The Open Cluster Chemical Abundances and Mapping Survey: II. Precision Cluster Abundances for APOGEE using SDSS DR14

TL;DR

This paper presents precise chemical abundance measurements for 19 open clusters using SDSS DR14 data, revealing detailed Galactic metallicity and element gradients crucial for understanding Galactic evolution.

Contribution

It provides a uniform, infrared-based spectroscopic analysis of 259 stars in 19 open clusters, refining Galactic chemical gradient measurements with high precision.

Findings

Measured an [Fe/H] gradient of -0.061 dex/kpc.

Confirmed positive -element gradients ([O/Fe], [Mg/Fe], [Si/Fe]).

Identified negative gradients in iron-peak elements ([Mn/Fe], [Ni/Fe]).

Abstract

The Open Cluster Chemical Abundances and Mapping (OCCAM) survey aims to produce a comprehensive, uniform, infrared-based spectroscopic dataset for hundreds of open clusters, and to constrain key Galactic dynamical and chemical parameters from this sample. This second contribution from the OCCAM survey presents analysis of 259 member stars with [Fe/H] determinations in 19 open clusters, using Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 14 (SDSS/DR14) data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) and ESA Gaia. This analysis, which includes clusters with R_{GC} ranging from 7 to 13 kpc, measures an [Fe/H] gradient of -0.061 \pm 0.004 dex/kpc. We also confirm evidence of a significant positive gradient in the \alpha-elements ([O/Fe], [Mg/Fe], and [Si/Fe]) and present evidence for a significant negative gradient in iron-peak elements ([Mn/Fe] and [Ni/Fe]).