The evolution of stellar metallicity gradients of the Milky Way disk from LSS-GAC main sequence turn-off stars: a two-phase disk formation history?

Accurate measurements of stellar metallicity gradients in the radial and vertical directions of the disk and their temporal variations provide important constraints on the formation and evolution of the Milky Way disk. We use 297 042 main sequence turn-off stars selected from the LAMOST Spectroscopic Survey of the Galactic Anticenter(LSS-GAC) to determine the radial and vertical gradients of stellar metallicity,△[Fe/H]/△R and △[Fe/H]/△|Z | of the Milky Way disk in the direction of the anticenter. We determine ages of those turn-off stars by isochrone fitting and measure the temporal variations of metallicity gradients. We have carried out a detailed analysis of the selection effects resulting from the selection, observation and data reduction of LSS-GAC targets and the potential biases of a magnitude limited sample on the determinations of metallicity gradients. Our results show that the gradients, both in the radial and vertical directions, exhibit significant spatial and temporal variations. The radial gradients yielded by stars with the oldest ages( 11 Gyr) are essentially zero at all heights from the disk midplane, while those given by younger stars are always negative. The vertical gradients deduced from stars with the oldest ages( 11 Gyr)are negative and only show very weak variations with Galactocentric distance in the disk plane, R, while those yielded by younger stars show strong variations with R.After being essentially flat at the earliest epochs of disk formation, the radial gradients steepen as age decreases, reaching a maximum(steepest) at age 7–8 Gyr, and then they flatten again. Similar temporal trends are also found for the vertical gradients. We infer that the assembly of the Milky Way disk may have experienced at least two distinct phases. The earlier phase is probably related to a slow, pressure-supported collapse of gas, when the gas settles down to the disk mainly in the vertical direction. In the later phase, there are significant radial flows of gas in the disk, and the rate of gas inflow near the solar neighborhood reaches a maximum around a lookback time of 7–8 Gyr.The transition between the two phases occurs around a lookback time between 8 and11 Gyr. The two phases may be responsible for the formation of the Milky Way's thick and thin disks, respectively. Also, as a consequence, we recommend that stellar age is a natural, physical criterion to distinguish stars from the thin and thick disks. From an epoch earlier than 11 Gyr to one between 8 and 11 Gyr, there is an abrupt, significant change in magnitude of both the radial and vertical metallicity gradients, suggesting that stellar radial migration is unlikely to play an important role in the formation of the thick disk.

The first data release(DR1) of the LAMOST regular survey

The Large sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope(LAMOST) general survey is a spectroscopic survey that will eventually cover approximately half of the celestial sphere and collect 10 million spectra of stars, galaxies and QSOs. Objects in both the pilot survey and the first year regular survey are included in the LAMOST DR1. The pilot survey started in October 2011 and ended in June 2012, and the data have been released to the public as the LAMOST Pilot Data Release in August 2012. The regular survey started in September 2012, and completed its first year of operation in June 2013. The LAMOST DR1 includes a total of 1202 plates containing 2 955 336 spectra, of which 1 790 879 spectra have observed signalto-noise ratio(SNR) ≥ 10. All data with SNR ≥ 2 are formally released as LAMOST DR1 under the LAMOST data policy. This data release contains a total of 2 204 696 spectra, of which 1 944 329 are stellar spectra, 12 082 are galaxy spectra and 5017 are quasars. The DR1 not only includes spectra, but also three stellar catalogs with measured parameters: late A,FGK-type stars with high quality spectra(1 061 918 entries), A-type stars(100 073 entries), and M-type stars(121 522 entries). This paper introduces the survey design, the observational and instrumental limitations, data reduction and analysis, and some caveats. A description of the FITS structure of spectral files and parameter catalogs is also provided.

On the metallicity gradients of the Galactic disk as revealed by LSS-GAC red clump stars

Using a sample of over 70 000 red clump(RC) stars with 5%–10% distance accuracy selected from the LAMOST Spectroscopic Survey of the Galactic Anti-center(LSS-GAC), we study the radial and vertical gradients of the Galactic disk(s) mainly in the anti-center direction, covering a significant volume of the disk in the range of projected Galactocentric radius 7 ≤ RGC ≤ 14 kpc and height from the Galactic midplane 0 ≤ |Z | ≤ 3 kpc. Our analysis shows that both the radial and vertical metallicity gradients are negative across much of the volume of the disk that is probed, and they exhibit significant spatial variations. Near the solar circle(7 ≤ RGC ≤ 11.5 kpc), the radial gradient has a moderately steep, negative slope of-0.08 dex kpc-1near the midplane(|Z | < 0.1 kpc), and the slope flattens with increasing |Z |. In the outer disk(11.5 < RGC ≤ 14 kpc), the radial gradients have an essentially constant, much less steep slope of-0.01 dex kpc-1at all heights above the plane, suggesting that the outer disk may have experienced an evolutionary path different from that of the inner disk. The vertical gradients are found to flatten largely with increasing RGC. However, the vertical gradient of the lower disk(0 ≤ |Z | ≤ 1 kpc)is found to flatten with RGC quicker than that of the upper disk(1 < |Z | ≤ 3 kpc).Our results should provide strong constraints on the theory of disk formation and evolution, as well as the underlying physical processes that shape the disk(e.g. gas flows,radial migration, and internal and external perturbations).

Galactic disk bulk motions as revealed by the LSS-GAC DR2

We report a detailed investigation of the bulk motions of the nearby Galactic stellar disk, based on three samples selected from the LSS-GAC DR2: a global sample containing 0.57 million FGK dwarfs out to ～2 kpc, a local subset of the global sample consisting of ～5400 stars within 150 pc, and an anti-center sample containing ～4400AFGK dwarfs and red clump stars within windows a few degrees wide centered on the Galactic Anti-center. The global sample is used to construct a three-dimensional map of bulk motions of the Galactic disk from the solar vicinity out to ～2 kpc with a spatial resolution of ～250 pc. Typical values of the radial and vertical components of bulk motion range from-15 km s-1to 15 km s-1; in contrast, the lag behind the circular motion dominates the azimuthal component by up to ～15 km s-1. The map reveals spatially coherent, kpc-scale stellar flows in the disk, with typical velocities of a few tens of km s-1. Bending- and breathing-mode perturbations are clearly visible,and vary smoothly across the disk plane. Our data also reveal higher-order perturbations, such as breaks and ripples, in the profiles of vertical motion versus height. From the local sample, we find that stars from different populations exhibit very different patterns of bulk motion. Finally, the anti-center sample reveals a number of peaks in stellar number density in the line-of-sight velocity versus distance distribution, with the nearer ones apparently related to the known moving groups. The "velocity bifurcation" reported by Liu et al. at Galactocentric radii 10–11 kpc is confirmed. However,just beyond this distance, our data also reveal a new triple-peaked structure.

New background quasars in the vicinity of the Andromeda Galaxy discovered with the Guoshoujing Telescope (LAMOST)

We present preliminary analyses of spectra of quasar candidates in two Guoshoujing Telescope (GSJT, formerly named the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope - LAMOST) test fields near M 31 where one is close to the optical center of the disk and the other is towards the northeastern outskirts of the halo, obtained during the early stage of the GSJT commissioning in the last season of 2009. Both fields contain background low-redshift quasar candidates selected from the SDSS photometry. In total, 14 new quasars with redshifts up to 2 and i magnitudes between 16.7 and 19.2, are discovered, including 7 within the 2.5 central region of M 31. We briefly discuss the potential applications of these newly discovered bright quasars.

New planetary nebulae in the outskirts of the Andromeda Galaxy discovered with the Guoshoujing Telescope (LAMOST)

Planetary nebulae (PNe) are good tracers of the stellar populations, chemical composition and dynamics of their host galaxies. This paper reports the discovery of new PNe in the outskirts of the Andromeda Galaxy (M 31) with the Guoshoujing Telescope (GSJT, formerly named the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope-LAMOST) during its early commissioning phase. In total, 36 candidates selected from SDSS photometry are confirmed in terms of their PN nature, including 17 new discoveries and another 19 previously known emission line objects. Their positions, spectra, radial velocities and m5007 magnitudes are presented. We discuss the potential for detecting more PNe in M 31 with GSJT's multi-object spectroscopy and the related applications in studies of the dynamics and chemistry of M 31 and its assemblage history.

Mapping the emission line strengths and kinematics of supernova remnant S147 with extensive LAMOST spectroscopic observations

We present extensive spectroscopic observations of supernova remnant(SNR) S147 collected with the Large sky Area Multi-Object fiber Spectroscopic Telescope(LAMOST). The spectra were carefully sky-subtracted taking into account the complex filamentary structure of S147. We have utilized all available LAMOST spectra toward S147, including sky and stellar spectra. By measuring the prominent optical emission lines including Hα, [NⅡ]λ 6584 and [SⅡ]λλ 6717, 6731, we present maps of radial velocity and line intensity ratio covering the whole nebula of S147 with unprecedented detail. The maps spatially correlate well with the complex filamentary structure of S147. For the central 2?of S147, the radial velocity varies from-100 to 100 km s^(-1) and has peaks between～0 and 10 km s^(-1). The intensity ratios of Hα/[S Ⅱ]λλ 6717, 6731, [SⅡ]λ 6717/λ 6731 and Hα/[NⅡ]λ 6584 peak at about 0.77, 1.35 and 1.48, respectively, with a scatter of 0.17, 0.19 and 0.37, respectively. The intensity ratios are consistent with the literature values. However, the range of variations of line intensity ratios estimated here,which are representative of the whole nebula, is larger than previously estimated.

On the LSP3 estimates of surface gravity for LAMOST-Kepler stars with asteroseismic measurements

Asteroseismology allows for deriving precise values of the surface gravity of stars. The accurate asteroseismic determinations now available for the large number of stars in the Kepler fields can be used to check and calibrate surface gravities that are currently being obtained spectroscopically for a huge number of stars targeted by large-scale spectroscopic surveys, such as the on-going Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope(LAMOST) Galactic survey. The LAMOST spectral surveys have obtained a large number of stellar spectra in the Kepler fields. Stellar atmospheric parameters of those stars have been determined with the LAMOST Stellar Parameter Pipeline at Peking University(LSP3), by template matching with the MILES empirical spectral library. In the current work, we compare surface gravities yielded by LSP3 with those of two asteroseismic samples — the largest Kepler asteroseismic sample and the most accurate Kepler asteroseismic sample. We find that LSP3 surface gravities are in good agreement with asteroseismic values of Hekker et al., with a dispersion of ~0.2 dex. Except for a few cases, asteroseismic surface gravities of Huber et al. and LSP3 spectroscopic values agree for a wide range of surface gravities.However, some patterns in the differences can be identified upon close inspection. Potential ways to further improve the LSP3 spectroscopic estimation of stellar atmospheric parameters in the near future are briefly discussed. The effects of effective temperature and metallicity on asteroseismic determinations of surface gravities for giant stars are also discussed.

A star-based method for precise wavelength calibration of the Chinese Space Station Telescope(CSST) slitless spectroscopic survey

The Chinese Space Station Telescope(CSST)spectroscopic survey aims to deliver high-quality low-resolution(R>200)slitless spectra for hundreds of millions of targets down to a limiting magnitude of about 21 mag,distributed within a large survey area(17500 deg2)and covering a wide wavelength range(255-1000 nm by three bands GU,GV,and GI).As slitless spectroscopy precludes the usage of wavelength calibration lamps,wavelength calibration is one of the most challenging issues in the reduction of slitless spectra,yet it plays a key role in measuring precise radial velocities of stars and redshifts of galaxies.In this work,we propose a star-based method that can monitor and correct for possible errors in the CSST wavelength calibration using normal scientific observations,taking advantage of the facts that(ⅰ)there are about ten million stars with reliable radial velocities now available thanks to spectroscopic surveys like LAMOST,(ⅱ)the large field of view of CSST enables efficient observations of such stars in a short period of time,and(ⅲ)radial velocities of such stars can be reliably measured using only a narrow segment of CSST spectra.We demonstrate that it is possible to achieve a wavelength calibration precision of a few km s^(-1) for the GU band,and about 10 to 20 kms^(-1) for the GV and GI bands,with only a few hundred velocity standard stars.Implementations of the method to other surveys are also discussed.

Evolutionary stages and disk properties of young stellar objects in the Perseus cloud

We investigated the evolutionary stages and disk properties of 211 young stellar objects(YSOs) across the Perseus cloud by modeling their broadband optical to mid-infrared(IR) spectral energy distribution(SED). Our optical gri photometry data were obtained from the recently finished Purple Mountain Observatory Xuyi Schmidt Telescope Photometric Survey of the Galactic Anti-center(XSTPS-GAC).About 81% of our sample fall into the Stage II phase which is characterized by having optically thick disks, while 14% into the Stage I phase characterized by having significant infalling envelopes, and the remaining 5% into the Stage Ⅲ phase characterized by having optically thin disks. The median stellar age and mass of the Perseus YSOs are 3.1 Myr and 0.3 M⊙ respectively. By exploring the relationships among the turnoff wave bands λturnoff(longward of which significant IR excesses above the stellar photosphere are observed), the excess spectral index αexcess as determined for λ > λturnoff, and the disk inner radius Rin(determined from SED modeling) for YSOs at different evolutionary stages, we found that the median and standard deviation of αexcess for YSOs with optically thick disks tend to increase withλturnoff, especially at λturnoff ≥5.8 μm, whereas the median fractional dust luminosities Ldust/L★ tend to decrease with increasing λturnoff. This points to an inside-out process of disk clearing for small dust grains. Moreover, a positive correlation between αexcess and Rin was found at α>excess ～ 0 and R>in～ 10 × the dust sublimation radius Rsub, irrespective of λturnoff, Ldust/L★ and disk flaring. This suggests that the outer disk flaring either does not evolve synchronously with the inside-out disk clearing of small dust grains or has little appreciable influence on the spectral slopes at λ<～ 24 μm. About 23% of our YSO disks are classified as transitional disks, which haveλturnoff ≥ 5.8 μm and Ldust/L★ > 10-3. The transitional disks and full disks occupy distinctly different regions on the Ldust/L★ vs. αexcess diagram. Taking Ldust/L★ as an approximate discriminator of disks with(>0.1) and without(<0.1) considerable accretion activity, we found that 65% and 35% of the transitional disks may be consistent with being dominantly cleared by photoevaporation and dynamical interaction with giant planets respectively. None of our transitional disks have αexcess(<0.0) or Ldust/L★(>0.1) values that would otherwise be suggestive of disk clearing dominanted by grain growth.

The LAMOST spectroscopic survey of globular clusters in M31and M33.I.catalog and new identifications

We present a catalog of 908 objects observed with the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope(LAMOST) in fields in the vicinity of M31 and M33, targeted as globular clusters(GCs) and candidates. The targets include known GCs and candidates selected from the literature, as well as new candidates selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey(SDSS). Analysis shows that 356 of them are likely GCs with various confidence levels, while the remaining ones turn out to be background galaxies and quasars, stars and H II regions in M31 or foreground Galactic stars. The 356 likely GCs include 298 bona fide GCs and 26 candidates known in the literature. Three candidates, selected from the Revised Bologna Catalog of M31 GCs and candidates(RBC) and one possible cluster from Johnson et al., are confirmed to be bona fide clusters. We search for new GCs in the halo of the M31 among the new candidates selected from the SDSS photometry. Based on radial velocities yielded by LAMOST spectra and visual examination of the SDSS images, we find 28 objects, 5bona fide and 23 likely GCs. Among the five bona fide GCs, three have been recently discovered independently by others, and the remaining 25 are our new identifications,including two bona fide ones. The newly identified objects fall at projected distances ranging from 13 to 265 kpc from M31. Of the two newly discovered bona fide GCs,one is located near M33, probably a GC belonging to M33. The other bona fide GC falls on the Giant Stream with a projected distance of 78 kpc from M31. Of the 23 newly identified likely GCs, one has a projected distance of about 265 kpc from M31 and could be an intergalactic cluster.

Quasars in the Galactic Anti-Center Area from LAMOST DR3

We present a sample of quasars discovered in an area near the Galactic Anti-Center covering150?≤ l ≤ 210?and |b| ≤ 30?,based on LAMOST Data Release 3(DR3).This sample contains 151 spectroscopically confirmed quasars.Among them 80 are newly discovered with LAMOST.All these quasars are very bright,with i magnitudes peaking around 17.5 mag.All the new quasars were discovered serendipitously from objects that were originally targeted with LAMOST as stars having bluer colors,except for a few candidates targeted as variable,young stellar objects.This bright quasar sample at low Galactic latitudes will help fill the gap in the spatial distribution of known quasars near the Galactic disk that are used to construct an astrometric reference frame for the purpose of accurate proper motion measurements that can be applied to,for example,Gaia.They are also excellent tracers to probe the kinematics and chemistry of the interstellar medium in the Milky Way disk and halo via absorption line spectroscopy.

A method of measuring the [α/Fe] ratios from the spectra of the LAMOST survey

The [α/Fe] ratios in stars are good tracers to probe the formation history of stellar populations and the chemical evolution of the Galaxy. The spectroscopic survey of LAMOST provides a good opportunity to determine [α/Fe] of millions of stars in the Galaxy. We present a method of measuring the [α/Fe]ratios from LAMOST spectra using the template-matching technique of the LSP3 pipeline. We use three test samples of stars selected from the ELODIE and MILES libraries, as well as the LEGUE survey to validate our method. Based on the test results, we conclude that our method is valid for measuring [α/Fe]from low-resolution spectra acquired by the LAMOST survey. Within the range of the stellar parameters Teff= [5000, 7500] K, log g = [1.0, 5.0] dex and [Fe/H]= [onsistent with values derived from high-resolution spectra,-1.5, +0.5] dex, our [α/Fe] measurements are c and the accuracy of our [α/Fe] measurements from LAMOST spectra is better than 0.1 dex with spectral signal-to-noise higher than 20.

The LAMOST survey of background quasars in the vicinity of M31 and M33–Ⅲ.results from the 2013 regular survey

In this work, we report new quasars discovered in fields in the vicinity of the Andromeda(M31) and Triangulum(M33) galaxies with the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope(LAMOST, also called the Guo Shou Jing Telescope) during the 2013 observational season, the second year of the regular survey. In total, 1330 new quasars are discovered in an area of ～133 deg2 around M31and M33. With i magnitudes ranging from 14.79 to 20.0 and redshifts from 0.08 to4.85, the 1330 new quasars represent a significant increase in the number of identified quasars in fields in the vicinity of M31 and M33. Up to now, there have been a total of 1870 quasars discovered by LAMOST in this area. The much enlarged sample of known quasars in this area can potentially be utilized to construct a precise astrometric reference frame for the measurement of minute proper motions of M31, M33 and their associated substructures, which are vital for understanding the formation and evolution of M31, M33 and the Local Group of galaxies. Moreover, in the sample,there are a total of 45, 98 and 225 quasars with i magnitudes brighter than 17.0, 17.5and 18.0 respectively. In the aforementioned brightness bins, 15, 35 and 84 quasars are reported here for the first time, and 6, 21 and 81 are reported in our pervious work. In addition, 0, 1 and 6 are from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and 24, 41 and 54 are from the NED database. These bright quasars provide an invaluable sample to study the kinematics and chemistry of the interstellar/intergalactic medium of the Local Group.

Astrometric calibration of the Xuyi Schmidt Telescope Photometric Survey of the Galactic Anti-center(XSTPS-GAC)

We present astrometric calibration of the Xuyi Schmidt Telescope Photometric Survey of the Galactic Anti-center(XSTPS-GAC). XSTPS-GAC is the photometric part of the Digital Sky Survey of the Galactic Anti-center(DSS-GAC),which is a photometric and spectroscopic sky survey, in combination with LAMOST.In order to select an astrometric reference catalog, we made comparisons between the four widely used astrometric catalogs, GSC2.3, USNO-B1.0, UCAC3 and PPMXL.PPMXL shows relatively small systematic errors in positions and more homogeneous proper motion distributions toward the Galactic Anti-center(GAC), and was selected as the reference catalog. Based on the high quality and bright reference stars that were picked out from PPMXL, we performed a 4th-order polynomial fitting in image units,to construct the transformation relation between coordinates used by XSTPS-GAC and standard coordinates, and to simultaneously correct the image distortions in the CCD. Then we applied the derived relation to all sources to obtain their mean celestial coordinates based on the International Celestial Reference System. For bright point sources with r < 17.0 mag, the accuracy of astrometric calibration could reach about80 mas for each of the g, r, i bands, with systematic errors being less than 10 mas. But for the faint sources at the brightness limit of the survey, which was r ～ 19.0 mag, the accuracy can still reach 200 mas. After combining all observations, the final weighted average coordinates could reach an accuracy of less than 70 mas for bright stars. For faint stars, the rms residuals of weighted coordinates decrease to ～ 110 mas. The final combined XSTPS-GAC coordinates show a good consistency with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

Atmospheric extinction coefficients and night sky brightness at the Xuyi Observation Station

We present measurements of the optical broadband atmospheric extinction coefficients and the night sky brightness at the Xuyi Observation Station of Purple Mountain Observatory. The measurements are based on CCD imaging data taken in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's g, r and i bands with the Xuyi 1.04/1.20 m Schmidt Telescope for the Xuyi Schmidt Telescope Photometric Survey of the Galactic Anti-center (XSTPS-GAC), the photometric part of the Digital Sky Survey of the Galactic Anti-center (DSS-GAC). The data were collected during more than 140 winter nights from 2009 to 2011. We find that the atmospheric extinction coefficients for the g, r and i bands are 0.69, 0.55 and 0.38 mag/airmass, respectively, based on observations taken on several photometric nights. The night sky brightness determined from images with good quality has median values of 21.7, 20.8 and 20.0 mag arcsec-2 and reaches 22.1, 21.2 and 20.4 mag arcsec-2 under the best observing conditions for the g, r and i bands, respectively. The relatively large extinction coefficients compared with other good astronomical observing sites are mainly due to the relatively low elevation (i.e. 180 m) and high humidity at the station.

The assembly of the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies

In recent years it has become clear that the Milky Way is an important testing ground for theories of galaxy formation. Much of this growth has been driven by large surveys, both photometric and spectroscopic, which are producing vast and rich catalogs of data. Through the analysis of these data sets we can gain new and detailed insights into the physical processes which shaped the Milky Way's evolution. This review will discuss a number of these developments, first focusing on the disk of the Milky Way, and then looking at its satellite population. The importance of surveys has not gone unnoticed by the Chinese astronomy community and in the final section we discuss a number of Chinese projects that are set to play a key role in the development of this field.

New open cluster candidates discovered in the XSTPS-GAC survey

The Xuyi Schmidt Telescope Photometric Survey of the Galactic Anti-center(XSTPS-GAC)is a photometric sky survey that covers nearly 6000 deg^2 towards the Galactic Anti-center(GAC) in the g,r,i bands. Half of its survey field is located on the Galactic Anti-center disk,which makes XSTPSGAC highly suitable to search for new open clusters in the GAC region. In this paper,we report new open cluster candidates discovered in this survey,as well as properties of these open cluster candidates,such as age,distance and reddening,derived by isochrone fitting in the color-magnitude diagram(CMD).These open cluster candidates are stellar density peaks detected in the star density maps by applying the method from Koposov et al. Each candidate is inspected in terms of its true color image composed from three XSTPS-GAC band images. Then its CMD is checked,in order to identify whether the central region stars have a clear isochrone-like trend differing from background stars. The parameters derived from isochrone fitting for these candidates are mainly based on three band photometry of XSTPS-GAC.Moreover,when these new candidates are able to be seen clearly in 2 MASS data,their parameters are also derived based on the 2 MASS(J-H,J) CMD. There are a total of 320 known open clusters rediscovered and 24 new open cluster candidates discovered in this work. Furthermore,the parameters of these new candidates,as well as another 11 previously known open clusters,are properly determined for the first time.

Binary Star Fractions from the LAMOST DR4

Stellar systems composed of single, double, triple or higher-order systems are rightfully regarded as the fundamental building blocks of the Milky Way. Binary stars play an important role in formation and evolution of the Galaxy. Through comparing the radial velocity variations from multiepoch observations, we analyze the binary fraction of dwarf stars observed with LAMOST. Effects of different model assumptions, such as orbital period distributions on the estimate of binary fractions,are investigated. The results based on log-normal distribution of orbital periods reproduce the previous complete analyses better than the power-law distribution. We find that the binary fraction increases with Teff and decreases with [Fe/H]. We first investigate the relation between α-elements and binary fraction in such a large sample as provided by LAMOST. The old stars with high [α/Fe] dominate with a higher binary fraction than young stars with low [α/Fe]. At the same mass, earlier forming stars possess a higher binary fraction than newly forming ones, which may be related with evolution of the Galaxy.

Galactic halo age estimated from LAMOST DR4 and Gaia DR1

The stellar halo is one of the major components in the Milky Way. Research on its age can provide critical constraints on the origin of the stellar halo and further on the formation of our Galaxy.So far, different approaches and samples have been used to estimate the age of the Galactic halo. In our previous paper, we carefully selected 63 field halo turn-off stars within 1 kpc from the literature using a kinematic approach, then estimated the age of the halo. In this following work, we not only update the data from LAMOST DR4 and Gaia DR1, but also try a different method to select a clean halo sample by combining the metallicity and orbital parameters. Then we compare this halo turn-off sample with the GARSTEC model in the B-V vs. metallicity plane. After Monte Carlo simulations are performed, the age is estimated to be 10.5±1.4 Gyr, highly consistent with our previous result and other studies. However,due to the limited common sources between LAMOST DR4 and Gaia DR1, the final sample in this paper is still quite small. The estimated age will be more robust with the much larger Gaia DR2.