Search for: All records

We revisit the classical KZ problem – determination of the vertical force and implied total mass density distribution of the Milky Way disc – for a wide range of Galactocentric radius and vertical height using chemically selected thin and thick disc samples based on Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment spectroscopy combined with the Gaia astrometry. We derived the velocity dispersion profiles in Galactic cylindrical coordinates, and solved the Jeans equation for the two samples separately. The result is surprising that the total surface mass density as a function of vertical height as derived for these two chemically distinguished populations is different. The discrepancies are larger in the inner compared to the outer Galaxy, with the density calculated from thick disc being larger, independent of the Galactic radius. Furthermore, while there is an overall good agreement between the total mass density derived for the thick disc population and the standard halo model for vertical heights larger than 1 kpc, close to the mid-plane the mass density observed using the thick disc population is larger than that predicted from the standard halo model. We explore various implications of these discrepancies, and speculate their sources, including problems associated with the assumed density laws, velocity dispersion profiles, and the Galactic rotation curve, potential non-equilibrium of the Galactic disc, or a failure of the Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) dark matter halo profile for the Milky Way. We conclude that the growing detail in hand on the chemodynamical distributions of Milky Way stars challenges traditional analytical treatments of the KZ problem.

 

Standard stellar evolution theory poorly predicts the surface abundances of chemical species in low-mass, red giant branch (RGB) stars. Observations show an enhancement of p–p chain and CNO cycle products in red giant envelopes, which suggests the existence of non-canonical mixing that brings interior burning products to the surface of these stars. The 12C/13C ratio is a highly sensitive abundance metric used to probe this mixing. We investigate extra RGB mixing by examining: (1) how 12C/13C is altered along the RGB, and (2) how 12C/13C changes for stars of varying age and mass. Our sample consists of 43 red giants, spread over 15 open clusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey’s APOGEE DR17, that have reliable 12C/13C ratios derived from their APOGEE spectra. We vetted these 12C/13C ratios and compared them as a function of evolution and age/mass to the standard mixing model of stellar evolution, and to a model that includes prescriptions for RGB thermohaline mixing and stellar rotation. We find that the observations deviate from standard mixing models, implying the need for extra mixing. Additionally, some of the abundance patterns depart from the thermohaline model, and it is unclear whether these differences are due to incomplete observations, issues inherent to the model, our assumption of the cause of extra mixing, or any combination of these factors. Nevertheless, the surface abundances across our age/mass range clearly deviate from the standard model, agreeing with the notion of a universal mechanism for RGB extra mixing in low-mass stars.

 

We present spectroscopic chemical abundances of red giant branch stars in Andromeda (M31), using medium-resolution (R∼ 6000) spectra obtained via the Spectroscopic and Photometric Landscape of Andromeda’s Stellar Halo survey. In addition to individual chemical abundances, we coadd low signal-to-noise ratio spectra of stars to obtain a high enough signal to measure average [Fe/H] and [α/Fe] abundances. We obtain individual and coadded measurements for [Fe/H] and [α/Fe] for M31 halo stars, covering a range of 9–180 kpc in projected radius from the center of M31. With these measurements, we greatly increase the number of outer halo (R_proj> 50 kpc) M31 stars with spectroscopic [Fe/H] and [α/Fe], adding abundance measurements for 45 individual stars and 33 coadds from a pool of an additional 174 stars. We measure the spectroscopic metallicity ([Fe/H]) gradient, finding a negative radial gradient of −0.0084 ± 0.0008 for all stars in the halo, consistent with gradient measurements obtained using photometric metallicities. Using the first measurements of [α/Fe] for M31 halo stars covering a large range of projected radii, we find a positive gradient (+0.0027 ± 0.0005) in [α/Fe] as a function of projected radius. We also explore the distribution in [Fe/H]–[α/Fe] space as a function of projected radius for both individual and coadded measurements in the smooth halo, and compare these measurements to those stars potentially associated with substructure. These spectroscopic abundance distributions add to existing evidence that M31 has had an appreciably different formation and merger history compared to our own Galaxy.

 

We present an analysis of nearly 1000 near-infrared, integrated-light spectra from APOGEE in the inner ∼7 kpc of M31. We utilize full-spectrum fitting with A-LIST simple stellar population spectral templates that represent a population of stars with the same age, [M/H], and [α/M]. With this, we determine the mean kinematics, metallicities,αabundances, and ages of the stellar populations of M31's bar, bulge, and inner disk (∼4–7 kpc). We find a nonaxisymmetric velocity field in M31 resulting from the presence of a bar. The bulge of M31 is less metal-rich (mean [M/H] =$-{0.149}_{-0.081}^{+0.067}$dex) than the disk, features minima in metallicity on either side of the bar ([M/H] ∼ −0.2), and is enhanced inαabundance (mean [α/M] =${0.281}_{-0.038}^{+0.035}$). The disk of M31 within ∼7 kpc is enhanced in both metallicity ([M/H] =$-{0.023}_{-0.052}^{+0.050}$) andαabundance ([α/M] =${0.274}_{-0.025}^{+0.020}$). Both of these structural components are uniformly old at ≃12 Gyr. We find the mean metallicity increases with distance from the center of M31, with the steepest gradient along the disk major axis (0.043 ± 0.021 dex kpc⁻¹). This gradient is the result of changing light contributions from the bulge and disk. The chemodynamics of stellar populations encodes information about a galaxy’s chemical enrichment, star formation history, and merger history, allowing us to discuss new constraints on M31's formation. Our results provide a stepping stone between our understanding of the Milky Way and other external galaxies.

 

Abstract We present a spectroscopic analysis of a sample of 48 M-dwarf stars (0.2 M ⊙ < M < 0.6 M ⊙ ) from the Hyades open cluster using high-resolution H -band spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey/Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) survey. Our methodology adopts spectrum synthesis with LTE MARCS model atmospheres, along with the APOGEE Data Release 17 line list, to determine effective temperatures, surface gravities, metallicities, and projected rotational velocities. The median metallicity obtained for the Hyades M dwarfs is [M/H] = 0.09 ± 0.03 dex, indicating a small internal uncertainty and good agreement with optical results for Hyades red giants. Overall, the median radii are larger than predicted by stellar models by 1.6% ± 2.3% and 2.4% ± 2.3%, relative to a MIST and DARTMOUTH isochrone, respectively. We emphasize, however, that these isochrones are different, and the fractional radius inflation for the fully and partially convective regimes have distinct behaviors depending on the isochrone. Using a MIST isochrone there is no evidence of radius inflation for the fully convective stars, while for the partially convective M dwarfs the radii are inflated by 2.7% ± 2.1%, which is in agreement with predictions from models that include magnetic fields. For the partially convective stars, rapid rotators present on average higher inflation levels than slow rotators. The comparison with SPOTS isochrone models indicates that the derived M-dwarf radii can be explained by accounting for stellar spots in the photosphere of the stars, with 76% of the studied M dwarfs having up to 20% spot coverage, and the most inflated stars with ∼20%–40% spot coverage. 

Abstract We report the characterization of 28 low-mass (0.02 M ⊙ ≤ M 2 ≤ 0.25 M ⊙ ) companions to Kepler objects of interest (KOIs), eight of which were previously designated confirmed planets. These objects were detected as transiting companions to Sunlike stars (G and F dwarfs) by the Kepler mission and are confirmed as single-lined spectroscopic binaries in the current work using the northern multiplexed Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment near-infrared spectrograph (APOGEE-N) as part of the third and fourth Sloan Digital Sky Surveys. We have observed hundreds of KOIs using APOGEE-N and collected a total of 43,175 spectra with a median of 19 visits and a median baseline of ∼1.9 yr per target. We jointly model the Kepler photometry and APOGEE-N radial velocities to derive fundamental parameters for this subset of 28 transiting companions. The radii for most of these low-mass companions are overinflated (by ∼10%) when compared to theoretical models. Tidally locked M dwarfs on short-period orbits show the largest amount of inflation, but inflation is also evident for companions that are well separated from the host star. We demonstrate that APOGEE-N data provide reliable radial velocities when compared to precise high-resolution spectrographs that enable detailed characterization of individual systems and the inference of orbital elements for faint ( H > 12) KOIs. The data from the entire APOGEE-KOI program are public and present an opportunity to characterize an extensive subset of the binary population observed by Kepler. 

ABSTRACT The centre of the Milky Way contains stellar populations spanning a range in age and metallicity, with a recent star formation burst producing young and massive stars. Chemical abundances in the most luminous stellar member of the nuclear star cluster (NSC), IRS 7, are presented for 19F, 12C, 13C, 14N, 16O, 17O, and Fe from a local thermodynamic equilibrium analysis based on spherical modelling and radiative transfer with a 25-M⊙ model atmosphere, whose chemistry was tailored to the derived photospheric abundances. We find IRS 7 to be depleted heavily in both 12C (∼–0.8 dex) and 16O (∼–0.4 dex), while exhibiting an extremely enhanced 14N abundance (∼+1.1 dex), which are isotopic signatures of the deep mixing of CNO-cycled material to the stellar surface. The 19F abundance is also heavily depleted by ∼1 dex relative to the baseline fluorine of the NSC, providing evidence that fluorine along with carbon constrain the nature of the deep mixing in this very luminous supergiant. The abundances of the minor isotopes 13C and 17O are also derived, with ratios of 12C/13C ∼ 5.3 and 16O/17O ∼ 525. The derived abundances for IRS 7, in conjunction with previous abundance results for massive stars in the NSC, are compared with rotating and non-rotating models of massive stars and it is found that the IRS 7 abundances overall follow the behaviour predicted by stellar models. The depleted fluorine abundance in IRS 7 illustrates, for the first time, the potential of using the 19F abundance as a mixing probe in luminous red giants. 

Abstract We created the APOGEE-GALEX-Gaia catalog to study white dwarf (WD) binaries. This database aims to create a minimally biased sample of WD binary systems identified from a combination of GALEX, Gaia, and APOGEE data to increase the number of WD binaries with orbital parameters and chemical compositions. We identify 3414 sources as WD binary candidates, with nondegenerate companions of spectral types between F and M, including main-sequence stars, main-sequence binaries, subgiants, sub-subgiants, red giants, and red clump stars. Among our findings are (a) a total of 1806 systems having inferred WD radii R < 25 R ⊕ , which constitute a more reliable group of WD binary candidates within the main sample; (b) a difference in the metallicity distribution function between WD binary candidates and the control sample of most luminous giants ( M H < −3.0); (c) the existence of a population of sub-subgiants with WD companions; (d) evidence for shorter periods in binaries that contain WDs compared to those that do not, as shown by the cumulative distributions of APOGEE radial velocity shifts; (e) evidence for systemic orbital evolution in a sample of 252 WD binaries with orbital periods, based on differences in the period distribution between systems with red clump, main-sequence binary, and sub-subgiant companions and systems with main-sequence or red giant companions; and (f) evidence for chemical enrichment during common envelope (CE) evolution, shown by lower metallicities in wide WD binary candidates ( P > 100 days) compared to post-CE ( P < 100 days) WD binary candidates. 

We present new maps of the Milky Way disk showing the distribution of metallicity ([Fe/H]),α-element abundances ([Mg/Fe]), and stellar age, using a sample of 66,496 red giant stars from the final data release (DR17) of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment survey. We measure radial and vertical gradients, quantify the distribution functions for age and metallicity, and explore chemical clock relations across the Milky Way for the low-αdisk, high-αdisk, and total population independently. The low-αdisk exhibits a negative radial metallicity gradient of −0.06 ± 0.001 dex kpc⁻¹, which flattens with distance from the midplane. The high-αdisk shows a flat radial gradient in metallicity and age across nearly all locations of the disk. The age and metallicity distribution functions shift from negatively skewed in the inner Galaxy to positively skewed at large radius. Significant bimodality in the [Mg/Fe]–[Fe/H] plane and in the [Mg/Fe]–age relation persist across the entire disk. The age estimates have typical uncertainties of ∼0.15 in log(age) and may be subject to additional systematic errors, which impose limitations on conclusions drawn from this sample. Nevertheless, these results act as critical constraints on galactic evolution models, constraining which physical processes played a dominant role in the formation of the Milky Way disk. We discuss how radial migration predicts many of the observed trends near the solar neighborhood and in the outer disk, but an additional more dramatic evolution history, such as the multi-infall model or a merger event, is needed to explain the chemical and age bimodality elsewhere in the Galaxy.

 

Abstract Large-scale surveys open the possibility to investigate Galactic evolution both chemically and kinematically; however, reliable stellar ages remain a major challenge. Detailed chemical information provided by high-resolution spectroscopic surveys of the stars in clusters can be used as a means to calibrate recently developed chemical tools for age-dating field stars. Using data from the Open Cluster Abundances and Mapping survey, based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey/Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 survey, we derive a new empirical relationship between open cluster stellar ages and the carbon-to-nitrogen ([C/N]) abundance ratios for evolved stars, primarily those on the red giant branch. With this calibration, [C/N] can be used as a chemical clock for evolved field stars to investigate the formation and evolution of different parts of our Galaxy. We explore how mixing effects at different stellar evolutionary phases, like the red clump, affect the derived calibration. We have established the [C/N]–age calibration for APOGEE Data Release 17 (DR17) giant star abundances to be log [ Age ( yr ) ] DR 17 = 10.14 ( ± 0.08 ) + 2.23 ( ± 0.19 ) [ C / N ] , usable for 8.62 ≤ log ( Age [ yr ] ) ≤ 9.82 , derived from a uniform sample of 49 clusters observed as part of APOGEE DR17 applicable primarily to metal-rich, thin- and thick-disk giant stars. This measured [C/N]–age APOGEE DR17 calibration is also shown to be consistent with asteroseismic ages derived from Kepler photometry.