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| Paper: |
Tracing Galactic Metallicity Gradients With the 2MASS Point Source Catalog |
| Volume: |
317, Milky Way Surveys: The Structure and Evolution of Our Galaxy |
| Page: |
283 |
| Authors: |
Munoz, R.; Carlin, J.; Chatzikos, M.; Hayes, A.; Kanneganti, S.; Mellon, R.; Oishi, J.; Park, C.; Singhal, A.; Sivakoff, G.; Majewski, S.R.; Skrutskie, M.F.; Sohn, S. |
| Abstract: |
One of the fundamental constraints on models of Galactic structure and evolution is the distribution of its constituent stellar populations. Often metallicity is used as a tracer of these populations, even though it is still unclear how populations can be discriminated uniquely by their chemistry. Nevertheless, observed abundance patterns and trends still hold meaningful information on the global evolution of the Galaxy. Our goal is to reassess and clarify the abundance gradient perpendicular to the Galactic disk. Using a new method applied to an enormous statistical sample we find a clear metallicity gradient extending continously to |z| ∼ 3.5 kpc. No strong gradient is seen beyond an apparent break to lower [Fe/H] beyond |z| ∼ 3.5 kpc. |
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