2006/12/21 by T. Bensby, M. S. Oey, S. Feltzing +1 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Abundance (ecology) #Astro and Planetary Science #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Disc #Galaxy #Galaxy formation and evolution #Halo #Physics #Population #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Thick disk #Thin disk #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/512014
published as Astrophys.J.655:L89-L92,2007 · Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters
arxiv created 2006/12/21 · openalex publication_date 2007/01/11 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Using high-resolution spectra of nearby F and G dwarf stars, we have investigated the detailed abundance and age structure of the Hercules stream. We find that the stars in the stream have a wide range of stellar ages, metallicities, and element abundances. By comparing to existing samples of stars in the solar neighborhood with kinematics typical of the Galactic thin and thick disks, we find that the properties of the Hercules stream distinctly separate into the abundance and age trends of the two disks. Hence, we find it unlikely that the Hercules stream is a unique Galactic stellar population but rather is a mixture of thin and thick disk stars. This points toward a dynamical origin for the Hercules stream, probably caused by the Galactic bar.