Context. The first generation of stars formed in the Galaxy left behind the chemical signatures of their nucleosynthesis in the interstellar medium, visible today in the atmospheres of low-mass stars that formed afterwards. Sampling the chemistry of those low-mass provides insight into the first stars. Aims: We aim to increase the samples of stars

Aims: We have identified several tens of extremely metal-poor star candidates from SDSS and LAMOST, which we follow up with the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope (WHT) telescope to confirm their metallicity. Methods: We followed a robust two-step methodology. We first analyzed the SDSS and LAMOST spectra. A first set of stellar parameters was

We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratios in the near-infrared. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache

We take advantage of the Gaia-ESO Survey iDR4 bulge data to search for abundance anomalies that could shed light on the composite nature of the Milky Way bulge. The α-element (Mg, Si, and whenever available, Ca) abundances, and their trends with Fe abundances have been analysed for a total of 776 bulge stars. In addition, the aluminum abundances

Context. The first Gaia Data Release contains the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS). This is a subset of about 2 million stars for which, besides the position and photometry, the proper motion and parallax are calculated using Hipparcos and Tycho-2 positions in 1991.25 as prior information. Aims: We investigate the scientific potential and

Context. The evolution of massive stars surviving the red supergiant (RSG) stage remains unexplored due to the rarity of such objects. The yellow hypergiants (YHGs) appear to be the warm counterparts of post-RSG classes located near the Humphreys-Davidson upper luminosity limit, which are characterized by atmospheric instability and high mass-loss

In the updated APOGEE-Kepler catalog, we have asteroseismic and spectroscopic data for over 3000 first ascent red giants. Given the size and accuracy of this sample, these data offer an unprecedented test of the accuracy of stellar models on the post-main-sequence. When we compare these data to theoretical predictions, we find a metallicity

We utilize elemental-abundance information for Galactic red giant stars in five open clusters (NGC 7789, NGC 6819, M67, NGC 188, and NGC 6791) from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) DR13 data set to age-date the chemical evolution of the high- and low-α element sequences of the Milky Way (MW). Key to this time

We report the discovery of four massive (M > 0.8 M⊙) ZZ Ceti white dwarfs, including an ultramassive 1.16 M⊙ star. We obtained ground-based, time series photometry for 13 white dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 and Data Release 10 whose atmospheric parameters place them within the ZZ Ceti instability strip. We detect

Context. Baade's window (BW) is one of the most observed Galactic bulge fields in terms of chemical abundances. Owing to its low and homogeneous interstellar absorption it is considered the perfect calibration field for Galactic bulge studies. Aims: In the era of large spectroscopic surveys, calibration fields such as BW are necessary for cross

Formation of globular clusters (GCs), the Galactic bulge, or galaxy bulges in general is an important unsolved problem in Galactic astronomy. Homogeneous infrared observations of large samples of stars belonging to GCs and the Galactic bulge field are one of the best ways to study these problems. We report the discovery by APOGEE (Apache Point

We report the first detailed chemical abundance analysis of the exoplanet-hosting M-dwarf stars Kepler-138 and Kepler-186 from the analysis of high-resolution (R ∼ 22,500) H-band spectra from the SDSS-IV–APOGEE survey. Chemical abundances of 13 elements—C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, and Fe—are extracted from the APOGEE spectra of

The Gaia-ESO survey (GES) is now in its fifth and last year of observations and has produced tens of thousands of high-quality spectra of stars in all Milky Way components. This paper presents the strategy behind the selection of astrophysical calibration targets, ensuring that all GES results on radial velocities, atmospheric parameters, and

Aiming at testing the validity of our magnesium atomic model and investigating the effects of non-local thermodynamical equilibrium (NLTE) on the formation of the H-band neutral magnesium lines, we derive the differential Mg abundances from selected transitions for 13 stars either adopting or relaxing the assumption of local thermodynamical

The galaxy formation process in the Λ cold dark matter scenario can be constrained from the analysis of stars in the Milky Way's halo system. We examine the variation of chemical abundances in distant halo stars observed by the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), as a function of distance from the Galactic Centre (r)

With the advent of the space missions CoRoT and Kepler, it has recently become feasible to determine precise asteroseismic masses and relative ages for large samples of red giant stars. We present the CoRoGEE dataset, obtained from CoRoT light curves for 606 red giants in two fields of the Galactic disc that have been co-observed by the Apache

We present a joint analysis of the four most prominent sodium-sensitive features (Na D, Na I λ8190Å, Na I λ1.14 μm, and Na I λ2.21 μm), in the optical and near-infrared spectral ranges, of two nearby, massive (σ ˜ 300 km s-1), early-type galaxies (named XSG1 and XSG2). Our analysis relies on deep Very Large Telescope/X-Shooter long-slit spectra

The inner Galactic bulge has, until recently, been avoided in chemical evolution studies because of extreme extinction and stellar crowding. Large, near-IR spectroscopic surveys, such as the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), for the first time allow the measurement of metallicities in the inner region of our Galaxy

We present the H-band spectral line lists adopted by the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE). The APOGEE line lists comprise astrophysical, theoretical, and laboratory sources from the literature, as well as newly evaluated astrophysical oscillator strengths and damping parameters. We discuss the construction of the

The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III, explores the stellar populations of the Milky Way using the Sloan 2.5-m telescope linked to a high resolution (R ∼ 22,500), near-infrared (1.51–1.70 μm) spectrograph with 300 optical fibers. For over 150,000 predominantly red giant branch