Neutron-capture elements in dwarf galaxies III: A homogenized analysis of 13 dwarf spheroidal and ultra-faint galaxies
We present a large homogeneous set of stellar parameters and abundances across a broad range of metallicities, involving 13 classical dwarf spheroidal (dSph) and ultra-faint dSph (UFD) galaxies. In total this study includes 380 stars in Fornax, Sagittarius, Sculptor, Sextans, Carina, Ursa Minor, Draco, Reticulum II, Bootes I, Ursa Major II, Leo I, Segue I, and Triangulum II. This sample represents the largest, homogeneous, high-resolution study of dSph galaxies to date. With our homogeneously derived catalog, we are able to search for similar and deviating trends across different galaxies. We investigate the mass dependence of the individual systems on the production of α-elements, but also try to shed light on the long-standing puzzle of the dominant production site of r-process elements. We use data from the Keck observatory archive and the ESO reduced archive to reanalyze stars from these 13 dSph galaxies. We automatize the step of obtaining stellar parameters, but run a full spectrum synthesis to derive all abundances except for iron. The homogenized set of abundances yielded the unique possibility to derive a relation between the onset of type Ia supernovae and the stellar mass of the galaxy. Furthermore, we derived a formula to estimate the evolution of more »
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Publication Date:
NSF-PAR ID:
10193029
Journal Name:
ArXivorg
Page Range or eLocation-ID:
2001.01195
ISSN:
2331-8422
1. ABSTRACT We study the production of barium (Ba) and strontium (Sr) in ultrafaint dwarf (UFDs) galaxies. Both r- and s- processes produce these elements, and one can infer the contribution of the r-process from the characteristic r-process abundance pattern, whereas the s-process contribution remains largely unknown. We show that the current s-process yield from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars is not sufficient to explain the Ba and Sr abundances observed in UFDs. Production of these elements would need to be efficient from the beginning of star formation in the galaxies. The discrepancy of nearly or more than 1 dex is not reconciled even if we consider s-process in super-AGB stars. We consider a possible resolution by assuming rotating massive stars (RMSs) and electron-capture supernovae (ECSNe) as additional contributors. We find that the RMSs could be the origin of Ba in UFDs if ∼10 per cent of massive stars are rotating at 300 km s−1. As for ECSNe, we argue that their fraction is less than 2 per cent of core-collapse supernova. It narrows the progenitor mass-range to ${\lesssim}0.1\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ at −3 ≲ [Fe/H] ≲ −2. We also explore another resolution by modifying the stellar initial mass function (IMF) in UFDs and findmore »