The origin of carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars and their possible connection with the chemical elements produced by the first stellar generation is still highly debated. In contrast to the ...Galactic halo, not many CEMP stars have been found in the dwarf spheroidal galaxies around the Milky Way. Here we present detailed abundances from ESO VLT/UVES high-resolution spectroscopy for ET0097, the first CEMP star found in the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal, which is one of the best studied dwarf galaxies in the Local Group. This star has Fe/H = −2.03 ± 0.10, C/Fe = 0.51 ± 0.10 and N/Fe = 1.18 ± 0.20, which is the first nitrogen measurement in this galaxy. The traditional definition of CEMP stars is C/Fe ≥ 0.70, but taking into account that this luminous red giant branch star has undergone mixing, it was intrinsically less nitrogen enhanced and more carbon-rich when it was formed, and so it falls under the definition of CEMP stars, as proposed by Aoki et al. (2007, ApJ, 655, 492) to account for this effect. By making corrections for this mixing, we conclude that the star had C/Fe ≈ 0.8 during its earlier evolutionary stages. Apart from the enhanced C and N abundances, ET0097 shows no peculiarities in other elements lighter than Zn, and no enhancement of the heavier neutron-capture elements (Ba, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Dy), making this a CEMP-no star. However, the star does show signs of the weak r-process, with an overabundance of the lighter neutron-capture elements (Sr, Y, Zr). To explain the abundance pattern observed in ET0097, we explore the possibility that this star was enriched by primordial stars. In addition to the detailed abundances for ET0097, we present estimates and upper limits for C abundances in 85 other stars in Sculptor derived from CN molecular lines, including 11 stars with Fe/H ≤ −2. Combining these limits with observations from the literature, the fraction of CEMP-no stars in Sculptor seems to be significantly lower than in the Galactic halo.
Carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars comprise a high percentage of stars at the lowest metallicities. The stars in the CEMP-no subcategory do not show any s-process enhancement and therefore ...cannot easily be explained by transfer of carbon and s-process elements from a binary AGB companion. We have performed radial velocity monitoring of a sample of 22 CEMP-no stars to further study the role that binarity plays in this type of CEMP star. We find four new binary CEMP-no stars based on their radial velocity variations; this significantly enlarges the population of known binaries to a total of 11. One of the new stars found to be in a binary system is HE 0107–5240, which is one of the most iron-poor stars known. This supports the binary transfer model for the origin of the abundance pattern of this star. We find a difference in binary fraction in our sample that depends on the absolute carbon abundance, with a binary fraction of 47 +15−14% 47 − 14 + 15 % $ 47^{+15}_{-14}\% $ for stars with a higher absolute carbon abundance and 18 +14−9% 18 − 9 + 14 % $ 18^{+14}_{-9}\% $ for stars with a lower absolute carbon abundance. This might imply a relation between a high carbon abundance and the binarity of a metal-poor star. Although binarity does not equate to mass transfer, there is a possibility that a CEMP-no star in a binary system has been polluted, and care has to be taken in the interpretation of their abundance patterns. We furthermore demonstrate the potential of Gaia of discovering additional binary candidates.
We present deep photometry in the B, V and I filters from CTIO/MOSAIC for about 270 000 stars in the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy, out to a radius of rell ≈ 0.8 degrees. By combining the accurately ...calibrated photometry with the spectroscopic metallicity distributions of individual red giant branch stars we obtain the detailed star formation and chemical evolution history of Fornax. Fornax is dominated by intermediate age (1−10 Gyr) stellar populations, but also includes ancient (10−14 Gyr), and young (≤1 Gyr) stars. We show that Fornax displays a radial age gradient, with younger, more metal-rich populations dominating the central region. This confirms results from previous works. Within an elliptical radius of 0.8 degrees, or 1.9 kpc from the centre, a total mass in stars of 4.3 × 107 M⊙ was formed, from the earliest times until 250 Myr ago. Using the detailed star formation history, age estimates are determined for individual stars on the upper RGB, for which spectroscopic abundances are available, giving an age-metallicity relation of the Fornax dSph from individual stars. This shows that the average metallicity of Fornax went up rapidly from Fe/H ≤ −2.5 dex to Fe/H = −1.5 dex between 8−12 Gyr ago, after which a more gradual enrichment resulted in a narrow, well-defined sequence which reaches Fe/H ≈ −0.8 dex, ≈3 Gyr ago. These ages also allow us to measure the build-up of chemical elements as a function of time, and thus determine detailed timescales for the evolution of individual chemical elements. A rapid decrease in Mg/Fe is seen for the stars with Fe/H ≥ −1.5 dex, with a clear trend in age.
We present the high-resolution spectroscopic study of five −3.9 ≤ Fe/H ≤ −2.5 stars in the Local Group dwarf spheroidal, Sculptor, thereby doubling the number of stars with comparable observations in ...this metallicity range. We carry out a detailed analysis of the chemical abundances of α, iron peak, and light and heavy elements, and draw comparisons with the Milky Way halo and the ultra-faint dwarf stellar populations. We show that the bulk of the Sculptor metal-poor stars follow the same trends in abundance ratios versus metallicity as the Milky Way stars. This suggests similar early conditions of star formation and a high degree of homogeneity of the interstellar medium. We find an outlier to this main regime, which seems to miss the products of the most massive of the Type II supernovae. In addition to its help in refining galaxy formation models, this star provides clues to the production of cobalt and zinc. Two of our sample stars have low odd-to-even barium isotope abundance ratios, suggestive of a fair proportion of s-process. We discuss the implication for the nucleosynthetic origin of the neutron capture elements.
ABSTRACT
The Pristine survey uses narrow-band photometry to derive precise metallicities down to the extremely metal-poor regime ($ \rm Fe/H \lt -3$), and currently consists of over 4 million ...FGK-type stars over a sky area of $\sim 2500\, \mathrm{deg}^2$. We focus our analysis on a subsample of ∼80 000 main-sequence turn-off stars with heliocentric distances between 6 and 20 kpc, which we take to be a representative sample of the inner halo. The resulting metallicity distribution function (MDF) has a peak at $ \rm Fe/H =-1.6$, and a slope of Δ(LogN)/$\Delta \rm Fe/H = 1.0 \pm 0.1$ in the metallicity range of $-3.4\; \lt\; \rm Fe/H\; \lt -2.5$. This agrees well with a simple closed-box chemical enrichment model in this range, but is shallower than previous spectroscopic MDFs presented in the literature, suggesting that there may be a larger proportion of metal-poor stars in the inner halo than previously reported. We identify the Monoceros/TriAnd/ACS/EBS/A13 structure in metallicity space in a low-latitude field in the anticentre direction, and also discuss the possibility that the inner halo is dominated by a single, large merger event, but cannot strongly support or refute this idea with the current data. Finally, based on the MDF of field stars, we estimate the number of expected metal-poor globular clusters in the Milky Way halo to be 5.4 for $ \rm Fe/H\; \lt\; -2.5$ and 1.5 for $ \rm Fe/H\; \lt\; -3$, suggesting that the lack of low-metallicity globular clusters in the Milky Way is not due simply to statistical undersampling.
We have combined deep photometry in the B, V and I bands from CTIO/MOSAIC of the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy, going down to the oldest main sequence turn-offs, with spectroscopic metallicity ...distributions of red giant branch stars. This allows us to obtain the most detailed and complete star formation history to date, as well as an accurate timescale for chemical enrichment. The star formation history shows that Sculptor is dominated by old (>10 Gyr), metal-poor stars, but that younger, more metal-rich populations are also present. Using star formation histories determined at different radii from the centre we show that Sculptor formed stars with an increasing central concentration with time. The old, metal-poor populations are present at all radii, while more metal-rich, younger stars are more centrally concentrated. We find that within an elliptical radius of 1 degree, or 1.5 kpc from the centre, a total mass in stars of 7.8 × 106 M⊙ was formed, between 14 and 7 Gyr ago, with a peak at 13−14 Gyr ago. We use the detailed star formation history to determine age estimates for individual red giant branch stars with high resolution spectroscopic abundances. Thus, for the first time, we can directly determine detailed timescales for the evolution of individual chemical elements. We find that the trends in alpha-elements match what is expected from an extended, relatively uninterrupted period of star formation continuing for 6−7 Gyr. The knee in the alpha-element distribution occurs at an age of 10.9 ± 1Gyr, suggesting that SNe Ia enrichment began ≈2 ± 1 Gyr after the start of star formation in Sculptor.
Gemini/GRACES spectroscopy of stars in Tri II Venn, K. A; Starkenburg, E; Malo, L ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
04/2017, Volume:
466, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Abstract
The chemical abundance ratios and radial velocities for two stars in the recently discovered Triangulum II faint dwarf galaxy have been determined from high-resolution, medium ...signal-to-noise ratio spectra from the Gemini Remote Access to CFHT ESPaDonS Spectrograph facility. These stars have stellar parameters and metallicities similar to those derived from their photometry and medium-resolution Ca ii triplet spectra, and supports that Triangulum II has a metallicity spread consistent with chemical evolution in a dwarf galaxy. The elemental abundances show that both stars have typical calcium abundances and barium upper limits for their metallicities, but low magnesium and sodium. This chemical composition resembles some stars in dwarf galaxies, attributed to inhomogeneous mixing in a low star formation environment, and/or yields from only a few supernova events. One of our targets (Star40) has an enhancement in potassium, and resembles some stars in the unusual outer halo star cluster, NGC 2419. Our other target (Star46) appears to be a binary based on a change in its radial velocity (Δv
rad = 24.5 ±2.1 km s−1). This is consistent with variations found in binary stars in other dwarf galaxies. While this serves as a reminder of the high binary fraction in these ultrafaint dwarf galaxies, this particular object has had little impact on the previous determination of the velocity dispersion in Triangulum II.
Context. Fornax is one of the most massive dwarf spheroidal galaxies in the Local Group. The Fornax field star population is dominated by intermediate age stars but star formation was going on over ...almost its entire history. It has been proposed that Fornax experienced a minor merger event. Aims. Despite recent progress, only the high metallicity end of Fornax field stars (Fe/H > –1.2 dex) has been sampled in larger number via high resolution spectroscopy. We want to better understand the full chemical evolution of this galaxy by better sampling the whole metallicity range, including more metal poor stars. Methods. We use the VLT-FLAMES multi-fibre spectrograph in high-resolution mode to determine the abundances of several α, iron-peak and neutron-capture elements in a sample of 47 individual red giant branch stars in the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy. We combine these abundances with accurate age estimates derived from the age probability distribution from the colour-magnitude diagram of Fornax. Results. Similar to other dwarf spheroidal galaxies, the old, metal-poor stars of Fornax are typically α-rich while the young metal-rich stars are α-poor. In the classical scenario of the time delay between Type II (SNe II) and Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia), we confirm that SNe Ia started to contribute to the chemical enrichment at Fe/H between –2.0 and –1.8 dex. We find that the onset of SNe Ia took place between 12–10 Gyr ago. The high values of Ba/Fe, La/Fe reflect the influence of SNe Ia and AGB stars in the abundance pattern of the younger stellar population of Fornax. Conclusions. Our findings of low α/Fe and enhanced Eu/Mg are compatible with an initial mass function that lacks the most massive stars and with star formation that kept going on throughout the whole history of Fornax. We find that massive stars kept enriching the interstellar medium in α-elements, although they were not the main contributor to the iron enrichment.
We present the results of a dedicated search for extremely metal-poor stars in the Fornax, Sculptor, and Sextans dSphs. Five stars were selected from two earlier VLT/Giraffe and HET/HRS surveys and ...subsequently followed up at high spectroscopic resolution with VLT/UVES. All of them turned out to have Fe/H ≲ −3 and three stars are below Fe/H ~ −3.5. This constitutes the first evidence that the classical dSphs Fornax and Sextans join Sculptor in containing extremely metal-poor stars and suggests that all of the classical dSphs contain extremely metal-poor stars. One giant in Sculptor at Fe/H = −3.96 ± 0.06 is the most metal-poor star ever observed in an external galaxy. We carried out a detailed analysis of the chemical abundances of the α, iron peak, and the heavy elements, and we performed a comparison with the Milky Way halo and the ultra faint dwarf stellar populations. Carbon, barium, and strontium show distinct features characterized by the early stages of galaxy formation and can constrain the origin of their nucleosynthesis.
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