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Numerical Simulations of the Metallicity Distribution in Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2007

E. Ripamonti*
Affiliation:
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen;
E. Tolstoy
Affiliation:
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen;
A. Helmi
Affiliation:
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen;
G. Battaglia
Affiliation:
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen;
T. Abel
Affiliation:
Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
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Abstract

Recent observations show that the number of stars with very low metallicities in the dwarf spheroidal satellites of the Milky Way is low, despite the low average metallicities of stars in these systems. We undertake numerical simulations of star formation and metal enrichment of dwarf galaxies in order to verify whether this result can be reproduced with ”standard” assumptions. The answer is likely to be negative, unless some selection bias against very low metallicity stars is present in the observations.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© EAS, EDP Sciences, 2007

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