The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2023)
DELVE 6: An Ancient, Ultra-faint Star Cluster on the Outskirts of the Magellanic Clouds
- W. Cerny,
- A. Drlica-Wagner,
- T. S. Li,
- A. B. Pace,
- K. A. G. Olsen,
- N. E. D. Noël,
- R. P. van der Marel,
- J. L. Carlin,
- Y. Choi,
- D. Erkal,
- M. Geha,
- D. J. James,
- C. E. Martínez-Vázquez,
- P. Massana,
- G. E. Medina,
- A. E. Miller,
- B. Mutlu-Pakdil,
- D. L. Nidever,
- J. D. Sakowska,
- G. S. Stringfellow,
- J. A. Carballo-Bello,
- P. S. Ferguson,
- N. Kuropatkin,
- S. Mau,
- E. J. Tollerud,
- A. K. Vivas,
- DELVE Collaboration
Affiliations
- W. Cerny
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, Yale University , New Haven, CT 06520, USA ; [email protected]
- A. Drlica-Wagner
- ORCiD
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510, USA; Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637, USA; Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- T. S. Li
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada
- A. B. Pace
- ORCiD
- McWilliams Center for Cosmology, Carnegie Mellon University , 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- K. A. G. Olsen
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- N. E. D. Noël
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Surrey , Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
- R. P. van der Marel
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- J. L. Carlin
- ORCiD
- Rubin Observatory/AURA , 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Y. Choi
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of California , Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- D. Erkal
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Surrey , Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
- M. Geha
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, Yale University , New Haven, CT 06520, USA ; [email protected]
- D. J. James
- ORCiD
- ASTRAVEO LLC , P.O. Box 1668, Gloucester, MA 01931, USA; Applied Materials Inc. , 35 Dory Road, Gloucester, MA 01930, USA
- C. E. Martínez-Vázquez
- ORCiD
- Gemini Observatory, NSF’s NOIRLab , 670 North A’ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA
- P. Massana
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, Montana State University , P.O. Box 173840, Bozeman, MT 59717-3840, USA
- G. E. Medina
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada
- A. E. Miller
- ORCiD
- School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University , Balaclava Road, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia; Research Centre for Astronomy, Astrophysics and Astrophotonics, Macquarie University , Balaclava Road, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia; Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP) , An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam, Germany; Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Universität Potsdam , Haus 28, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24/25, D-14476 Golm (Potsdam), Germany
- B. Mutlu-Pakdil
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College , Hanover, NH 03755, USA
- D. L. Nidever
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA; Department of Physics, Montana State University , P.O. Box 173840, Bozeman, MT 59717-3840, USA
- J. D. Sakowska
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Surrey , Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
- G. S. Stringfellow
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado , 389 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0389, USA
- J. A. Carballo-Bello
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Alta Investigación, Sede Esmeralda, Universidad de Tarapacá , Av. Luis Emilio Recabarren 2477, Iquique, Chile
- P. S. Ferguson
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison , Madison, WI 53706, USA
- N. Kuropatkin
- ORCiD
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510, USA
- S. Mau
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, Stanford University , 382 Via Pueblo Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics & Cosmology, Stanford University , P.O. Box 2450, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- E. J. Tollerud
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- A. K. Vivas
- ORCiD
- Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , Casilla 603, La Serena, Chile
- DELVE Collaboration
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aced84
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 953,
no. 2
p. L21
Abstract
We present the discovery of DELVE 6, an ultra-faint stellar system identified in the second data release of the DECam Local Volume Exploration (DELVE) survey. Based on a maximum-likelihood fit to its structure and stellar population, we find that DELVE 6 is an old ( τ > 9.8 Gyr at 95% confidence) and metal-poor ([Fe/H] 9 Gyr) star cluster associated with the SMC, or one of fewer than two dozen ancient clusters associated with the LMC. Nonetheless, we cannot currently rule out the possibility that the system is a distant Milky Way halo star cluster.
Keywords
