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- ItemThe Gaia-ESO Survey: Probing the lithium abundances in old metal-rich dwarf stars in the solar vicinity(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2022) Dantas, M.L.L.; Guiglion, G.; Smiljanic, R.; Romano, D.; Magrini, L.; Bensby, T.; Chiappini, C.; Franciosini, E.; Nepal, S.; Tautvaišienė, G.; Gilmore, G.; Randich, S.; Lanzafame, A.C.; Heiter, U.; Morbidelli, L.; Prisinzano, L.; Zaggia, S.Context. Lithium (Li) is a fragile element that is produced in a variety of sites but can also be very easily depleted in stellar photospheres. Radial migration has been reported to explain the decrease in the upper envelope of Li measurements observed for relatively old metal-rich dwarf stars in some surveys. Aims. We test a scenario in which radial migration could affect the Li abundance pattern of dwarf stars in the solar neighbourhood. This may confirm that the Li abundances in these stars cannot serve as a probe for the Li abundance in the interstellar medium (ISM). In other words, to probe the evolution of the Li abundance in the local ISM, it is crucial that stellar intruders be identified and removed from the adopted sample. Methods. We used the high-quality data (including Li abundances) from the sixth internal Data Release of the Gaia-ESO survey. In this sample we grouped stars by similarity in chemical abundances via hierarchical clustering. Our analysis treats both measured Li abundances and upper limits. Results. The Li envelope of the previously identified radially migrated stars is well below the benchmark meteoritic value (<3.26 dex); the star with the highest detected abundance has A(Li) = 2.76 dex. This confirms the previous trends observed for old dwarf stars (median ages ~ 8 Gyr), where Li decreases for [Fe/H] ≳ 0. Conclusions. This result is supporting evidence that the abundance of Li measured in the upper envelope of old dwarf stars should not be considered a proxy for the ISM Li. Our scenario also indicates that the stellar yields for [M/H] >0 should not be decreased, as recently proposed in the literature. Our study backs recent studies that claim that old dwarfs on the hot side of the dip are efficient probes of the ISM abundance of Li, provided atomic diffusion does not significantly lower the initial Li abundance in the atmospheres of metal-rich objects.
- ItemAbundance-age relations with red clump stars in open clusters(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2021) Casamiquela, L.; Soubiran, C.; Jofré, P.; Chiappini, C.; Lagarde, N.; Tarricq, Y.; Carrera, R.; Jordi, C.; Balaguer-Núñez, L.; Carbajo-Hijarrubia, J.; Blanco-Cuaresma, S.Context. Precise chemical abundances coupled with reliable ages are key ingredients to understanding the chemical history of our Galaxy. Open clusters (OCs) are useful for this purpose because they provide ages with good precision. Aims. The aim of this work is to investigate the relation between different chemical abundance ratios and age traced by red clump (RC) stars in OCs. Methods. We analyzed a large sample of 209 reliable members in 47 OCs with available high-resolution spectroscopy. We applied a differential line-by-line analysis, performing a comprehensive chemical study of 25 chemical species. This sample is among the largest samples of OCs homogeneously characterized in terms of atmospheric parameters, detailed chemistry, and age. Results. In our metallicity range (-0.2 < [M/H] < +0.2) we find that while most Fe-peak and α elements show a flat dependence on age, the s-process elements show a decreasing trend with increasing age with a remarkable knee at 1 Gyr. For Ba, Ce, Y, Mo, and Zr, we find a plateau at young ages (< 1 Gyr). We investigate the relations between all possible combinations among the computed chemical species and age. We find 19 combinations with significant slopes, including [Y/Mg] and [Y/Al]. The ratio [Ba/α] shows the most significant correlation. Conclusions. We find that the [Y/Mg] relation found in the literature using solar twins is compatible with the one found here in the solar neighborhood. The age-abundance relations in clusters at large distances(d > 1 kpc) show larger scatter than those in clusters in the solar neighborhood, particularly in the outer disk. We conclude that, in addition to pure nucleosynthetic arguments, the complexity of the chemical space introduced by the Galactic dynamics must be taken into account in order to understand these relations, especially outside of the local bubble. © L. Casamiquela et al. 2021.
- ItemCool stars in the Galactic center as seen by APOGEE : M giants, AGB stars, and supergiant stars and candidates(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2020) Schultheis, M.; Rojas-Arriagada, A.; Cunha, K.; Zoccali, M.; Chiappini, C.; Zasowski, G.; Queiroz, A.B.A.; Minniti, D.; Fritz, T.; García-Hernández, D.A.; Nitschelm, C.; Zamora, O.; Hasselquist, S.; Fernández-Trincado, J.G.; Munoz, R.R.The Galactic center region, including the nuclear disk, has until recently been largely avoided in chemical census studies because of extreme extinction and stellar crowding. Large, near-IR spectroscopic surveys, such as the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), allow the measurement of metallicities in the inner region of our Galaxy. Making use of the latest APOGEE data release (DR16), we are able for the first time to study cool Asymptotic Giant branch (AGB) stars and supergiants in this region. The stellar parameters of five known AGB stars and one supergiant star (VR 5-7) show that their location is well above the tip of the red giant branch. We studied metallicities of 157 M giants situated within 150 pc of the Galactic center from observations obtained by the APOGEE survey with reliable stellar parameters from the APOGEE pipeline making use of the cool star grid down to 3200 K. Distances, interstellar extinction values, and radial velocities were checked to confirm that these stars are indeed situated in the Galactic center region. We detect a clear bimodal structure in the metallicity distribution function, with a dominant metal-rich peak of [Fe/H] ∼ +0.3 dex and a metal-poor peak around {Fe/H] = −0.5 dex, which is 0.2 dex poorer than Baade’s Window. The α-elements Mg, Si, Ca, and O show a similar trend to the Galactic bulge. The metal-poor component is enhanced in the α-elements, suggesting that this population could be associated with the classical bulge and a fast formation scenario. We find a clear signature of a rotating nuclear stellar disk and a significant fraction of high-velocity stars with vgal > 300 km s−1; the metal-rich stars show a much higher rotation velocity (∼200 km s−1) with respect to the metal-poor stars (∼140 km s−1). The chemical abundances as well as the metallicity distribution function suggest that the nuclear stellar disk and the nuclear star cluster show distinct chemical signatures and might be formed differently.
- ItemExploring the S-process History in the Galactic Disk: Cerium Abundances and Gradients in Open Clusters from the OCCAM/APOGEE Sample(London : Institute of Physics Publ., 2021) Sales-Silva, J.V.; Daflon, S.; Cunha, K.; Souto, D.; Smith, V.V.; Chiappini, C.; Donor, J.; Frinchaboy, P.M.; García-Hernández, D.A.; Hayes, C.; Majewski, S. R.; Masseron, T.; Schiavon, R.P.; Weinberg, D.H.; Beaton, R.L.; Fernández-Trincado, J.G.; Jönsson, H.; Lane, R.R.; Minniti, D.; Manchado, A.; Moni Bidin, C.; Nitschelm, C.; O’Connell, J.; Villanova, S.The APOGEE Open Cluster Chemical Abundances and Mapping survey is used to probe the chemical evolution of the s-process element cerium in the Galactic disk. Cerium abundances were derived from measurements of Ce ii lines in the APOGEE spectra using the Brussels Automatic Code for Characterizing High Accuracy Spectra in 218 stars belonging to 42 open clusters. Our results indicate that, in general, for ages < 4 Gyr, younger open clusters have higher [Ce/Fe] and [Ce/α-element] ratios than older clusters. In addition, metallicity segregates open clusters in the [Ce/X]-age plane (where X can be H, Fe, or the α-elements O, Mg, Si, or Ca). These metallicity-dependent relations result in [Ce/Fe] and [Ce/α] ratios with ages that are not universal clocks. Radial gradients of [Ce/H] and [Ce/Fe] ratios in open clusters, binned by age, were derived for the first time, with d[Ce/H]/d R GC being negative, while d[Ce/Fe]/d R GC is positive. [Ce/H] and [Ce/Fe] gradients are approximately constant over time, with the [Ce/Fe] gradient becoming slightly steeper, changing by ∼+0.009 dex kpc-1 Gyr-1. Both the [Ce/H] and [Ce/Fe] gradients are shifted to lower values of [Ce/H] and [Ce/Fe] for older open clusters. The chemical pattern of Ce in open clusters across the Galactic disk is discussed within the context of s-process yields from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, gigayear time delays in Ce enrichment of the interstellar medium, and the strong dependence of Ce nucleosynthesis on the metallicity of its AGB stellar sources.