MAGELLAN/M2FS SPECTROSCOPY OF TUCANA 2 AND GRUS 1*

Abstract

ABSTRACT We present results from spectroscopic observations with the Michigan/ Magellan Fiber System (M2FS) of 147 stellar targets along the line of sight to the newly discovered “ultrafaint” stellar systems Tucana 2 (Tuc 2) and Grus 1 (Gru 1). Based on simultaneous estimates of line of sight velocity and stellar-atmospheric parameters, we identify 8 and 7 stars as probable members of Tuc 2 and and Gru 1, respectively. Our sample for Tuc 2 is sufficient to resolve an internal velocity dispersion of km s −1 about a mean of km s −1 (solar rest frame), and to estimate a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = . These results place Tuc 2 on chemodynamical scaling relations followed by dwarf galaxies, suggesting a dominant dark matter component with dynamical mass enclosed within the central ∼160 pc, and dynamical mass-to-light ratio . For Gru 1 we estimate a mean velocity of km s −1 and a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = but our sample does not resolve Gru 1's velocity dispersion. The radial coordinates of Tuc 2 and Gru 1 in Galactic phase space suggest that their orbits are among the most energetic within a distance of . Moreover, their proximity to each other in this space arises naturally if both objects are trailing the Large Magellanic Cloud.