Star Formation in Dwarf Irregular Galaxies: NGC 6822

Abstract

Our proposed method to study the star formation histories in nearby irregulars is here applied to NGC 6822. To this purpose we have obtained accurate CCD photometry of three regions in the galaxy, reaching V$\simeq$23.5 with an accuracy of $σ_{BVR}\leq$0.1 mag. The comparison of the observational color-magnitude diagrams and luminosity functions with corresponding synthetic simulations reveals that the star formation activity in the last Gyr has been rather continuous, possibly occurring in long episodes separated by short quiescent periods, and that the initial mass function exponent $α$ is in the vicinity of Salpeter's value. The studied regions of NGC~6822 appear to contain different stellar populations. The preferred star formation regime for Region A is a continuous activity coupled with a moderately flat $α$. For Region C, instead, our best models suggest a discontinuous star formation and a moderately steep $α$. NGC 6822 is the last object of our original sample of five nearby irregulars. We can then draw the scenario resulting from this sample: most of the observed fields appear to have experienced a {\it gasping} regime of star formation, with average exponent $α$=2.35 for the initial mass function. Despite their small sizes, the majority of the sample galaxies contain different stellar populations in different regions.