Bibcode
Santiago, Basílio X.; Schlesinger, Katharine J.; Johnson, Jennifer A.; Rockosi, Constance M.; Lee, Young Sun; Morrison, Heather L.; Schönrich, Ralph; Allende-Prieto, C.; Beers, Timothy C.; Yanny, Brian; Harding, Paul; Schneider, Donald P.; Chiappini, Cristina; da Costa, Luiz N.; Maia, Marcio A. G.; Minchev, Ivan; Rocha-Pinto, Helio
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 761, Issue 2, article id. 160, 37 pp. (2012).
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12
2012
Journal
Citations
75
Refereed citations
72
Description
We present the metallicity distribution function (MDF) for 24,270 G and
16,847 K dwarfs at distances from 0.2 to 2.3 kpc from the Galactic
plane, based on spectroscopy from the Sloan Extension for Galactic
Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE) survey. This stellar sample is
significantly larger in both number and volume than previous
spectroscopic analyses, which were limited to the solar vicinity, making
it ideal for comparison with local volume-limited samples and Galactic
models. For the first time, we have corrected the MDF for the various
observational biases introduced by the SEGUE target-selection strategy.
SEGUE is particularly notable for its sample of K dwarfs, which are too
faint to examine spectroscopically far from the solar neighborhood. The
MDF of both spectral types becomes more metal-poor with increasing |Z|,
which reflects the transition from a sample with small [α/Fe]
values at small heights to one with enhanced [α/Fe] above 1 kpc.
Comparison of our SEGUE distributions to those of two different Milky
Way models reveals that both are more metal-rich than our observed
distributions at all heights above the plane. Our unbiased observations
of G and K dwarfs provide valuable constraints over the |Z|-height range
of the Milky Way disk for chemical and dynamical Galaxy evolution
models, previously only calibrated to the solar neighborhood, with
particular utility for thin- and thick-disk formation models.
Related projects
Chemical Abundances in Stars
Stellar spectroscopy allows us to determine the properties and chemical compositions of stars. From this information for stars of different ages in the Milky Way, it is possible to reconstruct the chemical evolution of the Galaxy, as well as the origin of the elements heavier than boron, created mainly in stellar interiors. It is also possible to
Carlos
Allende Prieto