The Star Formation History of the Local Group

TL;DR

This paper reviews the diverse star formation histories of Local Group galaxies, highlighting how galaxy mass and environment influence their evolution and suggesting dwarf irregulars may evolve into dwarf spheroidals.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive summary of the star formation and enrichment histories of Local Group galaxies, emphasizing the roles of mass and environment in their evolution.

Findings

Local Group galaxies show diverse star formation histories.

Galaxy mass and environment significantly influence galaxy evolution.

Dwarf irregulars likely evolve into dwarf spheroidals.

Abstract

The star formation histories of Local Group galaxies are summarized. The three large spirals are discussed individually, whereas the discussion of the Local Group dwarfs concentrates on differences and commonalities. While Local Group galaxies exhibit an amazing diversity in their star formation and enrichment histories even within the same morphological type, they share a number of common global properties. Major determining factors for their evolution are galaxy mass and environmental effects such as ram pressure and tidal stripping. It seems likely that low-mass dwarf irregular galaxies evolve into dwarf spheroidals.