Dwarf galaxies are powerful tools in the study of galactic evolution. As the most numerous galaxies in the universe, they probe a diverse range of environments: some exist in near-isolation, allowing us to study how a galaxy’s evolution depends on its intrinsic properties. Others have been accreted by larger galaxies and show the impact of environmental processes such as tidal stripping. Because dwarf galaxies have shallow potential wells, these processes leave strong signatures in their star formation histories (SFHs). We use state-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamical simulations to study the evolution of dwarf galaxies in Local Group analogues. Their SFHs are remarkably diverse, but also show robust average trends with stellar mass and environment. Low- mass isolated dwarfs (10^5 < M∗/M⊙ < 10^6) form all of their stars in the first few Gyr, whereas their more massive counterparts have extended star formation histories, with many of the most massive dwarfs (10^7 < M∗/M⊙ < 10^9) continuing star formation until the present day. Satellite dwarfs exhibit similar trends at early and intermediate times, but with substantially suppressed star formation in the last ∼ 5 Gyr, likely as a result of gas loss due to tidal and ram-pressure stripping after entering the haloes of their primaries. These simple mass and environmental trends are in good agreement with the derived SFHs of Local Group dwarfs whose photometry reaches the oldest main sequence turnoff. SFHs of galaxies with less deep data show deviations from these trends, but this may be explained, at least in part, by the large galaxy-to-galaxy scatter, the limited sample size, and the large uncertainties of the inferred SFHs. / Graduate

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / This work aims to study the dark matter content of the nearby (7.38 Mpc) dwarf galaxy IC 4710 using the HI line observations from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). We produce the rst interferometric maps of the galaxy HI distribution and dynamics and use these maps to measure important quantities such as total HI mass, velocity width, and size. We create a dynamical model of the galaxy using a three-dimensional modeling technique. The rotation curve was obtained by tting a 3D tilted ring model to the HI data cube of galaxy IC 4710. The dynamical modeling of IC 4710 is being done for the rst time. We compare the model to the data cube to check for accuracy and found that they are in good agreement; this shows that the results are reliable. The obtained rotation curve is rising steeply until it reaches the maximum rotation velocity of 24.6 km s􀀀1 at a radius of 100 arcsec.

The population and formation of dwarf galaxies, Mr > −14, contain clues about the nature of dark matter. The best place to search for these dwarf galaxies without influence from nearby large galaxies is within galaxy voids, where no galaxies have yet been found. To search for this potential dwarf galaxy population we have developed and applied a new photometric technique. We use three redshifted Ha filters, designated Ha8, Ha12, and Ha16, along with the Sloan broadband filters, g', r', and i' to identify emission line galaxies. From the ratio of the object flux through the Ha filters, Ha12-Ha8 and Ha12-Ha16, we are able to determine the distance to these galaxies and the strength of the emission line captured in the filter set. One problem with using just the three Ha filters is that the system will be sensitive to any emission line which has been redshifted enough to fall within the set. Of particular concern are the [OII] and [OIII] lines which will contaminate the sample. To overcome this we use a color-color relation, g' - r' and r' - i', to help separate which type of emission has been detected. We have applied this method to search for galaxies within the void FN2 and FN8. From this we have found 23 candidate objects which could have Ha emission placing them inside of the void. To better understand the population density dwarf galaxies through voids we have also modeled the population of objects which we will detect having Ha emission compared to the contamination of back ground objects which we can then use to compare the density in the void with the mean galaxy density. We have also begun taking spectra of the emission objects, to ensure our method does detect emission line objects, to test how well the distance and emission strength determination is, and to begin identifying which type of emission we have detected. To date we have taken spectra on 6 objects. All 6 showed emission, 4 with [OII] and 2 with [OIII]. Though none was Ha we formed a “pseudo-redshift” to determine the accuracy of our measurements. This shows that our method is accurate to -127+-204 km/sec.

High resolution spectra have been analyzed for two and three stars respectively in the candidate extragalactic globular clusters, NGC 5024 and NGC 5466, with the High-Resolution Spectrograph on the 9.2 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope. The goal of this investigation is to evaluate the proposed extragalactic origins of these two globular clusters. Evidence of a tidal tail in NGC 5466 (Belokurov et al., 2006) and the association of NGC 5024 with the Sagittarius stream (Martinez-Delgado et al., 2004) targeted the clusters as likely remnants of recent accretion events and thus potentially of extragalactic origin. Determination of their chemical abundance patterns could provide unique evidence to either support or dispute these claims. NGC 5024 has been associated with a proposed wrap in the Sagittarius stream which could be supported if the chemistry of NGC 5024 is similar to other clusters associated with the stream. NGC 5466 has the longest tidal tail known, which hints at an origin in a now dispersed dwarf spheroidal galaxy. Additional evidence for these clusters' capture origins has been compiled by Yoon & Lee (2002), demonstrating that these two low metallicity clusters, along with five others, are aligned in a single highly inclined plane in the outer halo. Confirmation that these clusters are remnants of dwarf galaxies would support a Galactic history which includes recent accretion events. Such evidence may bolster the cold dark matter hierarchical clustering scenario, which postulates the presence of a significant amount of substructure in the Milky Way. Unfortunately, at the metallicity of the target clusters ([Fe/H] = -1.9), the chemical distinction between Galactic stars and known dSph stars is not significant. The low [alpha/Fe] of dSph stars seen at higher metallicity is not apparent at [Fe/H] = -1.9 in either Galactic or dSph stars. Aside from a few mild discrepancies, NGC 5024 and NGC 5466 appear chemically similar to the Galactic field stars and globular clusters compiled by Pritzl et al. (2005). A moderate enhancement in the [Ba/Y] ratios relative to the halo field stars is the only positively detected chemical signature that is typically observed in dSph stars. Comparisons with Galactic GCs of similar age, metallicity and horizontal branch morphology (NGC 2298, NGC 6397 and NGC 5897) reveal a few other differences, but these could be attributed to systematic effects in the different analysis techniques. Although NGC 5024 has a similar metallicity to the GC Arp 2 that was stripped from the merging Sagittarius dwarf, neither Arp 2 (Mottini et al., 2008) nor the clusters in this study show any particularly unusual chemical abundance patterns. Thus, no conclusive evidence in support of or in opposition to the target clusters' proposed extragalactic origins has been discovered.