Bibcode
de la Fuente, Diego; Najarro, Francisco; Davies, Ben; Trombley, Christine; Figer, Donald F.; Herrero, A.
Bibliographical reference
Massive Stars: From α to Ω, held 10-14 June 2013 in Rhodes, Greece; Online at http://a2omega-conference.net, id.145
Advertised on:
6
2013
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
Young Massive Clusters (YMCs) with ages < 6 Myr are ideal tools for
mapping the current chemical abundances in the Galactic disk for several
reasons. First of all, the locations of these clusters can be known
through spectrophotometric distances. Secondly, their young ages
guarantee that these objects present the same chemical composition than
the surrounding environment where they are recently born. Finally, the
YMCs host very massive stars whose extreme luminosities allow to
accomplish detailed spectroscopic analyses even in the most distant
regions of the Milky Way. Our group has carried out ISAAC/VLT
spectroscopic observations of hot massive stars belonging to several
YMCs in different locations around the Galactic disk. As a result, high
signal-to-noise, near-infrared spectra of dozens of blue massive stars
(including many OB supergiants, Wolf-Rayet stars and a B hypergiant)
have been obtained. These data are fully reduced, and NLTE spherical
atmosphere modeling is in process. Several line diagnostics will be
combined in order to calculate metal abundances accurately for each
cluster. The diverse locations of the clusters will allow us to draw a
two-dimensional chemical map of the Galactic disk for the first time.
The study of the radial and azimuthal variations of elemental abundances
will be crucial for understanding the chemical evolution of the Milky
Way. Particularly, the ratio between Fe-peak and alpha elements will
constitute a powerful tool to investigate the past stellar populations
that originated the current Galactic chemistry.