RR Lyrae Stars in Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies

Abstract

With ages comparable to the age of the Universe, the variable stars of RR Lyrae type have eyewitnessed the formation of their host galaxies, and thus can provide information on the processes that led to the assembling of large galaxies such as the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy. The present knowledge of the RR Lyrae population in Local Group dwarf spheroidal galaxies is reviewed,calling attention to the "ultra-faint" spheroidal systems recently discovered around the Milky Way by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The properties of the RR Lyrae stars and the Oosterhoff dichotomy observed for Galactic globular clusters and field RR Lyrae stars are discussed, since they put constrain on the possibility that the Milky Way and Andromeda halos were built up from protogalactic fragments resembling the dwarf spheroidals we observe today.