Examinando por Autor "Alves-Brito, Alan"
Mostrando 1 - 3 de 3
Resultados por página
Opciones de ordenación
Ítem Discovery of a new stellar subpopulation residing in the (Inner) stellar halo of the milky way(Institute of Physics Publishing, 2019-11) Fernández-Trincado, José G.; Beers, Timothy C.; Placco, Vinicius M.; Moreno, Edmundo; Alves-Brito, Alan; Minniti, Dante; Tang, Baitian; Pérez-Villegas, Angeles; Reylé, Céline; Robin, Annie C.; Villanova, SandroWe report the discovery of a unique collection of metal-poor giant stars that exhibit anomalously high levels of 28Si, clearly above typical Galactic levels. Our sample spans a narrow range of metallicities, peaking at −1.07 ± 0.06, and exhibits abundance ratios of [Si, Al/Fe] that are as extreme as those observed in Galactic globular clusters (GCs), and Mg is slightly less overabundant. In almost all the sources we used, the elemental abundances were redetermined from high-resolution spectra, which were reanalyzed assuming LTE. Thus, we compiled the main element families, namely, the light elements (C, N), α-elements (O, Mg, Si), iron-peak element (Fe), s-process elements (Ce, Nd), and the light odd-Z element (Al). We also provide dynamical evidence that most of these stars lie on tight (inner) halo-like and retrograde orbits passing through the bulge. Such kinds of objects have been found in present-day halo GCs, providing the clearest chemical signature of past accretion events in the (inner) stellar halo of the galaxy, possibly formed as the result of dissolved halo GCs. Their chemical composition is, in general, similar to that of typical GC populations, although several differences exist.Ítem Gaia-IGRINS synergy: Orbits of newly identified Milky Way star clusters(EDP Sciences, 2023-01) Garro, Elisa R.; Fernández-Trincado, José G.; Minniti, Dante; Moya, Wisthon H.; Palma, Tali; Beers, Timothy C.; Placco, Vinicius M.; Barbuy, Beatriz; Sneden, Chris; Alves-Brito, Alan; Dias, Bruno; Afşar, Melike; Frelijj, Heinz; Lane, Richard R.Context. The recent and exquisite astrometric, photometric, and radial velocity measurements of the Gaia mission resulted in a substantial advancement of the determination of the orbits for old star clusters, including the oldest Milky Way globular clusters (MW GCs). Aims. The main goal of the present paper is to use the new Gaia data release 3 (DR3) and the VISTA Variables in the Via Láctea Extended Survey (VVVX) measurements to obtain the orbits for nearly a dozen new MW GC candidates that have been poorly studied or previously unexplored. Methods. We use the Gaia DR3 and VVVX databases to identify bona fide MW GC candidates, namely VVV-CL160, Patchick 122, Patchick 125, Patchick 126, Kronberger 99, Kronberger 119, Kronberger 143, ESO 92-18, ESO 93-08, Gaia 2, and Ferrero 54. The relevant mean cluster physical parameters are derived (distances, Galactic coordinates, proper motions, radial velocities). We also measure accurate mean radial velocities for the GCs VVV-CL160 and Patchick 126 using observations acquired at the Gemini-South telescope with the Immersion GRating INfrared Spectrometer (IGRINS) high-resolution spectrograph. Orbits for each cluster are then computed using the GravPot16 model, assuming typical Galactic bar pattern speeds. Results. We reconstruct the orbits for these 11 star clusters for the first time. These include star clusters with retrograde and prograde orbital motions, both in the Galactic bulge and disk. We obtain orbital properties for this sample, such as the mean time-variations of perigalactic and apogalactic distances, eccentricities, vertical excursions from the Galactic plane, and Z-components of the angular momentum. Conclusions. Our main conclusion is that, based on the orbital parameters, Patchick 125 and Patchick 126 are genuine MW bulge or halo GCs; and Ferrero 54, Gaia 2, and Patchick 122 are MW disk GCs. In contrast, the orbits of Kronberger 99, Kronberger 119, Kronberger 143, ESO 92-18, and ESO 93-08 are more consistent with old MW disk open clusters, in agreement with previous results. VVV-CL160 falls very close to the Galactic centre, but reaches larger distances beyond the Solar orbit, and therefore its origin is still unclear. © The Authors 2023.Ítem The enigmatic globular cluster UKS 1 obscured by the bulge: H -band discovery of nitrogen-enhanced stars(EDP Sciences, 2020-11-01) Fernández-Trincado, José G.; Minniti, Dante; Beers, Timothy C.; Villanova, Sandro; Geisler, Doug; Souza, Stefano O.; Smith, Leigh C.; Placco, Vinicius M.; Vieira, Katherine; Pérez-Villegas, Angeles; Barbuy, Beatriz; Alves-Brito, Alan; Moni Bidin, Christian; Alonso-García, Javier; Tang, Baitian; Palma, TaliThe presence of nitrogen-enriched stars in globular clusters provides key evidence for multiple stellar populations (MPs), as has been demonstrated with globular cluster spectroscopic data towards the bulge, disk, and halo. In this work, we employ the VVV Infrared Astrometric Catalogue (VIRAC) and the DR16 SDSS-IV release of the APOGEE survey to provide the first detailed spectroscopic study of the bulge globular cluster UKS 1. Based on these data, a sample of six selected cluster members was studied. We find the mean metallicity of UKS 1 to be [Fe/H] = -0.98 ± 0.11, considerably more metal-poor than previously reported, and a negligible metallicity scatter, typical of that observed by APOGEE in other Galactic globular clusters. In addition, we find a mean radial velocity of 66.1 ± 12.9 km s-1, which is in good agreement with literature values, within 1σ. By selecting stars in the VIRAC catalogue towards UKS 1, we also measure a mean proper motion of (μαcos(δ), μδ) = (-2.77 ± 0.23, -2.43 ± 0.16) mas yr-1. We find strong evidence for the presence of MPs in UKS 1, since four out of the six giants analysed in this work have strong enrichment in nitrogen ([N/Fe] - +0.95) accompanied by lower carbon abundances ([C/Fe] -0.2). Overall, the light- (C, N), α- (O, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti), Fe-peak (Fe, Ni), Odd-Z (Al, K), and the s-process (Ce, Nd, Yb) elemental abundances of our member candidates are consistent with those observed in globular clusters at similar metallicity. Furthermore, the overall star-to-star abundance scatter of elements exhibiting the multiple-population phenomenon in UKS 1 is typical of that found in other global clusters (GCs), and larger than the typical errors of some [X/Fe] abundances. Results from statistical isochrone fits in the VVV colour-magnitude diagrams indicate an age of 13.10-1.29+0.93 Gyr, suggesting that UKS 1 is a fossil relic in the Galactic bulge.