On the age of field halo stars (Jofre & Weiss, 2011)

TL;DR

This study analyzes stellar ages from SDSS data and globular clusters, revealing a dominant population of 10-12 billion-year-old stars that supports rapid formation of the Milky Way's inner halo during early collapse.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence for the age distribution of halo stars, supporting the rapid formation scenario of the Milky Way's inner halo.

Findings

Majority of halo stars are 10-12 Gyr old

Supports rapid formation of the Milky Way's inner halo

Consistent with Eggen's collapse scenario

Abstract

A study of stellar ages of a sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is presented. The results are consolidated with a set of globular clusters (GCs) and show that this stellar sample is composed by one dominant population of 10-12 Gyr old. This supports the Eggen's scenario claiming that the inner halo of the Milky Way formed rapidly, probably during the collapse of the proto-Galactic cloud.