The aim of this paper is to explore and map the age and abundance structure of the stars in the nearby Galactic disk. We have conducted a high-resolution spectroscopic study of 714 F and G dwarf and ...subgiant stars in the Solar neighbourhood. The star sample has been kinematically selected to trace the Galactic thin and thick disks to their extremes, the metal-rich stellar halo, sub-structures in velocity space such as the Hercules stream and the Arcturus moving group, as well as stars that cannot (kinematically) be associated with either the thin disk or the thick disk. We present stellar parameters, stellar ages, kinematical parameters, orbital parameters, and detailed elemental abundances for O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, C a, Ti, C r, Fe, Ni, Zn, Y, and Ba for 714 nearby F and G dwarf stars. Our data show that there is an old and alpha -enhanced disk population, and a younger and less alpha -enhanced disk population. As the exact cause for this effect is unclear we chose to apply an empirical correction. Turn-off stars and more evolved stars appear to be unaffected.
Based on spectra from F and G dwarf stars, we present elemental abundance trends in the Galactic thin and thick disks in the metallicity regime $\rm -0.8\lesssim Fe/H \lesssim +0.4$. Our findings can ...be summarized as follows. 1) Both the thin and the thick disks show smooth and distinct abundance trends that, at sub-solar metallicities, are clearly separated. 2) For the α-elements the thick disk shows signatures of chemical enrichment from SNe type Ia. 3) The age of the thick disk sample is in the mean older than the thin disk sample. 4) Kinematically, there exist thick disk stars with super-solar metallicities. Based on these findings, together with other constraints from the literature, we discuss different formation scenarios for the thick disk. We suggest that the currently most likely formation scenario is a violent merger event or a close encounter with a companion galaxy. Based on kinematics the stellar sample was selected to contain stars with high probabilities of belonging either to the thin or to the thick Galactic disk. The total number of stars are 66 of which 21 belong to the thick disk and 45 to the thin disk. The analysis is based on high-resolution spectra with high signal-to-noise ($R\sim 48\,000$ and $S/N \gtrsim 150$, respectively) recorded with the FEROS spectrograph on La Silla, Chile. Abundances have been determined for four α-elements (Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti), for four even-nuclei iron peak elements (Cr, Fe, Ni, and Zn), and for the light elements Na and Al, from equivalent width measurements of ~$30\,000$ spectral lines. An extensive investigation of the atomic parameters, $\log gf$-values in particular, have been performed in order to achieve abundances that are trustworthy. Noteworthy is that we find for Ti good agreement between the abundances from $\ion{Ti}{i}$ and $\ion{Ti}{ii}$. Our solar Ti abundances are in concordance with the standard meteoritic Ti abundance.
We present a re-analysis of the Geneva-Copenhagen survey, which benefits from the infrared flux method to improve the accuracy of the derived stellar effective temperatures and uses the latter to ...build a consistent and improved metallicity scale. Metallicities are calibrated on high-resolution spectroscopy and checked against four open clusters and a moving group, showing excellent consistency. The new temperature and metallicity scales provide a better match to theoretical isochrones, which are used for a Bayesian analysis of stellar ages. With respect to previous analyses, our stars are on average 100 K hotter and 0.1 dex more metal rich, which shift the peak of the metallicity distribution function around the solar value. From Stromgren photometry we are able to derive for the first time a proxy for alpha/Fe abundances, which enables us to perform a tentative dissection of the chemical thin and thick disc. We find evidence for the latter being composed of an old, mildly but systematically alpha-enhanced population that extends to super solar metallicities, in agreement with spectroscopic studies. Our revision offers the largest existing kinematically unbiased sample of the solar neighbourhood that contains full information on kinematics, metallicities, and ages and thus provides better constraints on the physical processes relevant in the build-up of the Milky Way disc, enabling a better understanding of the Sun in a Galactic context.
Context. As observational evidence steadily accumulates, the nature of the Galactic bulge has proven to be rather complex: the structural, kinematic, and chemical analyses often lead to contradictory ...conclusions. The nature of the metal-rich bulge – and especially of the metal-poor bulge – and their relation with other Galactic components, still need to be firmly defined on the basis of statistically significant high-quality data samples. Aims. We used the fourth internal data release of the Gaia-ESO survey to characterize the bulge metallicity distribution function (MDF), magnesium abundance, spatial distribution, and correlation of these properties with kinematics. Moreover, the homogeneous sampling of the different Galactic populations provided by the Gaia-ESO survey allowed us to perform a comparison between the bulge, thin disk, and thick disk sequences in the Mg/Fe vs. Fe/H plane in order to constrain the extent of their eventual chemical similarities. Methods. We obtained spectroscopic data for ~2500 red clump stars in 11 bulge fields, sampling the area −10° ≤ l ≤ + 8° and −10° ≤ b ≤ −4° from the fourth internal data release of the Gaia-ESO survey. A sample of ~6300 disk stars was also selected for comparison. Spectrophotometric distances computed via isochrone fitting allowed us to define a sample of stars likely located in the bulge region. Results. From a Gaussian mixture models (GMM) analysis, the bulge MDF is confirmed to be bimodal across the whole sampled area. The relative ratio between the two modes of the MDF changes as a function of b, with metal-poor stars dominating at high latitudes. The metal-rich stars exhibit bar-like kinematics and display a bimodality in their magnitude distribution, a feature which is tightly associated with the X-shape bulge. They overlap with the metal-rich end of the thin disk sequence in the Mg/Fe vs. Fe/H plane. On the other hand, metal-poor bulge stars have a more isotropic hot kinematics and do not participate in the X-shape bulge. Their Mg enhancement level and general shape in the Mg/Fe vs. Fe/H plane is comparable to that of the thick disk sequence. The position at which Mg/Fe starts to decrease with Fe/H, called the “knee”, is observed in the metal-poor bulge at Fe/H knee = −0.37 ± 0.09, being 0.06 dex higher than that of the thick disk. Although this difference is inside the error bars, it suggest a higher star formation rate (SFR) for the bulge than for the thick disk. We estimate an upper limit for this difference of Δ Fe/H knee = 0.24 dex. Finally, we present a chemical evolution model that suitably fits the whole bulge sequence by assuming a fast (<1 Gyr) intense burst of stellar formation that takes place at early epochs. Conclusions. We associate metal-rich stars with the bar boxy/peanut bulge formed as the product of secular evolution of the early thin disk. On the other hand, the metal-poor subpopulation might be the product of an early prompt dissipative collapse dominated by massive stars. Nevertheless, our results do not allow us to firmly rule out the possibility that these stars come from the secular evolution of the early thick disk. This is the first time that an analysis of the bulge MDF and α-abundances has been performed in a large area on the basis of a homogeneous, fully spectroscopic analysis of high-resolution, high S/N data.
The existence of a vertical age gradient in the Milky Way disc has been indirectly known for long. Here, we measure it directly for the first time with seismic ages, using red giants observed by ...Kepler. We use Stromgren photometry to gauge the selection function of asteroseismic targets, and derive colour and magnitude limits where giants with measured oscillations are representative of the underlying population in the field. Limits in the 2MASS system are also derived. We lay out a method to assess and correct for target selection effects independent of Galaxy models. We find that low-mass, i.e. old red giants dominate at increasing Galactic heights, whereas closer to the Galactic plane they exhibit a wide range of ages and metallicities. Parametrizing this as a vertical gradient returns approximately 4 Gyr kpc... for the disc we probe, although with a large dispersion of ages at all heights. The ages of stars show a smooth distribution over the last ...10 Gyr, consistent with a mostly quiescent evolution for the Milky Way disc since a redshift of about 2. We also find a flat age-metallicity relation for disc stars. Finally, we show how to use secondary clump stars to estimate the present-day intrinsic metallicity spread, and suggest using their number count as a new proxy for tracing the ageing of the disc. This work highlights the power of asteroseismology for Galactic studies; however, we also emphasize the need for better constraints on stellar mass-loss, which is a major source of systematic age uncertainties in red giant stars. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
Context. A number of large spectroscopic surveys of stars in the Milky Way are under way or are being planned. In this context it is important to discuss the extent to which elemental abundances can ...be used as discriminators between different (known and unknown) stellar populations in the Milky Way. Aims. We aim to establish the requirements in terms of precision in elemental abundances, as derived from spectroscopic surveys of the Milky Way’s stellar populations, in order to detect interesting substructures in elemental abundance space. Methods. We used Monte Carlo simulations to examine under which conditions substructures in elemental abundance space can realistically be detected. Results. We present a simple relation between the minimum number of stars needed to detect a given substructure and the precision of the measurements. The results are in agreement with recent small- and large-scale studies, with high and low precision, respectively. Conclusions. Large-number statistics cannot fully compensate for low precision in the abundance measurements. Each survey should carefully evaluate what the main science drivers are for the survey and ensure that the chosen observational strategy will result in the precision necessary to answer the questions posed.
Based on high-resolution spectra obtained during gravitational microlensing events we present a detailed elemental abundance analysis of 32 dwarf and subgiant stars in the Galactic bulge. Combined ...with the sample of 26 stars from the previous papers in this series, we now have 58 microlensed bulge dwarfs and subgiants that have been homogeneously analysed. The results from the microlensed bulge dwarf stars in combination with other findings in the literature, in particular the evidence that the bulge has cylindrical rotation, indicate that the Milky Way could be an almost pure disk galaxy. The bulge would then just be a conglomerate of the other Galactic stellar populations, residing together in the central parts of the Galaxy, influenced by the Galactic bar.
Differences in the elemental abundances of planet-hosting stars in binary systems can give important clues and constraints about planet formation and evolution. In this study we performed a ...high-precision, differential elemental abundance analysis of a wide binary system, HD 80606/80607, based on high-resolution spectra with high signal-to-noise ratio obtained with Keck/HIRES. HD 80606 is known to host a giant planet with the mass of four Jupiters, but no planet has been detected around HD 80607 so far. We determined stellar parameters as well as abundances for 23 elements for these two stars with extremely high precision. Our main results are that (i) we confirmed that the two components share very similar chemical compositions, but HD 80606 is marginally more metal-rich than HD 80607, with an average difference of +0.013 ± 0.002 dex (σ = 0.009 dex); and (ii) there is no obvious trend between abundance differences and condensation temperature. Assuming that this binary formed from material with the same chemical composition, it is difficult to understand how giant planet formation could produce the present-day photospheric abundances of the elements we measure. We cannot exclude the possibility that HD 80606 might have accreted about 2.5 to 5 MEarth material onto its surface, possibly from a planet destabilised by the known highly eccentric giant.
We present an assessment of the barium abundance ratios for red giant member stars in the faint Hercules dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy. Our results are drawn from intermediate-resolution ...FLAMES/GIRAFFE spectra around the Ba II 6141.71 Å absorption line at low signal-to-noise ratios. For three brighter stars we were able to gain estimates from direct equivalent-width measurements, while for the remaining eight stars only upper limits could be obtained. These results are investigated in a statistical manner and indicate very low Ba abundances of log ε(Ba) ≲ 0.7 dex (3σ). We discuss various possible systematic biasses, first and foremost, a blend with the Fe I 6141.73 Å-line, but most of those would only lead to even lower abundances. A better match with metal-poor halo and dSph stars can only be reached by including a large uncertainty in the continuum placement. This contrasts with the high dispersions in iron and calcium (in excess of 1 dex) in this galaxy. While the latter spreads are typical of the very low luminosity, dark-matter dominated dSphs, a high level of depletion in heavy elements suggests that chemical enrichment in Hercules was governed by very massive stars, coupled with a very low star formation efficiency. While very low abundances of some heavy elements are also found in individual stars of other dwarf galaxies, this is the first time that a very low Ba abundance is found within an entire dSph over a broad metallicity range.
Atomic data for the Gaia -ESO Survey Heiter, U.; Lind, K.; Bergemann, M. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
2021, Letnik:
645
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Context.
We describe the atomic and molecular data that were used for the abundance analyses of FGK-type stars carried out within the
Gaia
-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey in the years 2012 to 2019. ...The
Gaia
-ESO Survey is one among several current and future stellar spectroscopic surveys producing abundances for Milky-Way stars on an industrial scale.
Aims.
We present an unprecedented effort to create a homogeneous common line list, which was used by several abundance analysis groups using different radiative transfer codes to calculate synthetic spectra and equivalent widths. The atomic data are accompanied by quality indicators and detailed references to the sources. The atomic and molecular data are made publicly available at the CDS.
Methods.
In general, experimental transition probabilities were preferred but theoretical values were also used. Astrophysical
gf
-values were avoided due to the model-dependence of such a procedure. For elements whose lines are significantly affected by a hyperfine structure or isotopic splitting, a concerted effort has been made to collate the necessary data for the individual line components. Synthetic stellar spectra calculated for the Sun and Arcturus were used to assess the blending properties of the lines. We also performed adetailed investigation of available data for line broadening due to collisions with neutral hydrogen atoms.
Results.
Among a subset of over 1300 lines of 35 elements in the wavelength ranges from 475 to 685 nm and from 850 to 895 nm, we identified about 200 lines of 24 species which have accurate
gf
-values and are free of blends in the spectra of the Sun and Arcturus. For the broadening due to collisions with neutral hydrogen, we recommend data based on Anstee-Barklem-O’Mara theory, where possible. We recommend avoiding lines of neutral species for which these are not available. Theoretical broadening data by R.L. Kurucz should be used for Sc
II
, Ti
II
, and Y
II
lines; additionally, for ionised rare-earth species, the Unsöld approximation with an enhancement factor of 1.5 for the line width can be used.
Conclusions.
The line list has proven to be a useful tool for abundance determinations based on the spectra obtained within the
Gaia
-ESO Survey, as well as other spectroscopic projects. Accuracies below 0.2 dex are regularly achieved, where part of the uncertainties are due to differences in the employed analysis methods. Desirable improvements in atomic data were identified for a number of species, most importantly Al
I
, S
I
, and Cr
II
, but also Na
I
, Si
I
, Ca
II
, and Ni
I
.
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