Evidence from APOGEE for the presence of a major building block of the halo buried in the inner Galaxy

We report evidence from APOGEE for the presence of a new metal-poor stellar structure located within ∼4 kpc of the Galactic Centre. Characterized by a chemical composition resembling those of low-mass satellites of the Milky Way, this new inner Galaxy structure (IGS) seems to be chemically and dynamically detached from more metal-rich populations in the inner Galaxy. We conjecture that this structure is associated with an accretion event that likely occurred in the early life of the Milky Way. Comparing the mean elemental abundances of this structure with predictions from cosmological numerical simulations, we estimate that the progenitor system had a stellar mass of ∼5 × 108 M⊙, or approximately twice the mass of the recently discovered Gaia-Enceladus/Sausage system. We find that the accreted:in situ ratio within our metal-poor ([Fe/H] < –0.8) bulge sample is somewhere between 1:3 and 1:2, confirming predictions of cosmological numerical simulations by various groups

Chemical tagging with APOGEE: discovery of a large population of N-rich stars in the inner Galaxy

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 Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment) of a population of field stars in the inner Galaxy with abundances of N, C, and Al that are typically found in GC stars. The newly discovered stars have high [N/Fe], which is correlated with [Al/Fe] and anticorrelated with [C/Fe]. They are homogeneously distributed across, and kinematically indistinguishable from, other field stars within the same volume. Their metallicity distribution is seemingly unimodal, peaking at [Fe/H] ∼ −1, thus being in disagreement with that of the Galactic GC system. Our results can be understood in terms of different scenarios. N-rich stars could be former members of dissolved GCs, in which case the mass in destroyed GCs exceeds that of the surviving GC system by a factor of ∼8. In that scenario, the total mass contained in so-called ‘first-generation’ stars cannot be larger than that in ‘second-generation’ stars by more than a factor of ∼9 and was certainly smaller. Conversely, our results may imply the absence of a mandatory genetic link between ‘second-generation’ stars and GCs. Last, but not least, N-rich stars could be the oldest stars in the Galaxy, the by-products of chemical enrichment by the first stellar generations formed in the heart of the Galaxy

The chemical characterisation of halo substructure in the Milky Way based on APOGEE

Galactic haloes in a Λ-CDM universe are predicted to host today a swarm of debris resulting from cannibalised dwarf galaxies. The chemo-dynamical information recorded in their stellar populations helps elucidate their nature, constraining the assembly history of the Galaxy. Using data from APOGEE and Gaia, we examine the chemical properties of various halo substructures, considering elements that sample various nucleosynthetic pathways. The systems studied are Heracles, Gaia-Enceladus/Sausage (GES), the Helmi stream, Sequoia, Thamnos, Aleph, LMS-1, Arjuna, I’itoi, Nyx, Icarus, and Pontus. Abundance patterns of all substructures are cross-compared in a statistically robust fashion. Our main findings include: (i) the chemical properties of most substructures studied match qualitatively those of dwarf Milky Way satellites, such as the Sagittarius dSph. Exceptions are Nyx and Aleph, which are chemically similar to disc stars, implying that these substructures were likely formed in situ; (ii) Heracles differs chemically from in situ populations such as Aurora and its inner halo counterparts in a statistically significant way. The differences suggest that the star formation rate was lower in Heracles than in the early Milky Way; (iii) the chemistry of Arjuna, LMS-1, and I’itoi is indistinguishable from that of GES, suggesting a possible common origin; (iv) all three Sequoia samples studied are qualitatively similar. However, only two of those samples present chemistry that is consistent with GES in a statistically significant fashion; (v) the abundance patterns of the Helmi stream and Thamnos are different from all other halo substructures

Multi-proxy studies in palaeolimnology

Multi-proxy studies are becoming increasingly common in palaeolimnology. Eight basic requirements and challenges for a multi-proxy study are outlined in this essay – definition of research questions, leadership, site selection and coring, data storage, chronology, presentation of results, numerical tools, and data interpretation. The nature of proxy data is discussed in terms of physical proxies and biotic proxies. Loss-on-ignition changes and the use of transfer functions are reviewed as examples of problems in the interpretation of data from multi-proxy studies. The importance of pollen analysis and plant macrofossil analysis in multi-proxy studies is emphasised as lake history cannot be interpreted without knowledge of catchment history. Future directions are outlined about how multi-proxy studies can contribute to understanding biotic responses to environmental change