We report the discovery of a group of apparently young CoRoT red-giant stars exhibiting enhanced [alpha/Fe] abundance ratios (as determined from APOGEE spectra) with respect to Solar values. Their existence is not explained by standard chemical evolu
tion models of the Milky Way, and shows that the chemical-enrichment history of the Galactic disc is more complex. We find similar stars in previously published samples for which isochrone-ages could be robustly obtained, although in smaller relative numbers, which could explain why these stars have not received prior attention. The young [alpha/Fe]-rich stars are much more numerous in the CoRoT-APOGEE (CoRoGEE) inner-field sample than in any other high-resolution sample available at present, as only CoRoGEE can explore the inner-disc regions and provide ages for its field stars. The kinematic properties of the young [$alpha$/Fe]-rich stars are not clearly thick-disc like, despite their rather large distances from the Galactic mid-plane. Our tentative interpretation of these and previous intriguing observations in the Milky Way is that these stars were formed close to the end of the Galactic bar, near corotation -- a region where gas can be kept inert for longer times, compared to other regions shocked more frequently by the passage of spiral arms. Moreover, that is where the mass return from older inner-disc stellar generations should be maximal (according to an inside-out disc-formation scenario), further diluting the in-situ gas. Other possibilities to explain these observations (e.g., a recent gas-accretion event) are also discussed.
The [Sr/Ba] and [Y/Ba] scatter observed in some galactic halo stars that are very metal-poor stars and in a few individual stars of the oldest known Milky Way globular cluster NGC 6522,have been interpreted as evidence of early enrichment by massive
fast-rotating stars (spinstars). Because NGC 6522 is a bulge globular cluster, the suggestion was that not only the very-metal poor halo stars, but also bulge stars at [Fe/H]~-1 could be used as probes of the stellar nucleosynthesis signatures from the earlier generations of massive stars, but at much higher metallicity. For the bulge the suggestions were based on early spectra available for stars in NGC 6522, with a medium resolution of R~22,000 and a moderate signal-to-noise ratio. The main purpose of this study is to re-analyse the NGC 6522 stars previously reported using new high-resolution (R~45,000) and high signal-to-noise spectra (S/N>100). We aim at re-deriving their stellar parameters and elemental ratios, in particular the abundances of the neutron-capture s-process-dominated elements such as Sr, Y, Zr, La, and Ba, and of the r-element Eu. High-resolution spectra of four giants belonging to the bulge globular cluster NGC 6522 were obtained at the 8m VLT UT2-Kueyen telescope with the UVES spectrograph in FLAMES-UVESconfiguration. The spectroscopic parameters were derived based on the excitation and ionization equilibrium of ion{Fe}{I} and ion{Fe}{II}. Our analysis confirms a metallicity [Fe/H] = -0.95+-0.15 for NGC 6522, and the overabundance of the studied stars in Eu (with +~0.2 < [Eu/Fe] < +~0.4) and alpha-elements O and Mg. The neutron-capture s-element-dominated Sr, Y, Zr, Ba, La now show less pronounced variations from star to star. Enhancements are in the range 0.0 < [Sr/Fe] < +0.4, +0.23 < [Y/Fe] < +0.43, 0.0 < [Zr/Fe] < +0.4, 0.0 < [La/Fe] < +0.35,and 0.05 < [Ba/Fe] < +0.55.
We investigate the chemo-kinematic properties of the Milky Way disc by exploring the first year of data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), and compare our results to smaller optical high-resolution samples in th
e literature, as well as results from lower resolution surveys such as GCS, SEGUE and RAVE. We start by selecting a high-quality sample in terms of chemistry ($sim$ 20.000 stars) and, after computing distances and orbital parameters for this sample, we employ a number of useful subsets to formulate constraints on Galactic chemical and chemodynamical evolution processes in the Solar neighbourhood and beyond (e.g., metallicity distributions -- MDFs, [$alpha$/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] diagrams, and abundance gradients). Our red giant sample spans distances as large as 10 kpc from the Sun. We find remarkable agreement between the recently published local (d $<$ 100 pc) high-resolution high-S/N HARPS sample and our local HQ sample (d $<$ 1 kpc). The local MDF peaks slightly below solar metallicity, and exhibits an extended tail towards [Fe/H] $= -$1, whereas a sharper cut-off is seen at larger metallicities. The APOGEE data also confirm the existence of a gap in the [$alpha$/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] abundance diagram. When expanding our sample to cover three different Galactocentric distance bins, we find the high-[$alpha$/Fe] stars to be rare towards the outer zones, as previously suggested in the literature. For the gradients in [Fe/H] and [$alpha$/Fe], measured over a range of 6 $ < $ R $ <$ 11 kpc in Galactocentric distance, we find a good agreement with the gradients traced by the GCS and RAVE dwarf samples. For stars with 1.5 $<$ z $<$ 3 kpc, we find a positive metallicity gradient and a negative gradient in [$alpha$/Fe].
The velocity dispersions of stars near the Sun are known to increase with stellar age, but age can be difficult to determine so a proxy like the abundance of alpha elements (e.g., Mg) with respect to iron, [alpha/Fe], is used. Here we report an unexp
ected behavior found in the velocity dispersion of a sample of giant stars from the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) survey with high quality chemical and kinematical information, in that it decreases strongly for stars with [Mg/Fe] > 0.4 dex (i.e., those that formed in the first Gyr of the Galaxys life). These findings can be explained by perturbations from massive mergers in the early Universe, which have affected more strongly the outer parts of the disc, and the subsequent radial migration of stars with cooler kinematics from the inner disc. Similar reversed trends in velocity dispersion are also found for different metallicity subpopulations. Our results suggest that the Milky Way disc merger history can be recovered by relating the observed chemo-kinematic relations to the properties of past merger events.
Aims: We study the relations between stellar kinematics and chemical abundances of a large sample of RAVE giants in search for selection criteria needed for disentangling different Galactic stellar populations. Methods: We select a sample of 2167 gia
nt stars with signal-to-noise per spectral measurements above 75 from the RAVE chemical catalogue and follow the analysis performed by Gratton and colleagues on 150 subdwarf stars spectroscopically observed at high-resolution. We then use a larger sample of 9131 giants (with signal-to-noise above 60) to investigate the chemo-kinematical characteristics of our stars by grouping them into nine subsamples with common eccentricity ($e$) and maximum distance achieved above the Galactic plane ($Z_max$). Results: The RAVE kinematical and chemical data proved to be reliable by reproducing the results by Gratton et al. obtained with high-resolution spectroscopic data. Our analysis, based on the $e$-$Z_max$ plane combined with additional orbital parameters and chemical information, provides an alternative way of identifying different populations of stars. In addition to extracting canonical thick- and thin-disc samples, we find a group of stars in the Galactic plane ($Z_max<1$ kpc and 0.4 $< e < $0.6), which show homogeneous kinematics but differ in their chemical properties. We interpret this as a clear sign that some of these stars have experienced the effects of heating and/or radial migration, which have modified their original orbits. The accretion origin of such stars cannot be excluded.
Our understanding of the chemical evolution of the Galactic bulge requires the determination of abundances in large samples of giant stars and planetary nebulae (PNe). We discuss PNe abundances in the Galactic bulge and compare these results with tho
se presented in the literature for giant stars. We present the largest, high-quality data-set available for PNe in the direction of the Galactic bulge (inner-disk/bulge). For comparison purposes, we also consider a sample of PNe in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We derive the element abundances in a consistent way for all the PNe studied. By comparing the abundances for the bulge, inner-disk, and LMC, we identify elements that have not been modified during the evolution of the PN progenitor and can be used to trace the bulge chemical enrichment history. We then compare the PN abundances with abundances of bulge field giant. At the metallicity of the bulge, we find that the abundances of O and Ne are close to the values for the interstellar medium at the time of the PN progenitor formation, and hence these elements can be used as tracers of the bulge chemical evolution, in the same way as S and Ar, which are not expected to be affected by nucleosynthetic processes during the evolution of the PN progenitors. The PN oxygen abundance distribution is shifted to lower values by 0.3 dex with respect to the distribution given by giants. A similar shift appears to occur for Ne and S. We discuss possible reasons for this PNe-giant discrepancy and conclude that this is probably due to systematic errors in the abundance derivations in either giants or PNe (or both). We issue an important warning concerning the use of absolute abundances in chemical evolution studies.
