Pegasus V/Andromeda XXXIV-a newly discovered ultrafaint dwarf galaxy on the outskirts of Andromeda
Abstract
We report the discovery of an ultrafaint dwarf in the constellation of Pegasus. Pegasus V (Peg V)/Andromeda XXXIV was initially identified in the public imaging data release of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys and confirmed with deep imaging from Gemini/GMOS-N. The colour-magnitude diagram shows a sparse red giant branch (RGB) population and a strong overdensity of blue horizontal branch stars. We measure a distance to Peg V of $D=692^{+33}_{-31}$ kpc, making it a distant satellite of Andromeda with MV = -6.3 ± 0.2 and a half-light radius of rhalf = 89 ± 41 pc. It is located ~260 kpc from Andromeda in the outskirts of its halo. The RGB is well fitted by a metal-poor isochrone with [Fe/H] = -3.2, suggesting it is very metal poor. This, combined with its blue horizontal branch, could imply that it is a reionization fossil. This is the first detection of an ultrafaint dwarf outside the deep Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey area, and points to a rich, faint satellite population in the outskirts of our nearest neighbour.
- Publication:
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Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- September 2022
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnrasl/slac063
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2204.09068
- Bibcode:
- 2022MNRAS.515L..72C
- Keywords:
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- galaxies: dwarf;
- galaxies: individual;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies;
- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Submitted to MNRAS Letters. 6 pages, 4 figures. Comments welcome