skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: The R-Process Alliance: Chemodynamically Tagged Groups. II. An Extended Sample of Halo r-process-enhanced Stars
Abstract Orbital characteristics based on Gaia Early Data Release 3 astrometric parameters are analyzed for ∼1700r-process-enhanced (RPE; [Eu/Fe] > +0.3) metal-poor stars ([Fe/H] ≤ −0.8) compiled from theR-Process Alliance, the GALactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) DR3 survey, and additional literature sources. We find dynamical clusters of these stars based on their orbital energies and cylindrical actions using theHDBSCANunsupervised learning algorithm. We identify 36 chemodynamically tagged groups (CDTGs) containing between five and 22 members; 17 CDTGs have at least 10 member stars. Previously known Milky Way (MW) substructures such as Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus, the splashed disk, the metal-weak thick disk, the Helmi stream, LMS-1 (Wukong), and Thamnos are reidentified. Associations with MW globular clusters are determined for seven CDTGs; no recognized MW dwarf galaxy satellites were associated with any of our CDTGs. Previously identified dynamical groups are also associated with our CDTGs, adding structural determination information and possible new identifications. Carbon-enhanced metal-poor RPE (CEMP-r) stars are identified among the targets; we assign these to morphological groups in a Yoon–BeersA(C)cversus [Fe/H] diagram. Our results confirm previous dynamical analyses that showed RPE stars in CDTGs share common chemical histories, influenced by their birth environments.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1716251
PAR ID:
10585564
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
The Astrophysical Journal
Date Published:
Journal Name:
The Astrophysical Journal
Volume:
943
Issue:
1
ISSN:
0004-637X
Page Range / eLocation ID:
23
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, The Astrophysical Journal Letters)
    Abstract Highlyr-process-enhanced (RPE) stars are rare and usually metal poor ([Fe/H] < −1.0), and they mainly populate the Milky Way halo and dwarf galaxies. This study presents the discovery of a relatively bright (V= 12.72), highly RPE (r-II) star ([Eu/Fe] = +1.32, [Ba/Eu] = −0.95), LAMOST J020623.21+494127.9. This star was selected from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope medium-resolution (R∼ 7500) spectroscopic survey; follow-up high-resolution (R∼ 25,000) observations were conducted with the High Optical Resolution Spectrograph installed on the Gran Telescopio Canarias. The stellar parameters (Teff= 4130 K, log g = 1.52, [Fe/H] = −0.54,ξ= 1.80 km s−1) have been inferred taking into account nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium effects. The abundances of [Ce/Fe], [Pr/Fe], and [Nd/Fe] are +0.19, +0.65, and +0.64, respectively, relatively low compared to the Solarr-process pattern normalized to Eu. This star has a high metallicity ([Fe/H] = −0.54) compared to most other highly RPE stars and has the highest measured abundance ratio of Eu to H ([Eu/H] = +0.78). It is classified as a thin-disk star based on its kinematics and does not appear to belong to any known stream or dwarf galaxy. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, The Astrophysical Journal)
    Abstract We study the formation of stars with varying amounts of heavy elements synthesized by the rapid neutron-capture process (r-process) based on our detailed cosmological zoom-in simulation of a Milky Way–like galaxy with anN-body/smoothed particle hydrodynamics code,asura. Most stars with no overabundance inr-process elements, as well as the stronglyr-process-enhanced (RPE)r-II stars ([Eu/Fe] > +0.7), are formed in dwarf galaxies accreted by the Milky Way within the 6 Gyr after the Big Bang. In contrast, over half of the moderately enhancedr-I stars (+0.3 < [Eu/Fe] ≤ +0.7) are formed in the main in situ disk after 6 Gyr. Our results suggest that the fraction ofr-I andr-II stars formed in disrupted dwarf galaxies is larger the higher their [Eu/Fe] is. Accordingly, the most strongly enhancedr-III stars ([Eu/Fe] > +2.0) are formed in accreted components. These results suggest that non-r-process-enhanced stars andr-II stars are mainly formed in low-mass dwarf galaxies that hosted either none or a single neutron star merger, while ther-I stars tend to form in the well-mixed in situ disk. We compare our findings with high-resolution spectroscopic observations of RPE metal-poor stars in the halo and dwarf galaxies, including those collected by theR-Process Alliance. We conclude that observed [Eu/Fe] and [Eu/Mg] ratios can be employed in chemical tagging of the Milky Way’s accretion history. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)
    ABSTRACT The r-process-enhanced (RPE) stars provide fossil records of the assembly history of the Milky Way (MW) and the nucleosynthesis of the heaviest elements. Observations by the R-Process Alliance (RPA) and others have confirmed that many RPE stars are associated with chemo-dynamically tagged groups, which likely came from accreted dwarf galaxies of the MW. However, we do not know how RPE stars are formed. Here, we present the result of a cosmological zoom-in simulation of an MW-like galaxy with r-process enrichment, performed with the highest resolution in both time and mass. Thanks to this advancement, unlike previous simulations, we find that most highly RPE (r-II; [Eu/Fe] > +0.7) stars are formed in low-mass dwarf galaxies that have been enriched in r-process elements for [Fe/H] $$\lt -2.5$$, while those with higher metallicity are formed in situ, in locally enhanced gas clumps that were not necessarily members of dwarf galaxies. This result suggests that low-mass accreted dwarf galaxies are the main formation site of r-II stars with [Fe/H] $$\, \lt -2.5$$. We also find that most low-metallicity r-II stars exhibit halo-like kinematics. Some r-II stars formed in the same halo show low dispersions in [Fe/H] and somewhat larger dispersions of [Eu/Fe], similar to the observations. The fraction of simulated r-II stars is commensurate with observations from the RPA, and the distribution of the predicted [Eu/Fe] for halo r-II stars matches that observed. These results demonstrate that RPE stars can be valuable probes of the accretion of dwarf galaxies in the early stages of their formation. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; (, The Astronomical Journal)
    Abstract Dwarf galaxies like Sagittarius (Sgr) provide a unique window into the early stages of galactic chemical evolution, particularly through their metal-poor stars. By studying the chemical abundances of stars in the Sgr core and tidal streams, we can gain insights into the assembly history of this galaxy and its early heavy element nucleosynthesis processes. We efficiently selected extremely metal-poor candidates in the core and streams for high-resolution spectroscopic analysis using metallicity-sensitive photometry from SkyMapper DR2 and Gaia DR3 XP spectra, and proper motions. We present a sample of 37 Sgr stars with detailed chemical abundances, of which we identify 10 extremely metal-poor ([Fe/H] ≤ −3.0) stars, 25 very metal-poor ([Fe/H] ≤ −2.0) stars, and two metal-poor ([Fe/H] ≤ −1.0) stars. This sample increases the number of extremely metal-poor Sgr stars analyzed with high-resolution spectroscopy by a factor of 5. Of these stars, 15 are identified as members of the Sgr tidal stream, while the remaining 22 are associated with the core. We derive abundances for up to 20 elements and identify no statistically significant differences between the element abundance patterns across the core and stream samples. Intriguingly, we identify stars that may have formed in ultrafaint dwarf galaxies that accreted onto Sgr, in addition to patterns of C andr-process elements distinct from the Milky Way halo. Over half of the sample shows a neutron-capture element abundance pattern consistent with the scaled solar purer-process pattern, indicating earlyr-process enrichment in the Sgr progenitor. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, The Astrophysical Journal)
    Abstract We construct a sample of 644 carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars with abundance analyses based on moderate- to high-resolution spectroscopic studies. Dynamical parameters for these stars are estimated based on radial velocities, Bayesian parallax-based distance estimates, and proper motions from Gaia EDR3 and DR3, supplemented by additional available information where needed. After separating our sample into the different CEMP morphological groups in the Yoon–Beers diagram of absolute carbon abundance versus metallicity, we used the derived specific energies and actions ( E , J r , J ϕ , J z ) to cluster them into Chemodynamically Tagged Groups (CDTGs). We then analyzed the elemental-abundance dispersions within these clusters by comparing them to the dispersion of clusters that were generated at random. We find that, for the Group I (primarily CEMP- s and CEMP- r / s ) clustered stars, there exist statistically insignificant intracluster dispersions in [Fe/H], [C/Fe] c (evolution corrected carbon), and [Mg/Fe] when compared to the intracluster dispersions of randomly clustered Group I CEMP stars. In contrast, the Group II (primarily CEMP-no) stars exhibit clear similarities in their intracluster abundances, with very low, statistically significant, dispersions in [C/Fe] c and marginally significant results in [Mg/Fe]. These results strongly indicate that Group I CEMP stars received their carbon enhancements from local phenomena, such as mass transfer from an evolved binary companion in regions with extended star formation histories, while the CDTGs of Group II CEMP stars formed in low-metallicity environments that had already been enriched in carbon, likely from massive rapidly rotating ultra- and hyper-metal-poor stars and/or supernovae associated with high-mass early-generation stars. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email