The Ital-FLAMES survey of the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy - I. Chemical abundances of bright RGB stars

We present iron and a element (Mg, Ca, Ti) abundances for a sample of 15 Red Giant Branch stars belonging to the main body of the Sagittarius dwarf Spheroidal galaxy. Abundances have been obtained from spectra collected using the high resolution spectrograph FLAMES-UVES mounted at the VLT. Stars of our sample have a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = - 0.41 +/- 0.20 with a metal-poor tail extending to [Fe/H] = - 1.52. The alpha element abundance ratios are slightly subsolar for metallicities higher than [Fe/H] greater than or similar to - 1, suggesting a slow star formation rate. The [alpha/Fe] of stars having [Fe/H] < - 1 are compatible to what observed in Milky Way stars of comparable metallicity.