1,541 research outputs found
Milky Way's Thick and Thin disk: Is there distinct thick disk?
This article is based on our discussion session on Milky Way models at the
592 WE-Heraeus Seminar, Reconstructing the Milky Way's History: Spectroscopic
Surveys, Asteroseismology and Chemodynamical models. The discussion focused on
the following question: "Are there distinct thick and thin disks?". The answer
to this question depends on the definition one adopts for thin and thick disks.
The participants of this discussion converged to the idea that there are at
least two different types of disks in the Milky Way. However, there are still
important open questions on how to best define these two types of disks
(chemically, kinematically, geometrically or by age?). The question of what is
the origin of the distinct disks remains open. The future Galactic surveys
which are highlighted in this conference should help us answering these
questions. The almost one-hour debate involving researchers in the field
representing different modelling approaches (Galactic models such as TRILEGAL,
Besancon and Galaxia, chemical evolution models, extended distribution
functions method, chemodynamics in the cosmological context, and
self-consistent cosmological simulations) illustrated how important is to have
all these parallel approaches. All approaches have their advantages and
shortcomings (also discussed), and different approaches are useful to address
specific points that might help us answering the more general question above.Comment: 7 pages, no figure. To appear in Astronomische Nachrichten, special
issue "Reconstruction the Milky Way's History: Spectroscopic surveys,
Asteroseismology and Chemo-dynamical models", Guest Editors C. Chiappini, J.
Montalban, and M. Steffe
The Chemical Evolution of the Galaxy: the two-infall model
In this paper we present a new chemical evolution model for the Galaxy which
assumes two main infall episodes for the formation of halo-thick disk and thin
disk, respectively. We do not try to take into account explicitly the evolution
of the halo but we implicitly assume that the timescale for the formation of
the halo was of the same order as the timescale for the formation of the thick
disk. The formation of the thin-disk is much longer than that of the thick
disk, implying that the infalling gas forming the thin-disk comes not only from
the thick disk but mainly from the intergalactic medium. The timescale for the
formation of the thin-disk is assumed to be a function of the galactocentric
distance, leading to an inside-out picture for the Galaxy building. The model
takes into account the most up to date nucleosynthesis prescriptions and adopts
a threshold in the star formation process which naturally produces a hiatus in
the star formation rate at the end of the thick disk phase, as suggested by
recent observations. The model results are compared with an extended set of
observational constraints. Among these constraints, the tightest one is the
metallicity distribution of the G-dwarf stars for which new data are now
available. Our model fits very well these new data. We show that in order to
reproduce most of these constraints a timescale Gyr for the
(halo)-thick-disk and of 8 Gyr for the thin-disk formation in the solar
vicinity are required. We predict that the radial abundance gradients in the
inner regions of the disk () are steeper than in the outer
regions, a result confirmed by recent abundance determinations, and that the
inner ones steepen in time during the Galactic lifetime.Comment: 48 pages, 20 Postscript figures, AASTex v.4.0, to be published in
Astrophysical Journa
K dwarfs and the chemical evolution of the Solar cylinder
K-dwarfs have life-times older than the present age of the Galactic disc, and
are thus ideal stars to investigate the disc's chemical evolution. We have
developed several photometric metallicity indicators for K dwarfs, based an a
sample of accurate spectroscopic metallicities for 34 disc and halo G and K
dwarfs. The photometric metallicities lead us to develop a metallicity index
for K dwarfs based only on their position in the colour absolute-magnitude
diagram. Metallicities have been determined for 431 single K dwarfs drawn from
the Hipparcos catalog, selecting the stars by absolute magnitude and removing
multiple systems. The sample is essentially a complete reckoning of the metal
content in nearby K dwarfs. We use stellar isochrones to mark the stars by
mass, and select a subset of 220 of the stars which is complete in a narrow
mass interval. We fit the data with a model of the chemical evolution of the
Solar cylinder. We find that only a modest cosmic scatter is required to fit
our age metallicity relation. The model assumes two main infall episodes for
the formation of the halo-thick disc and thin disc respectively. The new data
confirms that the solar neighbourhood formed on a long timescale of order 7
Gyr.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figures, accepted by MNRA
Chemodynamical history of the Galactic Bulge
The Galactic Bulge can uniquely be studied from large samples of individual
stars, and is therefore of prime importance for understanding the stellar
population structure of bulges in general. Here the observational evidence on
the kinematics, chemical composition, and ages of Bulge stellar populations
based on photometric and spectroscopic data is reviewed. The bulk of Bulge
stars are old and span a metallicity range -1.5<~[Fe/H]<~+0.5. Stellar
populations and chemical properties suggest a star formation timescale below ~2
Gyr. The overall Bulge is barred and follows cylindrical rotation, and the more
metal-rich stars trace a Box/Peanut (B/P) structure. Dynamical models
demonstrate the different spatial and orbital distributions of metal-rich and
metal-poor stars. We discuss current Bulge formation scenarios based on
dynamical, chemical, chemodynamical and cosmological models. Despite impressive
progress we do not yet have a successful fully self-consistent chemodynamical
Bulge model in the cosmological framework, and we will also need more extensive
chrono-chemical-kinematic 3D map of stars to better constrain such models.Comment: 9 figures, 55 pages final version to appear in the Annual Reviews of
Astronomy & Astrophysics, volume 5
Abundances in the Galactic bulge: results from planetary nebulae and giant stars
Our understanding of the chemical evolution of the Galactic bulge requires
the determination of abundances in large samples of giant stars and planetary
nebulae (PNe). We discuss PNe abundances in the Galactic bulge and compare
these results with those presented in the literature for giant stars. We
present the largest, high-quality data-set available for PNe in the direction
of the Galactic bulge (inner-disk/bulge). For comparison purposes, we also
consider a sample of PNe in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We derive the
element abundances in a consistent way for all the PNe studied. By comparing
the abundances for the bulge, inner-disk, and LMC, we identify elements that
have not been modified during the evolution of the PN progenitor and can be
used to trace the bulge chemical enrichment history. We then compare the PN
abundances with abundances of bulge field giant. At the metallicity of the
bulge, we find that the abundances of O and Ne are close to the values for the
interstellar medium at the time of the PN progenitor formation, and hence these
elements can be used as tracers of the bulge chemical evolution, in the same
way as S and Ar, which are not expected to be affected by nucleosynthetic
processes during the evolution of the PN progenitors. The PN oxygen abundance
distribution is shifted to lower values by 0.3 dex with respect to the
distribution given by giants. A similar shift appears to occur for Ne and S. We
discuss possible reasons for this PNe-giant discrepancy and conclude that this
is probably due to systematic errors in the abundance derivations in either
giants or PNe (or both). We issue an important warning concerning the use of
absolute abundances in chemical evolution studies.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figures, 16 pages of online material, A&A in pres
The effects of stellar winds of fast-rotating massive stars in the earliest phases of the chemical enrichment of the Galaxy
We use the growing data sets of very-metal-poor stars to study the impact of
stellar winds of fast rotating massive stars on the chemical enrichment of the
early Galaxy. We use an inhomogeneous chemical evolution model for the Galactic
halo to predict both the mean trend and scatter of C/O and N/O. In one set of
models, we assume that massive stars enrich the interstellar medium during both
the stellar wind and supernovae phases. In the second set, we consider that in
the earliest phases (Z <10^-8), stars with masses above 40 Msun only enrich the
interstellar medium via stellar winds, collapsing directly into black holes. We
predict a larger scatter in the C/O and N/O ratios at low metallicities when
allowing the more massive fast-rotating stars to contribute to the chemical
enrichment only via stellar winds. The latter assumption, combined with the
stochasticity in the star formation process in the primordial Galactic halo can
explain the wide spread observed in the N/O and C/O ratios in normal
very-metal-poor stars. For chemical elements with stellar yields that depend
strongly on initial mass (and rotation) such as C, N, and neutron capture
elements, within the range of massive stars, a large scatter is expected once
the stochastic enrichment of the early interstellar medium is taken into
account. We also find that stellar winds of fast rotators mixed with
interstellar medium gas are not enough to explain the large CNO enhancements
found in most of the carbon-enhanced very-metal-poor stars. In particular, this
is the case of the most metal-poor star known to date, HE 1327-2326, for which
our models predict lower N enhancements than observed when assuming a mixture
of stellar winds and interstellar medium. We suggest that these carbon-enhanced
very metal-poor stars were formed from almost pure stellar wind material,
without dilution with the pristine interstellar medium.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&
SPINSTARS at low metallicities
The main effect of axial rotation on the evolution of massive PopIII stars is
to trigger internal mixing processes which allow stars to produce significant
amounts of primary nitrogen 14 and carbon 13. Very metal poor massive stars
produce much more primary nitrogen than PopIII stars for a given initial mass
and rotation velocity. The very metal poor stars undergo strong mass loss
induced by rotation. One can distinguish two types of rotationnaly enhanced
stellar winds: 1) Rotationally mechanical winds occurs when the surface
velocity reaches the critical velocity at the equator, {\it i.e.} the velocity
at which the centrifugal acceleration is equal to the gravity; 2) Rotationally
radiatively line driven winds are a consequence of strong internal mixing which
brings large amounts of CNO elements at the surface. This enhances the opacity
and may trigger strong line driven winds. These effects are important for an
initial value of of 0.54 for a 60 M at
, {\it i.e.} for initial values of
higher than the one (0.4) corresponding to observations at solar .
These two effects, strong internal mixing leading to the synthesis of large
amounts of primary nitrogen and important mass losses induced by rotation,
occur for between about 10 and 0.001. For metallicities above 0.001
and for reasonable choice of the rotation velocities, internal mixing is no
longer efficient enough to trigger these effects.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to be published in the conference proceedings of
First Stars III, Santa Fe, 200
The Evolution of Carbon and Oxygen in the Bulge and Disk of the Milky Way
The evolution of C and O abundances in the Milky Way can impose strong
constraints on stellar nucleosynthesis and help understanding the formation and
evolution of our Galaxy. The aim is to review the measured C and O abundances
in the disk and bulge of the Galaxy and compare them with model predictions. We
adopt two successful chemical evolution models for the bulge and the disk,
which assume the same nucleosynthesis prescriptions but different histories of
star formation. The data show a clear distinction between the trend of [C/O] in
the thick and thin Galactic disks, while the thick disk and bulge trends are
indistinguishable with a large (>0.5 dex) increase in the C/O ratio in the
range from -0.1 to +0.4 dex for [O/H]. In our models we consider yields from
massive stars with and without the inclusion of metallicity-dependent stellar
winds. The observed increase in the [C/O] ratio with metallicity in the bulge
and thick disk lies between the predictions utilizing the mass-loss rates of
Maeder (1992) and those of Meynet & Maeder (2002). A model without
metallicity-dependent yields completely fails to match the observations. Thus,
the relative increase in carbon abundance at high metallicity appears to be due
to metallicity-dependent stellar winds in massive stars. These results also
explain the steep decline of the [O/Fe] ratio with [Fe/H] in the Galactic
bulge, while the [Mg/Fe] ratio is enhanced at all [Fe/H]. (abridged)Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysic
A new method for estimating the pattern speed of spiral structure in the Milky Way
In the last few decades many efforts have been made to understand the effect
of spiral arms on the gas and stellar dynamics in the Milky Way disc. One of
the fundamental parameters of the spiral structure is its angular velocity, or
pattern speed , which determines the location of resonances in the
disc and the spirals' radial extent. The most direct method for estimating the
pattern speed relies on backward integration techniques, trying to locate the
stellar birthplace of open clusters. Here we propose a new method based on the
interaction between the spiral arms and the stars in the disc. Using a sample
of around 500 open clusters from the {\it New Catalogue of Optically Visible
Open Clusters and Candidates}, and a sample of 500 giant stars observed by
APOGEE, we find km s kpc, for a local
standard of rest rotation ~km s and solar radius ~kpc.
Exploring a range in and within the acceptable values, 200-240 km
s and 7.5-8.5 kpc, respectively, results only in a small change in our
estimate of , that is within the error. Our result is in close
agreement with a number of studies which suggest values in the range 20-25 km
s kpc. An advantage of our method is that we do not need
knowledge of the stellar age, unlike in the case of the birthplace method,
which allows us to use data from large Galactic surveys. The precision of our
method will be improved once larger samples of disk stars with spectroscopic
information will become available thanks to future surveys such as 4MOST.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
Abundance gradients in the Milky Way for alpha elements, Iron peak elements, Barium, Lanthanum and Europium
We model the abundance gradients in the disk of the Milky Way for several
chemical elements (O, Mg, Si, S, Ca, Sc, Ti, Co, V, Fe, Ni, Zn, Cu, Mn, Cr, Ba,
La and Eu), and compare our results with the most recent and homogeneous
observational data. We adopt a chemical evolution model able to well reproduce
the main properties of the solar vicinity. We compute, for the first time, the
abundance gradients for all the above mentioned elements in the galactocentric
distance range 4 - 22 kpc. The comparison with the observed data on Cepheids in
the galactocentric distance range 5-17 kpc gives a very good agreement for many
of the studied elements. In addition, we fit very well the data for the
evolution of Lanthanum in the solar vicinity for which we present results here
for the first time. We explore, also for the first time, the behaviour of the
abundance gradients at large galactocentric distances by comparing our results
with data relative to distant open clusters and red giants and select the best
chemical evolution model model on the basis of that. We find a very good fit to
the observed abundance gradients, as traced by Cepheids, for most of the
elements, thus confirming the validity of the inside-out scenario for the
formation of the Milky Way disk as well as the adopted nucleosynthesis
prescriptions.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&
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