TY - JOUR
T1 - Galactic Archaeology with TESS: Prospects for Testing the Star Formation History in the Solar Neighbourhood
AU - Thomas, Alexandra
AU - Stevenson, Emma
AU - Gittins, Fabian W. R.
AU - Miglio, Andrea
AU - Davies, Guy
AU - Girardi, Léo
AU - Campante, Tiago L.
AU - Schofield, Mathew
PY - 2017/10/1
Y1 - 2017/10/1
N2 - A period of quenching between the formation of the thick and thin disks
of the Milky Way has been recently proposed to explain the observed
age-[α/Fe] distribution of stars in the solar neighbourhood.
However, robust constraints on stellar ages are currently available for
only a limited number of stars. The all-sky survey TESS (Transiting
Exoplanet Survey Satellite) will observe the brightest stars in the sky
and thus can be used to investigate the age distributions of stars in
these components of the Galaxy via asteroseismology, where previously
this has been diffcult using other techniques. The aim of this
preliminary study was to determine whether TESS will be able to provide
evidence for quenching periods during the star formation history of the
Milky Way. Using a population synthesis code, we produced populations
based on various stellar formation history models and limited the
analysis to red-giant-branch stars. We investigated the
mass-Galactic-disk-height distributions, where stellar mass was used as
an age proxy, to test for whether periods of quenching can be observed
by TESS. We found that even with the addition of 15% noise to the
inferred masses, it will be possible for TESS to find evidence
for/against quenching periods suggested in the literature (e.g. between
7 and 9 Gyr ago), therefore providing stringent constraints on the
formation and evolution of the Milky Way.
AB - A period of quenching between the formation of the thick and thin disks
of the Milky Way has been recently proposed to explain the observed
age-[α/Fe] distribution of stars in the solar neighbourhood.
However, robust constraints on stellar ages are currently available for
only a limited number of stars. The all-sky survey TESS (Transiting
Exoplanet Survey Satellite) will observe the brightest stars in the sky
and thus can be used to investigate the age distributions of stars in
these components of the Galaxy via asteroseismology, where previously
this has been diffcult using other techniques. The aim of this
preliminary study was to determine whether TESS will be able to provide
evidence for quenching periods during the star formation history of the
Milky Way. Using a population synthesis code, we produced populations
based on various stellar formation history models and limited the
analysis to red-giant-branch stars. We investigated the
mass-Galactic-disk-height distributions, where stellar mass was used as
an age proxy, to test for whether periods of quenching can be observed
by TESS. We found that even with the addition of 15% noise to the
inferred masses, it will be possible for TESS to find evidence
for/against quenching periods suggested in the literature (e.g. between
7 and 9 Gyr ago), therefore providing stringent constraints on the
formation and evolution of the Milky Way.
U2 - 10.1051/epjconf/201716005006
DO - 10.1051/epjconf/201716005006
M3 - Article
VL - 160
JO - Seismology of the Sun and the Distant Stars - Using Today's Successes to Prepare the Future - TASC2 & KASC9 Workshop - SPACEINN & HELAS8 Conference, Azores Islands, Portugal, Edited by Monteiro, M.J
JF - Seismology of the Sun and the Distant Stars - Using Today's Successes to Prepare the Future - TASC2 & KASC9 Workshop - SPACEINN & HELAS8 Conference, Azores Islands, Portugal, Edited by Monteiro, M.J
M1 - 5006
ER -