English

An Actinide-boost Star Discovered in the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2025-05-13 v1 Astrophysics of Galaxies

Abstract

We report the discovery of an actinide-boost, very metal-poor ([Fe/H]=2.38\left[\mathrm{Fe/H} \right]=-2.38), rr-process-enhanced ([Eu/Fe]=0.80\left[\mathrm{Eu/Fe} \right]=0.80) star, LAMOST J0804+5740, within the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE). Based on the high-resolution (R36,000  and  60,000R\sim36,000\; and \;60,000) and high signal-to-noise ratio spectra obtained with the High Dispersion Spectrograph on the Subaru Telescope, the abundances of 48 species are determined. Its logϵ(Th/Eu)=0.22\log\epsilon\rm(\mathrm{Th}/\mathrm{Eu}) = -0.22 establishes it as the first confirmed actinide-boost star within the GSE. Comparative analysis of its abundance pattern with theoretical rr-process models reveals that the magnetorotationally driven jet supernova rr-process model with L^v\hat{L}v = 0.2 provides the best fit and successfully reproduces the actinide-boost signature. Kinematic analysis of actinide-boost stars reveals that approximately two-thirds of them are classified as ex-situ\textit{ex-situ} stars, suggesting that actinide-boost stars are more likely to originate from accreted dwarf galaxies. As the first actinide-boost star identified within the GSE, J0804+5740 will provide valuable insights into rr-process nucleosynthesis in accreted dwarf galaxies like the GSE, especially on the production of the heaviest elements.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2505.07281,
  title  = {An Actinide-boost Star Discovered in the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus},
  author = {Yangming Lin and Haining Li and Ruizheng Jiang and Wako Aoki and Satoshi Honda and Zhenyu He and Ruizhi Zhang and Zhuohan Li and Gang Zhao},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.07281},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

10 pages, 4 figures, and 3 tables