The Chemical Evolution of the Monoceros Ring/Galactic Anticenter Stellar Structure

TL;DR

This study analyzes the chemical composition of stars in the Monoceros ring to determine its origin, finding evidence consistent with dwarf galaxy accretion but not conclusively ruling out a disk origin.

Contribution

It provides detailed chemical abundance patterns of GASS stars, supporting the dwarf galaxy accretion scenario and offering new insights into its formation history.

Findings

GASS stars have lower alpha and s-process element abundances than MW stars.

Chemical patterns of GASS stars resemble those of dwarf galaxies.

Results support dwarf galaxy accretion at the MW's edge.

Abstract

The origin of the Galactic Anticenter Stellar Structure (GASS) or "Monoceros ring" --- a low latitude overdensity at the edge of the Galactic disk spanning at least the second and third Galactic quadrants --- remains controversial. Models for the origin of GASS fall generally into scenarios where it is either a part (e.g., warp) of the Galactic disk or it represents tidal debris from the disruption of a Milky Way (MW) satellite galaxy. To further constrain models for the origin of GASS, we derive chemical abundance patterns from high resolution spectra for 21 M giants spatially and kinematically identified with it. The abundances of the (mostly) $\alpha$ element titanium and s-process elements yttrium and lanthanum for these GASS stars are found to be lower at the same [Fe/H] than those for MW stars, but similar to those of stars in the Sagittarius stream, other dwarf spheroidal galaxies, and the Large Magellanic Cloud. This demonstrates that GASS stars have a chemical enrichment history typical of dwarf galaxies --- and unlike those of typical MW stars (at least MW stars near the Sun). Nevertheless, these abundance results cannot definitively rule out the possibility that GASS was dynamically created out of a previously formed, outer MW disk because $\Lambda$CDM-based structure formation models show that galactic disks grow outward by accretion of dwarf galaxies. On the other hand, the chemical patterns seen in GASS stars do provide striking verification that accretion of dwarf galaxies has indeed happened at the edge of the MW disk.