Detalles de publicación

PP 018123

Title:APOGEE [C/N] Abundances Across the Galaxy: Migration and Infall from Red Giant Ages

S. Hasselquist, J. A. Holtzman, M. Shetrone, J. Tayar, D. H. Weinberg, D. Feuillet, K. Cunha, M. H. Pinsonneault, J. A. Johnson, J. Bird, T. C. Beers, R. Schiavon, I. Minchev, J. G. Fernández-Trincado, D. A. García-Hernández, C. Nitschelm, O. Zamora
Several institutions from North and South America and Europe (including IAC and ULL)
We present [C/N]-[Fe/H] abundance trends from the SDSS-IV Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) survey, Data Release 14 (DR14), for red giant branch stars across the Milky Way Galaxy (MW, 3 kpc < R < 15 kpc). The carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (often expressed as [C/N]) can indicate the mass of a red giant star, from which an age can be inferred. Using masses and ages derived by Martig et al., we demonstrate that we are able to interpret the DR14 [C/N]-[Fe/H] abundance distributions as trends in age-[Fe/H] space. Our results show that an anti-correlation between age and metallicity, which is predicted by simple chemical evolution models, is not present at any Galactic zone. Stars far from the plane (|Z| > 1 kpc) exhibit a radial gradient in [C/N] (~ -0.04 dex/kpc). The [C/N] dispersion increases toward the plane (σ_[C/N] = 0.13 at |Z| > 1 kpc to σ_[C/N] = 0.18 dex at |Z| < 0.5 kpc). We measure a disk metallicity gradient for the youngest stars (age < 2.5 Gyr) of -0.060 dex/kpc from 6 kpc to 12 kpc, which is in agreement with the gradient found using young CoRoGEE stars by Anders et al. Older stars exhibit a flatter gradient (-0.016 dex/kpc), which is predicted by simulations in which stars migrate from their birth radii. We also find that radial migration is a plausible explanation for the observed upturn of the [C/N]-[Fe/H] abundance trends in the outer Galaxy, where the metal-rich stars are relatively enhanced in [C/N].

 
Aceptado para publicación en ApJ | Enviado el 2018-12-14 | Proyecto P/308615