MMT Observatory Research Articles

Spectroscopic Confirmation of Obscured AGN Populations from Unsupervised Machine Learning

We present the result of a spectroscopic campaign targeting active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates selected using a novel unsupervised machine-learning (ML) algorithm trained on optical and mid-infrared photometry. AGN candidates are chosen without incorporating prior AGN selection criteria and are fainter, redder, and more numerous, ∼340 AGN deg−2, than comparable photometric and spectroscopic samples. In this work, we obtain 178 rest-optical spectra from two candidate ML-identified AGN classes with the Hectospec spectrograph on the MMT Observatory. We find that our first ML-identified group is dominated by Type I AGNs (85%) with a <3% contamination rate from non-AGNs. Our second ML-identified group is mostly comprised of Type II AGNs (65%), with a moderate contamination rate of 15% primarily from star-forming galaxies. Our spectroscopic analyses suggest that the classes recover more obscured AGNs, confirming that ML techniques are effective at recovering large populations of AGNs at high levels of extinction. We demonstrate the efficacy of pairing existing WISE data with large-area and deep optical/near-infrared photometric surveys to select large populations of AGNs and recover obscured growth of supermassive black holes. This approach is well suited to upcoming photometric surveys, such as Euclid, Rubin, and Roman.

Clues to the Origin of Jovian Outer Irregular Satellites from Reflectance Spectra

Visible/near-infrared narrowband spectroscopy (dispersion per element ∼ 6 Å) was obtained of the Jovian irregular satellites JVI Himalia, JVII Elara, JVIII Pasiphae, JIX Sinope, JX Lysithea, JXI Carme, JXII Ananke, and JXVII Callirrhoe in 2006, 2009, and 2010 using the MMT Observatory Red Channel spectrograph. These spectra sample three prograde (i = 28°), four retrograde (i = 149° and 165°), and one independent satellite. Our results suggest that the prograde cluster satellites represent fragments probing the cluster’s original parent body, with the largest satellite, Himalia, being the core of the parent body, while Elara preserves the geochemical/mineralogical transition between the core and an outer layer of the body, and Lysithea formed farther from the center of the parent body. The spectral signatures suggest that the prograde parent body fragmented in the early stages of aqueous alteration. This supports the change from more organic-rich material at Lysithea to more carbonized material at Himalia, consistent with weathering/processing of a carbon-bearing material at Himalia. At twice the distance from Jupiter, the retrograde cluster anchored by Pasiphae also suggests that Ananke preserves the transition between the core and an outer layer of a parent body. Both Sinope and Carme are similar to D-class asteroids. Bluing/flattening near 0.4–0.5 μm in Carme’s spectrum suggests a carbonized component to Carme’s surface material, consistent with greater levels of weathering/processing. Sinope’s red spectrum is consistent with broadband photometry and does not confirm or negate the proposal that it had a common parent body with the Pasiphae cluster.

Magellan/M2FS and MMT/Hectochelle Spectroscopy of Dwarf Galaxies and Faint Star Clusters within the Galactic Halo* * This paper presents data gathered with the Magellan Telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile, and the MMT Observatory, a joint facility of the Smithsonian Institution, and the University of Arizona.

We present spectroscopic data for 16,369 stellar targets within and/or toward 38 dwarf spheroidal galaxies and faint star clusters within the Milky Way halo environment. All spectra come from observations with the multiobject, fiber-fed echelle spectrographs M2FS at the Magellan/Clay telescope or Hectochelle at the MMT, reaching a typical limiting magnitude G ≲ 21. Data products include processed spectra from all observations and catalogs listing estimates—derived from template model fitting—of line-of-sight velocity (median uncertainty 1.4 km s−1) effective temperature (255 K), (base-10 logarithm of) surface gravity (0.59 dex in cgs units), [Fe/H] (0.4 dex) and [Mg/Fe] (0.27 dex) abundance ratios. The sample contains multiepoch measurements for 3720 sources, with up to 15 epochs per source, enabling studies of intrinsic spectroscopic variability. The sample contains 6087 likely red giant stars (based on surface gravity), and 4492 likely members (based on line-of-sight velocity and Gaia-measured proper motion) of the target systems. The number of member stars per individual target system ranges from a few, for the faintest systems, to ∼850 for the most luminous. For most systems, our new samples extend over wider fields than have previously been observed; of the likely members in our samples, 820 lie beyond 2 times the projected half-light radius of their host system, and 42 lie beyond 5 R half.

Abundance Analysis of Stars at Large Radius in the Sextans Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy* *This paper includes data gathered at the 6.5 m Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile. Other observations reported here were obtained at the MMT Observatory, a joint facility of the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Arizona. This paper is also based on archival observations

We present the stellar parameters and chemical abundances of 30 elements for five stars located at large radii (3.5–10.7 times the half-light radius) in the Sextans dwarf spheroidal galaxy. We selected these stars using proper motions, radial velocities, and metallicities, and we confirm them as metal-poor members of Sextans with −3.34 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ −2.64 using high-resolution optical spectra collected with the Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle spectrograph. Four of the five stars exhibit normal abundances of C (−0.34 ≤ [C/Fe] ≤ + 0.36), mild enhancement of the α elements Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti ([α/Fe] = +0.12 ± 0.03), and unremarkable abundances of Na, Al, K, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, and Zn. We identify three chemical signatures previously unknown among stars in Sextans. One star exhibits large overabundances ([X/Fe] > +1.2) of C, N, O, Na, Mg, Si, and K, and large deficiencies of heavy elements ([Sr/Fe] = −2.37 ± 0.25, [Ba/Fe] = −1.45 ± 0.20, [Eu/Fe] < + 0.05), establishing it as a member of the class of carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars with no enhancement of neutron-capture elements. Three stars exhibit moderate enhancements of Eu (+0.17 ≤ [Eu/Fe] ≤ + 0.70), and the abundance ratios among 12 neutron-capture elements are indicative of r-process nucleosynthesis. Another star is highly enhanced in Sr relative to heavier elements ([Sr/Ba] = +1.21 ± 0.25). These chemical signatures can all be attributed to massive, low-metallicity stars or their end states. Our results, the first for stars at large radius in Sextans, demonstrate that these stars were formed in chemically inhomogeneous regions, such as those found in ultra-faint dwarf galaxies.

Ice, Ice, Maybe? Investigating 46P/Wirtanen’s Inner Coma for Icy Grains

The release of volatiles from comets is usually from direct sublimation of ices on the nucleus, but for very or hyperactive comets other sources have to be considered to account for the total production rates. In this work, we present new near-IR (NIR) imaging and spectroscopic observations of 46P/Wirtanen taken during its close approach to Earth on 2018 December 19 with the MMIRS instrument at the MMT Observatory to search for signatures of icy or ice-rich grains in its inner coma that might explain its previously reported excess water production. The morphology of the images does not suggest any change in grain properties within the field of view, and the NIR spectra do not show the characteristic absorption features of water ice. Using a new Markov Chain Monte Carlo–based implementation of the spectral modeling approach of Protopapa et al., we estimate the areal water ice fraction of the coma to be <0.6%. When combined with slit-corrected Af ρ values for the J, H, and K bands and previously measured dust velocities for this comet, we estimate an icy grain production rate of less than 4.6 kg s−1. This places a strict constraint on the water production rate from pure icy grains in the coma, and in turn we find that for the 2018–2019 apparition approximately 64% of 46P’s surface was actively sublimating water near perihelion. We then discuss 46P’s modern properties within the context of other (formerly) hyperactive comets to understand how these complex objects evolve.

Chronicling the Host Galaxy Properties of the Remarkable Repeating FRB 20201124A

Abstract We present the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder localization and follow-up observations of the host galaxy of the repeating fast radio burst (FRB) source, FRB 20201124A, the fifth such extragalactic repeating FRB with an identified host. From spectroscopic observations using the 6.5 m MMT Observatory, we derive a redshift z = 0.0979 ± 0.0001, a star formation rate inferred from Hα emission SFR(Hα) ≈ 2.1 M ⊙ yr−1, and a gas-phase metallicity of 12+log(O/H) ≈ 9.0. By jointly modeling the 12 filter optical−mid-infrared (MIR) photometry and spectroscopy of the host, we infer a median stellar mass of ∼2 × 1010 M ⊙, internal dust extinction A V ≈ 1–1.5 mag, and a mass-weighted stellar population age of ∼5–6 Gyr. Connecting these data to the radio and X-ray observations, we cannot reconcile the broadband behavior with strong active galactic nucleus activity and instead attribute the dominant source of persistent radio emission to star formation, likely originating from the circumnuclear region of the host. The modeling also indicates a hot dust component contributing to the MIR luminosity at a level of ∼10%–30%. We model the host galaxy’s star formation and mass assembly histories, finding that the host assembled &gt;90% of its mass by 1 Gyr ago and exhibited a fairly constant SFR for most of its existence, with no clear evidence of past starburst activity.

GRB 180418A: A possibly-short GRB with a wide-angle outflow in a faint host galaxy

The authors acknowledge Phil Evans for the useful advice to obtain the full set of X-ray GRB afterglow light curves from the UK Swift Science Data Centre. The authors thank Daniel Perley for his valuable contribution to proposals. The Fong Group at Northwestern acknowledges support by the National Science Foundation under grant Nos. AST-1814782 and AST-1909358. Support for this work was provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through Chandra Award Number G08- 19025X issued by the Chandra X-ray Center, which is operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory for and on behalf of the National Aeronautics Space Administration under contract NAS8-03060. P.V. acknowledges support from NASA grants 80NSSC19K0595 and NNM11AA01A. This work made use of data supplied by the UK Swift Science Data Centre at the University of Leicester. Based on observations obtained at the international Gemini Observatory (Program IDs GS-2018A-Q-127, GN-2018A-Q-121, GN-2018B-Q-117), a program of NOIRLab, which is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation on behalf of the Gemini Observatory partnership: the National Science Foundation (United States), National Research Council (Canada), Agencia Nacional de Investigaci´on y Desarrollo (Chile), Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnolog´ia e Innovaci´on (Argentina), Minist´erio da Ciˆencia, Tecnologia, Inova¸c˜oes e Comunica¸c˜oes (Brazil), and Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (Republic of Korea). This work was enabled by observations made from the Gemini North telescope, located within the Maunakea Science Reserve and adjacent to the summit of Maunakea. We are grateful for the privilege of observing the Universe from a place that is unique in both its astronomical quality and its cultural significance. Observations reported in this paper were obtained at the MMT Observatory, a joint facility of the University of Arizona and the Smithsonian Institution (Programs 2018C-UAO-G4, UAO-G213-20A, UAO-G4, UAO-G7, UAO-G212-20A, 2018b-UAO-G15). MMT Observatory access was supported by Northwestern University and the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA). Observations obtained by the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT; program: U/18A/UA01) was supported by NASA and operated under an agreement among the University of Hawaii, the University of Arizona, and Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center; operations are enabled through the cooperation of the East Asian Observatory. We thank the Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit (CASU) for processing the WFCAM data and the WFCAM Science Archive (WSA) for making the data available.

The M-dwarfs in Multiples (MinMs) survey – I. Stellar multiplicity among low-mass stars within 15 pc★

We present a large-scale, volume-limited companion survey of 245 late-K to mid-M (K7-M6) dwarfs within 15 pc. Infrared adaptive optics (AO) data were analysed from the Very Large Telescope, Subaru Telescope, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, and MMT Observatory to detect close companions to the sample from $\sim$1 au to 100 au, while digitised wide-field archival plates were searched for wide companions from $\sim$100 au to 10,000 au. With sensitivity to the bottom of the main sequence over a separation range of 3 au to 10,000 au, multiple AO and wide-field epochs allow us to confirm candidates with common proper motions, minimize background contamination, and enable a measurement of comprehensive binary statistics. We detected 65 co-moving stellar companions and find a companion star fraction of $23.5 \pm 3.2$ per cent over the 3 au to 10,000 au separation range. The companion separation distribution is observed to rise to a higher frequency at smaller separations, peaking at closer separations than measured for more massive primaries. The mass ratio distribution across the $q = 0.2 - 1.0$ range is flat, similar to that of multiple systems with solar-type primaries. The characterisation of binary and multiple star frequency for low-mass field stars can provide crucial comparisons with star forming environments and hold implications for the frequency and evolutionary histories of their associated disks and planets.

On the Automated and Objective Detection of Emission Lines in Faint-Object Spectroscopy

Modern spectroscopic surveys produce large spectroscopic databases, generally with sizes well beyond the scope of manual investigation. The need arises, therefore, for an automated line detection method with objective indicators for detection significance. In this paper, we present an automated and objective method for emission line detection in spectroscopic surveys and apply this technique to observed spectra from a Lyα emitter survey at z ∼ 2.7, obtained with the Hectospec spectrograph on the MMT Observatory (MMTO). The basic idea is to generate on-source (signal plus noise) and off-source (noise only) mock observations using Monte Carlo simulations, and calculate completeness and reliability values, (C,R), for each simulated signal. By comparing the detections from real data with the Monte Carlo results, we assign the completeness and reliability values to each real detection. From 1574 spectra, we obtain 881 raw detections and, by removing low reliability detections, we finalize 652 detections from an automated pipeline. Most of high completeness and reliability detections, (C,R) ≈ (1.0,1.0), are robust detections when visually inspected; the low C and R detections are also marginal on visual inspection. This method of detecting faint sources is dependent on the accuracy of the sky subtraction.

RUPRECHT 147: THE OLDEST NEARBY OPEN CLUSTER AS A NEW BENCHMARK FOR STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS

Ruprecht 147 is a hitherto unappreciated open cluster that holds great promise as a standard in fundamental stellar astrophysics. We have conducted a radial velocity survey of astrometric candidates with Lick, Palomar, and MMT observatories and have identified over 100 members, including 5 blue stragglers, 11 red giants, and 5 double-lined spectroscopic binaries (SB2s). We estimate the cluster metallicity from spectroscopic analysis, using Spectroscopy Made Easy (SME), and find it to be [M/H] = +0.07 \pm 0.03. We have obtained deep CFHT/MegaCam g'r'i' photometry and fit Padova isochrones to the (g' - i') and 2MASS (J - K) CMDs using the \tau^2 maximum-likelihood procedure of Naylor (2009), and an alternative method using 2D cross-correlations developed in this work. We find best fits for isochrones at age t = 2.5 \pm 0.25 Gyr, m - M = 7.35 \pm 0.1, and A_V = 0.25 \pm 0.05, with additional uncertainty from the unresolved binary population and possibility of differential extinction across this large cluster. The inferred age is heavily dependent by our choice of stellar evolution model: fitting Dartmouth and PARSEC models yield age parameters of 3 Gyr and 3.25 Gyr respectively. At approximately 300 pc and 3 Gyr, Ruprecht 147 is by far the oldest nearby star cluster.

KILOPARSEC-SCALE SPATIAL OFFSETS IN DOUBLE-PEAKED NARROW-LINE ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI. I. MARKERS FOR SELECTION OF COMPELLING DUAL ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS CANDIDATES

Merger-remnant galaxies with kpc-scale separation dual active galactic nuclei (AGNs) should be widespread as a consequence of galaxy mergers and triggered gas accretion onto supermassive black holes, yet very few dual AGNs have been observed. Galaxies with double-peaked narrow AGN emission lines in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey are plausible dual AGN candidates, but their double-peaked profiles could also be the result of gas kinematics or AGN-driven outflows and jets on small or large scales. To help distinguish between these scenarios, we have obtained spatial profiles of the AGN emission via follow-up long-slit spectroscopy of 81 double-peaked narrow-line AGNs in SDSS at 0.03 < z < 0.36 using Lick, Palomar, and MMT Observatories. We find that all 81 systems exhibit double AGN emission components with ~kpc projected spatial separations on the sky, which suggests that they are produced by kpc-scale dual AGNs or kpc-scale outflows, jets, or rotating gaseous disks. In addition, we find that the subsample (58%) of the objects with spatially compact emission components may be preferentially produced by dual AGNs, while the subsample (42%) with spatially extended emission components may be preferentially produced by AGN outflows. We also find that for 32% of the sample the two AGN emission components are preferentially aligned with the host galaxy major axis, as expected for dual AGNs orbiting in the host galaxy potential. Our results both narrow the list of possible physical mechanisms producing the double AGN components, and suggest several observational criteria for selecting the most promising dual AGN candidates from the full sample of double-peaked narrow-line AGNs. Using these criteria, we determine the 17 most compelling dual AGN candidates in our sample.

Hectochelle: A Multiobject Optical Echelle Spectrograph for the MMT

ABSTRACTThe Hectochelle is an optical band, fiber-fed, multiobject echelle spectrograph deployed at the MMT Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Arizona. The optical fibers that feed the Hectochelle are positioned by the Hectospec robot positioner on the MMT f/5 focal surface, and the Hectochelle shares an optical fiber feed system with the Hectospec, a moderate-dispersion spectrograph that is collocated with the Hectochelle. Hectochelle can record up to 240 spectra simultaneously at a resolution of 38,000. Spectra cover a single diffractive order that is approximately 150 Å wide. The total potential operating passband of the Hectochelle extends from 3800 Å to 9000 Å. Operated in conjunction with the MMT f/5 secondary, the MMT wide-field corrector, and the atmospheric dispersion compensator, the patrol field is 1° in diameter and the individual fiber slits are 1.5′′ in diameter. The throughput of the combined telescope, fiber feed, and spectrograph is measured to be 6.1% at 5275 Å, exclusive of atmospheric extinction. A 20 minute observation of a V = 15 F-type star yields a signal-to-noise ratio of 35 per resolution element. Hectochelle had first light 2003 December 4 and continues to be operated at the MMT today.

Grant Williams appointed new director of MMT Observatory

Grant Williams appointed new director of MMT Observatory

H I Column Densities, Metallicities, and Dust Extinction of Metal-Strong Damped Lyα Systems11Observations reported here were obtained at the MMT Observatory, a joint facility of the University of Arizona and the Smithsonian Institution.

ABSTRACTWith the Blue Channel Spectrograph (BCS) on the MMT telescope, we have obtained spectra to the atmospheric cutoff of quasars previously known to show at least one absorption system at z > 1.6 with very strong metal lines. We refer to these absorbers as candidate metal-strong damped Lyα systems (cMSDLAs), the majority of which were culled from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The BCS/MMT spectra yield precise estimates of the H i column densities (NHI) of the systems through Voigt profile analysis of their Lyα transitions. Nearly all of the cMSDLAs (41/43) satisfy the NHI criterion of DLAs, 1020.3 atoms cm-2. As a population, these systems have systematically higher NHI values than DLAs chosen randomly from quasar sightlines. Combining our NHI measurements with previously measured metal column densities, we estimate metallicities for the MSDLAs. These systems have significantly higher values than randomly selected DLAs; at z ≈ 2, the MSDLAs show a median metallicity [M/H] ≈ -0.67 that is 0.6 dex higher than a corresponding control sample. This establishes MSDLAs as having among the most metal-rich gas in the high z universe. Our measurements extend the observed correlation between Si ii 1526 equivalent width and the gas metallicity to higher values. If interpreted as a mass-metallicity relation, this implies the MSDLAs are the high-mass subset of the DLA population. We demonstrate that dust in the MSDLAs reddens their background quasars, with a median shift in the spectral slope of δα = 0.29. Assuming an SMC extinction law, this implies a median reddening EB-V ≈ 0.025 mag and visual extinction AV ≈ 0.076 mag. The latter quantity yields a dust-to-gas ratio of log(AV/NHI) ≈ -22.0, very similar to estimation for the SMC. Future studies of MSDLAs offer the opportunity to study the extinction, nucleosynthesis, and kinematics of the most chemically evolved, gas-rich galaxies at high z.

Continuous monitoring of comet Holmes from before the 2007 Outburst

The outburst and subsequent brightness evolution of comet 17P/Holmes has been observed using the MMT Observatory’s All-Sky Camera (Pickering 2006) on Mt. Hopkins near Tucson, Arizona, USA. The comet was picked up at the limiting visual magnitude of 5.5 on October 24.38 and tracked by the camera continuously until sunrise four hours later. During this time the comet brightened to visual magnitude 3.5. Comet Holmes was next observed just after sunset on October 25.23 at visual magnitude 2.5, where it remained approximately constant over the next three days. The comet then began to dim slowly and was followed into the early months of 2008 with periods of dense time coverage.

A Direct Measurement of Atmospheric Dispersion in N-band Spectra: Implications for Mid-IR Systems on ELTs11The observations reported here were obtained at the MMT Observatory, a facility operated jointly by the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Arizona.

ABSTRACTAdaptive optics will almost completely remove the effects of atmospheric turbulence at 10 μm on the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) generation of telescopes. In this article, we observationally confirm that the next most important limitation to image quality is atmospheric dispersion, rather than telescope diffraction. By using the 6.5 m MMT with its unique mid-IR adaptive optics system, we measure atmospheric dispersion in the N band with the newly commissioned spectroscopic mode on MIRAC4-BLINC. Our results indicate that atmospheric dispersion is generally linear in the N band, although there is some residual curvature. We compare our measurements to theory, and make predictions for ELT Strehls and image FHWM with and without an atmospheric dispersion corrector (ADC). We find that for many mid-IR applications, an ADC will be necessary on ELTs.

A SEARCH FOR OCCULTATIONS OF BRIGHT STARS BY SMALL KUIPER BELT OBJECTS USING MEGACAM ON THE MMT

We conducted a search for occultations of bright stars by Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) to estimate the density of sub-km KBOs in the sky. We report here the first results of this occultation survey of the outer solar system conducted in June 2007 and June/July 2008 at the MMT Observatory using Megacam, the large MMT optical imager. We used Megacam in a novel shutterless continuous--readout mode to achieve high precision photometry at 200 Hz. We present an analysis of 220 star hours at signal-to-noise ratio of 25 or greater. The survey efficiency is greater than 10% for occultations by KBOs of diameter d>=0.7 km, and we report no detections in our dataset. We set a new 95% confidence level upper limit for the surface density \Sigma_N(d) of KBOs larger than 1 km: \Sigma_N(d>=1 km) <= 2.0e8 deg^-2, and for KBOs larger than 0.7 km \Sigma_N(d>= 0.7 km) <= 4.8e8 deg^-2.

Testing the forward modeling approach in asteroseismology

Context: Balloon 090100001, the brightest of the known pulsating hot B subdwarfs, exhibits simultaneoulsy both short- and long-period pulsation modes, and shows relatively large amplitudes for its dominant modes. For these reasons, it has been studied extensively over the past few years, including a successful experiment carried out at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope to pin down or constrain the value of the degree index l of several pulsation modes through multicolor photometry. Aims: The primary goal of this paper is to take advantage of such partial mode identification to test the robustness of our standard approach to the asteroseismology of pulsating subdwarf B stars. The latter is based on the forward approach whereby a model that best matches the observed periods is searched for in parameter space with no a priori assumption about mode identification. When successful, this method leads to the determination of the global structural parameters of the pulsator. As a bonus, it also leads, after the fact, to complete mode identification. For the first time, with the availability of partial mode identification for Balloon 090100001, we are able to evaluate the sensitivity of the inferred seismic model to possible uncertainty in mode identification. Methods: We carry out a number of exercises based on the double optimization technique that we developed within the framework of the forward modeling approach in asteroseismology. We use the set of ten periods corresponding to the independent pulsation modes for which values of l have been either formally identified or constrained through multicolor photometry in Balloon 090100001. These exercises differ in that they assume different a priori mode identification. Results: Our primary result is that the asteroseismic solution stands very robust, whether or not external constraints on the values of the degree l are used. Although this may come as a small surprise, the test proves to be conclusive, and small differences in mode identification among the ten modes do not affect in any significant way, at the typical accuracy presently achieved, the final emergent seismic model. This is due to the structure of the p-mode pulsation spectra in sdB stars. In all cases, the inferred structural parameters of Balloon 090100001 remain practically unchanged. They correspond, and this constitutes our second important result, to a star beyond the TAEHB with T_eff = 28 000 ± 1 200 K, log g = 5.383 ± 0.004, M⋆/Mȯ = 0.432 ± 0.015, and log{M_env/M⋆} = -4.89 ± 0.14. Other structural parameters are also derived. Based on photometric observations obtained at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which is operated by the National Research Council of Canada, the Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France, and the University of Hawaii. Some of the spectroscopic observations reported here were obtained at the MMT Observatory, a joint facility of the University of Arizona and the Smithsonian Institution.

A Genuine Intermediate-Age Globular Cluster in M33

We present deep integrated-light spectroscopy of nine M33 globular clusters taken with the Hectospec instrument at the MMT Observatory. Based on our spectroscopy and previous deep color-magnitude diagrams obtained with HST WFPC2, we present evidence for the presence of a genuine intermediate-age globular cluster in M33. The analysis of Lick line indices indicates that all globular clusters are metal-poor ([Z/H] ≲ -1.0) and that cluster M33-C38 is ~5-8 Gyr younger than the rest of the sample M33 star clusters. We find no evidence for a population of blue horizontal-branch stars in the CMD of M33-C38, which rules out the possibility of an artificially young spectroscopic age due to the presence of hot stars. We infer an initial mass of (0.8-1.2) × 105 M☉ for M33-C38, which implies that intermediate-age clusters with masses similar to those of Galactic globular clusters were able to form and survive in M33, although it is not yet clear with which dynamical component of M33—thin disk, thick disk, halo—the cluster is associated.

The Distance and Metallicity of the Newly Discovered, Nearby Irregular Galaxy HIZSS 3

HIZSS 3 is an H I source in the Zone of Avoidance. Its radio characteristics are consistent with it being a previously unknown, nearby (~1.8 Mpc), low-mass dwarf irregular (dIrr) galaxy. Optical observations have shown that it contains a modest H II region, but they failed to reveal a resolved stellar population. New spectroscopic observations of the H II region obtained at the MMT Observatory are presented here. They are used to derive the line-of-sight extinction [E(B - V) = 1.41 ± 0.04] and gas metallicity (log O/H + 12 ~ 7.8) of the H II region. New near-IR imaging observations obtained at the ESO Very Large Telescope are also presented here. These images clearly reveal the resolved stellar population of HIZSS 3 for the first time. Narrowband Paβ images of the H II region are used in combination with previously published Hα data to obtain an independent line-of-sight extinction estimate: E(B - V) = 1.32 ± 0.04. The adopted foreground extinction is E(B - V) = 1.36 ± 0.06. Using the K-band luminosity function and K, J - K color-magnitude diagram, the apparent magnitude and color of the tip of the red giant branch are derived. In turn, these parameters are combined with the adopted foreground extinction to estimate the distance (1.69 ± 0.07 Mpc) and mean red giant branch metallicity ([Fe/H] = -0.5 ± 0.1). As an ensemble, these new observations significantly strengthen the conclusion that HIZSS 3 is a newly discovered low-mass dIrr galaxy lurking behind the Milky Way in the outskirts of the Local Group.