Spectroscopic surveys of the Milky Way's stars have revealed spatial, chemical and kinematical structures that encode its history. In this work, we study their origins using a cosmological zoom simulation, VINTERGATAN, of a Milky Way-mass disc galaxy. We find that in connection to the last major merger at $z\sim 1.5$, cosmological accretion leads to the rapid formation of an outer, metal-poor, low-[$α$/Fe] gas disc around the inner, metal-rich galaxy containing the old high-[$α$/Fe] stars. This event leads to a bimodality in [$α$/Fe] over a range of [Fe/H]. A detailed analysis of how the galaxy evolves since $z\sim 1$ is presented. We demonstrate the way in which inside-out growth shapes the radial surface density and metallicity profile and how radial migration preferentially relocates stars from the inner to the outer disc. Secular disc heating is found to give rise to increasing velocity dispersions and scaleheights with stellar age, which together with disc flaring explains several trends observed in the Milky Way, including shallower radial [Fe/H]-profiles above the midplane. We show how the galaxy formation scenario imprints non-trivial mappings between structural associations (i.e. thick and thin discs), velocity dispersions, $α$-enhancements, and ages of stars, e.g. the most metal-poor stars in the low-[$α$/Fe] sequence are found to have a scaleheight comparable to old high-[$α$/Fe] stars. Finally, we illustrate how at low spatial resolution, comparable to the thickness of the galaxy, the proposed pathway to distinct sequences in [$α$/Fe]-[Fe/H] cannot be captured.
Using the VINTERGATAN cosmological zoom simulation, we explore the contributions of the in situ and accreted material, and the effect of galaxy interactions and mergers in the assembly of a Milky Way-like galaxy. We find that the initial growth phase of galaxy evolution, dominated by repeated major mergers, provides the necessary physical conditions for the assembly of a thick, kinematically hot disk populated by high-[$α$/Fe] stars, formed both in situ and in accreted satellite galaxies. We find that the diversity of evolutionary tracks followed by the simulated galaxy and its progenitors lea…
VINTERGATAN-GM: long-lived satellite planes induced by a massive GSE-like merger
Universidad Complutense de Madrid（马德里康普顿斯大学）；Lund University（隆德大学）；University of Surrey（萨里大学）；Durham University（杜伦大学）；University of Bath（巴斯大学）；Universidad Autónoma de Madrid（马德里自治大学）
Stellar kinematic groups are kinematical coherent groups of stars that might have a common origin. These groups are dispersed throughout the Galaxy over time by the tidal effects of both Galactic rotation and disc heating, although their chemical content remains unchanged. The aim of chemical tagging is to establish that the abundances of every element in the analysis are homogeneus among the members. We study the case of the Hyades Supercluster to compile a reliable list of members (FGK stars) based on our chemical tagging analysis. For a total of 61 stars from the Hyades Supercluster, stella…
Using kinematics from Gaia and the large elemental abundance space of the second data release of the GALAH survey, we identify two new members of the Fimbulthul stellar stream, and chemically tag them to massive, multi-metallic globular cluster $ω$ Centauri. Recent analysis of the second data release of Gaia had revealed the Fimbulthul stellar stream in the halo of the Milky Way. It had been proposed that the stream is associated with the $ω$ Centauri, but this proposition relied exclusively upon the kinematics and metallicities of the stars to make the association. In this work, we find our t…
Our Galaxy is thought to have undergone an active evolutionary history dominated by star formation, the accretion of cold gas, and, in particular, mergers up to 10 gigayear ago. The stellar halo reveals rich fossil evidence of these interactions in the form of stellar streams, substructures, and chemically distinct stellar components. The impact of dwarf galaxy mergers on the content and morphology of the Galactic disk is still being explored. Recent studies have identified kinematically distinct stellar substructures and moving groups, which may have extragalactic origin. However, there is mo…
We have developed a novel technique based on a clustering algorithm which searches for kinematically- and chemically-clustered stars in the APOGEE DR12 Cannon data. As compared to classical chemical tagging, the kinematic information included in our methodology allows us to identify stars that are members of known globular clusters with greater confidence. We apply our algorithm to the entire APOGEE catalog of 150,615 stars whose chemical abundances are derived by the Cannon. Our methodology found anti-correlations between the elements Al and Mg, Na and O, and C and N previously identified in …
Stellar Population and Dynamical Modeling of Galaxies with Kinematically Misaligned Components: Age and Metallicity of Structural Components
Sternberg Astronomical Institute（斯登伯格天文研究所）；M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University（莫斯科罗蒙诺索夫国立大学）；Astrospace Center of the P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences（俄罗斯科学院列别捷夫物理研究所太空中心）
We aim to characterize high-velocity (HiVel) stars in the solar vicinity both chemically and kinematically using the fourth data release of the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE). We used a sample of 57 HiVel stars with Galactic rest-frame velocities larger than 275 km s$^{-1}$. With 6D position and velocity information, we integrated the orbits of the HiVel stars and found that, on average, they reach out to 13 kpc from the Galactic plane and have relatively eccentric orbits consistent with the Galactic halo. Using the stellar parameters and [$α$/Fe] estimates from RAVE, we found the metallici…
We determine the average metallicities of the elements of cold halo substructure (ECHOS) that we previously identified in the inner halo of the Milky Way within 17.5 kpc of the Sun. As a population, we find that stars kinematically associated with ECHOS are chemically distinct from the background kinematically smooth inner halo stellar population along the same Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE) line of sight. ECHOS are systematically more iron-rich, but less alpha-enhanced than the kinematically-smooth component of the inner halo. ECHOS are also chemically dist…
The Milky Way nuclear star cluster (MW NSC) has been used as a template to understand the origin and evolution of galactic nuclei and the interaction of nuclear star clusters with supermassive black holes. It is the only nuclear star cluster with a supermassive black hole where we can resolve individual stars to measure their kinematics and metal abundance to reconstruct its formation history. Here, we present results of the first chemo-dynamical model of the inner 1 pc of the MW NSC using metallicity and radial velocity data from the KMOS spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope. We find evid…
The Nephele ecosystem: stars, globular clusters, and stellar streams associated with the progenitor galaxy of $ω$ Centauri
LIRA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, CY Cergy Paris Université, CNRS（巴黎天文台，巴黎文理研究大学，索邦大学，巴黎西岱大学，塞吉-蓬图瓦兹大学，法国国家科学研究中心）；Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg（斯特拉斯堡大学，法国国家科学研究中心，斯特拉斯堡天文台）；Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”（罗马第一大学物理系）；Institute for Complex Systems CNR（意大利国家研究委员会复杂系统研究所）；Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Galileo Galilei”, Università di Padova（帕多瓦大学伽利略·伽利莱物理与天文学系）；Dipartimento di Tecnica e Gestione dei Sistemi Industriali, Università degli Studi di Padova（帕多瓦大学工业系统技术与管理系）
The internal kinematics and chemistry of 20 Milky Way strings
INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova（意大利国家天体物理研究所帕多瓦天文台）；INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania（意大利国家天体物理研究所卡塔尼亚天文台）；INAF - Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna（意大利国家天体物理研究所博洛尼亚天文与空间科学观测站）；INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma（意大利国家天体物理研究所罗马天文台）；Fundación Galileo Galilei – INAF（伽利略基金会-意大利国家天体物理研究所）；INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri（意大利国家天体物理研究所阿切尔菲天文台）
We present elemental abundances for all seven stars in Moving Group W11450 (Latham 1) to determine if they may be chemically related. These stars appear to be both spatially and kinematically related, but no spectroscopic abundance analysis exists in literature. Abundances for eight elements were derived via equivalent width analyses of high resolution (R $\sim$60,000), high signal-to-noise ratio ($\langle$SNR$\rangle\sim$100) spectra obtained with the Otto Struve 2.1m telescope and Sandiford Echelle Spectrograph at McDonald Observatory. The large star-to-star scatter in metallicity, -0.55 $\l…
The nuclear stellar disc (NSD) is, together with the nuclear star cluster (NSC) and the central massive black hole, one of the main components in the central parts of our Milky Way. However, until recently, only few studies of the stellar content of the NSD have been obtained due to extreme extinction and stellar crowding. With a dedicated KMOS (VLT, ESO) spectroscopic survey, we study the kinematics and global metallicities of the NSD based on the observations of K/M giant stars. We trace radial velocities and metallicities which were derived based on spectral indices (Na I and CO) along the …
The Spheroidal Bulge of the Milky Way: Chemodynamically Distinct from the Inner-Thick Disc and Bar
Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)（波茨坦莱布尼茨天体物理研究所）；Universität Potsdam（波茨坦大学）；Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México（墨西哥国立自治大学）；Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México（墨西哥国立自治大学天文研究所）；Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias（加那利天体物理研究所）；Universidad de La Laguna（拉古纳大学）；Max Planck Institute for Astronomy（马克斯·普朗克天体物理研究所）；Universitat de Barcelona（巴塞罗那大学）；Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona（巴塞罗那大学宇宙科学研究所）；Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC)（加泰罗尼亚空间研究学院）
We report on detection, from observations obtained with the APOGEE spectroscopic survey, of a metal-poor ([Fe/H] $= -1.3$ dex) field giant star with an extreme Mg-Al abundance ratio ([Mg/Fe] $= -0.31$ dex; [Al/Fe] $= 1.49$ dex). Such low Mg/Al ratios are seen only among the second-generation population of globular clusters, and are not present among Galactic disk field stars. The light element abundances of this star, 2M16011638-1201525, suggest that it could have been born in a globular cluster. We explore several origin scenarios, in particular studying the orbit of the star to check the pro…
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 tw…
Detailed Abundance Determination of Metal-Poor Stars with X-Shooter II. - Chemically Disentangling the Halo, Disk and GSE
Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University（澳大利亚国立大学天体物理与天文学研究学院）；Theoretical Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University（乌普萨拉大学物理学与天文学系理论天体物理学）；Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Landessternwarte（海德堡大学天文中心，州立天文台）
Recent analyses of Gaia data have resulted in the identification of new stellar structures, including a new class of extended stellar filaments called stellar "strings", first proposed by Kounkel and Covey 2019. We explore the spatial, kinematic, and chemical composition of strings to demonstrate that these newfound structures are largely inconsistent with being physical objects whose members share a common origin. Examining the 3D spatial distribution of string members, we find that the spatial dispersion around the claimed string spine does not improve in the latest Gaia DR3 data release -- …
Stellar kinematics and metallicity are key to exploring formation scenarios for galactic disks and halos. In this work, we characterized the relationship between kinematics and photometric metallicity along the line-of-sight to M31's disk. We combined optical HST/ACS photometry from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) survey with Keck/DEIMOS spectra from the Spectroscopic and Photometric Landscape of Andromeda's Stellar Halo (SPLASH) survey. The resulting sample of 3512 individual red giant branch stars spans 4-19 projected kpc, making it a useful probe of both the disk and inner…
The structure and kinematics of the recognized stellar components of the Milky Way are explored, based on well-determined atmospheric parameters and kinematic quantities for 32360 calibration stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and its first extension, (SDSS-II), which included the sub-survey SEGUE: Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration. Full space motions for a sub-sample of 16920 stars, exploring a local volume within 4 kpc of the Sun, are used to derive velocity ellipsoids for the inner- and outer-halo components of the Galaxy, as well as for the canonical th…
Chemical decoding of kinematic substructures in the Galactic halo
Università di Firenze（佛罗伦萨大学）；INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri（意大利国家天体物理研究所阿切特里天文台）；Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, CY Cergy Paris Université, CNRS（巴黎天文台，巴黎文理研究大学，索邦大学，巴黎西岱大学，CY塞尔吉巴黎大学，法国国家科学研究中心）；CEA, AIM, Université Paris-Saclay（法国原子能和替代能源委员会，天体物理学和粒子物理研究所，巴黎萨克雷大学）；Leibniz Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)（波茨坦莱布尼茨天体物理研究所）；Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Galileo Galilei”, Università di Padova（帕多瓦大学伽利略·伽利莱物理与天文学系）；Dipartimento di Tecnica e Gestione dei Sistemi Industriali, Università di Padova（帕多瓦大学工业系统技术与管理系）；INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova（意大利国家天体物理研究所帕多瓦天文台）
If stars form in clusters but most stars belong to the field, understanding the details of the transition from the former to the latter is imperative to explain the observational properties of the field. Aging open clusters are one of the sources of field stars. The disruption rate of open clusters slows down with age but, as an object gets older, the distinction between the remaining cluster or open cluster remnant (OCR) and the surrounding field becomes less and less obvious. As a result, finding good OCR candidates or confirming the OCR nature of some of the best candidates still remains el…
We present the results of a detailed abundance analysis of one of the confirmed building blocks of the Milky Way stellar halo, a kinematically-coherent metal-poor stellar stream. We have obtained high resolution and high S/N spectra of 12 probable stream members using the MIKE spectrograph on the Magellan-Clay Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory and the 2dCoude spectrograph on the Smith Telescope at McDonald Observatory. We have derived abundances or upper limits for 51 species of 46 elements in each of these stars. The stream members show a range of metallicity (-3.4 < [Fe/H] < -1.5) but ar…
Within a cosmological hydrodynamical simulation, we form a disc galaxy with sub- components which can be assigned to a thin stellar disc, thick disk, and a low mass stellar halo via a chemical decomposition. The thin and thick disc populations so selected are distinct in their ages, kinematics, and metallicities. Thin disc stars are young (<6.6 Gyr), possess low velocity dispersion (σU,V,W = 41, 31, 25 km/s), high [Fe/H], and low [O/Fe]. The thick disc stars are old (6.6<age<9.8 Gyrs), lag the thin disc by \sim21 km/s, possess higher velocity dispersion (σU,V,W = 49, 44, 35 km/s), relatively l…
Co-evolution of the Milky Way high- and low-α sequences with chemical evolution models
INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste（意大利国家天体物理研究所，的里雅斯特天文台）；IFPU, Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe（宇宙基础物理研究所）；Dipartimento di Fisica, Sezione di Astronomia, Università di Trieste（的里雅斯特大学，物理系，天文学部）；INFN Sezione di Trieste（意大利国家核物理研究所，的里雅斯特分部）
本文通过改进的化学演化模型探讨银河盘内高α和低α序列的共同演化及古老低α星的存在，解释了观测到的[α/Fe] vs [Fe/H]图谱。
We investigate the inner regions of the Milky Way with a sample of unprecedented size and coverage thanks to APOGEE DR16 and Gaia EDR3 data. Our inner Galactic sample has more than 26,000 stars within $|X_{\rm Gal}| <5$ kpc, $|Y_{\rm Gal}| <3.5$ kpc, $|Z_{\rm Gal}| <1$ kpc, and we also make the analysis for a foreground-cleaned sub-sample of 8,000 stars more representative of the bulge-bar populations. The inner Galaxy shows a clear chemical discontinuity in key abundance ratios [$α$/Fe], [C/N], and [Mn/O], probing different enrichment timescales, which suggests a star formation gap (quenching…
A Chemodynamical Census of the Milky Way's Ultra-Faint Compact Satellites. I. A First Population-Level Look at the Internal Kinematics and Metallicities of 19 Extremely-Low-Mass Halo Stellar Systems
Yale University（耶鲁大学）；University of Toronto（多伦多大学）；Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics（邓普勒天文学与天体物理学研究所）；University of Virginia（弗吉尼亚大学）；Carnegie Institution for Science（卡内基科学机构）；University of Chicago（芝加哥大学）；Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics（卡弗里宇宙物理学研究所）；Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory（费米国家加速器实验室）
The Milky Way was shaped by the mergers with several galaxies in the past. We search for remnant stars that were born in these foreign galaxies and assess their ages in an effort to put upper limits on the merger times and thereby better understand the evolutionary history of our Galaxy. Using 6D-phase space information from Gaia eDR3 and chemical information from APOGEE DR16, we kinematically and chemically select $23$ red giant stars belonging to former dwarf galaxies that merged with the Milky Way. With added asteroseismology from Kepler and K2, we determine the ages of the $23$ ex-situ sta…
We present evidence from the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) survey of chemically separated, kinematically distinct disc components in the solar neighbourhood. We apply probabilistic chemical selection criteria to separate our sample into $α$-low (`thin disc') and $α$-high (`thick disc') sequences. Using newly derived distances, which will be utilized in the upcoming RAVE DR5, we explore the kinematic trends as a function of metallicity for each of the disc components. For our $α$-low disc, we find a negative trend in the mean rotational velocity ($V_{\mathrmϕ}$) as a function of iron abunda…
ALMA observations of the Extended Green Object G19.01$-$0.03: II. A massive protostar with typical chemical abundances surrounded by four low-mass prestellar core candidates
Giant Planets and Eccentric Orbits Are Common Around Galactic Thick Disc Stars
Yale University（耶鲁大学）；The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science（卡内基科学研究所天文台）；Universidad de Concepción（康塞普西翁大学）；Gemini Observatory（吉米尼天文台）；NSF’s NOIRLab（美国国家光学红外天文实验室）；Pomona College（波莫纳学院）
The velocity field of our Milky Way outer stellar halo based on DESI DR2
Shanghai Jiao Tong University（上海交通大学）；Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University（上海交大李政道研究所）；University of Edinburgh（爱丁堡大学）；University of Cambridge（剑桥大学）
