| 1. |
- De Jong, R. S., et al.
(author)
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4MOST - 4-metre multi-object spectroscopic telescope
- 2012
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In: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. - : SPIE. - 9780819491473 ; , s. 84460T-
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The 4MOST consortium is currently halfway through a Conceptual Design study for ESO with the aim to develop a wide-field (>3 square degree, goal >5 square degree), high-multiplex (>1500 fibres, goal 3000 fibres) spectroscopic survey facility for an ESO 4m-class telescope (VISTA). 4MOST will run permanently on the telescope to perform a 5 year public survey yielding more than 20 million spectra at resolution R∼5000 (λ=390-1000 nm) and more than 2 million spectra at R∼20,000 (395-456.5 nm & 587-673 nm). The 4MOST design is especially intended to complement three key all-sky, space-based observatories of prime European interest: Gaia, eROSITA and Euclid. Initial design and performance estimates for the wide-field corrector concepts are presented. Two fibre positioner concepts are being considered for 4MOST. The first one is a Phi-Theta system similar to ones used on existing and planned facilities. The second one is a new R-Theta concept with large patrol area. Both positioner concepts effectively address the issues of fibre focus and pupil pointing. The 4MOST spectrographs are fixed configuration two-arm spectrographs, with dedicated spectrographs for the high- and low-resolution fibres. A full facility simulator is being developed to guide trade-off decisions regarding the optimal field-of-view, number of fibres needed, and the relative fraction of high-to-low resolution fibres. The simulator takes mock catalogues with template spectra from Design Reference Surveys as starting point, calculates the output spectra based on a throughput simulator, assigns targets to fibres based on the capabilities of the fibre positioner designs, and calculates the required survey time by tiling the fields on the sky. The 4MOST consortium aims to deliver the full 4MOST facility by the end of 2018 and start delivering high-level data products for both consortium and ESO community targets a year later with yearly increments.
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| 2. |
- Caffau, E., et al.
(author)
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Velocity and abundance precisions for future high-resolution spectroscopic surveys: A study for 4MOST
- 2013
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In: Astronomical Notes - Astronomische Nachrichten. - : Wiley. - 0004-6337. ; 334:3, s. 197-216
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In preparation for future, large-scale, multi-object, high-resolution spectroscopic surveys of the Galaxy, we present a series of tests of the precision in radial velocity and chemical abundances that any such project can achieve at a 4 m class telescope. We briefly discuss a number of science cases that aim at studying the chemo-dynamical history of the major Galactic components (bulge, thin and thick disks, and halo) - either as a follow-up to the Gaia mission or on their own merits. Based on a large grid of synthetic spectra that cover the full range in stellar parameters of typical survey targets, we devise an optimal wavelength range and argue for a moderately high-resolution spectrograph. As a result, the kinematic precision is not limited by any of these factors, but will practically only suffer from systematic effects, easily reaching uncertainties <1km s(-1). Under realistic survey conditions (namely, considering stars brighter than r = 16 mag with reasonable exposure times) we prefer an ideal resolving power of R similar to 20 000 on average, for an overall wavelength range (with a common two-arm spectrograph design) of [395;456.5] nm and [587; 673] nm. We show for the first time on a general basis that it is possible to measure chemical abundance ratios to better than 0.1 dex for many species (Fe, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Na, Al, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Y, Ba, Nd, Eu) and to an accuracy of about 0.2 dex for other species such as Zr, La, and Sr. While our feasibility study was explicitly carried out for the 4MOST facility, the results can be readily applied to and used for any other conceptual design study for high-resolution spectrographs. (C) 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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| 3. |
- Bonifacio, P., et al.
(author)
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First stars XII. Abundances in extremely metal-poor turnoff stars, and comparison with the giants
- 2009
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 501:2, s. 519-530
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. The detailed chemical abundances of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars are key guides to understanding the early chemical evolution of the Galaxy. Most existing data, however, treat giant stars that may have experienced internal mixing later. Aims. We aim to compare the results for giants with new, accurate abundances for all observable elements in 18 EMP turno. stars. Methods. VLT/UVES spectra at R similar to 45 000 and S/N similar to 130 per pixel (lambda lambda 330-1000 nm) are analysed with OSMARCS model atmospheres and the TURBOSPECTRUM code to derive abundances for C, Mg, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn, Sr, and Ba. Results. For Ca, Ni, Sr, and Ba, we find excellent consistency with our earlier sample of EMP giants, at all metallicities. However, our abundances of C, Sc, Ti, Cr, Mn and Co are similar to 0.2 dex larger than in giants of similar metallicity. Mg and Si abundances are similar to 0.2 dex lower (the giant [Mg/Fe] values are slightly revised), while Zn is again similar to 0.4 dex higher than in giants of similar [Fe/H] (6 stars only). Conclusions. For C, the dwarf/giant discrepancy could possibly have an astrophysical cause, but for the other elements it must arise from shortcomings in the analysis. Approximate computations of granulation (3D) effects yield smaller corrections for giants than for dwarfs, but suggest that this is an unlikely explanation, except perhaps for C, Cr, and Mn. NLTE computations for Na and Al provide consistent abundances between dwarfs and giants, unlike the LTE results, and would be highly desirable for the other discrepant elements as well. Meanwhile, we recommend using the giant abundances as reference data for Galactic chemical evolution models.
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| 4. |
- Street, R. A., et al.
(author)
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WASP-24 B : A new transiting close-in hot jupiter orbiting a late F-star
- 2010
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 720:1, s. 337-343
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report the discovery of a new transiting close-in giant planet, WASP-24 b, in a 2.341 day orbit, 0.037 AU from its F8-9 type host star. By matching the star's spectrum with theoretical models, we infer an effective temperature T-eff = 6075 +/- 100 K and a surface gravity of log g = 4.15 +/- 0.10. A comparison of these parameters with theoretical isochrones and evolutionary mass tracks places only weak constraints on the age of the host star, which we estimate to be 3.8(-1.2)(+1.3) Gyr. The planetary nature of the companion was confirmed by radial velocity measurements and additional photometric observations. These data were fit simultaneously in order to determine the most probable parameter set for the system, from which we infer a planetary mass of 1.071(-0.038)(+0.036) M-Jup and radius 1.3(-0.037)(+0.039) R-Jup.
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| 5. |
- Cayrel, R., et al.
(author)
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First stars V - Abundance patterns from C to Zn and supernova yields in the early Galaxy
- 2004
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In: Astronomy & Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 416:3, s. 1117-1138
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the framework of the ESO Large Programme ``First Stars'', veryhigh-quality spectra of some 70 very metal-poor dwarfs and giants wereobtained with the ESO VLT and UVES spectrograph. These stars are likelyto have descended from the first generation(s) of stars formed after theBig Bang, and their detailed composition provides constraints on issuessuch as the nature of the first supernovae, the efficiency of mixingprocesses in the early Galaxy, the formation and evolution of the haloof the Galaxy, and the possible sources of reionization of the Universe.This paper presents the abundance analysis of an homogeneous sample of35 giants selected from the HK survey of Beers et al. (cite{BPS92},cite{Be99}), emphasizing stars of extremely low metallicity: 30 of our35 stars are in the range -4.1 <[Fe/H]< -2.7, and 22 stars have[Fe/H] < -3.0. Our new VLT/UVES spectra, at a resolving power ofR∼45 000 and with signal-to-noise ratios of 100-200 per pixel overthe wavelength range 330-1000 nm, are greatly superior to those of theclassic studies of McWilliam et al. (cite{MPS95}) and Ryan et al.(cite{RNB96}).The immediate objective of the work is to determine precise,comprehensive, and homogeneous element abundances for this large sampleof the most metal-poor giants presently known. In the analysis wecombine the spectral line modeling code ``Turbospectrum'' with OSMARCSmodel atmospheres, which treat continuum scattering correctly and thusallow proper interpretation of the blue regions of the spectra, wherescattering becomes important relative to continuous absorption (λ< 400 nm). We obtain detailed information on the trends of elementalabundance ratios and the star-to-star scatter around those trends,enabling us to separate the relative contributions of cosmic scatter andobservational/analysis errors.Abundances of 17 elements from C to Zn have been measured in all stars,including K and Zn, which have not previously been detected in starswith [Fe/H] < -3.0. Among the key results, we discuss the oxygenabundance (from the forbidden [OI] line), the different and sometimescomplex trends of the abundance ratios with metallicity, the very tightrelationship between the abundances of certain elements (e.g., Fe andCr), and the high [Zn/Fe] ratio in the most metal-poor stars. Within theerror bars, the trends of the abundance ratios with metallicity areconsistent with those found in earlier literature, but in many cases thescatter around the average trends is much smaller than found in earlierstudies, which were limited to lower-quality spectra. We find that thecosmic scatter in several element ratios may be as low as 0.05 dex.The evolution of the abundance trends and scatter with decliningmetallicity provides strong constraints on the yields of the firstsupernovae and their mixing into the early ISM. The abundance ratiosfound in our sample do not match the predicted yields frompair-instability hypernovae, but are consistent with element productionby supernovae with progenitor masses up to 100 M⊙.Moreover, the composition of the ejecta that have enriched the matterBased on observations obtained in the frame of the ESO programme ID165.N-0276(A).Full Tables 3 and 8 are available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/416/1117 This work hasmade use of the SIMBAD database.
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| 6. |
- de Jong, Roelof S., et al.
(author)
-
4MOST-4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope
- 2014
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In: Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy V. - : SPIE. - 1996-756X .- 0277-786X. ; 9147
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- 4MOST is a wide-field, high-multiplex spectroscopic survey facility under development for the VISTA telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Its main science drivers are in the fields of galactic archeology, high-energy physics, galaxy evolution and cosmology. 4MOST will in particular provide the spectroscopic complements to the large area surveys coming from space missions like Gaia, eROSITA, Euclid, and PLATO and from ground-based facilities like VISTA, VST, DES, LSST and SKA. The 4MOST baseline concept features a 2.5 degree diameter field-of-view with similar to 2400 fibres in the focal surface that are configured by a fibre positioner based on the tilting spine principle. The fibres feed two types of spectrographs; similar to 1600 fibres go to two spectrographs with resolution R> 5000 (lambda similar to 390-930 nm) and similar to 800 fibres to a spectrograph with R> 18,000 (lambda similar to 392-437 nm & 515-572 nm & 605-675 nm). Both types of spectrographs are fixed-configuration, three-channel spectrographs. 4MOST will have an unique operations concept in which 5 year public surveys from both the consortium and the ESO community will be combined and observed in parallel during each exposure, resulting in more than 25 million spectra of targets spread over a large fraction of the southern sky. The 4MOST Facility Simulator (4FS) was developed to demonstrate the feasibility of this observing concept. 4MOST has been accepted for implementation by ESO with operations expected to start by the end of 2020. This paper provides a top-level overview of the 4MOST facility, while other papers in these proceedings provide more detailed descriptions of the instrument concept[1], the instrument requirements development[2], the systems engineering implementation[3], the instrument model[4], the fibre positioner concepts[5], the fibre feed[6], and the spectrographs[7].
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| 7. |
- Depagne, E., et al.
(author)
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First Stars. II. Elemental abundances in the extremely metal-poor star CS 22949--037. A diagnostic of early massive supernovae
- 2002
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In: Astronomy & Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 390:1, s. 187-198
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- CS 22949-037 is one of the most metal-poor giants known ([Fe/H]~-4.0),and it exhibits large overabundances of carbon and nitrogen (Norris etal.). Using VLT-UVES spectra of unprecedented quality, regardingresolution and S/N ratio, covering a wide wavelength range (from lambda= 350 to 900 nm), we have determined abundances for 21 elements in thisstar over a wide range of atomic mass. The major new discovery is anexceptionally large oxygen enhancement, [O/Fe] = 1.97+/-0.1, as measuredfrom the [O I] line at 630.0 nm. We find an enhancement of [N/Fe] of2.56+/- 0.2, and a milder one of [C/Fe] = 1.17+/-0.1, similar to thosealready reported in the literature. This implies Zstar =0.01Zsun. We also find carbon isotopic ratios12C/13C =4+/-2.0 and 13C/14N=0.03 +0.035-0.015, close to the equilibrium valueof the CN cycle. Lithium is not detected. Na is strongly enhanced([Na/Fe] = +2.1 +/- 0.2), while S and K are not detected. Thesilicon-burning elements Cr and Mn are underabundant, while Co and Znare overabundant ([Zn/Fe]=+0.7). Zn is measured for the first time insuch an extremely metal-poor star. The abundances of the neutron-captureelements Sr, Y, and Ba are strongly decreasing with the atomic number ofthe element: [Sr/Fe] ~ +0.3, [Y/Fe] ~ -0.1, and [Ba/Fe] ~ -0.6. Amongpossible progenitors of CS 22949-037, we discuss the pair-instabilitysupernovae. Such very massive objects indeed produce large amounts ofoxygen, and have been found to be possible sources of primary nitrogen.However, the predicted odd/even effect is too large, and the predictedZn abundance much too low. Other scenarios are also discussed. Inparticular, the yields of a recent model (Z35Z) from Heger and Woosleyare shown to be in fair agreement with the observations. The onlydiscrepant prediction is the very low abundance of nitrogen, possiblycurable by taking into account other effects such as rotationallyinduced mixing. Alternatively, the absence of lithium in our star, andthe values of the isotopic ratios 12C/13C and13C/14N close to the equilibrium value of the CNcycle, suggest that the CNO abundances now observed might have beenaltered by nuclear processing in the star itself. A 30-40Msun supernova, with fallback, seems the most likelyprogenitor for CS 22949-037. Based on observations made with the ESOVery Large Telescope at Paranal Observatory, Chile (programme ID165.N-0276(A)).
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| 8. |
- François, P., et al.
(author)
-
First Stars. III. A detailed elemental abundance study of four extremely metal-poor giant stars
- 2003
-
In: Astronomy & Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 403:3, s. 1105-1114
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper reports detailed abundance analyses for four extremelymetal-poor (XMP) giant stars with [Fe/H]<-3.8, based onhigh-resolution, high-S/N spectra from the ESO VLT (Kueyen/UVES) and LTEmodel atmosphere calculations. The derived [alpha /Fe] ratios in oursample exhibit a small dispersion, confirming previous findings in theliterature, i.e. a constant overabundance of the alpha -elements with avery small (if any) dependence on [Fe/H]. In particular, the very smallscatter we determine for [Si/Fe] suggests that this element shows aconstant overabundance at very low metallicity, a conclusion which couldnot have been derived from the widely scattered [Si/Fe] values reportedin the literature for less metal-poor stars. For the iron-peak elements,our precise abundances for the four XMP stars in our sample confirm thedecreasing trend of Cr and Mn with decreasing [Fe/H], as well as theincreasing trend for Co and the absence of any trend for Sc and Ni. Incontrast to the significant spread of the ratios [Sr/Fe] and [Ba/Fe], wefind [Sr/Ba] in our sample to be roughly solar, with a much lowerdispersion than previously found for stars in the range -3.5 < [Fe/H]< -2.5.Based on observations made with the ESO Very Large Telescope at ParanalObservatory, Chile (Large Programme ID 165.N-0276(A)).The complete version of Table 5 is only available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.125.5) or viahttp:/ /cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J /A+A/403/1105
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| 9. |
- Hill, V., et al.
(author)
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First stars. I. The extreme r-element rich, iron-poor halo giant CS31082-001. Implications for the r--process site(s) and radioactive cosmochronology
- 2002
-
In: Astronomy & Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 387:2, s. 560-579
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present a high-resolution ( R= 75 000, S/ N ) spectroscopic analysis of the bright ( V= 11.7), extreme halo giant CS 31082-001([Fe/H] = -2.9), obtained in an ESO-VLT Large Programme dedicated to very metal-poor stars. We find CS 31082-001 to be extremely rich in r-process elements, comparable in this respect only to the similarly metal-poor, but carbon-enriched, giant CS 22892-052. As a result of the extreme overabundance of the heaviest r-process elements, and negligible blending from CH and CN molecular lines, a reliable measurement is obtained of the U II line at 386 nm, for the first time in a halo star, along with numerous lines of Th II, as well as lines of 25 other r-process elements. Abundance estimates for a total of 43 elements (44 counting Hydrogen) are reported in CS 31082-001, almost half of the entire periodic table. The main atmospheric parameters of CS 31082-001 are as follows: K, (cgs), [Fe/H] = -2.9 (in LTE), and microturbulence 1.8 0.2 km s -1. Carbon and nitrogen are not significantly enhanced relative to iron. As usual in giant stars, Li is depleted by dilution ( (Li/H) = 0.85). The -elements show the usual enhancements with respect to iron, with [O/Fe] (from [O I] 6300 Å), [Mg/Fe] , [Si/Fe] , and [Ca/Fe] , while [Al/Fe] is near -0.5. The r-process elements show unusual patterns: among the lightest elements ( 40), Sr and Zr follow the Solar r-element distribution, but Ag is down by 0.8 dex. All elements with 56 Z 72 follow the Solar r-element pattern, reduced by about 1.25 dex. Accordingly, the [ r/Fe] enhancement is about +1.7 dex (a factor of 50), very similar to that of CS 22892-052. Pb, in contrast, seems to be below the shifted Solar r-process distribution, possibly indicating an error in the latter, while thorium is more enhanced than the lighter nuclides. In CS 31082-001, log(Th/Eu) is , higher than in the Solar System (-0.46) or in CS 22892-052 (-0.66). If CS 31082-001 and CS 22892-052 have similar ages, as expected for two extreme halo stars, this implies that the production ratios were different by about 0.4 dex for the two objects. Conversely, if the Th/Eu production ratio were universal, an age of 15 Gyr for CS 22892-052 would imply a negative age for CS 31082-001. Thus, while a universal production ratio for the r-process elements seems to hold in the interval 56 Z 72, it breaks down in the actinide region. When available, the U/Th is thus preferable to Th/Eu for radioactive dating, for two reasons: (i) because of its faster decay rate and smaller sensitivity to observational errors, and (ii) because the inital production ratio of the neighboring nuclides 238U and 232Th is more robustly predicted than the 151Eu/ 232Th ratio. Our current best estimate for the age of CS 31082-001 is Gyr. However, the computed actinide production ratios should be verified by observations of daughter elements such as Pb and Bi in the same star, which are independent of the subsequent history of star formation and nucelosynthesis in the Galaxy.
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| 10. |
- Miglio, A., et al.
(author)
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PLATO as it is : A legacy mission for Galactic archaeology
- 2017
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In: Astronomical Notes - Astronomische Nachrichten. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 0004-6337 .- 1521-3994. ; 338:6, s. 644-661
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Deciphering the assembly history of the Milky Way is a formidable task, which becomes possible only if one can produce high-resolution chrono-chemo-kinematical maps of the Galaxy. Data from large-scale astrometric and spectroscopic surveys will soon provide us with a well-defined view of the current chemo-kinematical structure of the Milky Way, but it will only enable a blurred view on the temporal sequence that led to the present-day Galaxy. As demonstrated by the (ongoing) exploitation of data from the pioneering photometric missions CoRoT, Kepler, and K2, asteroseismology provides the way forward: solar-like oscillating giants are excellent evolutionary clocks thanks to the availability of seismic constraints on their mass and to the tight age-initial mass relation they adhere to. In this paper we identify five key outstanding questions relating to the formation and evolution of the Milky Way that will need precise and accurate ages for large samples of stars to be addressed, and we identify the requirements in terms of number of targets and the precision on the stellar properties that are needed to tackle such questions. By quantifying the asteroseismic yields expected from PLATO for red giant stars, we demonstrate that these requirements are within the capabilities of the current instrument design, provided that observations are sufficiently long to identify the evolutionary state and allow robust and precise determination of acoustic-mode frequencies. This will allow us to harvest data of sufficient quality to reach a 10% precision in age. This is a fundamental prerequisite to then reach the more ambitious goal of a similar level of accuracy, which will be possible only if we have at hand a careful appraisal of systematic uncertainties on age deriving from our limited understanding of stellar physics, a goal that conveniently falls within the main aims of PLATO's core science. We therefore strongly endorse PLATO's current design and proposed observational strategy, and conclude that PLATO, as it is, will be a legacy mission for Galactic archaeology.
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