Formation of Galactic Systems in Light of the Magnesium Abundance in Field Stars: The Thin Disk

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

accepted 2006, Astronomy Letters, Vol. 32 No. 6, P.376-392, 14 pages, 10 figures

Scientific paper

10.1134/S1063773706060028

We analyze the relations between the relative magnesium abundances in stars and their metallicities, Galactic orbital elements, and ages. The relative magnesium abundances in metal-poor ([Fe/H] < -0.4) thin-disk stars have been found to systematically decrease with increasing stellar orbital radii in such a way that magnesium over abundances ([Mg/Fe]>0.2 dex) are essentially observed only in the stars whose orbits lie almost entirely within the solar circle. At the same time, the range of metallicities in magnesium-poor stars is displaced from (-0.5<[Fe/H]<+0.3 dex) to (-0.7<[Fe/H]<+0.2 dex) as their orbital radii increase. This behavior suggests that, first, the star formation rate decreases with increasing Galactocentric distance and, second, there was no star formation for some time outside the solar circle while this process was continuous within the solar circle. The decrease in the star formation rate with increasing Galactocentric distance is responsible for the existence of a negative radial metallicity gradient (grad_{R}[Fe/H]=(-0.05 \pm 0.01) kpc^{-1}) in the disk, which shows a tendency to increase with decreasing age. At the same time the relative magnesium abundance exhibits no radial gradient. We have confirmed the existence of a steep negative vertical metallicity gradient (grad_Z [Fe/H]=(-0.29 \pm 0.06) kpc^{-1}) and detected a significant positive vertical gradient in relative magnesium abundance (grad_Z [Mg/Fe]=(0.13 \pm 0.02) kpc^{-1}); both gradients increase appreciably in absolute value with decreasing age. We have found that there is not only an age-metallicity relation, but also an age-magnesium abundance relation in the thin disk.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Formation of Galactic Systems in Light of the Magnesium Abundance in Field Stars: The Thin Disk does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Formation of Galactic Systems in Light of the Magnesium Abundance in Field Stars: The Thin Disk, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Formation of Galactic Systems in Light of the Magnesium Abundance in Field Stars: The Thin Disk will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-20373

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.