We find two chemically distinct populations separated relatively cleanly in the Fe/H-Mg/Fe plane, but also distinguished in other chemical planes, among metal-poor stars (primarily with metallicities ...) observed by the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) and analyzed for Data Release 13 (DR13) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. These two stellar populations show the most significant differences in their X/Fe ratios for the -elements, C+N, Al, and Ni. In addition to these populations having differing chemistry, the low metallicity high-Mg population (which we denote "the HMg population") exhibits a significant net Galactic rotation, whereas the low-Mg population (or "the LMg population") has halo-like kinematics with little to no net rotation. Based on its properties, the origin of the LMg population is likely an accreted population of stars. The HMg population shows chemistry (and to an extent kinematics) similar to the thick disk, and is likely associated with in situ formation. The distinction between the LMg and HMg populations mimics the differences between the populations of low- and high- halo stars found in previous studies, suggesting that these are samples of the same two populations.
The Second APOKASC Catalog: The Empirical Approach Pinsonneault, Marc H.; Elsworth, Yvonne P.; Tayar, Jamie ...
The Astrophysical journal. Supplement series,
12/2018, Letnik:
239, Številka:
2
Journal Article
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We present a catalog of stellar properties for a large sample of 6676 evolved stars with Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment spectroscopic parameters and Kepler asteroseismic data ...analyzed using five independent techniques. Our data include evolutionary state, surface gravity, mean density, mass, radius, age, and the spectroscopic and asteroseismic measurements used to derive them. We employ a new empirical approach for combining asteroseismic measurements from different methods, calibrating the inferred stellar parameters, and estimating uncertainties. With high statistical significance, we find that asteroseismic parameters inferred from the different pipelines have systematic offsets that are not removed by accounting for differences in their solar reference values. We include theoretically motivated corrections to the large frequency spacing (Δ ) scaling relation, and we calibrate the zero-point of the frequency of the maximum power ( max) relation to be consistent with masses and radii for members of star clusters. For most targets, the parameters returned by different pipelines are in much better agreement than would be expected from the pipeline-predicted random errors, but 22% of them had at least one method not return a result and a much larger measurement dispersion. This supports the usage of multiple analysis techniques for asteroseismic stellar population studies. The measured dispersion in mass estimates for fundamental calibrators is consistent with our error model, which yields median random and systematic mass uncertainties for RGB stars of order 4%. Median random and systematic mass uncertainties are at the 9% and 8% level, respectively, for red clump stars.
Abstract
Understanding the formation and evolution of our Galaxy requires accurate distances, ages, and chemistry for large populations of field stars. Here, we present several updates to our ...spectrophotometric distance code, which can now also be used to estimate ages, masses, and extinctions for individual stars. Given a set of measured spectrophotometric parameters, we calculate the posterior probability distribution over a given grid of stellar evolutionary models, using flexible Galactic stellar-population priors. The code (called StarHorse) can accommodate different observational data sets, prior options, partially missing data, and the inclusion of parallax information into the estimated probabilities. We validate the code using a variety of simulated stars as well as real stars with parameters determined from asteroseismology, eclipsing binaries, and isochrone fits to star clusters. Our main goal in this validation process is to test the applicability of the code to field stars with known Gaia-like parallaxes. The typical internal precisions (obtained from realistic simulations of an APOGEE+Gaia-like sample) are ${\simeq } 8\,\,\rm{per\,\,cent}$ in distance, ${\simeq } 20\,\,\rm{per\,\,cent}$ in age, ${\simeq } 6\,\,\rm{per\,\,cent}$ in mass, and ≃ 0.04 mag in AV. The median external precision (derived from comparisons with earlier work for real stars) varies with the sample used, but lies in the range of ${\simeq } 0,2\,\,\rm{per\,\,cent}$ for distances, ${\simeq } 12,31\,\,\rm{per\,\,cent}$ for ages, ${\simeq } 4,12\,\,\rm{per\,\,cent}$ for masses, and ≃ 0.07 mag for AV. We provide StarHorse distances and extinctions for the APOGEE DR14, RAVE DR5, GES DR3, and GALAH DR1 catalogues.
Abstract
In our previous work, we found that only two scenarios are capable of reproducing the observed integrated mass–metallicity relations for the gas and stellar components of local star-forming ...galaxies simultaneously. One scenario invokes a time-dependent metal outflow loading factor with stronger outflows at early times. The other scenario uses a time-dependent initial mass function (IMF) slope with a steeper IMF at early times. In this work, we extend our study to investigate the radial profile of gas and stellar metallicity in local star-forming galaxies using spatially resolved spectroscopic data from the SDSS-IV MaNGA survey. We find that most galaxies show negative gradients in both gas and stellar metallicity with steeper gradients in stellar metallicity. The stellar metallicity gradients tend to be mass dependent with steeper gradients in more massive galaxies while no clear mass dependence is found for the gas metallicity gradient. Then we compare the observations with the predictions from a chemical evolution model of the radial profiles of gas and stellar metallicities. We confirm that the two scenarios proposed in our previous work are also required to explain the metallicity gradients. Based on these two scenarios, we successfully reproduce the radial profiles of gas metallicity, stellar metallicity, stellar mass surface density, and star formation rate surface density simultaneously. The origin of the negative gradient in stellar metallicity turns out to be driven by either radially dependent metal outflow or IMF slope. In contrast, the radial dependence of the gas metallicity is less constrained because of the degeneracy in model parameters.
ABSTRACT We present the detection of 10 lines of singly ionized neodymium (Nd ii, Z = 60) in H-band spectra using observations from the SDSS-III Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment ...(APOGEE) survey. These lines were detected in a metal-poor (Fe/H ∼ −1.5), neutron-capture element-enhanced star recently discovered in the APOGEE sample. Using an optical high-resolution spectrum, we derive a Nd abundance for this star using Nd ii lines with precise, laboratory-derived gf values. This optical abundance is used to derive log(gf) values for the H-band lines. We use these lines to rederive Nd ii abundances for two more metal-rich, s-process enhanced stars observed by APOGEE and find that these lines yield consistent Nd ii abundances, confirming the Nd enhancement of these stars. We explore the region of parameter space in the APOGEE sample over which these lines can be used to measure Nd ii abundances. We find that Nd abundances can be reliably derived for ∼18% of the red giants observed by APOGEE. This will result in ∼50,000 Milky Way stars with Nd ii abundances following the conclusion of APOGEE-2, allowing for studies of neutron-capture element abundance distributions across the entire Milky Way.
The galaxy formation process in the ... cold dark matter scenario can be constrained from the analysis of stars in the Milky Way's halo system. We examine the variation of chemical abundances in ...distant halo stars observed by the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), as a function of distance from the Galactic Centre (r) and iron abundance (M/H), in the range 5 ... r ... 30 kpc and -2.5 < M/H < 0.0. We perform a statistical analysis of the abundance ratios derived by the APOGEE pipeline (ASPCAP) and distances calculated by several approaches. Our analysis reveals signatures of a different chemical enrichment between the inner and outer regions of the halo, with a transition at about 15 kpc. The derived metallicity distribution function exhibits two peaks, at M/H ~ -1.5 and ~-2.1, consistent with previously reported halo metallicity distributions. We obtain a difference of ~0.1 dex for ...-element-to-iron ratios for stars at r > 15 kpc and M/H > -1.1 (larger in the case of O, Mg, and S) with respect to the nearest halo stars. This result confirms previous claims for low-... stars found at larger distances. Chemical differences in elements with other nucleosynthetic origins (Ni, K, Na, and Al) are also detected. C and N do not provide reliable information about the interstellar medium from which stars formed because our sample comprises red giant branch and asymptotic giant branch stars and can experience mixing of material to their surfaces. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
Data from the SDSS-IV/Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2) have been released as part of SDSS Data Releases 13 (DR13) and 14 (DR14). These include high-resolution H-band ...spectra, radial velocities, and derived stellar parameters and abundances. DR13, released in 2016 August, contained APOGEE data for roughly 150,000 stars, and DR14, released in 2017 August, added about 110,000 more. Stellar parameters and abundances have been derived with an automated pipeline, the APOGEE Stellar Parameter and Chemical Abundance Pipeline (ASPCAP). We evaluate the performance of this pipeline by comparing the derived stellar parameters and abundances to those inferred from optical spectra and analysis for several hundred stars. For most elements-C, Na, Mg, Al, Si, S, Ca, Cr, Mn, Ni-the DR14 ASPCAP analyses have systematic differences with the comparisons samples of less than 0.05 dex (median), and random differences of less than 0.15 dex (standard deviation). These differences are a combination of the uncertainties in both the comparison samples as well as the ASPCAP analysis. Compared to the references, magnesium is the most accurate alpha-element derived by ASPCAP, and shows a very clear thin/thick disk separation, while nickel is the most accurate iron-peak element (besides iron itself).
Multiple populations revealed in globular clusters (GCs) are important windows to the formation and evolution of these stellar systems. The metal-rich GCs in the Galactic bulge are an indispensable ...part of this picture, but the high optical extinction in this region has prevented extensive research. In this work, we use the high-resolution near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic data from Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) to study the chemical abundances of NGC 6553, which is one of the most metal-rich bulge GCs. We identify 10 red giants as cluster members using their positions, radial velocities, iron abundances, and NIR photometry. Our sample stars show a mean radial velocity of -0.14 plus or minus 5.47 km s super( -1), and a mean Fe/H of -0.15 plus or minus 0.05. We clearly separate two populations of stars in C and N in this GC for the first time. NGC 6553 is the most metal-rich GC where the multiple stellar population phenomenon is found until now. Substantial chemical variations are also found in Na, O, and Al. However, the two populations show similar Si, Ca, and iron-peak element abundances. Therefore, we infer that the CNO, NeNa, and MgAl cycles have been activated, but the MgAl cycle is too weak to show its effect on Mg. Type Ia and Type II supernovae do not seem to have significantly polluted the second generation stars. Comparing with other GC studies, NGC 6553 shows similar chemical variations as other relatively metal-rich GCs. We also confront current GC formation theories with our results, and suggest possible avenues for improvement in the models.
The large amount of chemical and kinematic information available in large spectroscopic surveys has inspired the search for chemically peculiar stars in the field. Though these metal-poor field stars ...(Fe/H < −1) are commonly enriched in nitrogen, their detailed spatial, kinematic, and chemical distributions suggest that various groups may exist, and thus their origin is still a mystery. To study these stars statistically, we increase the sample size by identifying new CN-strong stars with LAMOST DR3 for the first time. We use CN-CH bands around 4000 to find CN-strong stars, and further separate them into CH-normal stars (44) and CH-strong (or CH) stars (35). The chemical abundances from our data-driven software and APOGEE DR14 suggest that most CH-normal stars are N-rich, and this cannot be explained by an internal mixing process alone. The kinematics of our CH-normal stars indicate that a substantial fraction of these stars are retrograding, pointing to an extragalactic origin. The chemistry and kinematics of CH-normal stars imply that they may be stars dissolved from globular clusters, or accreted halo stars, or both.
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