Carbon Abundances in the Galactic Thin and Thick Disks

Although carbon is, together with oxygen and nitrogen, one of the most important elements in the study of galactic chemical evolution its production sites are still poorly known and have been much debated (see e.g. Gustafsson et al. 1999; Chiappini et al. 2003). To trace the origin and evolution of carbon we have determined carbon abundances from the forbidden [C I] line at 8727 A and made comparisons to oxygen abundances from the forbidden [O I] line at 6300 A in a sample of 51 nearby F and G dwarf stars. These data and the fact that the forbidden [C I] and [O I] lines are very robust abundance indicators (they are essentially insensitive to deviations from LTE and uncertainties in the stellar parameters, see, e.g., Gustafsson et al. 1999; Asplund et al. 2005) enable us to very accurately measure the C/O ratio as well as individual C and O abundances. Our first results indicate that the time-scale for the main source that contribute to the carbon enrichment of the interstellar medium operate on the same time-scale as those that contribute to the iron enrichment (and can possibly be AGB stars...)Comment: 2 pages, to appear in Proceedings IAUS Symposium 228, From Li to U: Elemental Tracers of Early Cosmic Evolution (Paris, May 23- 27, 2005), eds. V. Hill, P. Francois, and F. Prima

The first chemical abundance analysis of K giants in the inner Galactic disc

The elemental abundance structure of the Galactic disc has been extensively studied in the solar neighbourhood using long-lived stars such as F and G dwarfs or K and M giants. These are stars whose atmospheres preserve the chemical composition of their natal gas clouds, and are hence excellent tracers of the chemical evolution of the Galaxy. As far as we are aware, there are no such studies of the inner Galactic disc, which hampers our ability to constrain and trace the origin and evolution of the Milky Way. Therefore, we aim in this study to establish the elemental abundance trend(s) of the disc(s) in the inner regions of the Galaxy. Based on equivalent width measurements in high-resolution spectra obtained with the MIKE spectrograph on the Magellan II telescope on Las Campanas in Chile, we determine elemental abundances for 44 K-type red giant stars in the inner Galactic disc, located at Galactocentric distances of 4-7\,kpc. The analysis method is identical to the one recently used on red giant stars in the Galactic bulge and in the nearby thin and thick discs, enabling us to perform a truly differential comparison of the different stellar populations. We present the first detailed elemental abundance study of a significant number of red giant stars in the inner Galactic disc. We find that these inner disc stars show the same type of chemical and kinematical dichotomy as the thin and thick discs show in the solar neighbourhood. The abundance trends of the inner disc agree very well with those of the nearby thick disc, and also to those of the Bulge. The chemical similarities between the Bulge and the Galactic thick disc stellar populations indicate that they have similar chemical histories, and any model trying to understand the formation and evolution of either of the two should preferably incorporate both of them.Comment: A&A Letters, accepte

Oxygen in the Galactic thin and thick disks

First results from a study into the abundance trends of oxygen in the Galactic thin and thick disks are presented. Oxygen abundances for 21 thick disk and 42 thin disk F and G dwarf stars based on very high resolution spectra (R\sim 215000) and high signal-to-noise (S/N>400) of the faint forbidden oxygen line at 6300 A have been determined. We find that [O/Fe] for the thick disk stars show a turn-down, i.e. the ``knee'', at [Fe/H] between -0.4 and -0.3 dex indicating the onset of SNe type Ia. The thin disk stars on the other hand show a shallow decrease going from [Fe/H] \sim -0.7 to the highest metallicities with no apparent ``knee'' present indicating a slower star formation history.Comment: To be published in "CNO in the Universe", ASP Conference Series, C. Charbonnel, D. Schaerer & G. Meynet (eds.

Exploring the Milky Way stellar disk. A detailed elemental abundance study of 714 F and G dwarf stars in the Solar neighbourhood

ABRIDGED: METHODS: We have conducted a high-resolution spectroscopic study of 714 F and G dwarf and subgiant stars in the Solar neighbourhood. The star sample has been kinematically selected to trace the Galactic thin and thick disks to their extremes...... The determination of stellar parameters and elemental abundances is based on a standard 1-D LTE analysis using equivalent width measurements in high-resolution (R=40000-110000) and high signal-to-noise (S/N=150-300) spectra obtained with..... RESULTS: .... Our data show that there is an old and alpha-enhanced disk population, and a younger and less alpha-enhanced disk population. While they overlap greatly in metallicity between -0.7<[Fe/H]<+0.1, they show a bimodal distribution in [alpha/Fe]. This bimodality becomes even clearer if stars where stellar parameters and abundances show larger uncertainties (Teff<5400 K) are discarded, showing that it is important to constrain the data set to a narrow range in the stellar parameters if small differences between stellar populations are to be revealed. We furthermore find that the alpha-enhanced population has orbital parameters placing the stellar birthplaces in the inner Galactic disk while the low-alpha stars mainly come from the outer Galactic disk........... We furthermore have discovered that a standard 1-D, LTE analysis, utilising ionisation and excitation balance of Fe I and Fe II lines produces a flat lower main sequence. As the exact cause for this effect is unclear we chose to apply an empirical correction. Turn-off, and more evolved, stars, appears to be un-affected.Comment: 28 pages, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics, this version includes 11 more stars and has been modified after referee's comment

A possible signature of terrestrial planet formation in the chemical composition of solar analogs

Recent studies have shown that the elemental abundances in the Sun are anomalous when compared to most (about 85%) nearby solar twin stars. Compared to its twins, the Sun exhibits a deficiency of refractory elements (those with condensation temperatures Tc>900K) relative to volatiles (Tc<900K). This finding is speculated to be a signature of the planet formation that occurred more efficiently around the Sun compared with the majority of solar twins. Furthermore, within this scenario, it seems more likely that the abundance patterns found are specifically related to the formation of terrestrial planets. In this work we analyze abundance results from six large independent stellar abundance surveys to determine whether they confirm or reject this observational finding. We show that the elemental abundances derived for solar analogs in these six studies are consistent with the Tc trend suggested as a planet formation signature. The same conclusion is reached when those results are averaged heterogeneously. We also investigate the dependency of the abundances with first ionization potential (FIP), which correlates well with Tc. A trend with FIP would suggest a different origin for the abundance patterns found, but we show that the correlation with Tc is statistically more significant. We encourage similar investigations of metal-rich solar analogs and late F-type dwarf stars, for which the hypothesis of a planet formation signature in the elemental abundances makes very specific predictions. Finally, we examine a recent paper that claims that the abundance patterns of two stars hosting super-Earth like planets contradict the planet formation signature hypothesis. Instead, we find that the chemical compositions of these two stars are fully compatible with our hypothesis.Comment: To appear in Astronomy and Astrophysic

The Galactic Stellar Disc

The study of the Milky Way stellar discs in the context of galaxy formation is discussed. In particular we explore the properties of the Milky Way disc using a new sample of about 550 dwarf stars for which we have recently obtained elemental abundances and ages based on high resolution spectroscopy. For all the stars we also have full kinematic information as well as information about their stellar orbits. We confirm results from previous studies that the thin and the thick disc have distinct abundance patterns. But we also explore a larger range of orbital parameters than what has been possible in our previous studies. Several new results are presented. We find that stars that reaches high above the galactic plane and have eccentric orbits show remarkably tight abundance trends. This implies that these stars formed out of well mixed gas that had been homogenized over large volumes. We find some evidence that point to that the event that most likely caused the heating of this stellar population happened a few billion years ago. Through a simple, kinematic exploration of stars with super-solar [Fe/H] we show that the solar neighbourhood contains metal-rich, high velocity stars that very likely are associated with the thick disc. Additionally, the HR1614 moving group and the Hercules and Arcturus stellar streams are discussed and it is concluded that, probably, a large fraction of the so far identified groups and streams in the disc are the result of evolution and interactions within the stellar disc rather than being dissolved stellar clusters or engulfed dwarf galaxies.Comment: 20 pages, Review talk at the conference "A stellar journey", A symposium in celebration of Bengt Gustafsson's 65th birthday, held in Uppsala, June 2008, In press in Physica Scripta, eds. Paul Barklem, Andreas Korn, and Bertrand Ple

The Determination of Stellar Parameters of Giants in the Galactic Disks and Bulge

Here, we present our on-going work on the determination of stellar parameters of giants in the Galactic Disks and Bulge observed with UVES on the VLT. We present some preliminarily results.Comment: 2 pages, IAU241 conference proceeding

The origin and chemical evolution of carbon in the Galactic thin and thick discs ★

In order to trace the origin and evolution of carbon in the Galactic disc, we have determined carbon abundances in 51 nearby F and G dwarf stars. The sample is divided into two kinematically distinct subsamples with 35 and 16 stars that are representative of the Galactic thin and thick discs, respectively. The analysis is based on spectral synthesis of the forbidden [C i] line at 872.7 nm using spectra of very high resolution ( R ≈ 220 000) and high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N > 300) that were obtained with the CoudÉ Echelle Spectrograph (CES) spectrograph by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) 3.6-m telescope at La Silla in Chile. We find that [C/Fe] versus [Fe/H] trends for the thin and thick discs are totally merged and flat for subsolar metallicities. The thin disc that extends to higher metallicities than the thick disc shows a shallow decline in [C/Fe] from [Fe/H]≈ 0 and up to [Fe/H]≈+0.4 . The [C/O] versus [O/H] trends are well separated between the two discs (due to differences in the oxygen abundances) and bear a great resemblance to the [Fe/O] versus [O/H] trends. Our interpretation of our abundance trends is that the sources that are responsible for the carbon enrichment in the Galactic thin and thick discs have operated on a time-scale very similar to those that are responsible for the Fe and Y enrichment [i.e. SN Ia and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, respectively]. We further note that there exist other observational data in the literature that favour massive stars as the main sources for carbon. In order to match our carbon trends, we believe that the carbon yields from massive stars then must be very dependent on metallicity for the C, Fe and Y trends to be so finely tuned in the two disc populations. Such metallicity-dependent yields are no longer supported by the new stellar models in the recent literature. For the Galaxy, we hence conclude that the carbon enrichment at metallicities typical of the disc is mainly due to low- and intermediate-mass stars, while massive stars are still the main carbon contributor at low metallicities (halo and metal-poor thick disc).Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74854/1/j.1365-2966.2006.10037.x.pd

Quantitative chemical tagging, stellar ages and the chemo-dynamical evolution of the Galactic disc

The early science results from the new generation of high-resolution stellar spectroscopic surveys, such as GALAH and the Gaia-ESO survey, will represent major milestones in the quest to chemically tag the Galaxy. Yet this technique to reconstruct dispersed coeval stellar groups has remained largely untested until recently. We build on previous work that developed an empirical chemical tagging probability function, which describes the likelihood that two field stars are conatal, that is, they were formed in the same cluster environment. In this work we perform the first ever blind chemical tagging experiment, i.e., tagging stars with no known or otherwise discernable associations, on a sample of 714 disc field stars with a number of high quality high resolution homogeneous metal abundance measurements. We present evidence that chemical tagging of field stars does identify coeval groups of stars, yet these groups may not represent distinct formation sites, e.g. as in dissolved open clusters, as previously thought. Our results point to several important conclusions, among them that group finding will be limited strictly to chemical abundance space, e.g. stellar ages, kinematics, colors, temperature and surface gravity do not enhance the detectability of groups. We also demonstrate that in addition to its role in probing the chemical enrichment and kinematic history of the Galactic disc, chemical tagging represents a powerful new stellar age determination technique.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS

Chemical evolution of the Galactic bulge as traced by microlensed dwarf and subgiant stars. II. Ages, metallicities, detailed elemental abundances, and connections to the Galactic thick disc

The Bulge is the least understood major stellar population of the Milky Way. Most of what we know about the formation and evolution of the Bulge comes from bright giant stars. The underlying assumption that giants represent all the stars, and accurately trace the chemical evolution of a stellar population, is under debate. In particular, recent observations of a few microlensed dwarf stars give a very different picture of the evolution of the Bulge from that given by the giant stars. [ABRIDGED] We perform a detailed elemental abundance analysis of dwarf stars in the Galactic bulge, based on high-resolution spectra that were obtained while the stars were optically magnified during gravitational microlensing events. [ABRIDGED] We present detailed elemental abundances and stellar ages for six new dwarf stars in the Galactic bulge. Combining these with previous events, here re-analysed with the same methods, we study a homogeneous sample of 15 stars, which constitute the largest sample to date of microlensed dwarf stars in the Galactic bulge. We find that the stars span the full range of metallicities from [Fe/H]=-0.72 to +0.54, and an average metallicity of =-0.08+/-0.47, close to the average metallicity based on giant stars in the Bulge. Furthermore, the stars follow well-defined abundance trends, that for [Fe/H]<0 are very similar to those of the local Galactic thick disc. This suggests that the Bulge and the thick disc have had, at least partially, comparable chemical histories. At sub-solar metallicities we find the Bulge dwarf stars to have consistently old ages, while at super-solar metallicities we find a wide range of ages. Using the new age and abundance results from the microlensed dwarf stars we investigate possible formation scenarios for the Bulge.Comment: New version accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic