A Blueprint for the Milky Way's Stellar Populations. IV. A String of Pearls $-$ the Galactic Starburst Sequence

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the phase-space distribution of stars in the Milky Way, revealing a narrow velocity-metallicity sequence linked to the galaxy's starburst history and the GSE event, using improved photometric calibration methods.

Contribution

It introduces a new empirical calibration method for synthetic stellar spectra across multiple photometric systems, enabling detailed phase-space analysis of Milky Way stars.

Findings

Discovery of a narrow $v_\phi$-[Fe/H] sequence along GSE and Splash structures.

Identification of a rapid increase in rotational velocity in a specific metallicity range.

Evidence supporting a recent starburst event during the Milky Way's interaction with GSE.

Abstract

We continue our series of papers on phase-space distributions of stars in the Milky Way based on photometrically derived metallicities and Gaia astrometry, with a focus on the halo-disk interface in the local volume. To exploit various photometric databases, we develop a method of empirically calibrating synthetic stellar spectra based on a comparison with observations of stellar sequences and individual stars in SDSS, SMSS, and PS1, overcoming band-specific corrections employed in our previous work. In addition, photometric zero-point corrections are derived to provide an internally consistent photometric system with a spatially uniform metallicity zero point. Using our phase-space diagrams, we find a remarkably narrow sequence in the rotational velocity ($v_\phi$) versus metallicity ([Fe/H]) space for a sample of high proper-motion stars ($>25$ mas yr$^{-1}$), which runs along Gaia Sausage/Enceladus (GSE) and the Splash sub-structures, and is linked to the disk, spanning nearly $2$ dex in [Fe/H]. Notably, a rapid increase of $v_\phi$ from a nearly zero net rotation to $\sim180$ km s$^{-1}$ in a narrow metallicity interval ($-0.6 \leq$ [Fe/H] $\leq -0.4$) suggests that some of these stars emerged quickly on a short gas-depletion time scale. Through measurements of a scale height and length, we argue that these stars are distinct from those heated dynamically by mergers. This chain of high proper-motion stars provides additional support for recent findings that suggest a starburst occurred when the young Milky Way encountered the gas-rich GSE progenitor, which eventually led to the settling of metal-enriched gas onto the disk.