Keywords

We use LAMOST DR4 M giants combined with Gaia DR2 proper motions and ALLWISE photometry to obtain an extremely pure sample of Sagittarius (Sgr) stream stars. Using TiO5 and CaH spectral indices as indicators, we selected a large sample of M-giant stars from M-dwarf stars in LAMOST DR4 spectra. Considering the position, distance, proper motion, and angular momentum distribution, we obtained 164 pure Sgr stream stars. We find that the trailing arm has higher energy than the leading arm in the same angular momentum. The trailing arm we detected extends to a heliocentric distance of ∼130 kpc at ${\tilde{{\rm{\Lambda }}}}_{\odot }\sim 170^\circ$, which is consistent with the feature found in RR Lyrae in Sesar et al. Both of these detections of Sgr, in M-giants and in RR Lyrae, imply that the Sgr stream may contain multiple stellar populations with a broad metallicity range.

The SDSS-IV Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) survey provides precise chemical abundances of 18 chemical elements for ∼176,000 red giant stars distributed over much of the Milky Way Galaxy (MW), and includes observations of the core of the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy (Sgr). The APOGEE chemical abundance patterns of Sgr have revealed that it is chemically distinct from the MW in most chemical elements. We employ a k-means clustering algorithm to six-dimensional chemical space defined by [(C+N)/Fe], [O/Fe], [Mg/Fe], [Al/Fe], [Mn/Fe], and [Ni/Fe] to identify 62 MW stars in the APOGEE sample that have Sgr-like chemical abundances. Of the 62 stars, 35 have Gaia kinematics and positions consistent with those predicted by N-body simulations of the Sgr stream, and are likely stars that have been stripped from Sgr during the last two pericenter passages (<2 Gyr ago). Another 20 of the 62 stars exhibit chemical abundances indistinguishable from the Sgr stream stars, but are on highly eccentric orbits with median r_apo ∼ 25 kpc. These stars are likely the "accreted" halo population thought to be the result of a separate merger with the MW 8–11 Gyr ago. We also find one hypervelocity star candidate. We conclude that Sgr was enriched to [Fe/H] ∼ −0.2 before its most recent pericenter passage. If the "accreted halo" population is from one major accretion event, then this progenitor galaxy was enriched to at least [Fe/H] ∼ −0.6, and had a similar star formation history to Sgr before merging.

We analyze chemical abundances of stars in the Sagittarius (Sgr) tidal stream using high-resolution Gemini+GRACES spectra of 42 members of the highest surface-brightness portions of both the trailing and leading arms. Targets were chosen using a 2MASS+WISE color–color selection, combined with the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) radial velocities. In this Letter, we analyze [Fe/H] and α-elements produced by both hydrostatic (O, Mg) and explosive (Si, Ca, Ti) nucleosynthetic processes. The average [Fe/H] for our Sgr stream stars is lower than that for stars in the Sgr core, and stars in the trailing and leading arms show systematic differences in [Fe/H]. Both hydrostatic and explosive elements are depleted relative to Milky Way (MW) disk and halo stars, with a larger gap between the MW trend and Sgr stars for the hydrostatic elements. Chemical abundances of Sgr stream stars show similar patterns to those measured in the core of the Sgr dSph. We explore the ratio of hydrostatic to explosive α-elements [α_h/ex] (which we refer to as the "HEx ratio"). Our observed HEx ratio trends for Sgr debris are deficient relative to MW stars. Via simple chemical evolution modeling, we show that these HEx ratio patterns are consistent with a Sgr IMF that lacks the most massive stars. This study provides a link between the chemical properties in the intact Sgr core and the significant portion of the Sgr system's luminosity that is estimated to currently reside in the streams.

The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment provides the opportunity of measuring elemental abundances for C, N, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni in vast numbers of stars. We analyze thechemical-abundance patterns of these elements for 158 red giant stars belonging to the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy (Sgr). This is the largest sample of Sgr stars with detailed chemical abundances, and it is the first time that C, N, P, K, V, Cr, Co, and Ni have been studied at high resolution in this galaxy. We find that the Sgr stars with [Fe/H] ≳ −0.8 are deficient in all elemental abundance ratios (expressed as [X/Fe]) relative to the Milky Way, suggesting that the Sgr stars observed today were formed from gas that was less enriched by Type II SNe than stars formed in the Milky Way. By examining the relative deficiencies of the hydrostatic (O, Na, Mg, and Al) and explosive (Si, P, K, and Mn) elements, our analysis supports the argument that previous generations of Sgr stars were formed with a top-light initial mass function, one lacking the most massive stars that would normally pollute the interstellar medium with the hydrostatic elements. We use a simple chemical-evolution model, flexCE, to further support our claim and conclude that recent stellar generations of Fornax and the Large Magellanic Cloud could also have formed according to a top-light initial mass function.

The dynamics of the core of the Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy are explored using high-resolution (R ∼ 22, 500), H-band, near-infrared spectra of over 1000 giant stars in the central 3 deg² of the system, of which 328 are identified as Sgr members. These data, among some of the earliest observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III/Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) and the largest published sample of high resolution Sgr dSph spectra to date, reveal a distinct gradient in the velocity dispersion of Sgr from 11 to 14 km s⁻¹ for radii >08 from center to a dynamical cold point of 8 km s⁻¹ in the Sgr center—a trend differing from that found in previous kinematical analyses of Sgr over larger scales that suggests a more or less flat dispersion profile at these radii. Well-fitting mass models with either cored and cusped dark matter distributions can be found to match the kinematical results, although the cored profile succeeds with significantly more isotropic stellar orbits than required for a cusped profile. It is unlikely that the cold point reflects an unusual mass distribution. The dispersion gradient may arise from variations in the mixture of populations with distinct kinematics within the dSph; this explanation is suggested (e.g., by detection of a metallicity gradient across similar radii), but not confirmed, by the present data. Despite these remaining uncertainties about their interpretation, these early test data (including some from instrument commissioning) demonstrate APOGEE's usefulness for precision dynamical studies, even for fields observed at extreme airmasses.

We present high-resolution spectroscopic measurements of the abundances of the α element titanium (Ti) and s-process elements yttrium (Y) and lanthanum (La) for 59 candidate M giant members of the Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf spheroidal (dSph) + tidal tail system pre-selected on the basis of position and radial velocity (RV). As expected, the majority of these stars show peculiar abundance patterns compared to those of nominal Milky Way (MW) stars, but as a group, the stars form a coherent picture of chemical enrichment of the Sgr dSph from [Fe/H] = −1.4 to solar abundance. This sample of spectra provides the largest number of Ti, La, and Y abundances yet measured for a dSph, and spans metallicities not typically probed by studies of the other, generally more metal-poor MW satellites. On the other hand, the overall [Ti/Fe], [Y/Fe], [La/Fe], and [La/Y] patterns with [Fe/H] of the Sgr stream plus Sgr core do, for the most part, resemble those seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and other dSphs, only shifted by Δ[Fe/H] ∼ +0.4 from the LMC and by ∼+1 dex from the other dSphs; these relative shifts reflect the faster and/or more efficient chemical evolution of Sgr compared to the other satellites, and show that Sgr has had an enrichment history more like the LMC than the other dSphs. By tracking the evolution of the abundance patterns along the Sgr stream we can follow the time variation of the chemical make-up of dSph stars donated to the Galactic halo by Sgr. This evolution demonstrates that while the bulk of the stars currently in the Sgr dSph is quite unlike those of the Galactic halo, an increasing number of stars farther along the Sgr stream have abundances like MW halo stars, a trend that shows clearly how the Galactic halo could have been contributed by present-day satellite galaxies even if the present chemistry of those satellites is now different from typical halo field stars. Finally, we analyze the chemical abundances of a moving group of M giants among the Sgr leading arm stars at the North Galactic Cap, but having RVs unlike the infalling Sgr leading arm debris there. Through use of "chemical fingerprinting," we conclude that these mostly receding northern hemisphere M giants also are Sgr stars, likely trailing arm debris overlapping the Sgr leading arm in the north.