Metallicity gradient from SDSS & SMSS in halo stars Virtual Observatory Resource

Authors
  1. Dietz S.E.
  2. Yoon J.
  3. Beers T.C.
  4. Placco V.M.
  5. Published by
    CDS
Abstract

We present an examination of the metallicity distribution function of the outermost stellar halo of the Galaxy based on an analysis of both local (within 4kpc of the Sun, ~16500 stars) and non-local (~21700 stars) samples. These samples were compiled using spectroscopic metallicities from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and photometric metallicities from the SkyMapper Southern Survey (SMSS). We detect a negative metallicity gradient in the outermost halo (r>35kpc from the Galactic center), and find that the frequency of very metal-poor ([Fe/H]{<}-2.0) stars in the outer-halo region reaches up to ~60% in our most distant sample, commensurate with previous theoretical predictions. This result provides clear evidence that the outer-halo formed hierarchically. The retrograde stars in the outermost halo exhibit a roughly constant metallicity, which may be linked to the accretion of the Sequoia progenitor. In contrast, prograde stars in the outermost halo exhibit a strong metallicity-distance dependence, indicating that they likely originated from the accretion of galaxies less massive than the Sequoia progenitor galaxy.

Keywords
  1. milky-way-galaxy
  2. halo-stars
  3. metallicity
  4. radial-velocity
  5. proper-motions
  6. visible-astronomy
Bibliographic source Bibcode
2020ApJ...894...34D
See also HTML
https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/894/34
IVOA Identifier IVOID
ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/894/34
Document Object Identifer DOI
doi:10.26093/cds/vizier.18940034

Access

Web browser access HTML
http://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/894/34
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/894/34
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/ApJ/894/34
IVOA Table Access TAP
http://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tap
Run SQL-like queries with TAP-enabled clients (e.g., TOPCAT).
IVOA Cone Search SCS
For use with a cone search client (e.g., TOPCAT).
https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/0?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/894/34/table1?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/894/34/table1?
IVOA Cone Search SCS
For use with a cone search client (e.g., TOPCAT).
https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/conesearch/0?
https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/894/34/table2?
http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/conesearch/J/ApJ/894/34/table2?

History

2021-10-19T13:17:23Z
Resource record created
2021-10-19T13:17:23Z
Created
2023-06-08T08:41:44Z
Updated

Contact

Name
CDS support team
Postal Address
CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
E-Mail
cds-question@unistra.fr