RR Lyrae Variables in the Crater II Dwarf Galaxy

We report the detection of RR Lyrae variable stars in Crater II, a recently discovered large and diffuse satellite dwarf galaxy of the Milky Way (MW). Based on B, V time-series photometry obtained with the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network 1.6 m telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, we identified 83 ab-type and 13 c-type pulsators by fitting template light curves. The detected RR Lyrae stars are centrally concentrated, which ensures that most of them are members of Crater II. In terms of the distribution of RRab stars in the period-amplitude diagram, Crater II is clearly different from ultra-faint dwarf (UFD) galaxies, but very similar to the two classical MW dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies Draco and Carina with Oosterhoff-intermediate (Oo-int) properties. Combined with the mean period of ab-type variables ($\langle {P}_{{ab}}\rangle =0.631\pm 0.004\,\mathrm{days}$) and the c-type fraction (~0.14) in Crater II, this suggests an Oo-int classification for Crater II and implies that its nature is more like a dSph rather than a UFD. We also estimated the mean metallicity, reddening, and distance of Crater II, from the photometric and pulsation properties of the RR Lyrae stars. The stellar population model we have constructed indicates that Crater II is dominated by an old population, but is relatively younger than the oldest globular clusters in the MW. With a lack of high-amplitude short-period RRab stars, Crater II, like most of the other less massive dSphs, is probably not a surviving counterpart of the major building blocks of the MW halo.H. Jeong acknowledges support from the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea, funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2013R1A6A3A04064993). S.C.R. was partially supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the NRF of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education (2018R1A2B2006445). Support for this work was also provided by the NRF to the Center for Galaxy Evolution Research (2017R1A5A1070354). H. Jerjen acknowledges the support of the Australian Research Council through Discovery Project DP150100862. This research was made possible through the use of the APASS, funded by the Robert Martin Ayers Sciences Fund