To understand the formation and evolution of the Milky Way disk, we must connect its current properties to its past. We explore hydrodynamical cosmological simulations to investigate how the chemical abundances of stars might be linked to their origins. Using hierarchical clustering of abundance measurements in two Milky Way-like simulations with distributed and steady star formation histories, we find that abundance clusters of stars comprise different groups in birth place ($R_\text{birth}$) and time (age). Simulating observational abundance errors (0.05 dex), we find that to trace discrete groups of ($R_\text{birth}$, age) requires a large vector of abundances. Using 15-element abundances (Fe, O, Mg, S, Si, C, P, Mn, Ne, Al, N, V, Ba, Cr, Co), up to $\approx$ 10 clusters can be defined with $\approx$ 25% overlap in ($R_\text{birth}$, age). We build a simple model to show that it is possible to infer a star's age and $R_\text{birth}$ from abundances with precisions of $\pm$0.06 Gyr and $\pm$1.17 kpc respectively. We find that abundance clustering is ineffective for a third simulation, where low-$α$ stars form distributed in the disc and early high-$α$ stars form more rapidly in clumps that sink towards the galactic center as their constituent stars evolve to enrich the interstellar medium. However, this formation path leads to large age-dispersions across the [$α$/Fe]-[Fe/H] plane, which is inconsistent with the Milky Way's observed properties. We conclude that abundance clustering is a promising approach toward charting the history of our Galaxy.
A major goal in the field of galaxy formation is to understand the formation of the Milky Way's disk. The first step toward doing this is to empirically describe its present state. We use the new high-dimensional dataset of 19 abundances from 27,135 red clump APOGEE stars to examine the distribution of clusters defined using abundances. We explore different dimensionality reduction techniques and implement a non-parametric agglomerate hierarchical clustering method. We see that groups defined using abundances are spatially separated, as a function of age. Furthermore, the abundance groups repr…
With the calculated guiding center radius $R_{guiding}$ and birth radius $R_{birth}$, we investigate the role of radial migration on the description of lithium evolution in the Galactic disk based on the upper envelope of the A(Li) vs. [Fe/H] diagram. Using migration distances, we find that stars in the solar neighborhood are born at different locations in the galactic disk, and cannot all be explained by models of chemical evolution in the solar neighborhood. It is found that the upper envelope of the A(Li) vs. [Fe/H] diagram varies significantly with $R_{birth}$, which explains the decrease …
We explore to which extent stars within Galactic disk open clusters resemble each other in the high-dimensional space of their photospheric element abundances, and contrast this with pairs of field stars. Our analysis is based on abundances for 20 elements, homogeneously derived from APOGEE spectra (with carefully quantified uncertainties, with a median value of $\sim 0.03$ dex). We consider 90 red giant stars in seven open clusters and find that most stars within a cluster have abundances in most elements that are indistinguishable (in a $χ^2$-sense) from those of the other members, as expect…
The Local Group (LG) is an environment accessible to detailed studies of galaxy formation, providing a complement to the early universe. In particular, spectroscopy of resolved stellar populations in the LG provides kinematical and chemical information for individual stars that can be used to infer the history of $L_\star$ galaxies like the Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda (M31). The Gaia revolution in the MW has enabled comprehensive observational studies of the MW's formation history. The exquisite detail in which the MW has been studied is currently not achievable in any other $L_\star$ galaxy.…
Partitioning of elemental nitrogen in star-forming regions is not well constrained. Most nitrogen is expected to be partitioned among atomic nitrogen, molecular nitrogen (N2), and icy N-bearing molecules, such as ammonia (NH3) and N2. Atomic nitrogen is not directly observable in the cold gas. In this paper, we propose an indirect way to constrain the amount of atomic nitrogen in the cold gas of star-forming clouds, via deuteration in ammonia ice, the [ND2H/NH2D]/[NH2D/NH3] ratio. Using gas-ice astrochemical simulations, we show that if atomic nitrogen remains as the primary reservoir of nitro…
The majority of hydrogen in the interstellar medium (ISM) is in atomic form. The transition from atoms to molecules and, in particular, the formation of the H$_2$ molecule, is a key step in cosmic structure formation en route to stars. Quantifying H$_2$ formation in space is difficult, due to the confusion in the emission of atomic hydrogen (HI) and the lack of a H$_2$ signal from the cold ISM. Here we present the discovery of a rare, isolated dark cloud currently undergoing H$_2$ formation, as evidenced by a prominent "ring" of HI self-absorption. Through a combined analysis of HI narrow self…
This paper presents the first results from a model for chemical evolution that can be applied to N-body cosmological simulations and quantitatively compared to measured stellar abundances from large astronomical surveys. This model convolves the chemical yield sets from a range of stellar nucleosynthesis calculations (including AGB stars, Type Ia and II supernovae, and stellar wind models) with a user-specified stellar initial mass function (IMF) and metallicity to calculate the time-dependent chemical evolution model for a "simple stellar population" of uniform metallicity and formation time.…
Context. The distribution of elements in galaxies forms an important diagnostic tool to characterize the system's formation and evolution. This tool is however complex to use in practice, as galaxies are subject to a range of simultaneous physical processes active from pc to kpc scales. This renders observations of the full optical extent of galaxies down to sub-kpc scales essential. Aims. Using the WiFeS integral field spectrograph, we previously detected abrupt and localized variations in the gas-phase oxygen abundance of the spiral galaxy HCG91c. Here, we follow-up on these observations to …
We present chemical abundances of 15 stars in the γ Leo moving group based on high-resolution spectra with the Subaru High Dispersion Spectrograph. The sample was picked up by applying wavelet transform to UVW velocity compo- nents of stars in the solar neighbourhood. Both photometric and spectroscopic method have been used to determine the stellar parameters of stars. Abun- dances of 11 elements including Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni, Y and Ba are measured. Our results show that the member stars display a wide metallicity distribution with abundance ratios similar to Milky way disk star…
Stars born at the same time in the same place should have formed from gas of the same element composition. But most stars subsequently disperse from their birth siblings, in orbit and orbital phase, becoming 'field stars'. Here we explore and provide direct observational evidence for this process in the Milky Way disc, by quantifying the probability that orbit-similarity among stars implies indistinguishable metallicity. We define the orbit similarity among stars through their distance in action-angle space, $Δ(J,θ)$, and their abundance similarity simply by $Δ$[Fe/H]. Analyzing a sample of ma…
A time delay of Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) explosions hinders the imprint of their nucleosynthesis on stellar abundances. However, some occasional cases give birth to stars that avoid enrichment of their chemical compositions by massive stars and thereby exhibit a SN Ia-like elemental feature including a very low [Mg/Fe] (~-1). We highlight the elemental feature of Fe-group elements for two low-Mg/Fe objects detected in nearby galaxies, and propose the presence of a class of SNe Ia that yield the low abundance ratios of [Cr,Mn,Ni/Fe]. Our novel models of chemical evolution reveal that our propo…
Surface abundances of C, N, and O in red giants are affected by processed material mixed into the stars' convective envelopes. Using a sample of $\sim 5100$ stars with elemental abundances from APOGEE and asteroseismic masses from {\it Kepler}, we test theoretical stellar models that predict this mixing, then apply these models to derive birth C, N, and O abundances for these stars. Our models with standard mixing can reproduce the observed trends to within plausible uncertainties in the birth abundances. Some models with ''extra'' mixing processes fail, predicting trends with surface gravity …
Stellar abundances and ages afford the means to link chemical enrichment to galactic formation. In the Milky Way, individual element abundances show tight correlations with age, which vary in slope across ([Fe/H]-[$α$/Fe]). Here, we step from characterising abundances as measures of age, to understanding how abundances trace properties of stellar birth-environment in the disk over time. Using measurements from $\sim$27,000 APOGEE stars (R=22,500, SNR$>$200), we build simple local linear models to predict a sample of elements (X = Si, O, Ca, Ti, Ni, Al, Mn, Cr) using (Fe, Mg) abundances alone, …
Young isolated radio-quiet neutron stars are still hot enough to be detectable at X-ray and optical wavelengths due to their thermal emission and can hence probe cooling curves. An identification of their birth sites can constrain their age. For that reason we try to identify the parent associations for four of the so-called Magnificent Seven neutron stars for which proper motion and distance estimates are available. We are tracing back in time each neutron star and possible birth association centre to find close encounters. The associated time of the encounter expresses the kinematic age of t…
The past two decades have seen extensive surveys of the far-infrared to submillimeter continuum emission in the plane of our Galaxy. We line out prospects for the coming decade for corresponding molecular and atomic line surveys which are needed to fully understand the formation of the dense structures that give birth to clusters and stars out of the diffuse interstellar medium. We propose to work towards Galaxy wide surveys in mid-J CO lines to trace shocks from colliding clouds, Galaxy-wide surveys for atomic Carbon lines in order to get a detailed understanding of the relation of atomic and…
DeepDive: Tracing the early quenching pathways of massive quiescent galaxies at $z>3$ from their star-formation histories and chemical abundances
University of Massachusetts, Amherst（马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校）；Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN)（宇宙黎明中心）；DTU Space, Technical University of Denmark（丹麦技术大学空间科学与技术中心）；David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto（多伦多大学戴维·A·邓普尔天文与天体物理系）；Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto（多伦多大学邓普尔天文与天体物理研究所）；Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science（卡内基科学机构天文台）
Observations of the molecular gas over scales of 0.5 to several kpc provide crucial information on how gas moves through galaxies, especially in mergers and interacting systems, where it ultimately reaches the galaxy center, accumulates, and feeds nuclear activity. Studying the processes involved in the gas transport is an important step forward to understand galaxy evolution. 12CO, 13CO and C18O1-0 high-sensitivity ALMA observations were used to assess properties of the large-scale molecular gas reservoir and its connection to the circumnuclear molecular ring in NGC1614. The role of excitatio…
We present the first metal abundance profiles for a representative sample of massive clusters. Our measures extend to $R_{500}$ and are corrected for a systematic error plaguing previous outskirt estimates. Our profiles flatten out at large radii, admittedly not a new result, however the radial range and representative nature of our sample extends its import well beyond previous findings. We find no evidence of segregation between cool-core and non-cool-core systems beyond $\sim 0.3 R_{500}$, implying that, as was found for thermodynamic properties (Ghirardini et al, 2019), the physical state …
All globular clusters (GCs) studied to date show evidence for internal variation in their light element abundances. These variations have been interpreted as evidence for multiple star formation episodes within GCs, with secondary episodes fueled, at least in part, by the ejecta of AGB stars from a first generation of stars. A major puzzle emerging from this otherwise plausible scenario is that the fraction of stars associated with the second episode of star formation is observed to be much larger than expected for a standard IMF. The present work investigates this tension by modeling the obse…
Aims: The physical structure of a shock wave may take a form unique to its shock type, implying that the chemistry of each shock type is unique as well. We aim to investigate the different chemistries of J-type and C-type shocks in order to identify unique molecular tracers of both shock types. We apply these diagnostics to the protostellar outflow L1157 to establish whether the B2 clump could host shocks exhibiting type-specific behaviour. Of particular interest is the L1157-B2 clump, which has been shown to exhibit bright emission in S-bearing species and HNCO. Methods: We simulate, using a …
Observations of the Milky Way's low-$α$ disk show that at fixed metallicity, [Fe/H], several element abundance, [X/Fe], correlate with age, with unique slopes and small scatters around the age-[X/Fe] relations. In this study, we turn to simulations to explore the age-[X/Fe] relations for the elements C, N, O, Mg, Si, S, and Ca that are traced in a FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulation of a Milky Way-like galaxy, m12i, and understand what physical conditions give rise to the observed age-[X/Fe] trends. We first explore the distributions of mono-age populations in their birth and current locati…
We report on the effects of cosmic rays (CRs) on the abundance of CO in $\rm H_2$ clouds under conditions typical for star-forming galaxies in the Universe. We discover that this most important molecule for tracing H$_2$ gas is very effectively destroyed in ISM environments with CR energy densities $\rm U_{CR}\sim(50-10^{3})\times U_{CR,Gal}$, a range expected in numerous star-forming systems throughout the Universe. This density-dependent effect operates volumetrically rather than only on molecular cloud surfaces (i.e. unlike FUV radiation that also destroys CO), and is facilitated by: a) the…
There is growing evidence for disk-mediated accretion being the dominant mode of star formation across nearly the whole stellar mass spectrum. The stochastic nature of this process has been realized which implies an inherent source variability. It can be traced more easily for low-mass YSOs (LMYSOs) since high-mass YSOs (HMYSOs) are still embedded even when reaching the ZAMS. While variable reflection nebulae around LMYSOs were among the earliest signs of star formation, little is known on the variability of scattered light from embedded clusters, the birthplaces of HMYSOs. Since the few most …
We apply a novel statistical analysis to measurements of 16 elemental abundances in 34,410 Milky Way disk stars from the final data release (DR17) of APOGEE-2. Building on recent work, we fit median abundance ratio trends [X/Mg] vs. [Mg/H] with a 2-process model, which decomposes abundance patterns into a "prompt" component tracing core collapse supernovae and a "delayed" component tracing Type Ia supernovae. For each sample star, we fit the amplitudes of these two components, then compute the residuals Δ[X/H] from this two-parameter fit. The rms residuals range from ~0.01-0.03 dex for the mos…
To understand the conditions under which dense, molecular gas is able to form within a galaxy, we post-process a series of three-dimensional galactic-disk-scale simulations with ray-tracing based radiative transfer and chemical network integration to compute the equilibrium chemical and thermal state of the gas. In performing these simulations we vary a number of parameters, such as the ISRF strength, vertical scale height of stellar sources, cosmic ray flux, to gauge the sensitivity of our results to these variations. Self-shielding permits significant molecular hydrogen (H2) abundances in de…
Simpson's paradox, or Yule-Simpson effect, arises when a trend appears in different subsets of data but disappears or reverses when these subsets are combined. We describe here seven cases of this phenomenon for chemo-kinematical relations believed to constrain the Milky Way disk formation and evolution. We show that interpreting trends in relations, such as the radial and vertical chemical abundance gradients, the age-metallicity relation, and the metallicity-rotational velocity relation (MVR), can lead to conflicting conclusions about the Galaxy past if analyses marginalize over stellar age …
I summarize the results of 15 years of research on the surface abundances of stars in globular clusters. Globular-cluster stars afford a unique view of the physical processes that shape the surface abundances of stars on and beyond the Spite plateau, as one can study stars in different evolutionary phases with the same composition at birth. The main result is the finding of observational trends in surface abundances of heavy elements (Mg, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ba) that range from ~0.1 dex (M4 at [Fe/H]=-1.1) to ~0.3 dex (M30 at [Fe/H]=-2.3) with turn-off and subgiant stars generally showing lower ab…
Using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope, we measured the abundances of six ions (C III, C IV, Si III, Si IV, N V, O VI) in the low-redshift (z < 0.4) intergalactic medium and explored C and Si ionization corrections from adjacent ion stages. Both C IV and Si IV have increased in abundance by a factor of ~10 from z = 5.5 to the present. We derive ion mass densities, (rho_ion) = (Omega_ion)(rho_cr) with Omega_ion expressed relative to closure density. Our models of the mass-abundance ratios, (Si III / Si IV) = 0.67(+0.35,-0.19), (C III / C IV) = 0.70(+0.43,-0.20),…
We study the formation of massive Population III binary stars using a newly developed radiation hydrodynamics code with the adaptive mesh refinement and adaptive ray-tracing methods. We follow the evolution of a typical primordial star-forming cloud obtained from a cosmological hydrodynamics simulation. Several protostars form as a result of disk fragmentation and grow in mass by the gas accretion, which is finally quenched by the radiation feedback from the protostars. Our code enables us, for the first time, to consider the feedback by both the ionizing and dissociating radiation from the mu…
We employ the first two years of data from the near-infrared, high-resolution SDSS-III/APOGEE spectroscopic survey to investigate the distribution of metallicity and alpha-element abundances of stars over a large part of the Milky Way disk. Using a sample of ~10,000 kinematically-unbiased red-clump stars with ~5% distance accuracy as tracers, the [alpha/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] distribution of this sample exhibits a bimodality in [alpha/Fe] at intermediate metallicities, -0.9<[Fe/H]<-0.2, but at higher metallicities ([Fe/H]=+0.2) the two sequences smoothly merge. We investigate the effects of the APOGEE…
We analyze the present-day structure and assembly history of a high resolution hydrodynamic simulation of the formation of a Milky Way (MW)-like disk galaxy, from the "Eris" simulation suite, dissecting it into cohorts of stars formed at different epochs of cosmic history. At z=0, stars with t_form < 2 Gyr mainly occupy the stellar spheroid, with the oldest (earliest forming) stars having more centrally concentrated profiles. The younger age cohorts populate disks of progressively longer radial scale length and shorter vertical scale height. At a given radius, the vertical density profiles and…
University College London（伦敦大学学院）；Columbia University（哥伦比亚大学）；Flatiron Institute（弗莱迪龙研究所）
Identification of chemically similar stars using elemental abundances is core to many pursuits within Galactic archaeology. However, measuring the chemical likeness of stars using abundances directly is limited by systematic imprints of imperfect synthetic spectra in abundance derivation. We present a novel data-driven model that is capable of identifying chemically similar stars from spectra alone. We call this Relevant Scaled Component Analysis (RSCA). RSCA finds a mapping from stellar spectra to a representation that optimizes recovery of known open clusters. By design, RSCA amplifies facto…
Despite its major role in the evolution of the interstellar medium, the formation of high-mass stars (M > 10 Msol) is still poorly understood. Two types of massive star cluster precursors, the so-called Massive Dense Cores (MDCs), have been observed, which differ in their mid-infrared brightness. The origin of this difference is not established and could be the result of evolution, density, geometry differences, or a combination of these. We compare several molecular tracers of physical conditions (hot cores, shocks) observed in a sample of mid-IR weak emitting MDCs with previous results obtai…
Context: The initial conditions for the gravitational collapse of molecular cloud cores and the subsequent birth of stars are still not well constrained. The characteristic cold temperatures (about 10 K) in such regions require observations at sub-millimetre and longer wavelengths. The Herschel Space Observatory and complementary ground-based observations presented in this paper have the unprecedented potential to reveal the structure and kinematics of a prototypical core region at the onset of stellar birth. Aims: This paper aims to determine the density, temperature, and velocity structure o…
Tracing nitrogen enrichment across cosmic time with JWST
Università di Firenze（佛罗伦萨大学）；INAF – Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory（意大利国家天体物理研究所阿切特里天文台）；European Southern Observatory（欧洲南方天文台）；Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge（剑桥大学卡文迪许实验室）；Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge（剑桥大学卡弗里宇宙学研究所）
We study the stellar mass-to-halo mass relation at $z=0$ in 30 Milky Way-like systems down to the ultra-faint ($M_* < 10^5 M_\odot$) regime using the semi-analytic model A-SLOTH. A new model allows us to follow star formation and the stochastic stellar feedback from individually sampled Pop II stars. Our fiducial model produces consistent results with the stellar mass-to-halo mass relation derived from abundance matching and the observed cumulative stellar mass function above the observational completeness. We find a plateau in the stellar mass-to-halo mass relation in the ultra-faint regime. …
Tentative Detection of the Glycine Isomer Glycolamide in Hot Molecular Core
Chongqing University（重庆大学）；Max Planck Institute for Astronomy（马克斯·普朗克天文学研究所）；Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University（西交利物浦大学）；Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Universités（巴黎天文台，PSL研究大学，法国国家科学研究中心，索邦大学）；GuangZhou University（广州大学）
We present an abundance analysis of six member stars of the recently discovered Aquarius stream, in an attempt to ascertain whether this halo stream is real and, if so, to understand its origin. The mean metallicities of the six stars have a dispersion of only 0.10 dex, indicating that they are part of a chemically coherent structure. We then investigate whether the stream represents the debris of a disrupted dwarf galaxy or a disrupted globular cluster. The [Ni/Fe] - [Na/Fe] plane provides a good diagnostic: globular cluster stars and dwarf spheroidal galaxy stars are well separated in this p…
Globular clusters (GCs), once thought to be well approximated as simple stellar populations (i.e. all stars having the same age and chemical abundance), are now known to host a variety of anomalies, such as multiple discrete (or spreads in) populations in colour-magnitude diagrams and abundance variations in light elements (e.g., Na, O, Al). Multiple models have been put forward to explain the observed anomalies, although all have serious shortcomings (e.g., requiring a non-standard initial mass function of stars and GCs to have been initially 10-100 times more massive than observed today). Th…
We explore the origins of the young B-type stars found by Casetti-Dinescu et al.(2014) at the outskirts of the Milky-Way disk in the sky region of Leading Arm of the Magellanic Stream. High-resolution spectroscopic observations made with the MIKE instrument on the Magellan Clay 6.5m telescope for nine stars are added to the previous sample analyzed by Zhang et al. (2017). We compile a sample of fifteen young stars with well-determined stellar types, ages, abundances and kinematics. With proper motions from Gaia DR2 we also derive orbits in a realistic Milky-Way potential. We find that our prev…
An updated picture of pre-solar history from short-lived radioactive isotopes and inferences on the birth of the Sun
Konkoly Observatory, HUN-REN CSFK（孔科利天文台，匈牙利研究与教育网络科学中心）；MTA Centre of Excellence（匈牙利科学院卓越中心）；University of Bayreuth（拜罗伊特大学）；Los Alamos National Laboratory（洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare - Laboratori Nazionali del Sud（意大利国家核物理研究所南方实验室）；Institute of Physics and Astronomy, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University（罗兰大学物理与天文学研究所）；School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University（蒙纳士大学物理与天文学院）
