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The Metallicity Distribution Function of the Halo of the Milky Way

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2005

Timothy C. Beers
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy and JINA: Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, Michigan State University (USA) email: beers@pa.msu.edu
Norbert Christlieb
Affiliation:
Hamburger Sternwarte, Univesität Hamburg, (Germany)
John E. Norris
Affiliation:
RSAA, Australian National University (Australia)
Michael S. Bessell
Affiliation:
RSAA, Australian National University (Australia)
Ronald Wilhelm
Affiliation:
Texas Tech (USA)
Carlos Allende Prieto
Affiliation:
McDonald Observatory, University of Texas (USA)
Brian Yanny
Affiliation:
FermiLab (USA)
Constance Rockosi
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Cruz (USA)
Heidi Jo Newberg
Affiliation:
Rensselaer Polytechnic University (USA)
Silvia Rossi
Affiliation:
IAG, University of São Paolo (Brazil)
Young Sun Lee
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy and JINA: Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, Michigan State University (USA) email: beers@pa.msu.edu
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Abstract

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We report on the distribution of metallicities, [Fe/H], for very metal-poor stars in the halo of the Galaxy. Although the primary information on the nature of the Metallicity Distribution Function (MDF) is obtained from the two major recent surveys for metal-poor stars, the HK survey of Beers and collaborators, and the Hamburg/ESO Survey of Christlieb and collaborators, we also discuss the MDF derived from the publicly available database of stellar spectra and photometry contained in the third data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS DR-3). Even though the SDSS was not originally planned as a stellar survey, significant numbers of stars have been observed to date – DR-3 contains spectroscopy for over 70,000 stars, at least half of which are suitable for abundance determinations. There are as many very metal-poor ([Fe/H] $< -2.0$) stars in DR-3 as have been obtained from all previous survey efforts combined. We also discuss prospects for significant expansion of the list of metal-poor stars to be obtained from the recently funded extension of the SDSS, which includes the project SEGUE: Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Evolution.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
© 2005 International Astronomical Union