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Context. The light element (anti-)correlations shown by globular clusters (GCs) are the main spectroscopic signature of multiple stellar populations. These internal abundance variations provide us with fundamental constraints on the formation mechanism of stellar clusters. Aims. Using Gaia-ESO, the largest and most homogeneous survey of open clusters (OCs), we intend to check whether these stellar aggregates display the same patterns. Based on previous studies of many GCs, several young and massive clusters in the Magellanic Clouds, as well as a few OCs, we do not expect to find any anti-correlation, given the low mass of Milky Way OCs. Methods. We used the results based on UVES spectra of stars in Gaia-ESO to derive the distribution of Na and O abundances and see whether they show an unexplained dispersion or whether they are anti-correlated. By selecting only high-probability members with high-precision stellar parameters, we ended up with more than 700 stars in 74 OCs. We examined the O-Na distribution in 28 OCs with at least 4 stars available as well as the Na distribution in 24 OCs, with at least 10 stars available. Results. We find that the distribution of Na abundances is compatible with a single-value population, within the errors. The few apparent exceptions can be explained by differences in the evolutionary phase (main sequence and giant post first dredge-up episode) or by difficulties in analysing low gravity giants. We did not find any indication of an Na-O anti-correlation in any of the clusters for which O has been derived. Conclusions. Based on the very small spread we find, OCs maintain the status of single stellar populations. However, a definitive answer requires studying more elements and larger samples covering different evolutionary phases. This will be possible with the next generation of large surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have identified a first group of 33 new candidates for symbiotic stars (SySt) of the accreting-only variety among the 600 255 stars so far observed by the GALactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) high-resolution spectroscopic survey of the Southern hemisphere, more than doubling the number of those previously known. GALAH aims to high latitudes and this offers the possibility to sound the Galaxy for new SySt away from the usual plane and bulge hunting regions. In this paper, we focus on SySt of the M spectral type, showing an Hα emission with a peak in excess of 0.5 above the adjacent continuum level, and not affected by coherent radial pulsations. These constraints will be relaxed in future studies. The 33 new candidate SySt were subjected to an array of follow-up confirmatory observations [X-ray/ultraviolet (UV) observations with the Swift satellite, search for optical flickering, presence of a near-UV upturn in ground-based photometric and spectroscopic data, radial velocity changes suggestive of orbital motion, and variability of the emission-line profiles]. According to Gaia Early Data Release 3 (EDR3) parallaxes, the candidate new SySt are located at the tip of the giant branch, sharing the same distribution in M (K s) of the well-established SySt. The accretion luminosities of the candidate new SySt are in the range 1–10 L⊙, corresponding to mass accretion rates of 0.1–1 × 10−9 M⊙ yr−1 for white dwarfs of 1 M⊙. The M giant of one of them presents a large lithium overabundance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive sets of stellar spectroscopic observations are rapidly becoming available and these can be used to determine the chemical composition and evolution of the Galaxy with unprecedented precision. One of the major challenges in this endeavour involves constructing realistic models of stellar spectra with which to reliably determine stellar abundances. At present, large stellar surveys commonly use simplified models that assume that the stellar atmospheres are approximately in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). To test and ultimately relax this assumption, we have performed non-LTE calculations for 13 different elements (H, Li, C, N, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Mn, and Ba), using recent model atoms that have physically-motivated descriptions for the inelastic collisions with neutral hydrogen, across a grid of 3756 1D MARCS model atmospheres that spans 3000 ≤ Teff∕K ≤ 8000, − 0.5 ≤log g∕cm s−2 ≤ 5.5, and − 5 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ 1. We present the grids of departure coefficients that have been implemented into the GALAH DR3 analysis pipeline in order to complement the extant non-LTE grid for iron. We also present a detailed line-by-line re-analysis of 50 126 stars from GALAH DR3. We found that relaxing LTE can change the abundances by between − 0.7 dex and + 0.2 dex for different lines and stars. Taking departures from LTE into account can reduce the dispersion in the [A/Fe] versus [Fe/H] plane by up to 0.1 dex, and it can remove spurious differences between the dwarfs and giants by up to 0.2 dex. The resulting abundance slopes can thus be qualitatively different in non-LTE, possibly with important implications for the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. The grids of departure coefficients are publicly available and can be implemented into LTE pipelines to make the most of observational data sets from large spectroscopic surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce the southern stellar stream spectroscopy survey (S 5), an on-going program to map the kinematics and chemistry of stellar streams in the southern hemisphere. The initial focus of S 5 has been spectroscopic observations of recently identified streams within the footprint of the dark energy survey (DES), with the eventual goal of surveying streams across the entire southern sky. Stellar streams are composed of material that has been tidally striped from dwarf galaxies and globular clusters and hence are excellent dynamical probes of the gravitational potential of the Milky Way, as well as providing a detailed snapshot of its accretion history. Observing with the 3.9 m Anglo-Australian Telescope's 2-degree-Field fibre positioner and AAOmega spectrograph, and combining the precise photometry of DES DR1 with the superb proper motions from Gaia DR2, allows us to conduct an efficient spectroscopic survey to map these stellar streams. So far S 5 has mapped nine DES streams and three streams outside of DES; the former are the first spectroscopic observations of these recently discovered streams. In addition to the stream survey, we use spare fibres to undertake a Milky Way halo survey and a low-redshift galaxy survey. This paper presents an overview of the S 5 program, describing the scientific motivation for the survey, target selection, observation strategy, data reduction, and survey validation. Finally, we describe early science results on stellar streams and Milky Way halo stars drawn from the survey. Updates on S 5, including future public data releases, can be found at http://s5collab.github.io. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overlap between the spectroscopic Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey and Gaia provides a high-dimensional chemodynamical space of unprecedented size. We present a first analysis of a subset of this overlap, of 7066 dwarf, turn-off, and sub-giant stars. These stars have spectra from the GALAH survey and high parallax precision from the Gaia DR1 Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution. We investigate correlations between chemical compositions, ages, and kinematics for this sample. Stellar parameters and elemental abundances are derived from the GALAH spectra with the spectral synthesis code SPECTROSCOPY MADE EASY. We determine kinematics and dynamics, including action angles, from the Gaia astrometry and GALAH radial velocities. Stellar masses and ages are determined with Bayesian isochrone matching, using our derived stellar parameters and absolute magnitudes. We report measurements of Li, C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, as well as Ba and we note that we have employed non-LTE calculations for Li, O, Al, and Fe. We show that the use of astrometric and photometric data improves the accuracy of the derived spectroscopic parameters, especially log g. Focusing our investigation on the correlations between stellar age, iron abundance [Fe/H], and mean alpha-enhancement [α/Fe] of the magnitude-selected sample, we recover the result that stars of the high-α sequence are typically older than stars in the low-α sequence, the latter spanning iron abundances of −0.7 <  [Fe/H] <  +0.5. While these two sequences become indistinguishable in [α/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] at the metal-rich regime, we find that age can be used to separate stars from the extended high-α and the low-α sequence even in this regime. When dissecting the sample by stellar age, we find that the old stars (>8 Gyr) have lower angular momenta Lz than the Sun, which implies that they are on eccentric orbits and originate from the inner disc. Contrary to some previous smaller scale studies we find a continuous evolution in the high-α-sequence up to super-solar [Fe/H] rather than a gap, which has been interpreted as a separate "high-α metal-rich" population. Stars in our sample that are younger than 10 Gyr, are mainly found on the low α-sequence and show a gradient in Lz from low [Fe/H] (Lz >  Lz, ⊙) towards higher [Fe/H] (Lz <  Lz, ⊙), which implies that the stars at the ends of this sequence are likely not originating from the close solar vicinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the GALAH pilot survey, we determine properties of the Galactic thin and thick discs near the solar neighbourhood. The data cover a small range of Galactocentric radius (7.9 ≤ RGC ≤ 9.5 kpc), but extend up to 4 kpc in height from the Galactic plane, and several kpc in the direction of Galactic anti-rotation (at longitude 260° ≤ ℓ ≤ 280°). This allows us to reliably measure the vertical density and abundance profiles of the chemically and kinematically defined 'thick' and 'thin' discs of the Galaxy. The thin disc (low-α population) exhibits a steep negative vertical metallicity gradient, at d[M/H]/dz = -0.18 ± 0.01 dex kpc-1, which is broadly consistent with previous studies. In contrast, its vertical α-abundance profile is almost flat, with a gradient of d[α/M]/dz = 0.008 ± 0.002 dex kpc-1. The steep vertical metallicity gradient of the low-α population is in agreement with models where radial migration has a major role in the evolution of the thin disc. The thick disc (high-α population) has a weaker vertical metallicity gradient d[M/H]/dz = -0.058 ± 0.003 dex kpc-1. The α- abundance of the thick disc is nearly constant with height, d[α/M]/dz = 0.007 ± 0.002 dex kpc-1. The negative gradient in metallicity and the small gradient in [α/M] indicate that the high-α population experienced a settling phase, but also formed prior to the onset of major Type Ia supernova enrichment. We explore the implications of the distinct α-enrichments and narrow [α/M] range of the sub-populations in the context of thick disc formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We confirm the reality of the recently discovered Milky Way stellar cluster Gaia 1 using spectra acquired with the HERMES and AAOmega spectrographs of the Anglo-Australian Telescope. This cluster had been previously undiscovered due to its close angular proximity to Sirius, the brightest star in the sky at visual wavelengths. Our observations identified 41 cluster members, and yielded an overall metallicity of [Fe/H] = -0.13 ± 0.13 and barycentric radial velocity of vr = 58.30 ± 0.22 km s-1. These kinematics provide a dynamical mass estimate of 12.9+4.6-3.9 × 10³ M⊙. Isochrone fits to Gaia, 2MASS, and Pan-STARRS1 photometry indicate that Gaia 1 is an intermediate age (~3 Gyr) stellar cluster. Combining the spatial and kinematic data we calculate Gaia 1 has a circular orbit with a radius of about 12 kpc, but with a large out of plane motion: zmax = 1.1+0.4-0.3 kpc. Clusters with such orbits are unlikely to survive long due to the number of plane passages they would experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We identify six new carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars ([C/Fe]>+0.7 and [Fe/H] < −1.8) and another seven likely candidates within the APOGEE data base following Data Release 12. These stars have chemical compositions typical of metal-poor halo stars, e.g. mean [α/Fe]=+0.24 ± 0.24, based on the APOGEE Stellar Parameters and Chemical Abundances Pipeline results. A lack of heavy-element spectral lines impedes further sub-classification of these CEMP stars, however, based on radial velocity (RV) scatter, we predict most are not CEMP-s stars which are typically found in binary systems. Only one object, 2M15312547+4220551, may be in a binary since it exhibits a scatter in its RV of 1.7 ± 0.6 km s-1 based on three visits over a 25.98 d baseline. Optical observations are now necessary to confirm the stellar parameters and low metallicities of these stars, to determine the heavy-element abundance ratios and improve the precision in the derived abundances, and to examine their CEMP sub-classifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey is amassive observational project to trace the MilkyWay's history of star formation, chemical enrichment, stellar migration and minor mergers. Using high-resolution (R ≃ 28 000) spectra, taken with the High Efficiency and Resolution Multi-Element Spectrograph (HERMES) instrument at the Anglo-Australian Telescope, GALAH will determine stellar parameters and abundances of up to 29 elements for up to one million stars. Selecting targets from a colour-unbiased catalogue built from 2MASS, APASS and UCAC4 data, we expect to observe dwarfs at 0.3-3 kpc and giants at 1-10 kpc. This enables a thorough local chemical inventory of the Galactic thin and thick discs, and also captures smaller samples of the bulge and halo. In this paper, we present the plan, process and progress as of early 2016 for GALAH survey observations. In our first two years of survey observing we have accumulated the largest high-quality spectroscopic data set at this resolution, over 200 000 stars. We also present the first public GALAH data catalogue: stellar parameters (Teff, log(g), [Fe/H], [α/Fe]), radial velocity, distance modulus and reddening for 10 680 observations of 9860 Tycho-2 stars, 7894 of which are included in the first Gaia data release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an analysis of the relative throughputs of the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope's 2dF/HERMES (High Efficiency and Resolution Multi-Element Spectrograph) system, based upon spectra acquired during the first two years of the Galactic Archaeology with HERMES survey. Averaged spectral fluxes of stars were compared to their photometry to determine the relative throughputs of fibres for a range of fibre position and atmospheric conditions. We find that overall the throughputs of the 771 usable fibres have been stable over the first two years of its operation. About 2.5 per cent of fibres have throughputs much lower than the average. There are also a number of yet unexplained variations between the HERMES bandpasses, and mechanically and optically linked fibre groups known as retractors or slitlets related to regions of the focal plane. These findings do not impact the science that HERMES will produce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a search for post-main-sequence field stars in the Galaxy with atypically large lithium abundances. Using moderate-resolution spectra taken as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, along with high-resolution followup spectroscopy from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, we identify 23 post-turnoff stars with log ε(Li) greater than 1.95, including 14 with log ε(Li) ≥ 2.3 and 8 with log ε(Li) ≥ 3.0, well above the low level expected for evolved stars. Comparison with theoretical isochrones indicates that some of our Li-rich stars are affiliated with the upper red giant branch, the asymptotic giant branch and the red clump rather than the RGB bump, which is a challenge to existing models of Li production in evolved stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]