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[93.13] Exploring the Extended Structure of the Phoenix Dwarf Galaxy with Giant Stars

J. Tobolewski, C. Palma (Penn State), M. Siegel (UT Austin), J. Charlton (Penn State)

As part of an ongoing program to constrain the spatial distributions of the Milky Way's dwarf satellites using giant stars, we present the results of a survey of the Phoenix dwarf irregular galaxy, the most distant of the Milky Way's bound satellites (R_gc > 400 kpc). Our survey utilizes the Washington M-T₂-DDO51 photometric method, which is well established for its ability to discriminate low surface-gravity giants star from high surface-gravity dwarfs. This three filter system has proven successful at revealing extended distributions of giant stars in even the most distant dSph galaxies in the Milky Way halo. We present the preliminary results of our survey of Phoenix, a 0.5 square degree region along the dIrr's major axis obtained with the CTIO 4-meter telescope and MOSAIC II camera. We apply constraints on the spatial distribution of Phoenix's older stellar populations and comment on its interaction with the Milky Way.

We gratefully acknowledge funding for this work from an NSF REU supplement.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.