Elemental Abundance Ratios in Stars of the Outer Galactic Disk. II. Field Red Giants

Abstract

We summarize a selection process to identify red giants in the direction of the southern warp of the Galactic disk, employing VIC photometry and multiobject spectroscopy. We also present results from follow-up high-resolution, high signal-to-noise echelle spectroscopy of three field red giants, finding [Fe/H] values of about -0.5. The field stars, with galactocentric distances estimated at 10–15 kpc, support the conclusion of Yong and coworkers that the Galactic metallicity gradient disappears beyond RGC values of 10–12 kpc for the older stars and clusters of the outer disk. We summarize the detailed abundance patterns for 15 other elements for these stars and compare them with recently obtained results for old open cluster red giants in the outer disk. The field and cluster stars at such large distances show very similar abundance patterns, and, in particular, all show enhancements of the α-elements O, Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti and the r-process element Eu. These results suggest that Type II supernovae have been significant contributors to star formation in the outer disk relative to Type Ia supernovae within the past few gigayears. We also compare our results with those available for much younger objects. The limited results for the H II regions and B stars in the outer disk also suggest that the radial metallicity gradient in the outer disk is shallow or absent. The much more extensive results for Cepheids confirm these trends and that the change in slope of the metallicity gradient may occur at a larger galactocentric distance than for the older stars and clusters. However, the younger stars also show rising α-element enhancements with increasing RGC, at least beyond 12 kpc. These trends are consistent with the idea of a progressive growth in the size of the Galactic disk with time and episodic enrichment by Type II supernovae as part of the disk's growth.