Astronomy and Astrophysics
Aims: We study the kinematics and global metallicities of the NSD based on the observations of K/M giant stars via a dedicated KMOS (VLT, ESO) spectroscopic survey.
Methods: We traced radial velocities and metallicities, which were derived based on spectral indices (Na I and CO) along the NSD, and compared those with a Galactic bulge sample of APOGEE (DR16) and data from the NSC.
Results: We find that the metallicity distribution function and the fraction of metal-rich and metal-poor stars in the NSD are different from the corresponding distributions and ratios of the NSC and the Galactic bulge. By tracing the velocity dispersion as a function of metallicity, we clearly see that the NSD is kinematically cool and that the velocity dispersion decreases with increasing metallicity contrary to the inner bulge sample of APOGEE (|b|< 4°). Using molecular gas tracers (H2CO, CO(4−3)) of the central molecular zone (CMZ), we find an astonishing agreement between the gas rotation and the rotation of the metal-rich population. This agreement indicates that the metal-rich stars could have formed from gas in the CMZ. On the other hand, the metal-poor stars show a much slower rotation profile with signs of counter-rotation, thereby indicating that these stars have a different origin.
Conclusions: Coupling kinematics with global metallicities, our results demonstrate that the NSD is chemically and kinematically distinct with respect to the inner bulge, which indicates a different formation scenario.
PARSEC is a multi-wavelength investigation of the central PARSEC of the nearest galaxies. We work on black-hole accretion and its most energetic manifestations: jets and hot spots, and on its circumnuclear environment conditions for star formation. We resort to the highest available angular resolution observations from gamma-rays to the centimetre