New abundance measurements in UKS1927–177, a very metal-poor galaxy in the Local Group

We present new results from optical spectroscopy of the brightest Hii region in the dwarf irregular galaxy UKS1927–177 in Sagittarius (SagDIG). From high signal-to-noise spectra, reddening-corrected line flux ratios have been measured with typical uncertainties of a few percent, from which the oxygen abundance is rediscussed, and new abundance estimates are derived for N and Ne. The O abundance in SagDIG, estimated with the empirical abundance indicator R23 and other methods, is in the range 12+log(O/H) = 7.26 to 7.50. The fact that SagDIG is ∼ 10 times closer than I Zw18 makes it an ideal target to test the hypothesis of the existence of young galaxies in the present-day universe. Indeed, stellar photometry suggests that this galaxy may harbor a stellar population older than a few Gyr, and possibly an old stellar component as well. The case of SagDIG therefore supports the view that very low chemical abundances can be maintained throughout the life of a dwarf stellar system, even in the presence of multiple star formation episodes.