The Pristine survey IV: approaching the Galactic metallicity floor with the discovery of an ultra-metal-poor star

Starkenburg, Else; Aguado, D. S.; Bonifacio, Piercarlo; Caffau, Elisabetta; Jablonka, Pascale; Lardo, Carmela; Martin, Nicolas; Sánchez-Janssen, Rubén; Sestito, Federico; Venn, Kim A.; Youakim, Kris; Allende Prieto, C.; Arentsen, Anke; Gentile, Marc; González Hernández, J. I.; Kielty, Collin; Koppelman, Helmer H.; Longeard, Nicolas; Tolstoy, Eline; Carlberg, Raymond G.; Côté, Patrick; Fouesneau, Morgan; Hill, Vanessa; McConnachie, Alan W.; Navarro, Julio F.
Referencia bibliográfica

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 481, Issue 3, p.3838-3852

Fecha de publicación:
12
2018
Número de autores
25
Número de autores del IAC
3
Número de citas
61
Número de citas referidas
53
Descripción
The early Universe presented a star formation environment that was almost devoid of heavy elements. The lowest metallicity stars thus provide a unique window into the earliest Galactic stages, but are exceedingly rare and difficult to find. Here, we present the discovery of an ultra-metal-poor star, Pristine_221.8781+9.7844, using narrow-band Ca H&K photometry from the Pristine survey. Follow-up medium- and high-resolution spectroscopy confirms the ultra-metal-poor nature of Pristine_221.8781+9.7844 ([Fe/H] = -4.66 ± 0.13 in 1D LTE) with an enhancement of 0.3-0.4 dex in α-elements relative to Fe, and an unusually low carbon abundance. We derive an upper limit of A(C) = 5.6, well below typical A(C) values for such ultra-metal-poor stars. This makes Pristine_221.8781+9.7844 one of the most metal-poor stars; in fact, it is very similar to the most metal-poor star known (SDSS J102915+172927). The existence of a class of ultra-metal-poor stars with low(er) carbon abundances suggest that there must have been several formation channels in the early Universe through which long-lived, low-mass stars were formed.
Proyectos relacionados
spectrum of mercury lamp
Abundancias Químicas en Estrellas
La espectroscopía de estrellas nos permite determinar las propiedades y composiciones químicas de las mismas. A partir de esta información para estrellas de diferente edad en la Vía Láctea es posible reconstruir la evolución química de la Galaxia, así como el origen de los elementos más pesados que el boro, forjados principalmente en los interiores
Carlos
Allende Prieto