English

The $R$-Process Alliance: Fourth Data Release from the Search for $r$-Process-Enhanced Stars in the Galactic Halo

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2020-08-19 v1 Astrophysics of Galaxies

Abstract

This compilation is the fourth data release from the RR-Process Alliance (RPA) search for rr-process-enhanced stars, and the second release based on "snapshot" high-resolution (R30,000R \sim 30,000) spectra collected with the du Pont 2.5m Telescope. In this data release, we propose a new delineation between the rr-I and rr-II stellar classes at [Eu/Fe]=+0.7\mathrm{[Eu/Fe]} = +0.7, instead of the empirically chosen [Eu/Fe]=+1.0\mathrm{[Eu/Fe]} = +1.0 level previously in use, based on statistical tests of the complete set of RPA data released to date. We also statistically justify the minimum level of [Eu/Fe] for definition of the rr-I stars, [Eu/Fe] >+0.3> +0.3. Redefining the separation between rr-I and rr-II stars will aid in analysis of the possible progenitors of these two classes of stars and whether these signatures arise from separate astrophysical sources at all. Applying this redefinition to previous RPA data, the number of identified rr-II and rr-I stars changes to 51 and 121, respectively, from the initial set of data releases published thus far. In this data release, we identify 21 new rr-II, 111 new rr-I (plus three re-identified), and 7 new (plus one re-identified) limited-rr stars out of a total of 232 target stars, resulting in a total sample of 72 new rr-II stars, 232 new rr-I stars, and 42 new limited-rr stars identified by the RPA to date.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2007.00749,
  title  = {The $R$-Process Alliance: Fourth Data Release from the Search for $r$-Process-Enhanced Stars in the Galactic Halo},
  author = {Erika M. Holmbeck and Terese T. Hansen and Timothy C. Beers and Vinicius M. Placco and Devin D. Whitten and Kaitlin C. Rasmussen and Ian U. Roederer and Rana Ezzeddine and Charli M. Sakari and Anna Frebel and Maria R. Drout and Joshua D. Simon and Ian B. Thompson and Joss Bland-Hawthorn and Brad K. Gibson and Eva K. Grebel and Georges Kordopatis and Andrea Kunder and Jorge Melendez and Julio F. Navarro and Warren A. Reid and George Seabroke and Matthias Steinmetz and Fred Watson and Rosemary F. G. Wyse},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2007.00749},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

17 pages, 7 figures, 6 tables; accepted to ApJS