In-situ vs accreted Milky Way globular clusters: a new classification method and implications for cluster formation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new classification method for Milky Way globular clusters based on energy and angular momentum, revealing distinct spatial, kinematic, and chemical properties of in-situ and accreted populations, and providing insights into the Galaxy's formation history.

Contribution

A novel classification scheme for GCs using energy, angular momentum, and chemical abundances, linking their origins to the Milky Way's formation and evolution.

Findings

In-situ GCs are centrally concentrated and aligned with the Galactic disc.

Accreted GCs have a spherical distribution and distinct chemical signatures.

The in-situ GCs show a disc spin-up signature indicating the Galaxy's disc formation ~12 Gyr ago.

Abstract

We present a new scheme for the classification of the in-situ and accreted globular clusters (GCs). The scheme uses total energy $E$ and $z$-component of the orbital angular momentum and is calibrated using [Al/Fe] abundance ratio. We demonstrate that such classification results in the GC populations with distinct spatial, kinematic, and chemical abundance distributions. The in-situ GCs are distributed within the central 10 kpc of the Galaxy in a flattened configuration aligned with the MW disc, while the accreted GCs have a wide distribution of distances and a spatial distribution close to spherical. In-situ and accreted GCs have different $\rm [Fe/H]$ distributions with the well-known bimodality present only in the metallicity distribution of the in-situ GCs. Furthermore, the accreted and in-situ GCs are well separated in the plane of $\rm [Al/Fe]-[Mg/Fe]$ abundance ratios and follow distinct sequences in the age--$\rm [Fe/H]$ plane. The in-situ GCs in our classification show a clear disc spin-up signature -- the increase of median $V_\phi$ at metallicities $\rm [Fe/H]\approx -1.3\div -1$ similar to the spin-up in the in-situ field stars. This signature signals the MW's disc formation, which occurred $\approx 11.7-12.7$ Gyrs ago (or at $z\approx 3.1-5.3$) according to GC ages. In-situ GCs with metallicities of $\rm [Fe/H]\gtrsim -1.3$ were thus born in the Milky Way disc, while lower metallicity in-situ GCs were born during early, turbulent, pre-disc stages of the evolution of the Galaxy and are part of its Aurora stellar component.