The Star Formation History of the Sagittarius dwarf

galaxy and streams

Thomas de Boer
!
V. Belokurov, S. Koposov, N. W. Evans, D. Erkal and many more
!
Institute of Astronomy
Cambridge - United Kingdom

1
 The Sagittarius stream(s)

Sgr is a large and luminous dwarf

->Progenitor mass: ~109 M⊙ (SMC-like)

->Luminosity: ~ 108 L⊙ MV~-15.2

-> 70% of luminosity in stream

!
Sgr stream:

->Largest stream in MW halo

->At least 1 full wrap around MW!

SDSS MSTO stars (Belokurov et al. 2006)
!
Important for studying halo

formation through massive systems

(and in comparison to LG dSph)

!

2MASS M-giants
2 (Majewski et al. 2003)
 One Sgr stream… or two?
Multiple sequences in Sgr stream!

‘bifurcation’ in North? Stream split?

!
Sgr stream can be separated in 2 components

->faint stream: diff distance, simpler populations

!
Open questions:

->stellar population differences?

->drawn from same progenitor?

->different pericentre passage?

Law & Majewski Sgr stream coordinates

Need to study the stellar

content of Sgr!

(Koposov et al. 2012) 3

 Photometric stream samples
14 100

! 15
Sgr bright stripe82 full

SDSS Stripe 82 photometry

16 80

17

-> single epoch and deep co-add-> photometric 18

60

N
i
completeness
19

20
40

-> Sgr based on 𝚲,B selection (Law & Majewski model)

21 20
22

-> MW foreground correction using Galactic-mirrored 23

-0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
0

fields (same l, inverse b)

14
g-i
100

-> Distance gradient correction using distances from

Sgr bright stripe82 MW region
15

Koposov et al. 2012

16 80

17
60
! 18

N
i
19
40

! 15
20

a b 21 20
4
22

10 23 0
-0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
2 g-i
14 100
5 Sgr bright stripe82 MW corrected
dec (deg)

(deg)

15

0 16 80
⊙
~

0 17
60
18
-2

N
i 19
40
-5
20

-4 21 20

-10 22

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 230 240 250 260 270 280 290 23 0

~ -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
ra (deg) ⊙ (deg) 4 g-i
 Spectroscopic stream samples
Spectroscopic sample from SDSS/SEGUE

-> atmospheric parameters (log g, log Teff)

-> radial velocities

-> metallicity [Fe/H]

-> average α-element abundance [α/Fe]

! normalised MDF
0.12
bright
gl
Select Sgr based on:

faint
0.1

-> spatial location

0.08
Count

0.06

-> radial velocity

0.04 gb

-> distance
0.02
200
a)

-> select only giants (log g<3)

0
-2.9 -2.5 -2.1 -1.7 -1.3 -0.9 -0.5 -0.1 150
[Fe/H] (dex)
100
0.12
normalised MDF bright 1 cumulative MDF

VGSR (km/s)
faint 50
0.1
0.8
0.08 0
0.6
Count

Count

0.06 -50
0.4
0.04
-100
0.02 0.2
-150
0 0
-2.9 -2.5 -2.1 -1.7 -1.3 -0.9 -0.5 -0.1 -2.9 -2.5 -2.1 -1.7 -1.3 -0.9 -0.5 -0.1 -200
[Fe/H] (dex) [Fe/H] (dex)
100 150 200 250 300
⊙ (deg)
1 cumulative MDF 5
 Bright and faint streams

Combination of spectroscopy
and photometry shows clear
stellar population picture

!
!
MSTO:

extended distribution: multiple
populations

faint stream shows simpler CMD

-> simpler stellar populations

!
RGB:

Bright stream bi-modal extended MDF

Faint stream more metal-poor

->lacks strong metal-rich ([Fe/H]>-0.9)
component

6
 Combining all pieces: the SFH
Combine photometry and spectroscopy directly to constrain ages

!
!
Construct synthetic CMD’s

-> arbitrary age, [Fe/H], [α/Fe]

-> different isochrone sets

-> photometric completeness

!
Construct synthetic MDFs

-> extract stars with similar magnitude range

-> bin in [Fe/H]

-> convolve with Gaussian

!
!
SFH using MSTO photometry (age sensitive) and RGB MDF (direct metallicity)

(de Boer et al 2012)

7
 Fitting the SFH
!
!
Fit single-epoch as well as deep co-add

Fit with and without spectroscopy

!
Sensible residuals, models reproduce
CMD

->overall small residuals (<3 sigma in most bins)

->blue stragglers (g-i<0) fit as young population

->small amount of positive residuals

MW subtraction not perfect?

!
Solutions without MDF prefer more metal-poor
SFH

0.15 0.15
bright single epoch obs faint single epoch obs
MDF fit MDF fit
0.12 0.12 no MDF
Normalised count

no MDF

0.09 0.09

0.06 0.06

0.03 0.03

0 0
-2.7 -2.3 -1.9 -1.5 -1.1 -0.7 -0.3 0.1 -2.7 -2.3 -1.9 -1.5 -1.1 -0.7 -0.3 0.1
[Fe/H] (dex) [Fe/H] (dex) 8
0.15 0.15
 SFH of bright Sgr stream
!
SFH shows tight sequence in age-[FeH] plane

->stars formed in well-mixed, homogeneously enriched
medium.

!
Similar results single-epoch and co-add
photometry

-> MDF adds meaningful constraints on SFH

!
Sequence consistent with age and metallicity of
GCs associated to Sgr

8 2.5
-> stream stars drawn from same population mix as Sgr

7 bright single epoch no MDF
MDF fit
2
bright single epoch no MDF
MDF fit !
Change of slope at age 11-13 Gyr, consistent
6
5 1.5

with Sgr alpha-element knee (de Boer et al. 2014)

4
SFR (104 Msun/dex/deg2)
SFR (10-6 Msun/yr/deg2)

3 1
2
1
0.5 ->supernovae Ia started contributing to abundance pattern
0
bright coadd no MDF
0
bright coadd no MDF
1-3 Gyr after start of star formation.

7
6
MDF fit
2
MDF fit
!
5
4
1.5
Star formation rate drops sharply at 5-7 Gyr

3 1
-> related to infall of Sgr into the MW?

2
0.5
1
0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 -2.7 -2.3 -1.9 -1.5 -1.1 -0.7 -0.3 0.1
Age (Gyr) [Fe/H] (dex)
9
 SFH of faint Sgr stream
!
Same tight sequence as in bright stream

-> Sgr dwarf is progenitor of the faint component as well
as the bright one

!
Lower S/N of the stream results in the
presence of more anomalous populations

->metal-rich populations likely fit to red MW stars

!
Faint stream composed of simpler population
mix than the bright stream

7 1.6
-> consistent with CMD morphology

6
faint single epoch no MDF
MDF fit 1.4
1.2
faint single epoch no MDF
MDF fit !
Sequence dominated by old (>8 Gyr) metal
5
1
4
0.8
poor stars

SFR (104 Msun/dex/deg2)

3
SFR (10 Msun/yr/deg )
2

0.6
2 0.4
1 0.2 ->stream drawn from more pristine Sgr population mix

0 0
->stripped earlier? from the outskirts?

-6

faint coadd no MDF faint coadd no MDF

6 MDF fit 1.4 MDF fit
5 1.2 !
Earlier pericentre passage of the stream?

1
4
0.8
3
0.6
2 0.4
1 0.2
0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 -2.7 -2.3 -1.9 -1.5 -1.1 -0.7 -0.3 0.1
Age (Gyr) [Fe/H] (dex)
10
 Conclusions
First detailed quantitative study of the Sgr trailing stream

!
Sgr SFH of both components show a tight sequence in the plane of Age vs [Fe/H]

->star-formation and enrichment proceeded in a similar fashion for each part of the bifurcation.

->star-formation within Sgr took place in a well-mixed medium, homogeneously enriched in metals over 8 Gyr.

!
Comparison to Sgr GCs:

->both streams are consistent with Sgr populations

->Sgr dwarf is progenitor of the faint component as well as the bright one

!
Star formation rate drops rapidly around 5-7 Gyr ago

->could be caused by the infall of Sgr into the MW, coinciding with stripping of gas

!
Faint stream composed of simpler stellar population mix than the bright stream

-> dominated by old metal poor stars

-> lacking strong metal-rich component found in the bright stream MDF.

!
Faint stream likely produced by material stripped earlier and from the outskirts of Sgr.

11