Chemo-dynamics of outer halo dwarf stars, including \textit{Gaia}-Sausage and \textit{Gaia}-Sequoia candidates

TL;DR

This study re-examines low-metallicity dwarf stars using Gaia DR2 data, revealing their association with the Gaia-Sausage and Gaia-Sequoia accretion events, and provides insights into their star formation histories.

Contribution

It updates stellar parameters with Gaia data, identifies new dynamical associations, and analyzes chemical abundance patterns in these accreted stellar populations.

Findings

11 stars linked to Gaia-Sausage event.

17 stars linked to Gaia-Sequoia event.

Discovery of a common alpha-element knee in both populations.

Abstract

The low-metallicity, kinematically interesting dwarf stars studied by Stephens \& Boesgaard (2002, SB02) are re-examined using Gaia DR2 astrometry, and updated model atmospheres and atomic line data. New stellar parameters are determined based on the Gaia DR2 parallactic distances and Dartmouth Stellar Evolution Database isochrones. These are in excellent agreement with spectroscopically determined stellar parameters for stars with [Fe/H]$>-2$; however, large disagreements are found for stars with [Fe/H]$\le-2$, with offsets as large as $\Delta$T$_{\rm eff}\sim+500$ K and $\Delta$log\,$g\sim+1.0$. A subset of six stars (test cases) are analysed ab initio using high resolution spectra with Keck HIRES and Gemini GRACES. This sub-sample is found to include two $\alpha$-challenged dwarf stars, suggestive of origins in a low mass, accreted dwarf galaxy. The orbital parameters for the entire SB02 sample are re-determined using \textit{Gaia} DR2 data. We find 11 stars that are dynamically coincident with the \textit{Gaia}-Sausage accretion event and another 17 with the \textit{Gaia}-Sequoia event in action space. Both associations include low-mass, metal-poor stars with isochrone ages older than 10 Gyr. Two dynamical subsets are identified within \textit{Gaia}-Sequoia. When these subsets are examined separately, a common knee in [$\alpha$/Fe] is found for the \textit{Gaia}-Sausage and low orbital energy \textit{Gaia}-Sequoia stars. A lower metallicity knee is tentatively identified in the \textit{Gaia}-Sequoia high orbital energy stars. If the metal-poor dwarf stars in these samples are true members of the \textit{Gaia}-Sausage and \textit{Gaia}-Sequoia events, then they present a unique opportunity to probe the earlier, more pristine, star formation histories of these systems.