Abstract
We study the age and metallicity distribution function (MDF) of metal-poor stars in the Milky Way halo as a function of galactocentric radius by combining N-body simulations and semi-analytical methods. We find that the oldest stars populate the innermost region, while extremely metal-poor stars are more concentrated within r =40 per cent for r > 20kpc. This is due to the faster descent of the spatial distribution (as seen from Earth) of the more enriched population. This implies that the outer halo <40kpc is the best region to search for very metal-poor stars. Beyond ~60kpc the density of [Fe/H]
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | L5-L9 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
| Volume | 401 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan-2010 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- stars: formation
- stars: Population II
- supernovae: general
- galaxies: evolution
- galaxies: stellar content
- cosmology: theory