Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 1989. 27: 139-59 Copyright © 1989 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved

5.14 Leo II

Swope (121) derived an instrumental (uncalibrated) CMD for the galaxy Leo II. A more recent result was published by Demers & Harris (33), who found a moderately wide giant branch that resembles that of Fornax, including an extension of the giant branch to unusually red values (B - V = 2.2). Five of the reddest stars were subsequently identified as carbon stars (6, 9). Known variable stars in Leo II are primarily RR Lyrae stars (121), but there are also a few anomalous Cepheids (136). The mean metals abundance is low, with [Fe/H] = -1.9 ± 0.25 (120). Leo II may have had most, if not all, of its star formation occur in a single, early period.