R. S. de Jong

THE RADIAL VELOCITY EXPERIMENT (RAVE): FOURTH DATA RELEASE

We present the stellar atmospheric parameters (effective temperature, surface gravity, overall metallicity), radial velocities, individual abundances, and distances determined for 425,561 stars, which constitute the fourth public data release of the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE). The stellar atmospheric parameters are computed using a new pipeline, based on the algorithms of MATISSE and DEGAS. The spectral degeneracies and the Two Micron All Sky Survey photometric information are now better taken into consideration, improving the parameter determination compared to the previous RAVE data releases. The individual abundances for six elements (magnesium, aluminum, silicon, titanium, iron, and nickel) are also given, based on a special-purpose pipeline that is also improved compared to that available for the RAVE DR3 and Chemical DR1 data releases. Together with photometric information and proper motions, these data can be retrieved from the RAVE collaboration Web site and the Vizier database.

The wobbly Galaxy: kinematics north and south with RAVE red-clump giants

The RAdial Velocity Experiment survey, combined with proper motions and distance estimates, can be used to study in detail stellar kinematics in the extended solar neighbourhood (solar suburb). Using 72 365 red-clump stars, we examine the mean velocity components in 3D between 6 <R <10 kpc and -2 <Z <2 kpc, concentrating on north-south differences. Simple parametric fits to the (R, Z) trends for Vφ and the velocity dispersions are presented. We confirm the recently discovered gradient in mean Galactocentric radial velocity, VR, finding that the gradient is marked below the plane (δ/δR = -8 km s-1 kpc-1 for Z <0, vanishing to zero above the plane), with a Z gradient thus also present. The vertical velocity, VZ, also shows clear, large-amplitude (|VZ| = 17 km s-1) structure, with indications of a rarefaction-compression pattern, suggestive of wave-like behaviour. We perform a rigorous error analysis, tracing sources of both systematic and random errors. We confirm the north-south differences in VR and VZ along the line of sight, with the VR estimated independent of the proper motions. The complex three-dimensional structure of velocity space presents challenges for future modelling of the Galactic disc, with the Galactic bar, spiral arms and excitation of wave-like structures all probably playing a role.

The RAVE survey: the Galactic escape speed and the mass of the Milky Way

We made new estimates of the Galactic escape speed at various Galactocentric radii using the latest data release of the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE DR4). Compared to previous studies we have a database that is larger by a factor of 10, as well as reliable distance estimates for almost all stars. Our analysis is based on statistical analysis of a rigorously selected sample of 90 highvelocity halo stars from RAVE and a previously published data set. We calibrated and extensively tested our method using a suite of cosmological simulations of the formation of Milky Way-sized galaxies. Our best estimate of the local Galactic escape speed, which we define as the minimum speed required to reach three virial radii R340, is 533 +54 −41 km s −1 (90% confidence), with an additional 4% systematic uncertainty, where R340 is the Galactocentric radius encompassing a mean overdensity of 340 times the critical density for closure in the Universe. From the escape speed we further derived estimates of the mass of the Galaxy using a simple mass model with two options for the mass profile of the dark matter halo: an unaltered and an adiabatically contracted Navarro, Frenk & White (NFW) sphere. If we fix the local circular velocity, the latter profile yields a significantly higher mass than the uncontracted halo, but if we instead use the statistics for halo concentration parameters in large cosmological simulations as a constraint, we find very similar masses for both models. Our best estimate for M340, the mass interior to R340 (dark matter and baryons), is 1.3 +0.4 −0.3 × 10 12 M� (corresponds to M200 = 1.6 +0.5 −0.4 × 10 12 M� ). This estimate is in good agreement with recently published, independent mass estimates based on the kinematics of more distant halo stars and the satellite galaxy LeoI.

ON THE FORMATION OF GALACTIC THICK DISKS

Recent spectroscopic observations in the Milky Way suggest that the chemically defined thick disk (stars with high [alpha/Fe] ratios and thus old) has a significantly smaller scale-length than the thin disk. This is in apparent contradiction with observations of external edge-on galaxies, where the thin and thick components have comparable scale-lengths. Moreover, while observed disks do not flare (scale-height does not increase with radius), numerical simulations suggest that disk flaring is unavoidable, resulting from both environmental effects and secular evolution. Here we address these problems by studying two different suites of simulated galactic disks formed in the cosmological context. We show that the scale-heights of coeval populations always increase with radius. However, the total population can be decomposed morphologically into thin and thick disks, which do not flare. We relate this to the disk inside-out formation, where younger populations have increasingly larger scale-lengths and flare at progressively larger radii. In this new picture, thick disks are composed of the imbedded flares of mono-age stellar populations. Assuming that disks form inside out, we predict that morphologically defined thick disks must show a decrease in age (or [alpha/Fe] ratios) with radius and that coeval populations should always flare. This also explains the observed inversion in the metallicity and [alpha/Fe] gradients for stars away from the disk midplane in the Milky Way. The results of this work are directly linked to, and can be seen as evidence of, inside-out disk growth.

THE RAVE CATALOG OF STELLAR ELEMENTAL ABUNDANCES: FIRST DATA RELEASE

We present chemical elemental abundances for 36,561 stars observed by the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE), an ambitious spectroscopic survey of our Galaxy at Galactic latitudes vertical bar b vertical bar > 25 degrees and with magnitudes in the range 9 <I(DENIS) <13. RAVE spectra cover the Ca-triplet region at 8410-8795 angstrom with resolving power R similar to 7500. This first data release of the RAVE chemical catalog is complementary to the third RAVE data release of radial velocities and stellar parameters, and it contains chemical abundances for the elements Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Fe, and Ni, with a mean error of similar to 0.2 dex, as judged from accuracy tests performed on synthetic and real spectra. Abundances are estimated through a dedicated processing pipeline in which the curve of growth of individual lines is obtained from a library of absorption line equivalent widths to construct a model spectrum that is then matched to the observed spectrum via a chi(2) minimization technique. We plan to extend this pipeline to include estimates for other elements, such as oxygen and sulfur, in future data releases.

A new stellar chemo-kinematic relation reveals the merger history of the milky way disk

The velocity dispersions of stars near the Sun are known to increase with stellar age, but age can be difficult to determine, so a proxy like the abundance of α elements (e.g., Mg) with respect to iron, [α/Fe], is used. Here we report an unexpected behavior found in the velocity dispersion of a sample of giant stars from the Radial Velocity Experiment survey with high-quality chemical and kinematic information, in that it decreases strongly for stars with [Mg/Fe] > 0.4 dex (i.e., those that formed in the first gigayear of the Galaxys life). These findings can be explained by perturbations from massive mergers in the early universe, which have affected the outer parts of the disk more strongly, and the subsequent radial migration of stars with cooler kinematics from the inner disk. Similar reversed trends in velocity dispersion are also found for different metallicity subpopulations. Our results suggest that the Milky Way disk merger history can be recovered by relating the observed chemo-kinematic relations to the properties of past merger events.

The Dawning of the Stream of Aquarius in RAVE

We identify a new, nearby (0.5kpc d 10 kpc) stream in data from the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE). As the majority of stars in the stream lie in the constellation of Aquarius, we name it the Aquarius Stream. We identify 15 members of the stream lying between 30° < l < 75° and –70° < b < –50°, with heliocentric line-of-sight velocities V los ~ –200 km s–1. The members are outliers in the radial velocity distribution, and the overdensity is statistically significant when compared to mock samples created with both the Besancon Galaxy model and newly developed code Galaxia. The metallicity distribution function and isochrone fit in the log g-T eff plane suggest that the stream consists of a 10 Gyr old population with [M/H] ~ –1.0. We explore relations to other streams and substructures, finding that the stream cannot be identified with known structures: it is a new, nearby substructure in the Galaxys halo. Using a simple dynamical model of a dissolving satellite galaxy, we account for the localization of the stream. We find that the stream is dynamically young and therefore likely the debris of a recently disrupted dwarf galaxy or globular cluster. The Aquarius stream is thus a specimen of ongoing hierarchical Galaxy formation, rare for being right in the solar suburb.

A RAVE investigation on Galactic open clusters I. Radial velocities and metallicities

Context. Galactic open clusters (OCs) mainly belong to the young stellar population in the Milky Way disk, but are there groups and complexes of OCs that possibly define an additional level in hierarchical star formation? Current compilations are too incomplete to address this question, especially regarding radial velocities (RVs) and metallicities ([M/H]). Aims. Here we provide and discuss newly obtained RV and [M/H] data, which will enable us to reinvestigate potential groupings of open clusters and associations. Methods. We extracted additional RVs and [M/H] from the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) via a cross-match with the Catalogue of Stars in Open Cluster Areas (CSOCA). For the identified OCs in RAVE we derived RV and [M/H] from a cleaned working sample and compared the results with previous findings. Results. Although our RAVE sample does not show the same accuracy as the entire survey, we were able to derive reliable RV for 110 Galactic open clusters. For 37 OCs we publish RV for the first time. Moreover, we determined [M/H] for 81 open clusters, extending the number of OCs with [M/H] by 69.

Velocity and abundance precisions for future high-resolution spectroscopic surveys: A study for 4MOST

In preparation for future, large-scale, multi-object, hig h-resolution spectroscopic surveys of the Galaxy, we present a series of tests of the precision in radial velocity and chemi cal abundances that any such project can achieve at a 4 m class telescope. We briefly discuss a number of science cases that aim at studying the chemo-dynamical history of the major Galactic components (bulge, thin and thick disks, and halo) ‐ either as a follow-up to the Gaia mission or on their own merits. Based on a large grid of synthetic spectra that cover the full range in stellar parameters of typical survey targets, we devise an optimal wavelength range and argue for a moderately high-resolution spectrograph. As a result, the kinematic precision is not limited by any of these factors, but will practically only suffer from systematic effects, ea sily reaching uncertainties <1kms −1 . Under realistic survey conditions (namely, considering stars brighter than r = 16 mag with reasonable exposure times) we prefer an ideal resolving power of R ∼20000 on average, for an overall wavelength range (with a common two-arm spectrograph design) of [395;456.5] nm and [587;673] nm. We show for the first time on a general basis that it is possible to measure chemical abundance ratios to better than 0.1 dex for many species (Fe, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Na, Al, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Y, Ba, Nd, Eu) and to an accuracy of about 0.2 dex for other species such as Zr, La, and Sr. While our feasibility study was explicitly carried o ut for the 4MOST facility, the results can be readily applied to and used for any other conceptual design study for high-resolution spectrographs.

A new algorithm for optimizing the wavelength coverage for spectroscopic studies: Spectral Wavelength Optimization Code (SWOC)

The past decade and a half has seen the design and execution of several ground-based spectroscopic surveys, both Galactic and Extra-galactic. Additionally, new surveys are being designed that extend the boundaries of current surveys. In this context, many important considerations must be done when designing a spectrograph for the future. Among these is the determination of the optimum wavelength coverage. In this work, we present a new code for determining the wavelength ranges that provide the optimal amount of information to achieve the required science goals for a given survey. In its first mode, it utilizes a user-defined list of spectral features to compute a figure-of-merit for different spectral configurations. The second mode utilizes a set of flux-calibrated spectra, determining the spectral regions that show the largest differences among the spectra. Our algorithm is easily adaptable for any set of science requirements and any spectrograph design. We apply the algorithm to several examples, including 4MOST, showing the method yields important design constraints to the wavelength regions.