- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/592/A142
- Title:
- Reduced high-resolution HI and CO data cubes
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/592/A142
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Intermediate-velocity clouds (IVCs) are HI halo clouds that are likely related to a Galactic fountain process. In-falling IVCs are candidates for the re-accretion of matter onto the Milky Way. Aims. We study the evolution of IVCs at the disk-halo interface, focussing on the transition from atomic to molecular IVCs. We compare an atomic IVC to a molecular IVC and characterise their structural differences in order to investigate how molecular IVCs form high above the Galactic plane. With high-resolution HI observations of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and ^12^CO(1-0) and ^13^CO(1-0) observations with the IRAM 30m telescope, we analyse the small-scale structures within the two clouds. By correlating HI and far-infrared (FIR) dust continuum emission from the Planck satellite, the distribution of molecular hydrogen (H_2_) is estimated. We conduct a detailed comparison of the HI, FIR, and CO data and study variations of the XCO conversion factor. The atomic IVC does not disclose detectable CO emission. The atomic small-scale structure, as revealed by the high-resolution HI data, shows low peak HI column densities and low HI fluxes as compared to the molecular IVC. The molecular IVC exhibits a rich molecular structure and most of the CO emission is observed at the eastern edge of the cloud. There is observational evidence that the molecular IVC is in a transient and, thus, non- equilibrium phase. The average XCO factor is close to the canonical value of the Milky Way disk. We propose that the two IVCs represent different states in a gradual transition from atomic to molecular clouds. The molecular IVC appears to be more condensed allowing the formation of H_2_ and CO in shielded regions all over the cloud. Ram pressure may accumulate gas and thus facilitate the formation of H_2_. We show evidence that the atomic IVC will evolve also into a molecular IVC in a few Myr.
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- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/155/71
- Title:
- RGB & HB members of the bulge cluster NGC 6569
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/155/71
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Photometric and spectroscopic analyses have shown that the Galactic bulge cluster Terzan 5 hosts several populations with different metallicities and ages that manifest as a double red horizontal branch (HB). A recent investigation of the massive bulge cluster NGC 6569 revealed a similar, though less extended, HB luminosity split, but little is known about the cluster's detailed chemical composition. Therefore, we have used high-resolution spectra from the Magellan-M2FS and VLT-FLAMES spectrographs to investigate the chemical compositions and radial velocity distributions of red giant branch and HB stars in NGC 6569. We found the cluster to have a mean heliocentric radial velocity of -48.8 km/s ({sigma}=5.3 km/s; 148 stars) and <[Fe/H]>=-0.87 dex (19 stars), but the cluster's 0.05 dex [Fe/H] dispersion precludes a significant metallicity spread. NGC 6569 exhibits light- and heavy-element distributions that are common among old bulge/inner Galaxy globular clusters, including clear (anti)correlations between [O/Fe], [Na/Fe], and [Al/Fe]. The light-element data suggest that NGC 6569 may be composed of at least two distinct populations, and the cluster's low <[La/Eu]>=-0.11 dex indicates significant pollution with r-process material. We confirm that both HBs contain cluster members, but metallicity and light-element variations are largely ruled out as sources for the luminosity difference. However, He mass fraction differences as small as {Delta}Y~0.02 cannot be ruled out and may be sufficient to reproduce the double HB.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/590/A9
- Title:
- RGB stars in Galactic GC stellar parameters
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/590/A9
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Globular clusters trace the formation and evolution of the Milky Way and surrounding galaxies, and outline their chemical enrichment history. To accomplish these tasks it is important to have large samples of clusters with homogeneous data and analysis to derive kinematics, chemical abundances, ages and locations. We aim to obtain homogeneous metallicities and alpha-element enhancement for 51 Galactic bulge, disc, and halo globular clusters that are among the most distant and/or highly reddened in the Galaxy's globular cluster system. We also provide membership selection based on stellar radial velocities and atmospheric parameters. The implications of our results are discussed. We observed R~2000 spectra in the wavelength interval 456-586nm for over 800 red giant stars in 51 Galactic globular clusters. We applied full spectrum fitting with the code ETOILE together with libraries of observed and synthetic spectra. We compared the mean abundances of all clusters with previous work and with field stars. We used the relation between mean metallicity and horizontal branch morphology defined by all clusters to select outliers for discussion. [Fe/H], [Mg/Fe], and [alpha/Fe] were derived in a consistent way for almost one-third of all Galactic globular clusters. We find our metallicities are comparable to those derived from high-resolution data to within sigma=0.08dex over the interval -2.5<[Fe/H]<0.0. Further, a comparison of previous metallicity scales with ours yields sigma<0.16dex. We also find that the distribution of [Mg/Fe] and [alpha/Fe] with [Fe/H] for the 51 clusters follows the general trend exhibited by field stars. It is the first time that the following clusters are included in a large sample of homogeneous stellar spectroscopic observations and metallicity derivation: BH 176, Djorg 2, Pal 10, NGC 6426, Lynga 7, and Terzan 8. In particular, the first three clusters only had photometric metallicities previously and the available metallicity for NGC 6426 was based only on integrated spectroscopy and photometry. Two other clusters, HP 1 and NGC 6558, are confirmed as candidates for the oldest globular clusters in the Milky Way. Stellar spectroscopy in the visible at R~2000 for a large sample of globular clusters is a robust and efficient way to trace the chemical evolution of the host galaxy and to detect interesting objects for follow-up at higher-resolution and with forthcoming giant telescopes. The technique used here can also be applied to globular cluster systems in nearby galaxies with current instruments and to distant galaxies with the advent of ELTs.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/785/63
- Title:
- Rotation curve of the Milky Way
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/785/63
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The rotation curve (RC) of our Galaxy, the Milky Way, is constructed starting from its very inner regions (few hundred parsecs) out to a large galactocentric distance of ~200 kpc using kinematical data on a variety of tracer objects moving in the gravitational potential of the Galaxy, without assuming any theoretical models of the visible and dark matter (DM) components of the Galaxy. We study the effect on the RC due to the uncertainties in the values of the Galactic constants (GCs) R_0_ and V_0_ (these being the Sun's distance from and circular rotation speed around the Galactic center, respectively) and the velocity anisotropy parameter {beta} of the halo tracer objects used for deriving the RC at large galactocentric distances. The resulting RC in the disk region is found to depend significantly on the choice of the GCs, while the dominant uncertainty in the RC at large distances beyond the stellar disk comes from the uncertainty in the value of {beta}. In general we find that the mean RC steadily declines at distances beyond ~60 kpc, independently of the value of {beta}. Also, at a given radius, the circular speed is lower for larger values of {beta} (i.e., for more radially biased velocity anisotropy). Considering that the largest possible value of {beta} is unity, which corresponds to stellar orbits being purely radial, our results for the case of {beta}=1 give a lower limit to the total mass of the Galaxy within ~200 kpc, M(200 kpc)>~(6.8+/-4.1)x10^11^ M_{sun}_, independently of any model of the DM halo of the Galaxy.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/755/21
- Title:
- Rotation measures of extragalactic radio sources
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/755/21
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a study of the Milky Way disk and halo magnetic field, determined from observations of Faraday rotation measure (RM) toward 641 polarized extragalactic radio sources in the Galactic longitude range 100{deg}-117{deg}, within 30{deg} of the Galactic plane. For |b|<15{deg}, we observe a symmetric RM distribution about the Galactic plane. This is consistent with a disk field in the Perseus arm of even parity across the Galactic mid-plane. In the range 15{deg}<|b|<30{deg}, we find median RMs of -15+/-4rad/m2 and -62+/-5rad/m2 in the northern and southern Galactic hemispheres, respectively. If the RM distribution is a signature of the large-scale field parallel to the Galactic plane, then this suggests that the halo magnetic field toward the outer Galaxy does not reverse direction across the mid-plane. The variation of RM as a function of Galactic latitude in this longitude range is such that RMs become more negative at larger |b|. This is consistent with an azimuthal magnetic field of strength 2{mu}G (7{mu}G) at a height 0.8-2kpc above (below) the Galactic plane between the local and the Perseus spiral arm. We propose that the Milky Way could possess spiral-like halo magnetic fields similar to those observed in M51.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/619/A143
- Title:
- r-process abundances in AMBRE stars
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/619/A143
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The chemical evolution of neutron capture elements in the Milky Way disc is still a matter of debate. There is a lack of statistically significant catalogues of such element abundances, especially those of the r-process. We aim to understand the chemical evolution of r-process elements in Milky Way disc. We focus on three pure r-process elements Eu, Gd, and Dy. We also consider a pure s-process element, Ba, in order to disentangle the different nucleosynthesis processes. We take advantage of high-resolution FEROS, HARPS, and UVES spectra from the ESO archive in order to perform a homogeneous analysis on 6500 FGK Milky Way stars. The chemical analysis is performed thanks to the automatic optimization pipeline GAUGUIN. We present abundances of Ba (5057 stars), Eu (6268 stars), Gd (5431 stars), and Dy (5479 stars). Based on the [{alpha}/Fe] ratio determined previously by the AMBRE Project, we chemically characterize the thin and the thick discs, and a metal-rich {alpha}-rich population. First, we find that the [Eu/Fe] ratio follows a continuous sequence from the thin disc to the thick disc as a function of the metallicity. Second, in thick disc stars, the [Eu/Ba] ratio is found to be constant, while the [Gd/Ba] and [Dy/Ba] ratios decrease as a function of the metallicity. These observations clearly indicate a different nucleosynthesis history in the thick disc between Eu and Gd-Dy. The [r/Fe] ratio in the thin disc is roughly around +0.1dex at solar metallicity, which is not the case for Ba. We also find that the {alpha}-rich metal-rich stars are also enriched in r-process elements (like thick disc stars), but their [Ba/Fe] is very different from thick disc stars. Finally, we find that the [r/{alpha}] ratio tends to decrease with metallicity, indicating that supernovae of different properties probably contribute differently to the synthesis of r-process elements and {alpha}-elements. We provide average abundance trends for [Ba/Fe] and [Eu/Fe] with rather small dispersions, and for the first time for [Gd/Fe] and [Dy/Fe]. This data may help to constrain chemical evolution models of Milky Way r- and s-process elements and the yields of massive stars. We emphasize that including yields of neutron-star or black hole mergers is now crucial if we want to quantitatively compare observations to Galactic chemical evolution models.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/874/30
- Title:
- RRab stars toward Baade's window with Blanco/DECam
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/874/30
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We have obtained repeated images of six fields toward the Galactic bulge in five passbands (u, g, r, i, z) with the DECam imager on the Blanco 4m telescope at CTIO. From more than 1.6 billion individual photometric measurements in the field centered on Baade's window, we have detected 4877 putative variable stars. A total of 474 of these have been confirmed as fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars, whose colors at minimum light yield line-of-sight reddening determinations, as well as a reddenning law toward the Galactic Bulge, which differs significantly from the standard R_V_=3.1 formulation. Assuming that the stellar mix is invariant over the 3 square-degree field, we are able to derive a line-of-sight reddening map with sub-arcminute resolution, enabling us to obtain de-reddened and extinction corrected color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of this bulge field using up to 2.5 million well-measured stars. The corrected CMDs show unprecedented detail and expose sparsely populated sequences: for example, delineation of the very wide red giant branch, structure within the red giant clump, the full extent of the horizontal branch, and a surprising bright feature that is likely due to stars with ages younger than 1Gyr. We use the RR Lyrae stars to trace the spatial structure of the ancient stars and find an exponential decline in density with Galactocentric distance. We discuss ways in which our data products can be used to explore the age and metallicity properties of the bulge, and how our larger list of all variables is useful for learning to interpret future LSST alerts.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/806/199
- Title:
- RRL and continuum data of 21 Galactic H II regions
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/806/199
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Elemental abundance patterns in the Galactic disk constrain theories of the formation and evolution of the Milky Way. H II region abundances are the result of billions of years of chemical evolution. We made radio recombination line and continuum measurements of 21 H II regions located between Galactic azimuth Az=90{deg}-130{deg}, a previously unexplored region. We derive the plasma electron temperatures using the line-to-continuum ratios and use them as proxies for the nebular [O/H] abundances, because in thermal equilibrium the abundance of the coolants (O, N, and other heavy elements) in the ionized gas sets the electron temperature, with high abundances producing low temperatures. Combining these data with our previous work produces a sample of 90 H II regions with high-quality electron temperature determinations. We derive kinematic distances in a self-consistent way for the entire sample. The radial gradient in [O/H] is -0.082+/-0.014 dex/kpc for Az=90{deg}-130{deg}, about a factor of 2 higher than the average value between Az=0{deg}-60{deg}. Monte Carlo simulations show that the azimuthal structure we reported for Az=0{deg}-60{deg} is not significant because kinematic distance uncertainties can be as high as 50% in this region. Nonetheless, the flatter radial gradients between Az=0{deg}-60{deg} compared with Az=90{deg}-130{deg} are significant within the uncertainty. We suggest that this may be due to radial mixing from the Galactic Bar whose major axis is aligned toward Az~30{deg}.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/158/223
- Title:
- RR Lyrae members of the Pal 5 stellar stream
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/158/223
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Thin stellar streams, formed from the tidal disruption of globular clusters, are important gravitational tools, sensitive to both global and small-scale properties of dark matter. The Palomar 5 stellar stream (Pal 5) is an exemplar stream within the Milky Way: its ~20{deg} tidal tails connect back to the progenitor cluster, and the stream has been used to study the shape, total mass, and substructure fraction of the dark matter distribution of the Galaxy. However, most details of the phase-space distribution of the stream are not fully explained, and dynamical models that use the stream for other inferences are therefore incomplete. Here we aim to measure distance and kinematic properties along the Pal 5 stream in order to motivate improved models of the system. We use a large catalog of RR Lyrae-type stars (RRLs) with astrometric data from the Gaia mission to probabilistically identify RRLs in the Pal 5 stream. RRLs are useful because they are intrinsically luminous standard candles and their distances can be inferred with small relative precision (~3%). By building a probabilistic model of the Pal 5 cluster and stream in proper motion and distance, we find 27 RRLs consistent with being members of the cluster (10) and stream (17). Using these RRLs, we detect gradients in distance and proper motion along the stream, and provide an updated measurement of the distance to the Pal 5 cluster using the RRLs, d=20.6+/-0.2 kpc. We provide a catalog of Pal 5 RRLs with inferred membership probabilities for future modeling work.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/155/171
- Title:
- RR Lyrae stars in and around NGC 6441
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/155/171
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Detailed elemental abundance patterns of metal-poor ([Fe/H]~-1 dex) stars in the Galactic bulge indicate that a number of them are consistent with globular cluster (GC) stars and may be former members of dissolved GCs. This would indicate that a few per cent of the Galactic bulge was built up from destruction and/or evaporation of GCs. Here, an attempt is made to identify such presumptive stripped stars originating from the massive, inner Galaxy GC NGC 6441 using its rich RR Lyrae variable star (RRL) population. We present radial velocities of 40 RRLs centered on the GC NGC 6441. All 13 of the RRLs observed within the cluster tidal radius have velocities consistent with cluster membership, with an average radial velocity of 24+/-5 km/s and a star-to-star scatter of 11 km/s. This includes two new RRLs that were previously not associated with the cluster. Eight RRLs with radial velocities consistent with cluster membership but up to three time the distance from the tidal radius are also reported. These potential extra-tidal RRLs also have exceptionally long periods, which is a curious characteristic of the NGC 6441 RRL population that hosts RRLs with periods longer than seen anywhere else in the Milky Way. As expected of stripped cluster stars, most are inline with the cluster's orbit. Therefore, either the tidal radius of NGC 6441 is underestimated and/or we are seeing dissolving cluster stars stemming from NGC 6441 that are building up the old spheroidal bulge.
