Bibcode
Yuan, Zhen; Martin, Nicolas F.; Ibata, Rodrigo A.; Caffau, Elisabetta; Bonifacio, Piercarlo; Mashonkina, Lyudmila I.; Errani, Raphaël; Doliva-Dolinsky, Amandine; Starkenburg, Else; Venn, Kim A.; Arentsen, Anke; Aguado, David S.; Bellazzini, Michele; Famaey, Benoit; Fouesneau, Morgan; González Hernández, Jonay I.; Jablonka, Pascale; Lardo, Carmela; Malhan, Khyati; Navarro, Julio F.; Sánchez Janssen, Rubén; Sestito, Federico; Thomas, Guillaume F.; Viswanathan, Akshara; Vitali, Sara
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Advertised on:
8
2022
Citations
9
Refereed citations
6
Description
The C-19 stream is the most metal-poor stellar system ever discovered, with a mean metallicity [Fe/H] = -3.38 ± 0.06. Its low metallicity dispersion (σ[Fe/H] < 0.18 at the 95 per cent confidence level) and variations in sodium abundances strongly suggest a globular cluster origin. In this work, we use Very Large Telescope (VLT)/UV-Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) spectra of seven C-19 stars to derive more precise velocity measurements for member stars, and to identify two new members with radial velocities and metallicities consistent with the stream's properties. One of these new member stars is located 30° away from the previously identified body of C-19, implying that the stream is significantly more extended than previously known and that more members likely await discovery. In the main part of C-19, we measure a radial velocity dispersion σv = 6.2$^{+2.0}_{-1.4}{\rm \, km\, s^{-1}}$ from nine members, and a stream width of 0.56° ± 0.08°, equivalent to ~158 pc at a heliocentric distance of 18 kpc. These confirm that C-19 is comparatively hotter, dynamically, than other known globular cluster streams and shares the properties of faint dwarf galaxy streams. On the other hand, the variations in the Na abundances of the three newly observed bright member stars, the variations in Mg and Al for two of them, and the normal Ba abundance of the one star where it can be measured provide further evidence for a globular cluster origin. The tension between the dynamical and chemical properties of C-19 suggests that its progenitor experienced a complex birth environment or disruption history.
Related projects
Galaxy Evolution in the Local Group
Galaxy formation and evolution is a fundamental Astrophysical problem. Its study requires “travelling back in time”, for which there are two complementary approaches. One is to analyse galaxy properties as a function of red-shift. Our team focuses on the other approach, called “Galactic Archaeology”. It is based on the determination of galaxy
Matteo
Monelli