The Carbon Star Population in the Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy Revisited

Abstract

Our systematic searches for carbon stars in the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope have led to more than a doubling of the number of carbon stars known in this system, to 104. Furthermore, low-luminosity carbon stars resembling those we had previously found in the Small Magellanic Cloud have been identified in this system. We review the carbon star surveys carried out in the Fornax dwarf and present our main results. The Fornax carbon star population is compared to those of other Galactic halo dwarf systems.