Baade’s window and APOGEE Schultheis, M; Rojas-Arriagada, A; Perez, A E Garcia ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
04/2017, Letnik:
600
Journal Article
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Context. Baade's window (BW) is one of the most observed Galactic bulge fields in terms of chemical abundances. Owing to its low and homogeneous interstellar absorption it is considered the perfect ...calibration field for Galactic bulge studies. Aims. In the era of large spectroscopic surveys, calibration fields such as BW are necessary for cross calibrating the stellar parameters and individual abundances of the APOGEE survey. Methods. We use the APOGEE BW stars to derive the metallicity distribution function (MDF) and individual abundances for alpha- and iron-peak elements of the APOGEE ASPCAP pipeline (DR13), as well as the age distribution for stars in BW. Results. We determine the MDF of APOGEE stars in BW and find a remarkable agreement with that of the Gaia-ESO survey (GES). Both exhibit a clear bimodal distribution. We also find that the Mg-metallicity planes of the two surveys agree well, except for the metal-rich part (Fe/H > 0.1), where APOGEE finds systematically higher Mg abundances with respect to the GES. The ages based on the C/N ratio reveal a bimodal age distribution, with a major old population at ~ 10 Gyr, with a decreasing tail towards younger stars. A comparison of stellar parameters determined by APOGEE and those determined by other sources reveals detectable systematic offsets, in particular for spectroscopic surface gravity estimates. In general, we find a good agreement between individual abundances of O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Cr, Mn, Co, and Ni from APOGEE with that of literature values. Conclusions. We have shown that in general APOGEE data show a good agreement in terms of MDF and individual chemical abundances with respect to literature works. Using the C/N ratio we found a significant fraction of young stars in BW.
We present a high-resolution elemental-abundance analysis for a sample of 23 very metal-poor (Fe/H < -2.0) stars, 12 of which are extremely metal-poor (Fe/H < -3.0), and 4 of which are ...ultra-metal-poor (Fe/H < -4.0). These stars were targeted to explore differences in the abundance ratios for elements that constrain the possible astrophysical sites of element production, including Li, C, N, O, the alpha-elements, the iron-peak elements, and a number of neutron-capture elements. This sample substantially increases the number of known carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) and nitrogen-enhanced metal-poor (NEMP) stars-our program stars include eight that are considered "normal" metal-poor stars, six CEMP-no stars, five CEMP-s stars, two CEMP-r stars, and two CEMP-r/s stars. One of the CEMP-r stars and one of the CEMP-r/s stars are possible NEMP stars. We detect lithium for three of the six CEMP-no stars, all of which are Li depleted with respect to the Spite plateau. The majority of the CEMP stars have C/N > 0. The stars with C/N < 0 suggest a larger degree of mixing; the few CEMP-no stars that exhibit this signature are only found at Fe/H < -3.4, a metallicity below which we also find the CEMP-no stars with large enhancements in Na, Mg, and Al. We confirm the existence of two plateaus in the absolute carbon abundances of CEMP stars, as suggested by Spite et al. We also present evidence for a "floor" in the absolute Ba abundances of CEMP-no stars at A(Ba)~ -2.0.
We have derived abundances of 33 elements and upper limits for 6 additional elements for the metal-poor (Fe/H = -2.42) turn-off star HE 0338-3945 from high-quality VLT-UVES spectra. The star is ...heavily enriched, by about a factor of 100 relative to iron and the Sun, in the heavy s-elements (Ba, La,...). It is also heavily enriched in Eu, which is generally considered an r-element, and in other similar elements. It is less enriched, by about a factor of 10, in the lighter s-elements (Sr, Y and Zr). C is also strongly enhanced and, to a somewhat lesser degree, N and O. These abundance estimates are subject to severe uncertainties due to NLTE and thermal inhomogeneities which are not taken into detailed consideration. However, an interesting result, which is most probably robust in spite of these uncertainties, emerges: the abundances derived for this star are very similar to those of other stars with an overall enhancement of all elements beyond the iron peak. We have defined criteria for this class of stars, r+s stars, and discuss nine different scenarios to explain their origin. None of these explanations is found to be entirely convincing. The most plausible hypotheses involve a binary system in which the primary component goes through its giant branch and asymptotic giant branch phases and produces CNO and s-elements which are dumped onto the observed star. Whether the r-element Eu is produced by supernovae before the star was formed (perhaps triggering the formation of a low-mass binary), by a companion as it explodes as a supernova (possibly triggered by mass transfer), or whether it is possibly produced in a high-neutron-density version of the s-process is still unclear. Several suggestions are made on how to clarify this situation.
Context. An increasing fraction of carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars is found as their iron abundance, Fe/H, decreases below Fe/H =−2.0. The CEMP-s stars have the highest absolute carbon ...abundances, C/H, and are thought to owe their enrichment in carbon and the slow neutron-capture (s-process) elements to mass transfer from a former asymptotic giant branch (AGB) binary companion. The most Fe-poor CEMP stars are normally single, exhibit somewhat lower C/H than CEMP-s stars, but show no s-process element enhancement (CEMP-no stars). Abundance determinations of CNO offer clues to their formation sites. Aims. Our aim is to use the medium-resolution spectrograph X-Shooter/VLT to determine stellar parameters and abundances for C, N, Sr, and Ba in several classes of CEMP stars in order to further classify and constrain the astrophysical formation sites of these stars. Methods. Atmospheric parameters for our programme stars were estimated from a combination of V−K photometry, model isochrone fits, and estimates from a modified version of the SDSS/SEGUE spectroscopic pipeline. We then used X-Shooter spectra in conjunction with the 1D local thermodynamic equilibrium spectrum synthesis code MOOG, 1D ATLAS9 atmosphere models to derive stellar abundances, and, where possible, isotopic 12C/13C ratios. Results. Abundances (or limits) of C, N, Sr, and Ba are derived for a sample of 27 faint metal-poor stars for which the X-Shooter spectra have sufficient signal-to-noise ratios (S/N). These moderate resolution, low S/N (~10−40) spectra prove sufficient to perform limited chemical tagging and enable assignment of these stars into the CEMP subclasses (CEMP-s and CEMP-no). According to the derived abundances, 17 of our sample stars are CEMP-s and 3 are CEMP-no, while the remaining 7 are carbon-normal. For four CEMP stars, the subclassification remains uncertain, and two of them may be pulsating AGB stars. Conclusions. The derived stellar abundances trace the formation processes and sites of our sample stars. The C/N abundance ratio is useful for identifying stars with chemical compositions unaffected by internal mixing, and the Sr/Ba abundance ratio allows us to distinguish between CEMP-s stars with AGB progenitors and the CEMP-no stars. Suggested formation sites for the latter include faint supernovae with mixing and fallback and/or primordial, rapidly-rotating, massive stars (spinstars). X-Shooter spectra have thus proved to be valuable tools in the continued search for their origin.
We use Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 5 (DR5) u, g, r, i, z photometry to study Milky Way halo substructure in the area around the north Galactic cap. A simple color cut (g - r < 0.4) ...reveals the tidal stream of the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy, as well as a number of other stellar structures in the field. Two branches (A and B) of the Sagittarius stream are clearly visible in an RGB composite image created from three magnitude slices, and there is also evidence for a still more distant wrap behind the A branch. A comparison of these data with numerical models suggests that the shape of the Galactic dark halo is close to spherical.
We present an elemental-abundance analysis of an extremely metal-poor (EMP; Fe/H <−3.0) star, SDSS J134338.67+484426.6, identified during the course of the Multi-object Apache Point Observatory ...Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey spectroscopic pre-survey of some 20 000 stars to identify suitable candidates for exoplanet searches. This star, with an apparent magnitude V = 12.14, is the lowest metallicity star found in the pre-survey, and is one of only ∼20 known EMP stars that are this bright or brighter. Our high-resolution spectroscopic analysis shows that this star is a subgiant with Fe/H = −3.42, having ‘normal’ carbon and no enhancement of neutron-capture abundances. Strontium is underabundant, Sr/Fe = −0.47, but the derived lower limit on Sr/Ba indicates that Sr is likely enhanced relative to Ba. This star belongs to the sparsely populated class of α-poor EMP stars that exhibit low ratios of Mg/Fe, Si/Fe, and Ca/Fe compared to typical halo stars at similar metallicity. The observed variations in radial velocity from several epochs of (low- and high-resolution) spectroscopic follow-up indicate that SDSS J134338.67+484426.6 is a possible long-period binary. We also discuss the abundance trends in EMP stars for r-process elements, and compare with other magnesium-poor stars.
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.)
We report an abundance analysis for the highly r-process-enhanced (r-II) star CS 29497-004, a very metal-poor giant with solar system Teff = 5013 K and Fe/H = −2.85, whose nature was initially ...discovered in the course of the HERES project. Our analysis is based on high signal-to-noise ratio, high-resolution (R ~ 75 000) VLT/UVES spectra and MARCS model atmospheres under the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium, and obtains abundance measurements for a total of 46 elements, 31 of which are neutron-capture elements. As is the case for the other ~25 r-II stars currently known, the heavy-element abundance pattern of CS 29497-004 well-matches a scaled solar system second peak r-process-element abundance pattern. We confirm our previous detection of Th, and demonstrate that this star does not exhibit an “actinide boost”. Uranium is also detected (log ϵ(U) = −2.20 ± 0.30), albeit with a large measurement error that hampers its use as a precision cosmo-chronometer. Combining the various elemental chronometer pairs that are available for this star, we derive a mean age of 12.2 ± 3.7 Gyr using the theoretical production ratios from published waiting-point approximation models. We further explore the high-entropy wind model (Farouqi et al. 2010, ApJ, 712, 1359) production ratios arising from different neutron richness of the ejecta (Ye), and derive an age of 13.7 ± 4.4 Gyr for a best-fitting Ye = 0.447. The U/Th nuclei-chronometer is confirmed to be the most resilient to theoretical production ratios and yields an age of 16.5 ± 6.6 Gyr. Lead (Pb) is also tentatively detected in CS 29497-004, at a level compatible with a scaled solar r-process, or with the theoretical expectations for a pure r-process in this star.
Aims. We seek to provide abundances of a large set of light and neutron-capture elements homogeneously analyzed that cover a wide range of metallicity to constrain globular cluster (GC) formation and ...evolution models. Methods. We analyzed a large sample of 885 GCs giants from the SDSS IV-Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) survey. We used the Cannon results to separate the red giant branch and asymptotic giant branch stars, not only allowing for a refinement of surface gravity from isochrones, but also providing an independent H-band spectroscopic method to distinguish stellar evolutionary status in clusters. We then used the Brussels Automatic Code for Characterizing High accUracy Spectra (BACCHUS) to derive metallicity, microturbulence, macroturbulence, many light-element abundances, and the neutron-capture elements Nd and Ce for the first time from the APOGEE GCs data. Results. Our independent analysis helped us to diagnose issues regarding the standard analysis of the APOGEE DR14 for low-metallicity GC stars. Furthermore, while we confirm most of the known correlations and anticorrelation trends (Na-O, Mg-Al, C-N), we discover that some stars within our most metal-poor clusters show an extreme Mg depletion and some Si enhancement. At the same time, these stars show some relative Al depletion, displaying a turnover in the Mg-Al diagram. These stars suggest that Al has been partially depleted in their progenitors by very hot proton-capture nucleosynthetic processes. Furthermore, we attempted to quantitatively correlate the spread of Al abundances with the global properties of GCs. We find an anticorrelation of the Al spread against clusters metallicity and luminosity, but the data do not allow us to find clear evidence of a dependence of N against metallicity in the more metal-poor clusters. Conclusions. Large and homogeneously analyzed samples from ongoing spectroscopic surveys unveil unseen chemical details for many clusters, including a turnover in the Mg-Al anticorrelation, thus yielding new constrains for GCs formation/evolution models.
The high- and intermediate-velocity interstellar clouds (HVCs/IVCs) are tracers of energetic processes in and around the Milky Way. Clouds with near-solar metallicity about 1 kpc above the disk trace ...the circulation of material between disk and halo (the Galactic fountain). The Magellanic Stream consists of gas tidally extracted from the SMC, tracing the dark matter potential of the Milky Way. Several other HVCs have low metalliclty and appear to trace the continuing accretion of infalling intergalactic gas. These assertions are supported by the metallicltles (0.1 to 1 solar) measured for about 10 clouds in the past decade. Direct measurements of distances to HVCs have remained elusive, however. In this paper we present four new distance brackets, using VLT observations of interstellar Ca II H and K absorption toward distant Galactic halo stars. We derive distance brackets of 5.0 to 11.7 kpc for the Cohen Stream (likely to be an infalling low-metallicity cloud), 9.8 to 15.1 kpc for Complex GCP (also known as the Smith Cloud or HVC 40-15+100 and with still unknown origin), 1.0 to 2.7 kpc for an IVC that appears associated with the return flow of the fountain in the Perseus arm, and 1.8 to 3.8 kpc for cloud g1, which appears to be in the outflow phase of the fountain. Our measurements further demonstrate that the Milky Way is accreting substantial amounts of gaseous material, which influences the Galaxy's current and future dynamical and chemical evolution.
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