Detailed chemical abundances of distant RR Lyrae stars in the Virgo Stellar Stream

TL;DR

This study provides the first detailed chemical abundance analysis of distant RR Lyrae stars in the Virgo Stellar Stream, enabling comparison of its chemical evolution with dwarf galaxies and the Milky Way halo.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed chemical abundances for VSS RR Lyrae stars, covering 16 elements from carbon to barium, from medium-resolution spectra.

Findings

First detailed chemical abundances for VSS RR Lyrae stars.

Comparison of VSS chemical evolution with dwarf galaxies and halo.

Sampling all main nucleosynthetic channels.

Abstract

We present the first detailed chemical abundances for distant RR Lyrae stars members of the Virgo Stellar Stream (VSS), derived from X-Shooter medium-resolution spectra. Sixteen elements from carbon to barium have been measured in six VSS RR Lyrae stars, sampling all main nucleosynthetic channels. For the first time we will be able to compare in detail the chemical evolution of the VSS progenitor with those of Local Group dwarf spheroidal galaxies (LG dSph) as well as the one of the smooth halo.