TY - JOUR
T1 - ChemZz I
T2 - Comparing Oxygen and Iron Abundance Patterns in the Milky Way, the Local Group and Cosmic Noon
AU - Monty, Stephanie
AU - Strom, Allison L.
AU - Stanton, Thomas M.
AU - Chruślińska, Martyna
AU - Cullen, Fergus
AU - Kobayashi, Chiaki
AU - Starkenburg, Tjitske
AU - Bhattacharya, Souradeep
AU - Sanders, Jason L.
AU - Gieles, Mark
N1 - ©2025 Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, to view a copy of the license, see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
PY - 2025/7/30
Y1 - 2025/7/30
N2 - Our understanding of the chemical evolution of galaxies has advanced through measurements from both distant galaxies across redshift, and our own Milky Way (MW). To form a comprehensive picture, it is essential to unify these constraints, placing them on a common scale and parlance and to understand their systematic differences. In this study, we homogenize oxygen and iron measurements from star-forming galaxies at Cosmic Noon ($z{\sim}2-3$) with resolved stellar abundances from the Local Group. The MW is divided into four components, assuming the outer halo is dominated by debris from the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE) progenitor. After converting all abundances to a common Solar scale, we identify clear $\alpha$- and iron-enhancement trends with mass in the $z{\sim}2-3$ galaxies and find good agreement between these galaxies and the MW high-$\alpha$ disc in [O/Fe] vs. [Fe/H]. We also find excellent agreement between the [O/Fe] trends seen in the MW high- and low-$\alpha$ discs with O-abundances seen in old and young planetary nebulae in M~31 respectively, supporting the existence of $\alpha$-bimodality in the inner regions of M~31. Finally, we use globular cluster ages to project the MW and GSE back in time to $z{\sim}3$ and find that their estimated mass, oxygen and iron abundances are strikingly consistent with the mass-metallicity relation of star-forming galaxies at $z{\sim}3$. In the future, increased transparency around the choice of Solar scale and abundance methodology will make combining chemical abundances easier -- contributing to a complete picture of the chemical evolution of all galaxies.
AB - Our understanding of the chemical evolution of galaxies has advanced through measurements from both distant galaxies across redshift, and our own Milky Way (MW). To form a comprehensive picture, it is essential to unify these constraints, placing them on a common scale and parlance and to understand their systematic differences. In this study, we homogenize oxygen and iron measurements from star-forming galaxies at Cosmic Noon ($z{\sim}2-3$) with resolved stellar abundances from the Local Group. The MW is divided into four components, assuming the outer halo is dominated by debris from the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE) progenitor. After converting all abundances to a common Solar scale, we identify clear $\alpha$- and iron-enhancement trends with mass in the $z{\sim}2-3$ galaxies and find good agreement between these galaxies and the MW high-$\alpha$ disc in [O/Fe] vs. [Fe/H]. We also find excellent agreement between the [O/Fe] trends seen in the MW high- and low-$\alpha$ discs with O-abundances seen in old and young planetary nebulae in M~31 respectively, supporting the existence of $\alpha$-bimodality in the inner regions of M~31. Finally, we use globular cluster ages to project the MW and GSE back in time to $z{\sim}3$ and find that their estimated mass, oxygen and iron abundances are strikingly consistent with the mass-metallicity relation of star-forming galaxies at $z{\sim}3$. In the future, increased transparency around the choice of Solar scale and abundance methodology will make combining chemical abundances easier -- contributing to a complete picture of the chemical evolution of all galaxies.
KW - astro-ph.GA
U2 - 10.1093/mnras/staf1213
DO - 10.1093/mnras/staf1213
M3 - Article
SN - 0035-8711
VL - 542
SP - 1443
EP - 1464
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)
IS - 2
ER -