| 1. |
- Arentsen, A., et al.
(författare)
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The Pristine Inner Galaxy Survey (PIGS) I : tracing the kinematics of metal-poor stars in the Galactic bulge
- 2020
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966 .- 1745-3925 .- 1745-3933. ; 491:1, s. L11-L16
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Our Galaxy is known to contain a central boxy/peanut-shaped bulge, yet the importance of a classical, pressure-supported component within the central part of the Milky Way is still being debated. It should be most visible at low metallicity, a regime that has not yet been studied in detail. Using metallicity-sensitive narrow-band photometry, the Pristine Inner Galaxy Survey (PIGS) has collected a large sample of metal-poor ([Fe/H] < -1.0) stars in the inner Galaxy to address this open question. We use PIGS to trace the metal-poor inner Galaxy kinematics as function of metallicity for the first time. We find that the rotational signal decreases with decreasing [Fe/H], until it becomes negligible for the most metal-poor stars. Additionally, the velocity dispersion increases with decreasing metallicity for -3.0 < [Fe/II] < -0.5, with a gradient of -44 +/- 41un s(-1)dex(-1). These observations may signal a transition between Galactic components of different metallicities and kinematics, a different mapping on to the boxy/peanut-shaped bulge for former disc stars of different metallicities and/or the secular dynamical and gravitational influence of the bar on the pressure-supported component. Our results provide strong constraints on models that attempt to explain the properties of the inner Galaxy.
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| 2. |
- Martin, N. F., et al.
(författare)
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A stellar stream remnant of a globular cluster below the metallicity floor
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 601:7891, s. 45-48
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Stellar ejecta gradually enrich the gas out of which subsequent stars form, making the least chemically enriched stellar systems direct fossils of structures formed in the early Universe1. Although a few hundred stars with metal content below 1,000th of the solar iron content are known in the Galaxy2–4, none of them inhabit globular clusters, some of the oldest known stellar structures. These show metal content of at least approximately 0.2% of the solar metallicity ([Fe / H] ≳ − 2.7). This metallicity floor appears universal5,6, and it has been proposed that protogalaxies that merged into the galaxies we observe today were simply not massive enough to form clusters that survived to the present day7. Here we report observations of a stellar stream, C-19, whose metallicity is less than 0.05% of the solar metallicity ([Fe/H]=−3.38±0.06(statistical)±0.20(systematic)). The low metallicity dispersion and the chemical abundances of the C-19 stars show that this stream is the tidal remnant of the most metal-poor globular cluster ever discovered, and is significantly below the purported metallicity floor: clusters with significantly lower metallicities than observed today existed in the past and contributed their stars to the Milky Way halo.
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| 3. |
- Fernández-Alvar, Emma, et al.
(författare)
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The Pristine survey XIII : uncovering the very metal-poor tail of the thin disc
- 2021
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 508:1, s. 1509-1525
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We evaluate the rotational velocity of stars observed by the Pristine survey towards the Galactic anticentre spanning a wide range of metallicities from the extremely metal-poor regime ([Fe/H] < −3) to nearly solar metallicity. In the Galactic anticentre direction, the rotational velocity (Vφ) is similar to the tangential velocity in the galactic longitude direction (V). This allows us to estimate Vφ from Gaia early data release 3 (Gaia EDR3) proper motions for stars without radial velocity measurements. This substantially increases the sample of stars in the outer disc with estimated rotational velocities. Our stellar sample towards the anticentre is dominated by a kinematical thin disc with a mean rotation of ∼−220 km s−1. However, our analysis reveals the presence of more stellar substructures. The most intriguing is a well-populated extension of the kinematical thin disc down to [Fe/H] ∼ −2 . A scarcer fast-rotating population reaching the extremely metal-poor regime down to [Fe/H] ∼ −3.5 is also detected but without statistical significance to unambiguously state whether this is the extremely metal-poor extension of the thin disc or the high-rotating tail of hotter structures (like the thick disc or the halo). In addition, a more slowly rotating kinematical thick disc component is also required to explain the observed V distribution at [Fe/H] > −1.5 . Furthermore, we detect signatures of a ‘heated disc’, the so-called Splash, at metallicities higher than ∼−1.5. Finally, at [Fe/H] < −1.5 our anticentre sample is dominated by a kinematical halo with a net prograde motion.
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| 4. |
- Kielty, Collin L., et al.
(författare)
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The Pristine survey - XII. Gemini-GRACES chemo-dynamical study of newly discovered extremely metal-poor stars in the Galaxy
- 2021
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 506:1, s. 1438-1461
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- High-resolution optical spectra of 30 metal-poor stars selected from the Pristine survey are presented, based on observations taken with the Gemini Observatory GRACES spectrograph. Stellar parameters Teff and log g are determined using a Gaia DR2 colour–temperature calibration and surface gravity from the Stefan–Boltzmann equation. GRACES spectra are used to determine chemical abundances (or upper limits) for 20 elements (Li, O, Na, Mg, K, Ca, Ti, Sc, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Ba, La, Nd, Eu). These stars are confirmed to be metal-poor ([Fe/H] < −2.5), with higher precision than from earlier medium-resolution analyses. The chemistry for most targets is similar to other extremely metal-poor stars in the Galactic halo. Three stars near [Fe/H] = −3.0 have unusually low Ca and high Mg, suggestive of contributions from few SN II where alpha-element formation through hydrostatic nucleosynthesis was more efficient. Three new carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars are also identified (two CEMP-s and one potential CEMP-no star) when our chemical abundances are combined with carbon from previous medium-resolution analyses. The GRACES spectra also provide precision radial velocities (σRV ≤ 0.2 km s−1) for dynamical orbit calculations with the Gaia DR2 proper motions. Most of our targets are dynamically associated with the Galactic halo; however, five stars with [Fe/H] < −3 have planar-like orbits, including one retrograde star. Another five stars are dynamically consistent with the Gaia-Sequoia accretion event; three have typical halo [α/Fe] ratios for their metallicities, whereas two are [Mg/Fe]-deficient, and one is a new CEMP-s candidate. These results are discussed in terms of the formation and early chemical evolution of the Galaxy.
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| 5. |
- Longeard, Nicolas, et al.
(författare)
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The Pristine dwarf galaxy survey - IV. Probing the outskirts of the dwarf galaxy Bootes I
- 2022
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 516:2, s. 2348-2362
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a new spectroscopic study of the dwarf galaxy Boötes I (Boo I) with data from the Anglo-Australian Telescope and its AAOmega spectrograph together with the Two Degree Field multi-object system. We observed 36 high-probability Boo I stars selected using Gaia Early Data Release 3 proper motions and photometric metallicities from the Pristine survey. Out of those, 27 are found to be Boo I stars, resulting in an excellent success rate of 75 per cent at finding new members. Our analysis uses a new pipeline developed to estimate radial velocities and equivalent widths of the calcium triplet lines from Gaussian and Voigt line profile fits. The metallicities of 16 members are derived, including 3 extremely metal-poor stars ([Fe/H] < −3.0), which translates into a success rate of 25 per cent at finding them with the combination of Pristine and Gaia. Using the large spatial extent of our new members that spans up to 4.1 half-light radii and spectroscopy from the literature, we find a systemic velocity gradient of 0.40 ± 0.10 km s−1 arcmin−1 and a small but resolved metallicity gradient of −0.008 ± 0.003 dex arcmin−1. Finally, we show that Boo I is more elongated than previously thought with an ellipticity of ϵ = 0.68 ± 0.15. Its velocity and metallicity gradients as well as its elongation suggest that Boo I may have been affected by tides, a result supported by direct dynamical modelling.
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| 6. |
- Lucchesi, R., et al.
(författare)
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The Pristine survey – XV. A CFHT ESPaDOnS view on the Milky Way halo and disc populations
- 2022
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 511:1, s. 1004-1021
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a one-dimensional, local thermodynamic equilibrium homogeneous analysis of 132 stars observed at high resolutionwith ESPaDOnS. This represents the largest sample observed at high resolution (R ∼ 40 000) from the Pristine survey. Thissample is based on the first version of the Pristine catalogue and covers the full range of metallicities from [Fe/H] ∼−3 to∼+0.25, with nearly half of our sample (58 stars) composed of very metal-poor (VMP) stars ([Fe/H] ≤ −2). This wide rangeof metallicities provides the opportunity of a new detailed study of the Milky Way stellar population. Because it includes bothdwarf and giant stars, it also enables the analysis of any potential bias induced by the Pristine selection process. Based on GaiaEDR3, the orbital analysis of this Pristine-ESPaDOnS sample shows that it is composed of 65 halo stars and 67 disc stars. Aftera general assessment of the sample chemical properties with the α-elements Mg and Ca, we focus on the abundance of carbonand the neutron capture elements Ba and Sr. While most of our VMP subsample is carbon normal, we also find that 14 starsout of the 38 stars with [Fe/H] ≤ −2 and measured carbon abundances turn out to be carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP)stars. We show that these CEMP stars are nearly exclusively (i.e. 12 stars out of 14) in the regime of low luminosity, unevolved,dwarf stars, which we interpret as the consequence of bias of the Pristine filter against C-rich giants. Among the VMP stars,we identify two CEMP stars with no enhancement in neutron-capture process elements and another one enriched in s-processelement. Finally, one VMP star is found with a very low [Sr/Fe] abundance ratio for its metallicity, as expected if it had beenaccreted from an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy.
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| 7. |
- Martin, Nicolas F., et al.
(författare)
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The Pristine survey - XVI. The metallicity of 26 stellar streams around the Milky Way detected with the STREAMFINDER in Gaia EDR3
- 2022
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 516:4, s. 5331-5354
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We use the photometric metallicities provided by the panoramic Pristine survey to study the veracity and derive the metallicities of the numerous stellar streams found by the application of the STREAMFINDER algorithm to the Gaia Early Data Release 3 data. All 26 streams present in Pristine show a clear metallicity distribution function, which provides an independent check of the reality of these structures, supporting the reliability of STREAMFINDER in finding streams and the power of Pristine to measure precise metallicities. We further present six candidate structures with coherent phase-space and metallicity signals that are very likely streams. The majority of studied streams are very metal-poor (14 structures with [Fe/H] < −2.0) and include three systems with [Fe/H] < −2.9 (C-11, C-19, and C-20). These streams could be the closest debris of low-luminosity dwarf galaxies or may have originated from globular clusters of significantly lower metallicity than any known current Milky Way globular cluster. Our study shows that the promise of the Gaia data for Galactic Archeology studies can be substantially strengthened by quality photometric metallicities, allowing us to peer back into the earliest epochs of the formation of our Galaxy and its stellar halo constituents.
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| 8. |
- Sestito, Federico, et al.
(författare)
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The Pristine survey – X. A large population of low-metallicity stars permeates the Galactic disc
- 2020
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966 .- 1745-3925 .- 1745-3933. ; 497:1, s. L7-L12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The orbits of the least chemically enriched stars open a window on the formation of our Galaxy when it was still in its infancy. The common picture is that these low-metallicity stars are distributed as an isotropic, pressure-supported component since these stars were either accreted from the early building blocks of the assembling Milky Way (MW), or were later brought by the accretion of faint dwarf galaxies. Combining the metallicities and radial velocities from the Pristine and LAMOST surveys and Gaia DR2 parallaxes and proper motions for an unprecedented large and unbiased sample of 1027 very metal poor stars at [Fe/H] ≤ −2.5 dex, we show that this picture is incomplete. We find that 31 per cent of the stars that currently reside spatially in the disc (|Z|≤3kpc) do not venture outside of the disc plane throughout their orbit. Moreover, this sample shows strong statistical evidence (at the 5.0σ level) of asymmetry in their kinematics, favouring prograde motion. The discovery of this population implies that a significant fraction of stars with iron abundances [Fe/H] ≤ −2.5 dex merged into, formed within, or formed concurrently with the MW disc and that the history of the disc was quiet enough to allow them to retain their disc-like orbital properties, challenging theoretical and cosmological models.
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| 9. |
- Friel, E. D., et al.
(författare)
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Gaia-ESO Survey : Properties of the intermediate age open cluster NGC 4815
- 2014
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 563, s. A117-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. NGC 4815 is a populous similar to 500 Myr open cluster at R-gc similar to 7 kpc observed in the first six months of the Gaia-ESO Survey. Located in the inner Galactic disk, NGC 4815 is an important potential tracer of the abundance gradient, where relatively few intermediate age open clusters are found. Aims. The Gaia-ESO Survey data can provide an improved characterization of the cluster properties, such as age, distance, reddening, and abundance profile. Methods. We use the survey derived radial velocities, stellar atmospheric parameters, metallicity, and elemental abundances for stars targeted as potential members of this cluster to carry out an analysis of cluster properties. The radial velocity distribution of stars in the cluster field is used to define the cluster systemic velocity and derive likely cluster membership for stars observed by the Gaia-ESO Survey. We investigate the distributions of Fe and Fe-peak elements, alpha-elements, and the light elements Na and Al and characterize the cluster's internal chemical homogeneity comparing it to the properties of radial velocity non-member stars. Utilizing these cluster properties, the cluster color-magnitude diagram is analyzed and theoretical isochrones are fit to derive cluster reddening, distance, and age. Results. NGC 4815 is found to have a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = +0.03 +/- 0.05 dex (s.d.). Elemental abundances of cluster members show typically very small internal variation, with internal dispersions of similar to 0.05 dex. The alpha-elements [Ca/Fe] and [Si/Fe] show solar ratios, but [Mg/Fe] is moderately enhanced, while [Ti/Fe] appears slightly deficient. As with many open clusters, the light elements [Na/Fe] and [Al/Fe] are enhanced, [Na/Fe] significantly so, although the role of internal mixing and the assumption of local thermodynamical equilibrium in the analysis remain to be investigated. From isochrone fits to color-magnitude diagrams, we find a cluster age of 0.5 to 0.63 Gyr, a reddening of E(B-V) = 0.59 to 0.65, and a distance modulus (m -M)(0) = 11.95 to 12.20, depending on the choice of theoretical models, leading to a Galactocentric distance of 6.9 kpc.
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| 10. |
- Venn, Kim A., et al.
(författare)
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The Pristine survey – IX. CFHT ESPaDOnS spectroscopic analysis of 115 bright metal-poor candidate stars
- 2020
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 492:3, s. 3241-3262
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A chemo-dynamical analysis of 115 metal-poor candidate stars selected from the narrow band Pristine photometric survey is presented based on CFHT high-resolution ESPaDOnS spectroscopy, We have discovered 28 new bright (V < 15) stars with I Fe/H] <-2,5 and 5 with 1Fe/11-11 <-3.0 for success rates of 40 (28/70) and 19 per cent (5/27), respectively. A detailed model atmosphere analysis is carried out for the 28 new metal-poor stars. Stellar parameters were determined from SDSS photometric colours, Gala DR2 parallaxes, MESA/MIST stellar isochrones, and the initial Pristine survey metallicities, following a Bayesian inference method, Chemical abundances are determined for 10 elements (Na, Mg, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni, Y, and Ba), Most stars show chemical abundance patterns that are similar to the normal metal-poor stars in the Galactic halo; however, we also report the discoveries of a new r-process-rich star, a new CF.MP-s candidate with I Y/Ba 0, and a metal-poor star with very low I Mg/Fe I, The kinematics and orbits for all of the highly probable metal-poor candidates are determined by combining our precision radial velocities with Gaia DR2 proper motions. Some stars show unusual kinematics for their chemistries, including planar orbits, unbound orbits, and highly elliptical orbits that plunge deeply into the Galactic bulge (Rperi < 0.5 kpc); also, eight stars have orbital energies and actions consistent with the Gaia-Enceladus accretion event. This paper contributes to our understanding of the complex chemo-dynamics of the metal-poor Galaxy, and increases the number of known bright metal-poor stars available for detailed nucleosynthetic studies.
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