ALBERT

Description: Chemically tagging groups of stars born in the same birth cluster is a major goal of spectroscopic surveys. To investigate the feasibility of such strong chemical tagging, we perform a blind chemical tagging experiment on abundances measured from APOGEE survey spectra. We apply a density-based clustering algorithm to the 8D chemical space defined by [Mg/Fe], [Al/Fe], [Si/Fe], [K/Fe], [Ti/Fe], [Mn/Fe], [Fe/H], and [Ni/Fe], abundances ratios which together span multiple nucleosynthetic channels. In a high-quality sample of 182 538 giant stars, we detect 21 candidate clusters with more than 15 members. Our candidate clusters are more chemically homogeneous than a population of non-member stars with similar [Mg/Fe] and [Fe/H], even in abundances not used for tagging. Group members are consistent with having the same age and fall along a single stellar-population track in log g versus Teff space. Each group’s members are distributed over multiple kpc, and the spread in their radial and azimuthal actions increases with age. We qualitatively reproduce this increase using N-body simulations of cluster dissolution in Galactic potentials that include transient winding spiral arms. Observing our candidate birth clusters with high-resolution spectroscopy in other wavebands to investigate their chemical homogeneity in other nucleosynthetic groups will be essential to confirming the efficacy of strong chemical tagging. Our initially spatially compact but now widely dispersed candidate clusters will provide novel limits on chemical evolution and orbital diffusion in the Galactic disc, and constraints on star formation in loosely bound groups.

Description: We used a new generation of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stellar models that include dust formation in the stellar winds to find the links between evolutionary models and the observed properties of a homogeneous sample of Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) planetary nebulae (PNe). Comparison between the evolutionary yields of elements such as CNO and the corresponding observed chemical abundances is a powerful tool to shed light on evolutionary processes such as hot bottom burning (HBB) and third dredge-up (TDU). We found that the occurrence of HBB is needed to interpret the nitrogen-enriched (log (N/H) + 12 〉 8) PNe. In particular, N-rich PNe with the lowest carbon content are nicely reproduced by AGB models of mass M  ≥ 6 M , whose surface chemistry reflects the pure effects of HBB. PNe with log (N/H) + 12 〈 7.5 correspond to ejecta of stars that have not experienced HBB, with initial mass below ~3 M . Some of these stars show very large carbon abundances, owing to the many TDU episodes experienced. We found from our LMC PN sample that there is a threshold to the amount of carbon accumulated at AGB surfaces, log (C/H) + 12 〈 9. Confirmation of this constraint would indicate that, after the C-star stage is reached, AGBs experience only a few thermal pulses, which suggests a rapid loss of the external mantle, probably owing to the effects of radiation pressure on carbonaceous dust particles present in the circumstellar envelope. The implications of these findings for AGB evolution theories and the need to extend the PN sample currently available are discussed.

Description: From the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 12, which covers the full Baryonic Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) footprint, we investigate the possible variation of the fine-structure constant over cosmological time-scales. We analyse the largest quasar sample considered so far in the literature, which contains 13 175 spectra (10 363 from SDSS-III/BOSS DR12 + 2812 from SDSS-II DR7) with redshift z  〈 1. We apply the emission-line method on the [O iii ] doublet ( 4960, 5008 Å) and obtain α/α = (0.9 ± 1.8) x 10 –5 for the relative variation of the fine-structure constant. We also investigate the possible sources of systematics: misidentification of the lines, sky OH lines, H β and broad line contamination, Gaussian and Voigt fitting profiles, optimal wavelength range for the Gaussian fits, chosen polynomial order for the continuum spectrum, signal-to-noise ratio and good quality of the fits. The uncertainty of the measurement is dominated by the sky subtraction. The results presented in this work, being systematics limited, have sufficient statistics to constrain robustly the variation of the fine-structure constant in redshift bins ( z   0.06) over the last 7.9 Gyr. In addition, we study the [Ne iii ] doublet ( 3869, 3968 Å) present in 462 quasar spectra and discuss the systematic effects on using these emission lines to constrain the fine-structure constant variation. Better constraints on α/α (〈 10 –6 ) using the emission-line method would be possible with high-resolution spectroscopy and large galaxy/qso surveys.

Description: We derive age constraints for 1639 red giants in the APOKASC sample for which seismic parameters from Kepler , as well as effective temperatures, metallicities and [α/Fe] values from APOGEE DR12 (Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment Data Release 12) are available. We investigate the relation between age and chemical abundances for these stars, using a simple and robust approach to obtain ages. We first derive stellar masses using standard seismic scaling relations, then determine the maximum possible age for each star as function of its mass and metallicity, independently of its evolutionary stage. While the overall trend between maximum age and chemical abundances is a declining fraction of young stars with increasing [α/Fe], at least 14 out of 241 stars with [α/Fe] 〉0.13 are younger than 6 Gyr. Five stars with [α/Fe] ≥0.2 have ages below 4 Gyr. We examine the effect of modifications in the standard seismic scaling relations, as well as the effect of very low helium fractions, but these changes are not enough to make these stars as old as usually expected for α-rich stars (i.e. ages greater than 8–9 Gyr). Such unusual α-rich young stars have also been detected by other surveys, but defy simple explanations in a galaxy evolution context.

Description: We present asymptotic giant branch (AGB) models of solar metallicity, to allow the interpretation of observations of Galactic AGB stars, whose distances should be soon available after the first release of the Gaia catalogue. We find an abrupt change in the AGB physical and chemical properties, occurring at the threshold mass to ignite hot bottom burning, i.e. 3.5 M . Stars with mass below 3.5 M reach the C-star stage and eject into the interstellar medium gas enriched in carbon, nitrogen and 17 O. The higher mass counterparts evolve at large luminosities, between 3 x 10 4 and 10 5 L . The mass expelled from the massive AGB stars shows the imprinting of proton-capture nucleosynthesis, with considerable production of nitrogen and sodium and destruction of 12 C and 18 O. The comparison with the most recent results from other research groups is discussed, to evaluate the robustness of the present findings. Finally, we compare the models with recent observations of galactic AGB stars, outlining the possibility offered by Gaia to shed new light on the evolution properties of this class of objects.

Description: We analyse the planetary nebulae (PNe) population of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), based on evolutionary models of stars with metallicities in the range 10 –3 ≤ Z ≤ 4  x  10 –3 and mass 0.9 M  〈  M  〈 8 M , evolved through the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase. The models used account for dust formation in the circumstellar envelope. To characterize the PNe sample of the SMC, we compare the observed abundances of the various species with the final chemical composition of the AGB models: this study allows us to identify the progenitors of the PNe observed, in terms of mass and chemical composition. According to our interpretation, most of the PNe descend from low-mass ( M  〈 2 M ) stars, which become carbon rich, after experiencing repeated third dredge-up episodes, during the AGB phase. A fraction of the PNe showing the signature of advanced CNO processing are interpreted as the progeny of massive AGB stars, with mass above ~6 M , undergoing strong hot bottom burning. The differences with the chemical composition of the PNe population of the Large Magellanic Cloud is explained on the basis of the diverse star formation history and age–metallicity relation of the two galaxies. The implications of this study for some still highly debated points regarding the AGB evolution are also commented.

Description: We use Spitzer observations of the rich population of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) to test models describing the internal structure and nucleosynthesis of the most massive of these stars, i.e. those with initial mass above ~4 M . To this aim, we compare Spitzer observations of LMC stars with the theoretical tracks of AGB models, calculated with two of the most popular evolution codes, that are known to differ in particular for the treatment of convection. Although the physical evolution of the two models are significantly different, the properties of dust formed in their winds are surprisingly similar, as is their position in the colour–colour and colour–magnitude diagrams obtained with the Spitzer bands. This model-independent result allows us to select a well-defined region in the ([3.6]–[4.5], [5.8]–[8.0]) plane, populated by AGB stars experiencing hot bottom burning, the progeny of stars with mass M  ~ 5.5 M . This result opens up an important test of the strength hot bottom burning using detailed near-IR ( H and K bands) spectroscopic analysis of the oxygen-rich, high-luminosity candidates found in the well-defined region of the colour–colour plane. This test is possible because the two stellar evolution codes we use predict very different results for the surface chemistry, and the C/O ratio in particular, owing to their treatment of convection in the envelope and of convective boundaries during third dredge-up. The differences in surface chemistry are most apparent when the model stars reach the phase with the largest infrared emission.

Description: The abundance of O in planetary nebulae (PNe) has been historically used as a metallicity indicator of the interstellar medium (ISM), where they originated; e.g. it has been widely used to study metallicity gradients in our Galaxy and beyond. However, clear observational evidence for O self-enrichment in low-metallicity Galactic PNe with C-rich dust has been recently reported. Here, we report asymptotic giant branch (AGB) nucleosynthesis predictions for the abundances of the CNO elements and helium in the metallicity range Z /4 〈 Z 〈 2 Z . Our AGB models, with diffusive overshooting from all the convective borders, predict that O is overproduced in low- Z low-mass (~1–3 M ) AGB stars and nicely reproduce the recent O overabundances observed in C-rich dust PNe. This confirms that O is not always a good proxy of the original ISM metallicity and other chemical elements such as Cl or Ar should be used instead. The production of oxygen by low-mass stars should be thus considered in galactic-evolution models.

Description: We used models of thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, which also describe the dust-formation process in the wind, to interpret the combination of near- and mid-infrared photometric data of the dwarf galaxy IC 1613. This is the first time that this approach is extended to an environment different from the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds (MCs). Our analysis, based on synthetic population techniques, shows nice agreement between the observations and the expected distribution of stars in the colour–magnitude diagrams obtained with JHK and Spitzer bands. This allows a characterization of the individual stars in the AGB sample in terms of mass, chemical composition and formation epoch of the progenitors. We identify the stars exhibiting the largest degree of obscuration as carbon stars evolving through the final AGB phases, descending from 1–1.25 M objects of metallicity Z  = 10 –3 and from 1.5–2.5 M stars with Z  = 2  x  10 –3 . Oxygen-rich stars constitute the majority of the sample (~65 per cent), mainly low-mass stars (〈2 M ) that produce a negligible amount of dust (≤10 –7 M yr –1 ). We predict the overall dust-production rate from IC 1613, mostly determined by carbon stars, to be ~6  x  10 –7 M yr –1 with an uncertainty of 30 per cent. The capability of the current generation of models to interpret the AGB population in an environment different from the MCs opens the possibility to extend this kind of analysis to other Local Group galaxies.

Description: We present nucleosynthesis predictions (HeCNOCl) from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) models, with diffusive overshooting from all the convective borders, in the metallicity range Z /4 〈  Z  〈 2 Z . They are compared to recent precise nebular abundances in a sample of Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) that is divided among double-dust chemistry (DC) and oxygen-dust chemistry (OC) according to the infrared dust features. Unlike the similar subsample of Galactic carbon-dust chemistry PNe recently analysed by us, here the individual abundance errors, the higher metallicity spread, and the uncertain dust types/subtypes in some PNe do not allow a clear determination of the AGB progenitor masses (and formation epochs) for both PNe samples; the comparison is thus more focused on a object-by-object basis. The lowest metallicity OC PNe evolve from low-mass (~1 M ) O-rich AGBs, while the higher metallicity ones (all with uncertain dust classifications) display a chemical pattern similar to the DC PNe. In agreement with recent literature, the DC PNe mostly descend from high-mass ( M ≥ 3.5 M ) solar/supersolar metallicity AGBs that experience hot bottom burning (HBB), but other formation channels in low-mass AGBs like extra mixing, stellar rotation, binary interaction, or He pre-enrichment cannot be disregarded until more accurate C/O ratios would be obtained. Two objects among the DC PNe show the imprint of advanced CNO processing and deep second dredge-up, suggesting progenitors masses close to the limit to evolve as core collapse supernovae (above 6 M ). Their actual C/O ratio, if confirmed, indicate contamination from the third dredge-up, rejecting the hypothesis that the chemical composition of such high-metallicity massive AGBs is modified exclusively by HBB.