<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
document.write('<div id="oa_widget"></div>');
document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.openaire.eu/index.php?option=com_openaire&view=widget&format=raw&projectId=undefined&type=result"></script>');
-->
</script>
doi: 10.1086/177403
We present a color-magnitude diagram of more than 10,000 stars in the halo of the galaxy NGC 5128 (Centaurus A), based on WFPC2 images through V-band and I-band filters. The position of the red giant branch (RGB) stars is compared with the loci of the red giant branch in six well-studied globular clusters and in the dwarf elliptical galaxy NGC 185; the tip of the RGB is signalled by an observed turn-up in the luminosity function at I≃24.1 ± 0.1 mag; this yields a distance modulus (m - M)_0 = 27.8 ± 0.2 for NGC 5128 (i.e., a distance of 3.6 ± 0.2 Mpc), in agreement with previous determinations based on the planetary nebulae luminosity function and on the surface brightness fluctuations technique. The presence of an intermediate-age stellar population (~5 Gyr) is suggested by the luminosity function of the asymptotic giant branch stars, extending up to I= 22.6 mag (for V - I > 2) and M_(bot) ~ -5 mag; however, the number of these stars constrains the intermediate-age stellar population in the halo of NGC 5128 to be less than ~ 10% of the total. The color distribution at constant I magnitude, albeit affected by the completeness level of our sample, strongly suggests a mean value of [Fe/H] > -0.9 dex, possibly similar to the value found in M31 and higher than that observed in NGC 185. Like the M31 halo, the halo of NGC 5128 exhibits a broad range of levels of chemical enrichment.
galaxies: stellar content, galaxies: distances and redshifts, galaxies: individual (NGC 5128), stars: Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, 530, 520
galaxies: stellar content, galaxies: distances and redshifts, galaxies: individual (NGC 5128), stars: Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, 530, 520
citations This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 88 | |
popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% | |
influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |