Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Metal-poor stars towards the Galactic bulge

Associated organisational unit

Electronic data

  • 1511.01490v1

    Rights statement: Reproduced with permission from Astronomy & Astrophysics, © ESO

    Accepted author manuscript, 771 KB, PDF document

    Available under license: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Links

Text available via DOI:

View graph of relations

Metal-poor stars towards the Galactic bulge: a population potpourri

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published

Standard

Metal-poor stars towards the Galactic bulge: a population potpourri. / Koch, Andreas; McWilliam, Andrew; Preston, George W. et al.
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 587, A124, 01.03.2016.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Koch, A, McWilliam, A, Preston, GW & Thompson, IP 2016, 'Metal-poor stars towards the Galactic bulge: a population potpourri', Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 587, A124. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201527413

APA

Koch, A., McWilliam, A., Preston, G. W., & Thompson, I. P. (2016). Metal-poor stars towards the Galactic bulge: a population potpourri. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 587, Article A124. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201527413

Vancouver

Koch A, McWilliam A, Preston GW, Thompson IP. Metal-poor stars towards the Galactic bulge: a population potpourri. Astronomy and Astrophysics. 2016 Mar 1;587:A124. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201527413

Author

Koch, Andreas ; McWilliam, Andrew ; Preston, George W. et al. / Metal-poor stars towards the Galactic bulge : a population potpourri. In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. 2016 ; Vol. 587.

Bibtex

@article{accd104fe9ec41f2ba8598c7de541810,
title = "Metal-poor stars towards the Galactic bulge: a population potpourri",
abstract = "We present a comprehensive chemical abundance analysis of five red giants and two horizontal branch (HB) stars towards the southern edge of the Galactic bulge, at (l, b) ~ (0°,−11°). Based on high-resolution spectroscopy obtained with the Magellan/MIKE spectrograph, we derived up to 23 chemical element abundances and identify a mixed bag of stars, representing various populations in the central regions of the Galaxy. Although cosmological simulations predict that the inner Galaxy was host to the first stars in the Universe, we see no chemical evidence of the ensuing massive supernova explosions: all of our targets exhibit halo-like, solar [Sc/Fe] ratios, which is in contrast to the low values predicted from Population III nucleosynthesis. One of the targets is a CEMP-s star at [Fe/H] = −2.52 dex, and another target is a moderately metal-poor ([Fe/H] = −1.53 dex) CH star with strong enrichment in s-process elements (e.g., [Ba/Fe] = 1.35). These individuals provide the first contenders of these classes of stars towards the bulge. Four of the carbon-normal stars exhibit abundance patterns reminiscent of halo star across a metallicity range spanning −2.0 to −2.6 dex, i.e., enhanced α-elements and solar Fe-peak and neutron-capture elements, and the remaining one is a regular metal-rich bulge giant. The position, distance, and radial velocity of one of the metal-poor HB stars coincides with simulations of the old trailing arm of the disrupted Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. While their highly uncertain proper motions prohibit a clear kinematic separation, the stars{\textquoteright} chemical abundances and distances suggest that these metal-poor candidates, albeit located towards the bulge, are not of the bulge, but rather inner halo stars on orbits that make them pass through the central regions. Thus, we caution similar claims of detections of metal-poor stars as true habitants of the bulge. ",
author = "Andreas Koch and Andrew McWilliam and Preston, {George W.} and Thompson, {Ian P.}",
note = "Reproduced with permission from Astronomy & Astrophysics, {\textcopyright} ESO",
year = "2016",
month = mar,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1051/0004-6361/201527413",
language = "English",
volume = "587",
journal = "Astronomy and Astrophysics",
issn = "1432-0746",
publisher = "EDP Sciences",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Metal-poor stars towards the Galactic bulge

T2 - a population potpourri

AU - Koch, Andreas

AU - McWilliam, Andrew

AU - Preston, George W.

AU - Thompson, Ian P.

N1 - Reproduced with permission from Astronomy & Astrophysics, © ESO

PY - 2016/3/1

Y1 - 2016/3/1

N2 - We present a comprehensive chemical abundance analysis of five red giants and two horizontal branch (HB) stars towards the southern edge of the Galactic bulge, at (l, b) ~ (0°,−11°). Based on high-resolution spectroscopy obtained with the Magellan/MIKE spectrograph, we derived up to 23 chemical element abundances and identify a mixed bag of stars, representing various populations in the central regions of the Galaxy. Although cosmological simulations predict that the inner Galaxy was host to the first stars in the Universe, we see no chemical evidence of the ensuing massive supernova explosions: all of our targets exhibit halo-like, solar [Sc/Fe] ratios, which is in contrast to the low values predicted from Population III nucleosynthesis. One of the targets is a CEMP-s star at [Fe/H] = −2.52 dex, and another target is a moderately metal-poor ([Fe/H] = −1.53 dex) CH star with strong enrichment in s-process elements (e.g., [Ba/Fe] = 1.35). These individuals provide the first contenders of these classes of stars towards the bulge. Four of the carbon-normal stars exhibit abundance patterns reminiscent of halo star across a metallicity range spanning −2.0 to −2.6 dex, i.e., enhanced α-elements and solar Fe-peak and neutron-capture elements, and the remaining one is a regular metal-rich bulge giant. The position, distance, and radial velocity of one of the metal-poor HB stars coincides with simulations of the old trailing arm of the disrupted Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. While their highly uncertain proper motions prohibit a clear kinematic separation, the stars’ chemical abundances and distances suggest that these metal-poor candidates, albeit located towards the bulge, are not of the bulge, but rather inner halo stars on orbits that make them pass through the central regions. Thus, we caution similar claims of detections of metal-poor stars as true habitants of the bulge.

AB - We present a comprehensive chemical abundance analysis of five red giants and two horizontal branch (HB) stars towards the southern edge of the Galactic bulge, at (l, b) ~ (0°,−11°). Based on high-resolution spectroscopy obtained with the Magellan/MIKE spectrograph, we derived up to 23 chemical element abundances and identify a mixed bag of stars, representing various populations in the central regions of the Galaxy. Although cosmological simulations predict that the inner Galaxy was host to the first stars in the Universe, we see no chemical evidence of the ensuing massive supernova explosions: all of our targets exhibit halo-like, solar [Sc/Fe] ratios, which is in contrast to the low values predicted from Population III nucleosynthesis. One of the targets is a CEMP-s star at [Fe/H] = −2.52 dex, and another target is a moderately metal-poor ([Fe/H] = −1.53 dex) CH star with strong enrichment in s-process elements (e.g., [Ba/Fe] = 1.35). These individuals provide the first contenders of these classes of stars towards the bulge. Four of the carbon-normal stars exhibit abundance patterns reminiscent of halo star across a metallicity range spanning −2.0 to −2.6 dex, i.e., enhanced α-elements and solar Fe-peak and neutron-capture elements, and the remaining one is a regular metal-rich bulge giant. The position, distance, and radial velocity of one of the metal-poor HB stars coincides with simulations of the old trailing arm of the disrupted Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. While their highly uncertain proper motions prohibit a clear kinematic separation, the stars’ chemical abundances and distances suggest that these metal-poor candidates, albeit located towards the bulge, are not of the bulge, but rather inner halo stars on orbits that make them pass through the central regions. Thus, we caution similar claims of detections of metal-poor stars as true habitants of the bulge.

U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/201527413

DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/201527413

M3 - Journal article

VL - 587

JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics

JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics

SN - 1432-0746

M1 - A124

ER -