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The Prevalence of the α-bimodality: First JWST α-abundance Results in M31

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 February 2024

David L. Nidever Open the ORCID record for David L. Nidever [Opens in a new window] ,
Karoline Gilbert Open the ORCID record for Karoline Gilbert [Opens in a new window] ,
Erik Tollerud ,
Charles Siders ,
Ivanna Escala ,
Carlos Allende Prieto ,
Verne Smith ,
Katia Cunha ,
Victor P. Debattista  and
Yuan-Sen Ting
...Show all authors
David L. Nidever*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173840, Bozeman, MT 59717-3840, USA.
Karoline Gilbert
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Erik Tollerud
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Charles Siders
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173840, Bozeman, MT 59717-3840, USA.
Ivanna Escala
Affiliation:
Princeton University, 4 Ivy Lane, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara St., Pasadena, CA 91101, USA
Carlos Allende Prieto
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astrofsica de Canarias, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain Departamento de Astrofsica, Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Verne Smith
Affiliation:
NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, UMR 7095 CNRS, Sorbonne Université, 98bis Bd. Arago, 75014 Paris, France
Katia Cunha
Affiliation:
Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, UMR 7095 CNRS, Sorbonne Université, 98bis Bd. Arago, 75014 Paris, France Observatório Nacional, Rua General José Cristino, 77, 20921-400 São Cristóvão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
Victor P. Debattista
Affiliation:
Jeremiah Horrocks Institute, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK
Yuan-Sen Ting
Affiliation:
Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Australian National University, Cotter Rd., Weston, ACT 2611, Australia Research School of Computer Science, Australian National University, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia
Evan N. Kirby
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Notre Dame, 225 Nieuwland Science Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
*
email: dnidever@montana.edu
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Abstract

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We present initial results from our JWST NIRSpec program to study the α-abundances in the M31 disk. The Milky Way has two chemically-defined disks, the low-α and high-α disks, which are closely related to the thin and thick disks, respectively. The origin of the two populations and the α-bimodality between them is not entirely clear, although there are now several models that can reproduce the observed features. To help constrain the models and discern the origin, we have undertaken a study of the chemical abundances of the M31 disk using JWST NIRSpec, in order to determine whether stars in M31’s disk also show an α-abundance bimodality. Approximately 100 stars were observed in our single NIRSpec field at a projected distance of 18 kpc from the M31 center. The 1-D extracted spectra have an average signal-to-noise ratio of 85 leading to statistical metallicity precision of 0.016 dex, α-abundance precision of 0.012 dex, and a radial velocity precision 8 km s-1 (mostly from systematics). The initial results indicate that, in contrast to the Milky Way, there is no α-bimodality in the M31 disk, and no low-α sequence. The entire stellar population falls along a single chemical sequence very similar to the MW’s high-α component which had a high star formation rate. While this is somewhat unexpected, the result is not that surprising based on other studies that found the M31 disk has a larger velocity dispersion than the MW and is dominated by a thick component. M31 has had a more active accretion and merger history than the MW which might explain the chemical differences.

Keywords

galaxies: abundancesgalaxies: stellar contentgalaxies: structuregalaxies: evolutionAndromeda galaxy
Type
Contributed Paper
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 18 , Symposium S377: Early Disk-Galaxy Formation from JWST to the Milky Way , December 2022 , pp. 115 - 122
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Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of International Astronomical Union

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