Quantitative Spectroscopy of Supergiants in the Local Group Dwarf Galaxy IC 1613: Metallicity and Distance

Abstract

We present the spectral analysis of 21 blue supergiant stars of spectral type late B to early A within the Local Group dwarf galaxy IC 1613 based on VLT-FORS2 low resolution spectra. Combining our results with studies of early B type blue supergiants we report a wide bi-modal distribution of metallicities with two peaks around [Z] $\sim -0.50$ dex and [Z] $\sim -0.85$ dex. The bi-modal distribution correlates with spatial location, when compared with column densities of neutral hydrogen in IC 1613. While the low [Z] objects appear in regions of relatively high ISM HI column densities or close to them, the high [Z] supergiants are found in the central HI hole almost devoid of hydrogen. This suggests varied chemical evolution histories of the young stellar populations in IC 1613. Utilizing the Flux-Weighted Gravity-Luminosity Relation (FGLR), we determine IC 1613's distance modulus as $m-M$ = 24.39 $\pm$ 0.11 mag. This value is in agreement within previous distance measurements using the near-infrared period-luminosity relationship of Cepheids and the tip of the red giant branch.

12 pages, 9 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApJ. For a brief video explaining this paper, see https://youtu.be/hsnU62pYsIQ

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Cited by in corpus (16)

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• Quantitative spectroscopy of B-type supergiants
• The Araucaria Project. Multi-band calibrations of the TRGB absolute magnitude
• A spectroscopic study of blue supergiant stars in Local Group spiral galaxies: Andromeda and Triangulum
• Carbon stars as standard candles -- III. Un-binned maximum likelihood fitting and comparison with TRGB estimations
• A Panchromatic Study of Massive Stars in the Extremely Metal-Poor Local Group Dwarf Galaxy Leo A
• Physical parameters of red supergiants in dwarf irregular galaxies in the Local Group
• Modified Gravity and the Flux-weighted Gravity-Luminosity Relationship of Blue Supergiant Stars
• Red supergiant stars in IC 1613 and metallicity-dependent mixing length in the evolutionary model
• The X-ray-Resolved Supernova Remnant S8 in the Dwarf Irregular Galaxy IC 1613
• The Nature of the Young Supernova Remnant S8 in the Dwarf Galaxy IC 1613
• MUSE crowded field 3D spectroscopy in NGC 300 II. Quantitative spectroscopy of BA-type supergiants
• The wind properties of O-type stars at sub-SMC metallicity
• From gas to stars: MUSEings on the internal evolution of IC 1613