Bibcode
Chou, Mei-Yin; Majewski, Steven R.; Cunha, Katia; Smith, Verne V.; Patterson, Richard J.; Martínez-Delgado, D.
Referencia bibliográfica
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 720, Issue 1, pp. L5-L10 (2010).
Fecha de publicación:
9
2010
Número de citas
34
Número de citas referidas
33
Descripción
The origin of the Galactic Anticenter Stellar Structure (GASS) or
"Monoceros Ring"—a low-latitude overdensity at the edge of the
Galactic disk spanning at least the second and third Galactic
quadrants—remains controversial. Models for the origin of GASS
generally fall into scenarios where either it is a part (e.g., warp) of
the Galactic disk or it represents tidal debris from the disruption of a
Milky Way (MW) satellite galaxy. To further constrain models for the
origin of GASS, we derive chemical abundance patterns from
high-resolution spectra for 21 M giants spatially and kinematically
identified with it. The abundances of the (mostly) α-element,
titanium, and s-process elements, yttrium and lanthanum, for these GASS
stars are found to be lower at the same [Fe/H] than those for MW stars,
but similar to those of stars in the Sagittarius stream, other dwarf
spheroidal galaxies, and the Large Magellanic Cloud. This demonstrates
that GASS stars have a chemical enrichment history typical of dwarf
galaxies—and unlike those of typical MW stars (at least MW stars
near the Sun). Nevertheless, these abundance results cannot definitively
rule out the possibility that GASS was dynamically created out of a
previously formed, outer MW disk because ΛCDM-based structure
formation models show that galactic disks grow outward by accretion of
dwarf galaxies. On the other hand, the chemical patterns seen in GASS
stars do provide striking verification that accretion of dwarf galaxies
has indeed happened at the edge of the MW disk.