Formation Histories of M81 Group Dwarf Irregular Galaxies

doi:10.1086/592323

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The Astrophysical Journal Volume 689 Number 1 Create an alert RSS this journal

Daniel R. Weisz et al. 2008 ApJ 689 160 doi:10.1086/592323

The Recent Star Formation Histories of M81 Group Dwarf Irregular Galaxies

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Daniel R. Weisz¹, Evan D. Skillman¹, John M. Cannon², Andrew E. Dolphin³, Robert C. Kennicutt, Jr.⁴, Janice Lee⁵ and Fabian Walter⁶

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dweisz@astro.umn.edu skillman@astro.umn.edu jcannon@macalester.edu adolphin@raytheon.com robk@ast.cam.ac.uk jlee@ociw.edu walter@mpia.de

¹ Astronomy Department, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
² Department of Physics and Astronomy, Macalester College, 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55125
³ Raytheon Corporation, 1151 East Hermans Road, Tucson, AZ 85706
⁴ Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
⁵ Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101
⁶ Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany

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Abstract References Cited By

We present observations and analysis of nine dwarf irregular galaxies (dIs) in the M81 Group taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. The nine galaxies (the Garland, M81 Dwarf A, DDO 53, Ho IX, Ho I, DDO 165, NGC 2366, Ho II, and IC 2574) span 6 mag in luminosity, a factor of 1000 in current star formation rate, and 0.5 dex in metallicity. We use color-magnitude diagrams of resolved stellar populations to study the star formation histories (SFHs) of these galaxies. Dividing the sample at M_B = − 15, we analyze the similarities and differences in the SFHs, birthrate parameters (b), fraction of stars formed per time interval (f), and spatial distribution of stellar components. As function of luminosity, we find only minor differences in SF characteristics among the M81 Group dIs despite a wide range of physical properties. We extend our comparison to select dIs in the Local Group (LG) and, again, find little variation in SF parameters. Our average f parameters are consistent with a constant SFH; however, individual galaxies can show significant departures from this. We find this result underlines the importance of stochastic SF in dIs. We also compare possible formation scenarios of the fainter and candidate tidal dwarfs (TDGs) in the M81 Group. The SFHs and the spatial distribution of associated red stars suggest that the Garland and Ho IX are not dIs and are potentially TDGs. A noteworthy difference between the LG and the M81 Group is the lack of TDGs in the LG.

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