Chemical footprints of Sgr dSph & neighbour dwarf galaxies of the Milky Way
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Chemical characterisation is key to understanding the formation history of the Milky Way (MW) and its accretion events, yet major challenges remain at low metallicity. Neutron-capture elements show a large dispersion in very metal-poor MW stars that current chemical evolution models struggle to explain, possibly reflecting the diversity of accreted satellites. In this context, I investigate the role of the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph) in the MW’s chemical evolution. I observed ~100 Sagittarius stars (−2 < [Fe/H] < −0.5) with GIRAFFE@FLAMES to derive precise abundances of the r-process element Eu and the s-process elements Y, Zr, Ba, and La. We compare these trends with those of other MW systems (Fornax, LMC, GSE, Sculptor) and with Icarus, a candidate accreted structure in the disk, for which we obtained a high-resolution follow-up sample with the high-resolution spectrograph HARPS-N. By combining multiple elemental families with the innovative technique of stellar phylogenetics, we aim to better trace the chemical signatures of past and ongoing merger events.
Author: Vitali, Sara
Institution: Universidad Diego Portales
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7130718439
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