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.
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
.
Aims. We report 20 new lithium-rich giants discovered within the Gaia-ESO Survey, including the first Li-rich giant with an evolutionary stage confirmed by CoRoT (Convection, Rotation and planetary ...Transits) data. We present a detailed overview of the properties of these 20 stars. Methods. Atmospheric parameters and abundances were derived in model atmosphere analyses using medium-resolution GIRAFFE or high-resolution UVES (Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph) spectra. These results are part of the fifth internal data release of the Gaia-ESO Survey. The Li abundances were corrected for non-local thermodynamical equilibrium effects. Other stellar properties were investigated for additional peculiarities (the core of strong lines for signs of magnetic activity, infrared magnitudes, rotational velocities, chemical abundances, and Galactic velocities). We used Gaia DR2 parallaxes to estimate distances and luminosities. Results. The giants have A(Li) > 2.2 dex. The majority of them (14 of 20 stars) are in the CoRoT fields. Four giants are located in the field of three open clusters, but are not members. Two giants were observed in fields towards the Galactic bulge, but likely lie in the inner disc. One of the bulge field giants is super Li-rich with A(Li) = 4.0 dex. Conclusions. We identified one giant with infrared excess at 22 μm. Two other giants, with large v sin i, might be Li-rich because of planet engulfment. Another giant is found to be barium enhanced and thus could have accreted material from a former asymptotic giant branch companion. Otherwise, in addition to the Li enrichment, the evolutionary stages are the only other connection between these new Li-rich giants. The CoRoT data confirm that one Li-rich giant is at the core-He burning stage. The other giants are concentrated in close proximity to the red giant branch luminosity bump, the core-He burning stages, or the early-asymptotic giant branch. This is very clear from the Gaia-based luminosities of the Li-rich giants. This is also seen when the CoRoT Li-rich giants are compared to a larger sample of 2252 giants observed in the CoRoT fields by the Gaia-ESO Survey, which are distributed throughout the red giant branch in the Teff-log g diagram. These observations show that the evolutionary stage is a major factor for the Li enrichment in giants. Other processes, such as planet accretion, contribute at a smaller scale.
Context. Reconstructing the structure and history of young clusters is pivotal to understanding the mechanisms and timescales of early stellar evolution and planet formation. Recent studies suggest ...that star clusters often exhibit a hierarchical structure, possibly resulting from several star formation episodes occurring sequentially rather than a monolithic cloud collapse. Aims. We aim to explore the structure of the open cluster and star-forming region NGC 2264 (~3 Myr), which is one of the youngest, richest and most accessible star clusters in the local spiral arm of our Galaxy; we link the spatial distribution of cluster members to other stellar properties such as age and evolutionary stage to probe the star formation history within the region. Methods. We combined spectroscopic data obtained as part of the Gaia-ESO Survey (GES) with multi-wavelength photometric data from the Coordinated Synoptic Investigation of NGC 2264 (CSI 2264) campaign. We examined a sample of 655 cluster members, with masses between 0.2 and 1.8 M⊙ and including both disk-bearing and disk-free young stars. We used Teff estimates from GES and g,r,i photometry from CSI 2264 to derive individual extinction and stellar parameters. Results. We find a significant age spread of 4–5 Myr among cluster members. Disk-bearing objects are statistically associated with younger isochronal ages than disk-free sources. The cluster has a hierarchical structure, with two main blocks along its latitudinal extension. The northern half develops around the O-type binary star S Mon; the southern half, close to the tip of the Cone Nebula, contains the most embedded regions of NGC 2264, populated mainly by objects with disks and ongoing accretion. The median ages of objects at different locations within the cluster, and the spatial distribution of disked and non-disked sources, suggest that star formation began in the north of the cluster, over 5 Myr ago, and was ignited in its southern region a few Myr later. Star formation is likely still ongoing in the most embedded regions of the cluster, while the outer regions host a widespread population of more evolved objects; these may be the result of an earlier star formation episode followed by outward migration on timescales of a few Myr. We find a detectable lag between the typical age of disk-bearing objects and that of accreting objects in the inner regions of NGC 2264: the first tend to be older than the second, but younger than disk-free sources at similar locations within the cluster. This supports earlier findings that the characteristic timescales of disk accretion are shorter than those of disk dispersal, and smaller than the average age of NGC 2264 (i.e., ≲3 Myr). At the same time, we note that disks in the north of the cluster tend to be shorter-lived (~2.5 Myr) than elsewhere; this may reflect the impact of massive stars within the region (notably S Mon), that trigger rapid disk dispersal. Conclusions. Our results, consistent with earlier studies on NGC 2264 and other young clusters, support the idea of a star formation process that takes place sequentially over a prolonged span in a given region. A complete understanding of the dynamics of formation and evolution of star clusters requires accurate astrometric and kinematic characterization of its population; significant advance in this field is foreseen in the upcoming years thanks to the ongoing Gaia mission, coupled with extensive ground-based surveys like GES.
ABSTRACT
A growing disquiet has emerged in recent years that standard stellar models are at odds with observations of the colour–magnitude diagrams (CMDs) and lithium depletion patterns of pre-main ...sequence stars in clusters. In this work we select 1246 high probability K/M-type constituent members of five young open clusters (5–125 Myr) in the Gaia-ESO Survey to test a series of models that use standard input physics and others that incorporate surface magnetic fields or cool starspots. We find that: standard models provide systematically under-luminous isochrones for low-mass stars in the CMD and fail to predict Li-depletion of the right strength at the right colour; magnetic models provide better CMD fits with isochrones that are ∼1.5–2 times older, and provide better matches to Li depletion patterns. We investigate how rotation periods, most of which are determined here for the first time from Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite data, correlate with CMD position and Li. Among the K-stars in the older clusters we find the brightest and least Li-depleted are the fastest rotators, demonstrating the classic ‘Li-rotation connection’ for the first time at ∼35 Myr in NGC 2547, and finding some evidence that it exists in the early M-stars of NGC 2264 at $\lt 10\,$ Myr. However, the wide dispersion in Li depletion observed in fully convective M-dwarfs in the γ Vel cluster at ∼20 Myr appears not to be correlated with rotation and is challenging to explain without a very large (>10 Myr) age spread.
Context. The spatial distribution of elemental abundances in the disc of our Galaxy gives insights both on its assembly process and subsequent evolution, and on the stellar nucleogenesis of the ...different elements. Gradients can be traced using several types of objects as, for instance, (young and old) stars, open clusters, HII regions, planetary nebulae. Aims. We aim to trace the radial distributions of abundances of elements produced through different nucleosynthetic channels – the α-elements O, Mg, Si, Ca and Ti, and the iron-peak elements Fe, Cr, Ni and Sc – by use of the Gaia-ESO IDR4 results for open clusters and young-field stars. Methods. From the UVES spectra of member stars, we have determined the average composition of clusters with ages > 0.1 Gyr. We derived statistical ages and distances of field stars. We traced the abundance gradients using the cluster and field populations and compared them with a chemo-dynamical Galactic evolutionary model. Results. The adopted chemo-dynamical model, with the new generation of metallicity-dependent stellar yields for massive stars, is able to reproduce the observed spatial distributions of abundance ratios, in particular the abundance ratios of O/Fe and Mg/Fe in the inner disc (5 kpc <RGC< 7 kpc), with their differences, that were usually poorly explained by chemical evolution models. Conclusions. Oxygen and magnesium are often considered to be equivalent in tracing α-element abundances and in deducing, for example, the formation timescales of different Galactic stellar populations. In addition, often α/Fe is computed combining several α-elements. Our results indicate, as expected, a complex and diverse nucleosynthesis of the various α-elements, in particular in the high metallicity regimes, pointing towards a different origin of these elements and highlighting the risk of considering them as a single class with common features.
Context.
In the era of large spectroscopic surveys, massive databases of high-quality spectra coupled with the products of the
Gaia
satellite provide tools to outline a new picture of our Galaxy. In ...this framework, an important piece of information is provided by our ability to infer stellar ages, and consequently to sketch a Galactic timeline.
Aims.
We aim to provide empirical relations between stellar ages and abundance ratios for a sample of stars with very similar stellar parameters to those of the Sun, namely the so-called solar-like stars. We investigate the dependence on metallicity, and we apply our relations to independent samples, that is, the
Gaia
-ESO samples of open clusters and of field stars.
Methods.
We analyse high-resolution and high-signal-to-noise-ratio HARPS spectra of a sample of solar-like stars to obtain precise determinations of their atmospheric parameters and abundances for 25 elements and/or ions belonging to the main nucleosynthesis channels through differential spectral analysis, and of their ages through isochrone fitting.
Results.
We investigate the relations between stellar ages and several abundance ratios. For the abundance ratios with a steeper dependence on age, we perform multivariate linear regressions, in which we include the dependence on metallicity, Fe/H. We apply our best relations to a sample of open clusters located from the inner to the outer regions of the Galactic disc. Using our relations, we are able to recover the literature ages only for clusters located at
R
GC
> 7 kpc. The values that we obtain for the ages of the inner-disc clusters are much greater than the literature ones. In these clusters, the content of neutron capture elements, such as Y and Zr, is indeed lower than expected from chemical evolution models, and consequently their Y/Mg and Y/Al are lower than in clusters of the same age located in the solar neighbourhood. With our chemical evolution model and a set of empirical yields, we suggest that a strong dependence on the star formation history and metallicity-dependent stellar yields of
s
-process elements can substantially modify the slope of the
s
/
α
–Fe/H–age relation in different regions of the Galaxy.
Conclusions.
Our results point towards a non-universal relation
s
/
α
–Fe/H–age, indicating the existence of relations with different slopes and intercepts at different Galactocentric distances or for different star formation histories. Therefore, relations between ages and abundance ratios obtained from samples of stars located in a limited region of the Galaxy cannot be translated into general relations valid for the whole disc. A better understanding of the
s
-process at high metallicity is necessary to fully understand the origin of these variations.
The Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) is one of the three science instruments on ESA's far infrared and submillimetre observatory. It employs two Ge:Ga photoconductor arrays ...(stressed and unstressed) with 16×25 pixels, each, and two filled silicon bolometer arrays with 16×32 and 32×64 pixels, respectively, to perform integral-field spectroscopy and imaging photometry in the 60–210 μm wavelength regime. In photometry mode, it simultaneously images two bands, 60–85 μm or 85–125 μm and 125–210 μm, over a field of view of ~1.75'× 3.5', with close to Nyquist beam sampling in each band. In spectroscopy mode, it images a field of 47” × 47”, resolved into 5×5 pixels, with an instantaneous spectral coverage of ~1500 km s-1 and a spectral resolution of ~175 km s-1. We summarise the design of the instrument, describe observing modes, calibration, and data analysis methods, and present our current assessment of the in-orbit performance of the instrument based on the performance verification tests. PACS is fully operational, and the achieved performance is close to or better than the pre-launch predictions.
ABSTRACT
Spectroscopy from the final internal data release of the Gaia–ESO Survey (GES) has been combined with Gaia EDR3 to assign membership probabilities to targets observed towards 63 Galactic ...open clusters and 7 globular clusters. The membership probabilities are based chiefly on maximum likelihood modelling of the 3D kinematics of the targets, separating them into cluster and field populations. From 43 211 observed targets, 13 985 are identified as highly probable cluster members (P > 0.9), with an average membership probability of 0.993. The addition of GES radial velocities successfully drives down the fraction of false positives and we achieve better levels of discrimination in most clusters over the use of astrometric data alone, especially those at larger distances. Since the membership selection is almost purely kinematic, the union of this catalogue with GES and Gaia is ideal for investigating the photometric and chemical properties of clusters as a function of stellar mass, age, and Galactic position.
Context. The radial metallicity distribution in the Galactic thin disc represents a crucial constraint for modelling disc formation and evolution. Open star clusters allow us to derive both the ...radial metallicity distribution and its evolution over time. Aims. In this paper we perform the first investigation of the present-day radial metallicity distribution based on Fe/H determinations in late type members of pre-main-sequence clusters. Because of their youth, these clusters are therefore essential for tracing the current interstellar medium metallicity. Methods. We used the products of the Gaia-ESO Survey analysis of 12 young regions (age < 100 Myr), covering Galactocentric distances from 6.67 to 8.70 kpc. For the first time, we derived the metal content of star forming regions farther than 500 pc from the Sun. Median metallicities were determined through samples of reliable cluster members. For ten clusters the membership analysis is discussed in the present paper, while for other two clusters (i.e. Chamaeleon I and Gamma Velorum) we adopted the members identified in our previous works. Results. All the pre-main-sequence clusters considered in this paper have close-to-solar or slightly sub-solar metallicities. The radial metallicity distribution traced by these clusters is almost flat, with the innermost star forming regions having Fe/H values that are 0.10−0.15 dex lower than the majority of the older clusters located at similar Galactocentric radii. Conclusions. This homogeneous study of the present-day radial metallicity distribution in the Galactic thin disc favours models that predict a flattening of the radial gradient over time. On the other hand, the decrease of the average Fe/H at young ages is not easily explained by the models. Our results reveal a complex interplay of several processes (e.g. star formation activity, initial mass function, supernova yields, gas flows) that controlled the recent evolution of the Milky Way.