The Gaia-ESO survey: A quiescent milky way with no significant dark/stellar accreted disc

G. R. Ruchti, J. I. Read, S. Feltzing, A. M. Serenelli, P. McMillan, K. Lind, T. Bensby, M. Bergemann, M. Asplund, A. Vallenari, E. Flaccomio, E. Pancino, A. J. Korn, A. Recio-Blanco, A. Bayo, G. Carraro, M. T. Costado, F. Damiani, U. Heiter, A. HourihaneP. Jofré, G. Kordopatis, C. Lardo, P. De Laverny, L. Monaco, L. Morbidelli, L. Sbordone, C. C. Worley, S. Zaggia

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

53 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

According to our current cosmological model, galaxies like the Milky Way are expected to experience many mergers over their lifetimes. The most massive of the merging galaxies will be dragged towards the disc plane, depositing stars and dark matter into an accreted disc structure. In this work, we utilize the chemodynamical template developed in Ruchti et al. to hunt for accreted stars. We apply the template to a sample of 4675 stars in the third internal data release from the Gaia-ESO Spectroscopic Survey. We find a significant component of accreted halo stars, but find no evidence of an accreted disc component. This suggests that the Milky Way has had a rather quiescent merger history since its disc formed some 8-10 billion years ago and therefore possesses no significant dark matter disc.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2874-2887
Number of pages14
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume450
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2015

Keywords

  • Galaxy: disc
  • Galaxy: evolution
  • Galaxy: formation
  • Stars: abundances
  • Stars: kinematics and dynamics
  • Surveys

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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