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.
Aims. As part of the DART project we have used the ESO/2.2m Wide Field Imager in conjunction with the VLT/FLAMES GIRAFFE spectrograph to study the detailed properties of the resolved stellar ...population of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy out to and beyond its tidal radius. Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy has had a complicated evolution and contains significant numbers of young, intermediate age and old stars. We investigate the relation between these different components by studying their photometric, kinematic and abundance distributions. Methods. We re-derived the structural parameters of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal using our wide field imaging covering the galaxy out to its tidal radius, and analysed the spatial distribution of the Fornax stars of different ages as selected from colour- magnitude diagram analysis. We have obtained accurate velocities and metallicities from spectra in the Ca II triplet wavelength region for 562 Red Giant Branch stars which have velocities consistent with membership of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal. Results. We have found evidence for the presence of at least three distinct stellar components: a young population (few 100 Myr old) concentrated in the centre of the galaxy, visible as a Main Sequence in the colour-magnitude diagram; an intermediate age population (2-8 Gyr old) ; and an ancient population (>10 Gyr), which are distinguishable from each other kinematically, from the metallicity distribution and in the spatial distribution of stars found in the colour-magnitude diagram. Conclusions. From our spectroscopic analysis we find that the "metal rich" stars (-1.3$--> \rm Fe/H>-1.3) show a less extended and more concentrated spatial distribution, and display colder kinematics than the "metal poor" stars ( \rm Fe/H<-1.3). There is tentative evidence that the ancient stellar population in the centre of Fornax does not exhibit equilibrium kinematics. This could be a sign of a relatively recent accretion of external material, such as the merger of another galaxy or other means of gas accretion at some point in the fairly recent past, consistent with other recent evidence of substructure (Coleman et al. 2004, AJ, 127, 832; 2005, AJ, 129, 1443).
For the first time we show the detailed, late-stage, chemical evolution history of a small nearby dwarf spheroidal galaxy in the Local Group. We present the results of a high-resolution (R ~ 20000, ...λ = 5340–5620; 6120–6701) FLAMES/GIRAFFE abundance study at ESO/VLT of 81 photometrically selected, red giant branch stars in the central 25′ of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy. We also carried out a detailed comparison of the effects of recent developments in abundance analysis (e.g., spherical models vs. plane-parallel) and the automation that is required to efficiently deal with such large data sets. We present abundances of α-elements (Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti), iron-peak elements (Fe, Ni, and Cr), and heavy elements (Y, Ba, La, Nd, and Eu). Our sample was randomly selected and is clearly dominated by the younger and more metal-rich component of Fornax, which represents the major fraction of stars in the central region. This means that the majority of our stars are 1−4 Gyr old, and thus represent the end phase of chemical evolution in this system. Our sample of stars has unusually low α/Fe, Ni/Fe, and Na/Fe compared to the Milky Way stellar populations at the same Fe/H. The particularly important role of stellar winds from low-metallicity AGB stars in the creation of s-process elements is clearly seen from the high Ba/Y. Furthermore, we present evidence of an s-processorigin of Eu.
ABSTRACT Our Galaxy is known to contain a central boxy/peanut-shaped bulge, yet the importance of a classical, pressure-supported component within the central part of the Milky Way is still being ...debated. It should be most visible at low metallicity, a regime that has not yet been studied in detail. Using metallicity-sensitive narrow-band photometry, the Pristine Inner Galaxy Survey (PIGS) has collected a large sample of metal-poor ($\rm {Fe/H}\, \lt -1.0$) stars in the inner Galaxy to address this open question. We use PIGS to trace the metal-poor inner Galaxy kinematics as function of metallicity for the first time. We find that the rotational signal decreases with decreasing Fe/H , until it becomes negligible for the most metal-poor stars. Additionally, the velocity dispersion increases with decreasing metallicity for $-3.0 \lt \rm {Fe/H}\, \lt -0.5$, with a gradient of −44 ± 4 km s−1 dex−1. These observations may signal a transition between Galactic components of different metallicities and kinematics, a different mapping on to the boxy/peanut-shaped bulge for former disc stars of different metallicities and/or the secular dynamical and gravitational influence of the bar on the pressure-supported component. Our results provide strong constraints on models that attempt to explain the properties of the inner Galaxy.
We present a renewed look at M31's giant stellar stream along with the nearby structures streams C and D, exploiting a new algorithm capable of fitting to the red giant branch (RGB) of a structure in ...both colour and magnitude space. Using this algorithm, we are able to generate probability distributions in distance, metallicity and RGB width for a series of subfields spanning these structures. Specifically, we confirm a distance gradient of approximately 20 kpc per degree along a 6 deg extension of the giant stellar stream, with the farthest subfields from M31 lying ∼120 kpc more distant than the innermost subfields. Further, we find a metallicity that steadily increases from
$-0.7^{+0.1}_{-0.1}$
to
$-0.2^{+0.2}_{-0.1}$
dex along the inner half of the stream before steadily dropping to a value of
$-1.0^{+0.2}_{-0.2}$
dex at the farthest reaches of our coverage. The RGB width is found to increase rapidly from
$0.4^{+0.1}_{-0.1}$
to
$1.1^{+0.2}_{-0.1}$
dex in the inner portion of the stream before plateauing and decreasing marginally in the outer subfields of the stream. In addition, we estimate stream C to lie at a distance between 794 and 862 kpc and stream D between 758 and 868 kpc. We estimate the median metallicity of stream C to lie in the range −0.7 to −1.6 dex and a metallicity of
$-1.1^{+0.3}_{-0.2}$
dex for stream D. RGB widths for the two structures are estimated to lie in the range 0.4–1.2 dex and 0.3–0.7 dex, respectively. In total, measurements are obtained for 19 subfields along the giant stellar stream, four along stream C, five along stream D and three general M31 spheroid fields for comparison. We thus provide a higher resolution coverage of the structures in these parameters than has previously been available in the literature.
Abstract
Spectroscopic surveys require fast and efficient analysis methods to maximize their scientific impact. Here, we apply a deep neural network architecture to analyse both SDSS-III APOGEE DR13 ...and synthetic stellar spectra. When our convolutional neural network model (StarNet) is trained on APOGEE spectra, we show that the stellar parameters (temperature, gravity, and metallicity) are determined with similar precision and accuracy as the APOGEE pipeline. StarNet can also predict stellar parameters when trained on synthetic data, with excellent precision and accuracy for both APOGEE data and synthetic data, over a wide range of signal-to-noise ratios. In addition, the statistical uncertainties in the stellar parameter determinations are comparable to the differences between the APOGEE pipeline results and those determined independently from optical spectra. We compare StarNet to other data-driven methods; for example, StarNet and the Cannon 2 show similar behaviour when trained with the same data sets; however, StarNet performs poorly on small training sets like those used by the original Cannon. The influence of the spectral features on the stellar parameters is examined via partial derivatives of the StarNet model results with respect to the input spectra. While StarNet was developed using the APOGEE observed spectra and corresponding ASSET synthetic data, we suggest that this technique is applicable to other wavelength ranges and other spectral surveys.
Detailed chemical abundances for five stars in two Galactic globular clusters, NGC 5466 and NGC 5024, are presented from high-resolution optical (from the Hobby-Eberley Telescope) and infrared ...spectra (from the SDSS-III APOGEE survey). We find Fe/H = −1.97 ± 0.13 dex for NGC 5466, and Fe/H = −2.06 ± 0.13 dex for NGC 5024, and the typical abundance pattern for globular clusters for the remaining elements, e.g. both show evidence for mixing in their light element abundance ratios (C, N), and asymptotic giant branch contributions in their heavy element abundances (Y, Ba, and Eu). These clusters were selected to examine chemical trends that may correlate them with the Sgr dwarf galaxy remnant, but at these low metallicities no obvious differences from the Galactic abundance pattern are found. Regardless, we compare our results from the optical and infrared analyses to find that oxygen and silicon abundances determined from the infrared spectral lines are in better agreement with the other α-element ratios and with smaller random errors.
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 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.
We present detailed chemical abundances for 99 red-giant branch stars in the centre of the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy, which have been obtained from high-resolution VLT/FLAMES spectroscopy. The ...abundances of Li, Na, α-elements (O, Mg, Si, Ca Ti), iron-peak elements (Sc, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn), and r- and s-process elements (Ba, La, Nd, Eu) were all derived using stellar atmosphere models and semi-automated analysis techniques. The iron abundances populate the whole metallicity distribution of the galaxy with the exception of the very low metallicity tail, −2.3 ≤ Fe/H ≤ −0.9. There is a marked decrease in α/Fe over our sample, from the Galactic halo plateau value at low Fe/H and then, after a “knee”, a decrease to sub-solar α/Fe at high Fe/H. This is consistent with products of core-collapse supernovae dominating at early times, followed by the onset of supernovae type Ia as early as ∼12 Gyr ago. The s-process products from low-mass AGB stars also participate in the chemical evolution of Sculptor on a timescale comparable to that of supernovae type Ia. However, the r-process is consistent with having no time delay relative to core-collapse supernovae, at least at the later stages of the chemical evolution in Sculptor. Using the simple and well-behaved chemical evolution of Sculptor, we further derive empirical constraints on the relative importance of massive stars and supernovae type Ia to the nucleosynthesis of individual iron-peak and α-elements. The most important contribution of supernovae type Ia is to the iron-peak elements: Fe, Cr, and Mn. There is, however, also a modest but non-negligible contribution to both the heavier α-elements: S, Ca and Ti, and some of the iron-peak elements: Sc and Co. We see only a very small or no contribution to O, Mg, Ni, and Zn from supernovae type Ia in Sculptor. The observed chemical abundances in Sculptor show no evidence of a significantly different initial mass function, compared to that of the Milky Way. With the exception of neutron-capture elements at low Fe/H, the scatter around mean trends in Sculptor for Fe/H > −2.3 is extremely low, and compatible with observational errors. Combined with the small scatter in the age-elemental abundances relation, this calls for an efficient mixing of metals in the gas in the centre of Sculptor since ∼12 Gyr ago.
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