Journals / Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Fen ve Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 26 Sayı: 3

The Role of Age in Galactic Population Separation: An Analysis of Gaia–Enceladus

Yaşın Galaktik Popülasyon Ayrımındaki Rolü: Gaia–Enceladus Üzerine Bir İnceleme

Olcay Plevne(İSTANBUL ÜNİVERSİTESİ, FEN FAKÜLTESİ, ASTRONOMİ VE UZAY BİLİMLERİ BÖLÜMÜ, ASTRONOMİ VE UZAY BİLİMLERİ PR.)0000-0002-0435-4493
Pages
571–582
Publication Date
2026-06-03
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The results show that the GES population maintains a chemically and dynamically stable signature, with median values of [Fe/H] ≈ –1.3, [Mg/Fe] ≈ +0.24, [O/Fe] ≈ +0.34, Rperi ≈ 1.2 kpc, Rapo ≈ 10 kpc, and Zmax ≈ 4.4 kpc.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

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Objective & Hypothesis:This study investigates the Gaia–Enceladus/Sausage population, one of the major merger remnants of the Milky Way, by combining spectroscopic, kinematic, and age information from Gaia DR3 and APOGEE DR17.
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Key Findings & Data:The results show that the GES population maintains a chemically and dynamically stable signature, with median values of [Fe/H] ≈ –1.3, [Mg/Fe] ≈ +0.24, [O/Fe] ≈ +0.34, Rperi ≈ 1.2 kpc, Rapo ≈ 10 kpc, and Zmax ≈ 4.4 kpc.
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Conclusion & Impact:Hence, this study demonstrates that while age is not a primary identifier of GES stars, it serves as a confirmatory and boundary-sensitive parameter in Galactic population classification.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Gaia–Enceladus birleşmesi · yıldız yaşları · kimyasal ve kinematik analiz

Abstract

This study investigates the Gaia–Enceladus/Sausage population, one of the major merger remnants of the Milky Way, by combining spectroscopic, kinematic, and age information from Gaia DR3 and APOGEE DR17. High-precision chemical abundances (Fe, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, O, Al, Na, C, N, Mn, Ni) were cross-matched with Gaia astrometric data — positions, proper motions, trigonometric parallaxes, and radial velocities — to derive space velocities and orbital parameters under the McMillan Galactic potential using the Galpy package. Stellar ages were estimated through a Bayesian approach, an MCMC-based posterior sampling, and AstroNN neural network predictions. The combination of these three techniques provides an original framework to assess the discriminative power of stellar age in separating Galactic populations. The chemical abundance space was reduced using Principal Component Analysis, and clusters were identified through the k-means algorithm. The results show that the GES population maintains a chemically and dynamically stable signature, with median values of [Fe/H] ≈ –1.3, [Mg/Fe] ≈ +0.24, [O/Fe] ≈ +0.34, Rperi ≈ 1.2 kpc, Rapo ≈ 10 kpc, and Zmax ≈ 4.4 kpc. Including stellar age does not alter this chemo-dynamic signature, yet provides complementary separation along the thick disk–halo interface. Hence, this study demonstrates that while age is not a primary identifier of GES stars, it serves as a confirmatory and boundary-sensitive parameter in Galactic population classification.

Özet

Bu çalışma, Gaia DR3 ve APOGEE DR17 verilerini birleştirerek oluşturulan yıldız örneklemi üzerinden Samanyolu’nun birleşme kalıntılarından biri olan Gaia–Enceladus/Sausage popülasyonunu kimyasal, kinematik ve yaş parametreleri bakımından incelemektedir. Yüksek doğruluklu kimyasal bolluklar (Fe, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, O, Al, Na, C, N, Mn, Ni) ile Gaia’nın konum, öz hareket, trigonometrik paralaks ve radyal hız bilgileri birleştirilmiş; yıldızların uzay hızları ve yörünge parametreleri Galpy kütüphanesi kullanılarak McMillan potansiyeli altında hesaplanmıştır. Yıldız yaşları, Bayesçi ve MCMC temelli yaklaşımlar ile AstroNN sinir ağı tahminlerinden elde edilmiştir. Bu üç yöntemin bir arada kullanılması, yaş parametresinin galaktik popülasyon ayrımındaki belirleyiciliğini sınamak açısından özgün bir çerçeve sunmaktadır. Kimyasal uzay, Principal Component Analysis yöntemiyle indirgenmiş ve k-means algoritmasıyla popülasyonlara ayrılmıştır. Bulgular, GES’in hem kimyasal hem dinamik olarak kararlı bir imzaya sahip olduğunu göstermektedir: [Fe/H] ≈ –1.3, [Mg/Fe] ≈ +0.24, [O/Fe] ≈ +0.34, Rperi ≈ 1.2 kpc, Rapo ≈ 10 kpc, Zmax ≈ 4.4 kpc. Yaş parametresi bu kimyasal–dinamik imzayı değiştirmemekte, ancak kalın disk ile halo arasındaki sınırda tamamlayıcı bir rol oynamaktadır. Bu yönüyle çalışma, yaş bilgisinin galaktik popülasyonların ayrımında doğrulayıcı bir değişken olarak nasıl işlev gördüğünü sistematik biçimde ortaya koymaktadır.

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Cite This Article

Plevne, O. (2026). The Role of Age in Galactic Population Separation: An Analysis of Gaia–Enceladus. Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Fen ve Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi, Cilt: 26 Sayı: 3, 571–582. https://doi.org/10.35414/akufemubid.1800325

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