On the Origin of Metal-poor Stars in the Solar Neighborhood

TL;DR

This study investigates the origins of six metal-poor high proper motion stars in the solar neighborhood by analyzing their ages, kinematics, and orbital parameters, suggesting diverse origins including halo, thick disk, and possible dwarf galaxy remnants.

Contribution

It combines Gaia DR2 astrometry, high-resolution spectroscopy, and Bayesian age estimation to explore the origins of metal-poor stars, including potential associations with globular clusters and dwarf galaxies.

Findings

Stars belong to halo, thick disk, or low-metallicity tail of the thick disk.

Some stars show retrograde orbits indicating dwarf galaxy origin.

Most stars are unlikely to originate from globular clusters.

Abstract

We determined the ages, the kinematic parameters and Galactic orbital parameters of six metal-poor (-2.4<[Fe/H]<-1 dex) F-type high proper motion (HPM) stars to investigate their HPM nature and origin. For the kinematical procedure, the astrometric data from the Gaia DR2 was used. High resolution ELODIE spectra of the six dwarfs were also used to obtain accurate [Fe/H] abundances and up-to-date [$\alpha$/Fe] abundances. The calculations for stellar ages were based on Bayesian statistics, with the computed ages falling in the range 9.5-10.1 Gyrs. On the basis of the metallicities and ages, six HMP stars are members of halo (HD6755, HD84937, BD +42 3607) or members of the low-metallicity tail of the thick disk (HD 3567, HD 194598, HD 201891). However, Galactic orbital parameters suggest thin disk (HD 84937, HD 194598), thick disk (HD 3567, HD 201891), and halo (HD 6755, BD +42 3607) population. The dynamical analysis was also performed for the escape scenario from the candidate GCs. The tidal disruption of a dwarf galaxy was also considered to be as an alternative origin. HD 6755, HD 194598, and HD 3567 with their retrograde orbital motions are likely candidate stars for a tidally disrupted dwarf galaxy origin. However, HD 194598 relationship with NGC 6284 presents an interesting case. Its encounter velocity is low (16+/-28 km/s) and their ages and metallicities are very nearly consistent with each other at the 1$\sigma$ level. The rest of the HPM sample stars have a 4% to 18% probability of encountering with selected GCs for 1.5 tidal radii. This indicates that a globular cluster origin for the program stars is unlikely.