Journal
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Volume 413, Issue 3, Pages 2235-2241Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.18298.x
Keywords
Galaxy: disc; Galaxy: formation; solar neighbourhood; Galaxy: structure
Categories
Funding
- European Research Council under ERC [GALACTICA-240271]
- NSF [AST-0098435]
- Anglo-Australian Observatory
- Astrophysical Institute Potsdam
- Australian National University
- Australian Research Council
- French National Research Agency
- German Research foundation
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica at Padova
- Johns Hopkins University
- National Science Foundation of the USA [AST-0908326]
- W. M. Keck foundation
- Macquarie University
- Netherlands Research School for Astronomy
- Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Slovenian Research Agency
- Swiss National Science Foundation
- Science & Technology Facilities Council of the UK
- Opticon
- Strasbourg Observatory
- Universities of Groningen, Heidelberg and Sydney
- STFC [PP/D001528/1, PP/D001242/1, ST/G002479/1, ST/F002432/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Science and Technology Facilities Council [ST/G002479/1, ST/H00243X/1, ST/F002432/1, PP/D001242/1, PP/D001528/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- UK Space Agency [PP/D006570/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien
- Division Of Astronomical Sciences [0908326] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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We study the eccentricity distribution of a thick-disc sample of stars (defined as those with V-y > 50 km s-1 and 1 < |z|/kpc < 3) observed in the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE). We compare this distribution with those obtained in four simulations of galaxy formation taken from the literature as compiled by Sales et al. Each simulation emphasizes different scenarios for the origin of such stars (satellite accretion, heating of a pre-existing thin disc during a merger, radial migration, and gas-rich mergers). We find that the observed distribution peaks at low eccentricities and falls off smoothly and rather steeply to high eccentricities. This finding is fairly robust to changes in distances and to plausible assumptions about thin-disc contamination. Our results favour models where the majority of stars formed in the Galaxy itself on orbits of modest eccentricity and disfavour the pure satellite accretion case. A gas-rich merger origin where most of the stars form 'in situ' appears to be the most consistent with our data.
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