The chemical characterization of halo substructure in the Milky Way based on APOGEE

Horta, Danny; Schiavon, Ricardo P.; Mackereth, J. Ted; Weinberg, David H.; Hasselquist, Sten; Feuillet, Diane; O'Connell, Robert W.; Anguiano, Borja; Allende-Prieto, Carlos; Beaton, Rachael L.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Cunha, Katia; Geisler, Doug; García-Hernández, D. A.; Holtzman, Jon; Jönsson, Henrik; Lane, Richard R.; Majewski, Steve R.; Mészáros, Szabolcs; Minniti, Dante; Nitschelm, Christian; Shetrone, Matthew; Smith, Verne V.; Zasowski, Gail
Bibliographical reference

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Advertised on:
4
2023
Number of authors
24
IAC number of authors
2
Citations
89
Refereed citations
70
Description
Galactic haloes in a Λ-CDM universe are predicted to host today a swarm of debris resulting from cannibalized dwarf galaxies. The chemodynamical information recorded in their stellar populations helps elucidate their nature, constraining the assembly history of the Galaxy. Using data from APOGEE and Gaia, we examine the chemical properties of various halo substructures, considering elements that sample various nucleosynthetic pathways. The systems studied are Heracles, Gaia-Enceladus/Sausage (GES), the Helmi stream, Sequoia, Thamnos, Aleph, LMS-1, Arjuna, I'itoi, Nyx, Icarus, and Pontus. Abundance patterns of all substructures are cross-compared in a statistically robust fashion. Our main findings include: (i) the chemical properties of most substructures studied match qualitatively those of dwarf Milky Way satellites, such as the Sagittarius dSph. Exceptions are Nyx and Aleph, which are chemically similar to disc stars, implying that these substructures were likely formed in situ; (ii) Heracles differs chemically from in situ populations such as Aurora and its inner halo counterparts in a statistically significant way. The differences suggest that the star formation rate was lower in Heracles than in the early Milky Way; (iii) the chemistry of Arjuna, LMS-1, and I'itoi is indistinguishable from that of GES, suggesting a possible common origin; (iv) all three Sequoia samples studied are qualitatively similar. However, only two of those samples present chemistry that is consistent with GES in a statistically significant fashion; (v) the abundance patterns of the Helmi stream and Thamnos are different from all other halo substructures.
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Nucleosynthesis and molecular processes in the late stages of Stellar Evolution
Low- to intermediate-mass (M < 8 solar masses, Ms) stars represent the majority of stars in the Cosmos. They finish their lives on the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) - just before they form planetary nebulae (PNe) - where they experience complex nucleosynthetic and molecular processes. AGB stars are important contributors to the enrichment of the
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