Subproject A5: Observational Galactic Chemodynamics

Andreas Quirrenbach (LSW), Eva Grebel (ARI), Norbert Christlieb (LSW)

Systematic mapping and calibration of the abundances (and kinematics) of the stellar populations of the Milky Way's thin and thick disk and halo, drawing on large optical surveys in order to characterize Galactic subcomponents and to provide abundances as a well-understood "tag" to mark sub-populations.

The RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE), which concluded its decade-long observations during the first funding period after having obtained around half a million stellar spectra, was our primary data source. Numerous papers on RAVE results were published during the last four years, assisted by the abundance analyses done in subproject A5. Our findings include the detection of kinematic asymmetries in the local disk and improved determinations of the local standard of rest. Most of the kinematic star groups found in RAVE were shown to be dynamical effects of the Galactic bar and spiral arms; only a few appear to be genuine remnants of accretion events. Chemical gradients and orbit estimates suggest that radial migration is unlikely to have been the main cause for the formation of the thick disk. Gas-rich mergers and subsequent in-situ star formation appear to be a more likely culprit. A general-purpose automated spectroscopic abundance analysis code (“SPACE”) was developed, which we plan to release in the second funding period. Considerable effort was spent also on the abundance analysis of spectra from the Gaia-ESO Survey, in which the members of subproject A5 participate. The results will be released to the public by the Gaia-ESO collaboration.

Radial chemical gradients of giant stars in the RadialVelocity experiment as a function of distance above andbelow the Galactic plane (left panels), the resultingmetallicity distribution functions (central panels), anda comparison to predictions from the Besancon model(right panels; the blue lines are the predicted contributionsfrom thin disk stars, red lines stand for thick disk stars,and green lines for halo stars). While data and model showsimilar overall trends in the metallicity gradients, thereare discrepancies in the predicted distribution fromdifferent Galactic components (credit: Boeche et al. 2014).

Publications

Piffl, T., Scannapieco, C., Binney, J., Steinmetz, M., Scholz, R.-D., Williams, M.E.K., de Jong, R.S., Kordopatis, G., Matijevic, G., Bienayme, O., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Boeche, C., Freeman, K., Gibson, B., Gilmore, G., Grebel, E.K., et al.: The RAVE survey: the Galactic escape speed and the mass of the Milky Way" ; 2014, A&A, 562, 91

Conrad, C., Scholz, R.-D., Kharchenko, N.V., Piskunov, A.E., Schilbach, E., Roeser, S., Boeche, C., Kordopatis, G., Siebert, A., Williams, M., Munari, U., Matijevic, G., Grebel, E.K., et al.: A RAVE Investigation on Galactic Open Clusters. I. Radial Velocities and Metallicities" ; 2014, A&A, 562, A54

Minchev, I., Chiappini, C., Martig, M., Steinmetz, M., de Jong, R.S., Boeche, C., Scannapieco, C., Zwitter, T., Wyse, R.F.G., Binney, J.J., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Bienayme, O., Famaey, B., Freeman, K.C., Gibson, B.K., Grebel, E.K., et al.: A new stellar chemo-kinematic relation reveals the merger history of the Milky Way disk" ; 2014, ApJ, 781, L20

Kordopatis, G., Gilmore, G., Wyse, R.F.G., Steinmetz, M., Siebert, A., Bienayme, O., McMillan, P., Minchev, I., Zwitter, T., Gibson, B.K., Seabroke, G., Grebel, E.K., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Boeche, C., et al.: In the thick of it: Metal-poor disc stars in RAVE" ; 2013, MNRAS, 436, 3231

Caffau, E., Koch, A., Sbordone, L., Sartoretti, P., Hansen, C.J., Royer, F., Leclerc, N., Bonifacio, P., Christlieb, N., Ludwig, H.-G., Grebel, E.K., et al.: Velocity and abundance precisions for future high-resolution spectroscopic surveys: a study for 4MOST" ; 2013, AN, 334, 197

Golubov, O., Just, A., Bienayme, O., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Gibson, B.K., Grebel, E.K., et al.: The asymmetric drift, the local standard of rest, and implications from RAVE data" ; 2013, A&A, 557, A92

Kos, J., Zwitter, T., Grebel, E.K., et al.: Diffuse Interstellar Band at 8620 \AA\ in RAVE: A New Method for Detecting the Diffuse Interstellar Band in Spectra of Cool Stars" 2013, ApJ, 778, 86

Binney, J., Burnett, B., Kordopatis, G., McMillan, P.J., Sharma, S., Zwitter, T., Bienaym\'e, O., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Steinmetz, M., Gilmore, G., Williams, M.E.K., Navarro, J., Grebel, E.K., et al.: New Distances to RAVE Stars" ; 2014, MNRAS, 437, 351

Binney, J., Burnett, B., Kordopatis, G., Steinmetz, M., Gilmore, G., Bienayme, O., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Famaey, B., Grebel, E.K., et al.: Galactic kinematics and dynamics from Radial Velocity Experiment stars" ; 2014, MNRAS, 439, 1231

Antoja, T., Helmi, A., Dehnen, W., Bienayme, O., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Famaey, B., Freeman, K., Gibson, B.K., Gilmore, G., Grebel, E.K., et al.: "Constraints on the Galactic Bar from the Hercules Stream As Traced With RAVE Across the Galaxy" ; 2014, A&A, 563, 60

Boeche, C., Siebert, A., Piffl, T., Just, A., et al.: Chemical Gradients in the Milky Way from RAVE Data. I. Dwarf Stars" ; 2013, A&A, 559, 59

Kordopatis, G., Gilmore, G., Steinmetz, M., Boeche, C., Seabroke, G.M., Siebert, A., Zwitter, T., Binney, J., de Laverny, P., Recio-Blanco, A., Williams, M.E.K., et al.: The Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE): Fourth Data Release" ; 2013, AJ, 146, 134

Zerjal, M., Zwitter, T., Matijevic, G., Strassmeier, K.G., Biemayme, O., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Boeche, C., et al.: Chromospherically Active Stars in the RAVE Survey. I. The Catalog" ; 2013, ApJ, 776, 127

Williams, M.E.K., Steinmetz, M., Binney, J., Siebert, A., Enke, H., Famaey, B., Minchev, I., de Jong, R., Boeche, C., Freeman, K.C., Biemyme, O., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Gibson, B.K., Gilmore, G.F., Grebel, E.K.: The wobbly Galaxy: kinematics north and south with RAVE red clump giants" ; 2013, MNRAS, 436, 101

Boeche, C., Chiappini, C., Minchev, I., et al.: The relation between chemical abundances and kinematics of the Galactic disk with RAVE" ; 2013, A&A, 535, A19

Pasetto, S., Grebel, E.K., Zwitter, T., Chiosi, C., Bertelli, G., Bienayme, O., Seabroke, G., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Boeche, C., et al.: Thick disk kinematics from RAVE and the solar motion" ; 2012, A&A, 547, A70

Pasetto, S., Grebel, E.K., Zwitter, T., Chiosi, C., Bertelli, G., Bienayme, O., Seabroke, G., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Boeche, C., et al.: Thin disk kinematics from RAVE and the solar motion" ; 2012, A&A, 547, A71

Siebert, A., Famaey, B., Binney, J., Burnett, B., Faure, C., Minchev, I., Williams, M.E.K., Bienayme, O., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Boeche, C., et al.: The properties of the local spiral arms from RAVE data: two-dimensional density wave approach" ; 2012, MNRAS, 425, 2335

Matijevic, G., Zwitter, T., Bienayme, O., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Boeche, C., et al.: Exploring the morphology of RAVE stellar spectra" ; 2012, ApJS, 200, 14

Caliskan, S., Christlieb, N., Grebel, E.K.: Abundance analysis of the outer halo globular cluster Palomar 14" ; 2012, A&A, 537, A83

Antoja, T., Helmi, A., Bienayme, O., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Famaey, B., Freeman, K., Gibson, B.K., Gilmore, G., Grebel, E.K., et al.: Kinematic groups beyond the Solar neighborhood with RAVE" ; 2012, MNRAS, 426, L1

Martell, S.L., Smolinski, J.P., Beers, T.C., & Grebel}, E.K.: Building the Galactic halo from globular clusters: evidence from chemically unusual red giants" ; 2011, A&A, 534, A136

Boeche, C., Siebert, A., Williams, M., de Jong, R.S., Steinmetz, M., Fulbright, J.P., Ruchti, G.R., Bienayme, O., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Campbell, R., Freeman, K.C., Gibson, B.K., Gilmore, G., Grebel, E.K., et al.: The RAVE Catalogue of Stellar Elemental Abundances: First Data Release" ; 2011, AJ, 142, 193

Ruchti, G.R., Fulbright, J.P., Wyse, R.F.G., Gilmore, G.F., Grebel, E.K., et al.: Metal-Poor Lithium-Rich Giants in the RAVE Survey" ; 2011, ApJ, 743, 107

Editor: T. Lisker