The Milky Way Halo Revisited

• Grant number: 10/08996-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): September 01, 2010
• Effective date (End): January 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Astronomy - Stellar Astrophysics
• Principal Investigator: Silvia Cristina Fernandes Rossi
• Grantee: Vinicius Moris Placco
• Host Institution: Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas (IAG). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 10/50930-6 - Chemical evolution and galactic and extragalactic stellar populations, by means of spectroscopy and imaging, AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 12/13722-1 - (Re)Discovery and analysis of metal-poor stars in the Milky Way, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The main goal of this project is to gather all the relevant information concerning the Milky Way Halo and, through the analysis of available databases in the literature and the observation of pre-selected objects, contribute to the understanding of this peculiar Galactic component. Over the last few years, surveys such as the SDSS (Sloan Digital Sky Survey), increased the number of stellar data by orders of magnitude in comparison to the last decade, and its data are changing drastically the current view of the structure of the Galaxy, unveiling components that until now were hidden by the lack of proper statistics. This proposal is supported by the candidate's work and experience acquired during his doctoral studies, that has, as its main outcome, the development of a set of line indices suitable for obtaining carbon abundances estimates, as well as catalogues of carbon enhanced metal-poor stars candidates, whose medium resolution spectroscopy will be a part of observational proposals in medium and big-class telescopes (such as SOAR and Gemini). That will allow the obtention, in the course of this project, along with the carbon abundances, of abundance estimates for other chemical elements, such as neutron-capture elements, which are vital for better understanding the chemical evolution of the Milky Way. In addition, the analysis of the kinematical properties of those objects will also allow the exploration, in greater detail, of the correlations between the various abundance patterns shown by these stars and its possible sites of formation inside the complex structure of the Milky Way.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

PLACCO, VINICIUS M.; KENNEDY, CATHERINE R.; BEERS, TIMOTHY C.; CHRISTLIEB, NORBERT; ROSSI, SILVIA; SIVARANI, THIRUPATHI; LEE, YOUNG SUN; REIMERS, DIETER; WISOTZKI, LUTZ. SEARCHES FOR METAL-POOR STARS FROM THE HAMBURG/ESO SURVEY USING THE CH G BAND. ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL, v. 142, n. 6, DEC 2011. (10/08996-0, 07/04356-3)

PLACCO, VINICIUS M.; FREBEL, ANNA; BEERS, TIMOTHY C.; KARAKAS, AMANDA I.; KENNEDY, CATHERINE R.; ROSSI, SILVIA; CHRISTLIEB, NORBERT; STANCLIFFE, RICHARD J.. METAL-POOR STARS OBSERVED WITH THE MAGELLAN TELESCOPE. I. CONSTRAINTS ON PROGENITOR MASS AND METALLICITY OF AGB STARS UNDERGOING s-PROCESS NUCLEOSYNTHESIS. ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, v. 770, n. 2, JUN 20 2013. (12/13722-1, 10/08996-0)