Carbon monoxide (CO) is the best tracer of Galactic molecular hydrogen H_2_. Its lowest rotational emission lines are in the radio regime, and thanks to Galactic rotation, emission at different distances is Doppler shifted. For a given gas flow model, the observed spectra can thus be deprojected along the line of sight to infer the gas distribution. We used the CO-line survey of Dame et al. (2001ApJ...547..792D) to reconstruct the three-dimensional density of H_2_. We considered the deprojection as a Bayesian variational inference problem. The posterior distribution of the gas densities allowed us to estimate the mean and uncertainty of the reconstructed density. Unlike most of the previous attempts, we took the correlations of gas on a variety of scales into account, which allowed us to correct for some of the well-known pathologies, such as finger-of-god effects. The two gas flow models that we adopted incorporate a Galactic bar that induces radial motions in the inner few kiloparsecs and thus offers spectral resolution towards the Galactic centre. We compared our gas maps with those of earlier studies and characterise their statistical properties, for instance the radial profile of the average surface mass density. We have made our three-dimensional gas maps and their uncertainties available to the community here and at https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5501196.
We present a kinematical study of 314 RR Lyrae stars in the solar neighbourhood using the publicly available photometric, spectroscopic, and Gaia DR2 astrometric data to explore their distribution in the Milky Way. We report an overdensity of 22 RR Lyrae stars in the solar neighbourhood at a pericentre distance of between 5 and 9kpc from the Galactic Centre. Their orbital parameters and their chemistry indicate that these 22 variables share the kinematics and the [Fe/H] values of the Galactic disc, with an average metallicity and tangential velocity of [Fe/H]=-0.60dex and v_theta_=241km/s, respectively. From the distribution of the Galactocentric spherical velocity components, we find that these 22 disc-like RR Lyrae variables are not consistent with the Gaia Sausage (Gaia-Enceladus), unlike almost half of the local RR Lyrae stars. Chemical information from the literature shows that the majority of the selected pericentre-peak RR Lyrae variables are alpha-poor, a property shared by typically much younger stars in the thin disc. Using the available photometry, we rule out a possible misclassification with the known classical and anomalous Cepheids. The similar kinematic, chemical, and pulsation properties of these disc RR Lyrae stars suggest they share a common origin. In contrast, we find that the RR Lyrae stars associated with the Gaia- Enceladus based on their kinematics and chemical composition show a considerable metallicity spread in the old population (approximately 1dex).
The Galactic Faraday depth sky is a tracer for both the Galactic magnetic field and the thermal electron distribution. It was previously reconstructed from polarimetric measurements of extra-Galactic point sources. Here we improve on these works by using an updated inference algorithm and by taking into account the electron emission measure as traced by free-free emission measured by the Planck survey. In the future the data situation will improve drastically thanks to the next generation Faraday rotation measurements from the SKA and its pathfinders. Anticipating this, a further aim of this paper is to update the map reconstruction method with some of the latest developments in Bayesian imaging. To this end we made use of information field theory, an inference scheme that is particularly powerful in cases of noisy and incomplete data. We demonstrate the validity of the new algorithm by applying it to an existing data compilation. Even though we used exactly the same data set, a number of novel findings are made; for example, a non-parametric reconstruction of an overall amplitude field resembles the free-free emission measure map of the Galaxy. Folding this emission measure map into the analysis provides more detailed predictions. The joint inference enables us to identify regions with deviations from the assumed correlations between the emission measure and Faraday data, thereby pointing us to Galactic structures with distinguishably different physics. We find evidence for an alignment of the magnetic field within the lines of sight along both directions of the Orion arm.
Data of our compiled catalog containing the positions, velocities, and metallicities of 415 RR Lyrae variable stars and the relative abundances [el/Fe] of 12 elements for 101 RR Lyrae stars, including four {alpha} elements (Mg, Ca, Si, and Ti), are used to study the relationships between the chemical and spatial-kinematic properties of these stars. In general, the dependences of the relative abundances of {alpha} elements on metallicity and velocity for the RR Lyrae stars are approximately the same as those for field dwarfs. Despite the usual claim that these stars are old, among them are representatives of the thin disk, which is the youngest subsystem of the Galaxy. Attention is called to the problem of low metallicity RR Lyrae stars. Most RR Lyrae stars that have the kinematic properties of thick disk stars have metallicities [Fe/H]<-1.0 and high ratios [{alpha}/Fe]~=0.4, whereas only about 10% of field dwarfs belonging to the so-called "low-metallicity tail" have this chemical composition. At the same time, there is a sharp change in [{alpha}/Fe] in RR Lyrae stars belonging just to the thick disk, providing evidence for a long period of formation of this subsystem. The chemical compositions of SDSS J1707+58, V455 Oph, MACHO176.18833.411, V456 Ser, and BPS CS 30339-046 do not correspond to their kinematics. While the first three of these stars belong to the halo, according to their kinematics, the last two belong to the thick disk. It is proposed that they are all most likely extragalactic, but the possible appearance of some of them in the solar neighborhood as a result of the gravitational action of the bar on field stars cannot be ruled out.
We have derived the mean proper motions and space velocities of 154 Galactic globular clusters and the velocity dispersion profiles of 141 globular clusters based on a combination of Gaia DR2 proper motions with ground-based line-of-sight velocities. Combining the velocity dispersion profiles derived here with new measurements of the internal mass functions allows us to model the internal kinematics of 144 clusters, more than 90 per cent of the currently known Galactic globular cluster population. We also derive the initial cluster masses by calculating the cluster orbits backwards in time applying suitable recipes to account for mass-loss and dynamical friction. We find a correlation between the stellar mass function of a globular cluster and the amount of mass lost from the cluster, pointing to dynamical evolution as one of the mechanisms shaping the mass function of stars in clusters. The mass functions also show strong evidence that globular clusters started with a bottom-light initial mass function. Our simulations show that the currently surviving globular cluster population has lost about 80 per cent of its mass since the time of formation. If globular clusters started from a lognormal mass function, we estimate that the Milky Way contained about 500 globular clusters initially, with a combined mass of about 2.5x10^8^M_{sun}_. For a power-law initial mass function, the initial mass in globular clusters could have been a factor of three higher.
Carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars span a wide range of stellar populations, from bona fide second-generation stars to later-forming stars that provide excellent probes of binary mass transfer and stellar evolution. Here we analyse 11 metal-poor stars (8 of which are new to the literature), and demonstrate that 10 are CEMP stars. Based on high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) X-Shooter spectra, we derive abundances of 20 elements (C, N, O, Na, Mg, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Sr, Y, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, and Eu). From the high-S/N spectra, we were able to trace the chemical contribution of the rare earth elements (REE) from various possible production sites, finding a preference for metal-poor low-mass asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars of 1.5M_{sun}_ in CEMP-s stars, while CEMP-r/s stars may indicate a more massive AGB contribution (2-5M_{sun}_). A contribution from the r-process -- possibly from neutron star--neutron star mergers (NSM) -- is also detectable in the REE stellar abundances, especially in the CEMP-r/s sub-group rich in both slow(s)\ and rapid(r) neutron-capture elements. Combining spectroscopic data with Gaia DR2 astrometric data provides a powerful chemodynamical tool for placing CEMP stars in the various Galactic components, and classifying CEMP stars into the four major elemental-abundance sub-groups, which are dictated by their neutron-capture element content. The derived orbital parameters indicate that all but one star in our sample (and the majority of the selected literature stars) belong to the Galactic halo. These stars exhibit a median orbital eccentricity of 0.7, and are found on both prograde and retrograde orbits. We find that the orbital parameters of CEMP-no and CEMP-s stars are remarkably similar in the 98 stars we study. A special case is the CEMP-no star HE 0020-1741, with very low Sr and Ba content, which possesses the most eccentric orbit among the stars in our sample, passing close to the Galactic centre. Finally, we propose an improved scheme to sub-classify the CEMP stars, making use of the Sr/Ba ratio, which can also be used to separate very metal-poor stars from CEMP stars. We explore the use of [Sr/Ba] versus [Ba/Fe] in 93 stars in the metallicity range -4.2<~[Fe/H]<-2. We show that the Sr/Ba ratio can also be successfully used for distinguishing CEMP-s, CEMP-r/s, and CEMP-no stars. Additionally, the Sr/Ba ratio is found to be a powerful astro-nuclear indicator, since the metal-poor AGB stars exhibit very different Sr/Ba ratios compared to fast-rotating massive stars and NSM, and is also reasonably unbiased by NLTE and 3D corrections.
We present a new catalog of spectrophotometric distances and line of sight systemic velocities to 103 HII regions between 90{deg}{<=}l<=195{deg} (longitude quadrants II and part of III). Two new velocities for each region are independently measured using 1 arcmin resolution 21cm HI and 2.6mm^12^CO line maps (from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey and Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory Outer Galaxy Surveys) that show where gaseous shells are observed around the periphery of the ionized gas. Known and neighboring O- and B-type stars with published UBV photometry and MK classifications are overlaid onto 21cm continuum maps, and those stars observed within the boundary of the HII emission (and whose distance is not more than three times the standard deviation of the others) are used to calculate new mean stellar distances to each of the 103 nebulae. Using this approach of excluding distance outliers from the mean distance to a group of many stars in each HII region lessens the impact of anomalous reddening for certain individuals. The standard deviation of individual stellar distances in a cluster is typically 20% per stellar distance, and the error in the mean distance to the cluster is typically +/-10%. Final mean distances of nine common objects with very long baseline interferometry parallax distances show a 1:1 correspondence. Further, comparison with previous catalogs of HII regions in these quadrants shows a 50% reduction in scatter for the distance to Perseus spiral arm objects in the same region, and a reduction by ~1/2^0.5^ in scatter around a common angular velocity relative to the Sun {Omega}-{Omega}_0_(km/s/kpc). The purpose of the catalog is to provide a foundation for more detailed large-scale Galactic spiral structure and dynamics (rotation curve, density wave streaming) studies in the 2nd and 3rd quadrants, which from the Sun's location is the most favorably viewed section of the Galaxy.
The distribution of metals in the Galaxy provides important information about galaxy formation and evolution. HII regions are the most luminous objects in the Milky Way at mid-infrared to radio wavelengths and can be seen across the entire Galactic disk. We used the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) Green Bank Telescope to measure radio recombination line (RRL) and continuum emission in 81 Galactic HII regions. We calculated LTE electron temperatures using these data. In thermal equilibrium metal abundances are expected to set the nebular electron temperature with high abundances producing low temperatures. Our HII region distribution covers a large range of Galactocentric radius (5-22kpc) and samples the Galactic azimuth range 330-60{deg}. Using our highest quality data (72 objects) we derived an O/H Galactocentric radial gradient of -0.0383+/-0.0074dex/kpc. Combining these data with a similar survey made with the NRAO 140 Foot telescope we get a radial gradient of -0.0446+/-0.0049dex/kpc for this larger sample of 133 nebulae.
We estimate the Galactic supershell (GS) masses and energies. We developed and used an automatic algorithm. The study was carried out making use of the Leiden-Argentine-Bonn (LAB) HI survey in the outer part of the Galaxy. The algorithm was applied only to a set of GSs from the catalogue of Suad et al. (2014, Cat. J/A+A/564/A116), those showing HI-emission surrounding its central cavity in at least three quarters (or 270 degrees) of its angular extent. A total of 490 GSs fulfilled this criterion. Among them, 308 are completely surrounded by walls of HI-emission (Group A) and in the remaining 182 the central HI minimum is surrounded by ridges of HI emission in at least 270{deg} of its angular extent (Group B).
Galactic infrared (IR) bubbles, which have shell-like structures in the mid-IR wavelengths, are known to contain massive stars near their centers. Infrared bubbles in inner Galactic regions (|l|<=65{deg}, |b|<=1{deg}) have so far been studied well to understand the massive star formation mechanisms. In this study, we expand the research area to the whole Galactic plane (0{deg}<=l<360{deg}, |b|<=5{deg}), using the AKARI all-sky survey data. We limit our study to large bubbles with angular radii of >1' to reliably identify and characterize them. For the 247 IR bubbles in total, we derived the radii and the covering fractions of the shells, based on the method developed by Y. Hattori et al. (2016PASJ...68...37H). We also created their spectral energy distributions, using the AKARI and Herschel photometric data, and decomposed them with a dust model to obtain the total IR luminosity and the luminosity of each dust component, i.e., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), warm dust, and cold dust. As a result, we find that there are systematic differences in the IR properties of the bubbles between the inner and outer Galactic regions. The total IR luminosities are lower in outer Galactic regions, while there is no systematic difference in the range of the shell radii between inner and outer Galactic regions. More IR bubbles tend to be observed as broken bubbles rather than closed ones and the fractional luminosities of the PAH emission are significantly higher in outer Galactic regions. We discuss the implications of these results for the massive stars and the interstellar environments associated with the Galactic IR bubbles.
