Precise Asteroseismic Ages for the Helmi Streams

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lindsay, Christopher J., Hon, Marc, Ong, J. M. Joel, García, Rafael A., Palakkatharappil, Dinil B., Yu, Jie, Li, Tanda, Ruiz-Lara, Tomás, Helmi, Amina
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Lindsay, Christopher J.
Hon, Marc
Ong, J. M. Joel
García, Rafael A.
Palakkatharappil, Dinil B.
Yu, Jie
Li, Tanda
Ruiz-Lara, Tomás
Helmi, Amina
author_facet Lindsay, Christopher J.
Hon, Marc
Ong, J. M. Joel
García, Rafael A.
Palakkatharappil, Dinil B.
Yu, Jie
Li, Tanda
Ruiz-Lara, Tomás
Helmi, Amina
contents The Helmi streams are remnants of a dwarf galaxy that was accreted by the Milky Way and whose stars now form a distinct kinematic and chemical substructure in the Galactic halo. Precisely age-dating these typically faint stars of extragalactic origin has been notoriously difficult due to the limitations of using only spectroscopic data, interferometry, or coarse asteroseismic measurements. Using observations from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, we report the detailed asteroseismic modeling of two of the brightest red giants within the Helmi streams, HD 175305 and HD 128279. By modeling the individual oscillation mode frequencies and the spectroscopic properties of both stars, we determine their fundamental properties including mass, radius, and age ($τ$). We report $τ= 11.16 \pm 0.91$ Gyr for HD 175305 and $τ= 12.52 \pm 1.05$ Gyr for HD 128279, consistent with previously inferred star-formation histories for the Helmi streams and the differential chemical abundances between the two stars. With precise ages for individual stream members, our results reinforce the hypothesis that the Helmi streams' progenitor must have existed at least 12 Gyr ago. Our results also highlight that the ages of metal-poor, $α$-enhanced red giants can be severely underestimated when inferred using global asteroseismic parameters instead of individual mode frequencies.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_01091
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Precise Asteroseismic Ages for the Helmi Streams
Lindsay, Christopher J.
Hon, Marc
Ong, J. M. Joel
García, Rafael A.
Palakkatharappil, Dinil B.
Yu, Jie
Li, Tanda
Ruiz-Lara, Tomás
Helmi, Amina
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
The Helmi streams are remnants of a dwarf galaxy that was accreted by the Milky Way and whose stars now form a distinct kinematic and chemical substructure in the Galactic halo. Precisely age-dating these typically faint stars of extragalactic origin has been notoriously difficult due to the limitations of using only spectroscopic data, interferometry, or coarse asteroseismic measurements. Using observations from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, we report the detailed asteroseismic modeling of two of the brightest red giants within the Helmi streams, HD 175305 and HD 128279. By modeling the individual oscillation mode frequencies and the spectroscopic properties of both stars, we determine their fundamental properties including mass, radius, and age ($τ$). We report $τ= 11.16 \pm 0.91$ Gyr for HD 175305 and $τ= 12.52 \pm 1.05$ Gyr for HD 128279, consistent with previously inferred star-formation histories for the Helmi streams and the differential chemical abundances between the two stars. With precise ages for individual stream members, our results reinforce the hypothesis that the Helmi streams' progenitor must have existed at least 12 Gyr ago. Our results also highlight that the ages of metal-poor, $α$-enhanced red giants can be severely underestimated when inferred using global asteroseismic parameters instead of individual mode frequencies.
title Precise Asteroseismic Ages for the Helmi Streams
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.01091