Gaia Data Release 3

Chemical cartography of the Milky Way

¹ Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Bd de l’Observatoire, CS 34229, 06304 Nice Cedex 4, France
² INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Via Osservatorio 20, 10025 Pino Torinese (TO), Italy
³ INAF – Osservatorio astronomico di Padova, Vicolo Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
⁴ GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, 5 Place Jules Janssen, 92190 Meudon, France
⁵ Lund Observatory, Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Physics, Lund University, Box 43 22100 Lund, Sweden
⁶ University of Turin, Department of Physics, Via Pietro Giuria 1, 10125 Torino, Italy
⁷ Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK
⁸ Laboratoire d’astrophysique de Bordeaux, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, B18N, allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 33615 Pessac, France
⁹ INAF – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, Via Piero Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy
¹⁰ Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
¹¹ Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Knigstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
¹² Observational Astrophysics, Division of Astronomy and Space Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516 751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
¹³ Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Niels Bohrweg 2, 2333 CA Leiden, The Netherlands
¹⁴ European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands
¹⁵ Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France
¹⁶ Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Mönchhofstr. 12-14, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
¹⁷ Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
¹⁸ Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva, Chemin Pegasi 51, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
¹⁹ European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada 28692 Madrid, Spain
²⁰ Aurora Technology for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
²¹ Lohrmann Observatory, Technische Universität Dresden, Mommsenstraße 13, 01062 Dresden, Germany
²² CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
²³ Institut d’Astronomie et d’Astrophysique, Université Libre de Bruxelles CP 226, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
²⁴ F.R.S.-FNRS, Rue d’Egmont 5, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
²⁵ INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo Enrico Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy
²⁶ European Space Agency (ESA), Noordwijk, The Netherlands
²⁷ DAPCOM for Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
²⁸ Royal Observatory of Belgium, Ringlaan 3, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
²⁹ ALTEC S.p.a, Corso Marche, 79, 10146 Torino, Italy
³⁰ Sednai Sàrl, Geneva, Switzerland
³¹ Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva, Chemin d’Ecogia 16, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
³² Gaia DPAC Project Office, ESAC, Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
³³ Telespazio UK S.L. for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
³⁴ SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, LNE, 61 avenue de l’Observatoire, 75014 Paris, France
³⁵ National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxa and Vas. Pavlou, Palaia Penteli, 15236 Athens, Greece
³⁶ IMCCE, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Univ. Lille, 77 av. Denfert-Rochereau, 75014 Paris, France
³⁷ Serco Gestión de Negocios for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
³⁸ Institut d’Astrophysique et de Géophysique, Université de Liège, 19c, Allée du 6 Août, 4000 Liège, Belgium
³⁹ CRAAG – Centre de Recherche en Astronomie, Astrophysique et Géophysique, Route de l’Observatoire, BP 63 Bouzareah, 16340 Algiers, Algeria
⁴⁰ Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
⁴¹ RHEA for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
⁴² ATG Europe for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
⁴³ CIGUS CITIC – Department of Computer Science and Information Technologies, University of A Coruña, Campus de Elviña s/n, A Coruña 15071, Spain
⁴⁴ Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg, UMR 7550, 11 rue de l’Université, 67000 Strasbourg, France
⁴⁵ Kavli Institute for Cosmology Cambridge, Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
⁴⁶ Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany
⁴⁷ CENTRA, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Edif. C8, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
⁴⁸ Department of Informatics, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine, 5226 Donald Bren Hall, 92697-3440 CA, Irvine, USA
⁴⁹ INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Via S. Sofia 48, 95123 Catania, Italy
⁵⁰ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Ettore Majorana”, Università di Catania, Via S. Sofia 64, 95123 Catania, Italy
⁵¹ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via Frascati 33, 00048 Monte Porzio Catone (Roma), Italy
⁵² Space Science Data Center – ASI, Via del Politecnico SNC, 00133 Roma, Italy
⁵³ Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, PO Box 64 00014 Helsinki, Finland
⁵⁴ Finnish Geospatial Research Institute FGI, Geodeetinrinne 2, 02430 Masala, Finland
⁵⁵ Institut UTINAM CNRS UMR6213, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, OSU THETA Franche-Comté Bourgogne, Observatoire de Besançon, BP1615, 25010 Besançon Cedex, France
⁵⁶ HE Space Operations BV for European Space Agency (ESA), Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands
⁵⁷ Dpto. de Inteligencia Artificial, UNED, c/ Juan del Rosal 16, 28040 Madrid, Spain
⁵⁸ Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Eötvs Loránd Research Network (ELKH), MTA Centre of Excellence, Konkoly Thege Miklós út 15-17, 1121 Budapest, Hungary
⁵⁹ ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Physics, 1117, Pázmány Péter sétány 1A, Budapest, Hungary
⁶⁰ Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
⁶¹ Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University, PO Box 9010 6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands
⁶² University of Vienna, Department of Astrophysics, Türkenschanzstraße 17, 1180 Vienna, Austria
⁶³ Institute of Physics, Laboratory of Astrophysics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Observatoire de Sauverny, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
⁶⁴ Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, Landleven 12, 9747 AD Groningen, The Netherlands
⁶⁵ School of Physics and Astronomy / Space Park Leicester, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
⁶⁶ Thales Services for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
⁶⁷ Depto. Estadística e Investigación Operativa. Universidad de Cádiz, Avda. República Saharaui s/n, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain
⁶⁸ Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD, USA
⁶⁹ GSFC – Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 698, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, 20771 MD Greenbelt, USA
⁷⁰ EURIX S.r.l., Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 61, 10128 Torino, Italy
⁷¹ Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6994801, Israel
⁷² Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., MS 15, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
⁷³ HE Space Operations BV for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
⁷⁴ Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Universidade do Porto, CAUP, Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto, Portugal
⁷⁵ LFCA/DAS, Universidad de Chile, CNRS, Casilla 36-D, Santiago, Chile
⁷⁶ SISSA – Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
⁷⁷ Telespazio for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
⁷⁸ University of Turin, Department of Computer Sciences, Corso Svizzera 185, 10149 Torino, Italy
⁷⁹ Dpto. de Matemática Aplicada y Ciencias de la Computación, Univ. de Cantabria, ETS Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain
⁸⁰ Centro de Astronomía – CITEVA, Universidad de Antofagasta, Avenida Angamos 601, Antofagasta 1270300, Chile
⁸¹ DLR Gesellschaft für Raumfahrtanwendungen (GfR) mbH, Münchener Straße 20, 82234 Weßling, Germany
⁸² Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, AL10 9AB Hatfield, UK
⁸³ University of Turin, Mathematical Department “G.Peano”, Via Carlo Alberto 10, 10123 Torino, Italy
⁸⁴ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico d’Abruzzo, Via Mentore Maggini, 64100 Teramo, Italy
⁸⁵ Instituto de Astronomia, Geofìsica e Ciências Atmosféricas, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, 1226, Cidade Universitaria, 05508-900 São Paulo, SP, Brazil
⁸⁶ APAVE SUDEUROPE SAS for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
⁸⁷ Mésocentre de calcul de Franche-Comté, Université de Franche-Comté, 16 route de Gray, 25030 Besançon Cedex, France
⁸⁸ Theoretical Astrophysics, Division of Astronomy and Space Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516 751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
⁸⁹ ATOS for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
⁹⁰ School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6994801, Israel
⁹¹ Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
⁹² Centre de Données Astronomique de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
⁹³ Institute for Computational Cosmology, Department of Physics, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
⁹⁴ European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, 85748 Garching, Germany
⁹⁵ Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
⁹⁶ Data Science and Big Data Lab, Pablo de Olavide University, 41013 Seville, Spain
⁹⁷ Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Plaça Eusebi Güell 1-3, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
⁹⁸ ETSE Telecomunicación, Universidade de Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Galicia, Spain
⁹⁹ Asteroid Engineering Laboratory, Space Systems, Luleå University of Technology, Box 848 981 28 Kiruna, Sweden
¹⁰⁰ Vera C Rubin Observatory, 950 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
¹⁰¹ Department of Astrophysics, Astronomy and Mechanics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografos, 15483 Athens, Greece
¹⁰² TRUMPF Photonic Components GmbH, Lise-Meitner-Straße 13, 89081 Ulm, Germany
¹⁰³ IAC – Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Via Láctea s/n, 38200 La Laguna S.C., Tenerife, Spain
¹⁰⁴ Department of Astrophysics, University of La Laguna, Via Láctea s/n, 38200 La Laguna S.C., Tenerife, Spain
¹⁰⁵ Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Kluyverweg 1, 2629 HS Delft, The Netherlands
¹⁰⁶ Radagast Solutions, Simon Vestdijkpad 24, 2321WD Leiden, The Netherlands
¹⁰⁷ Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier, CNRS Université Montpellier, Place Eugène Bataillon, CC72, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France
¹⁰⁸ Université de Caen Normandie, Côte de Nacre, Boulevard Maréchal Juin, 14032 Caen, France
¹⁰⁹ LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, 5 Place Jules Janssen, 92190 Meudon, France
¹¹⁰ SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Niels Bohrweg 4, 2333 CA Leiden, The Netherlands
¹¹¹ Astronomical Observatory, University of Warsaw, Al. Ujazdowskie 4, 00-448 Warszawa, Poland
¹¹² Scalian for CNES Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
¹¹³ Université Rennes, CNRS, IPR (Institut de Physique de Rennes) – UMR 6251, 35000 Rennes, France
¹¹⁴ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Via Moiariello 16, 80131 Napoli, Italy
¹¹⁵ Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, PR China
¹¹⁶ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.19(A) Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049, PR China
¹¹⁷ Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
¹¹⁸ DXC Technology, Retortvej 8, 2500 Valby, Denmark
¹¹⁹ Las Cumbres Observatory, 6740 Cortona Drive Suite 102, Goleta, CA 93117, USA
¹²⁰ CIGUS CITIC, Department of Nautical Sciences and Marine Engineering, University of A Coruña, Paseo de Ronda 51, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
¹²¹ Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF, UK
¹²² IPAC, Mail Code 100-22, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
¹²³ IRAP, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CNES, 9 Av. Colonel Roche, BP 44346, 31028 Toulouse Cedex 4, France
¹²⁴ MTA CSFK Lendlet Near-Field Cosmology Research Group, Konkoly Observatory, MTA Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Konkoly Thege Miklós út 15-17, 1121 Budapest, Hungary
¹²⁵ Departmento de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
¹²⁶ Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička cesta 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
¹²⁷ Villanova University, Department of Astrophysics and Planetary Science, 800 E Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085, USA
¹²⁸ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Via E. Bianchi, 46, 23807 Merate (LC), Italy
¹²⁹ STFC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell, Didcot OX11 0QX, UK
¹³⁰ Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Astronomical Institute of Charles University, V Holesovickach 2, 18000 Prague, Czech Republic
¹³¹ Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
¹³² Department of Astrophysical Sciences, 4 Ivy Lane, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
¹³³ Departamento de Astrofísica, Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), ESA-ESAC. Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n., 28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
¹³⁴ naXys, University of Namur, Rempart de la Vierge, 5000 Namur, Belgium
¹³⁵ CGI Deutschland B.V. & Co. KG, Mornewegstr. 30, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
¹³⁶ Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
¹³⁷ Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
¹³⁸ H H Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, UK
¹³⁹ Department of Physics and Astronomy G. Galilei, University of Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 3, 35122 Padova, Italy
¹⁴⁰ CERN, Esplanade des Particules 1, PO Box 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
¹⁴¹ Applied Physics Department, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
¹⁴² Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20004, USA
¹⁴³ European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Casilla 19, Santiago, Chile
¹⁴⁴ Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR7095, Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, 98bis bd. Arago, 75014 Paris, France
¹⁴⁵ Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, Jadranska ulica 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Received: 9 March 2022
Accepted: 25 May 2022

Abstract

Context. The motion of stars has been used to reveal details of the complex history of the Milky Way, in constant interaction with its environment. Nevertheless, to reconstruct the Galactic history puzzle in its entirety, the chemo-physical characterisation of stars is essential. Previous Gaia data releases were supported by a smaller, heterogeneous, and spatially biased mixture of chemical data from ground-based observations.

Aims. Gaia Data Release 3 opens a new era of all-sky spectral analysis of stellar populations thanks to the nearly 5.6 million stars observed by the Radial Velocity Spectrometer (RVS) and parametrised by the GSP-Spec module. In this work, we aim to demonstrate the scientific quality of Gaia’s Milky Way chemical cartography through a chemo-dynamical analysis of disc and halo populations.

Methods. Stellar atmospheric parameters and chemical abundances provided by Gaia DR3 spectroscopy are combined with DR3 radial velocities and EDR3 astrometry to analyse the relationships between chemistry and Milky Way structure, stellar kinematics, and orbital parameters.

Results. The all-sky Gaia chemical cartography allows a powerful and precise chemo-dynamical view of the Milky Way with unprecedented spatial coverage and statistical robustness. First, it reveals the strong vertical symmetry of the Galaxy and the flared structure of the disc. Second, the observed kinematic disturbances of the disc – seen as phase space correlations – and kinematic or orbital substructures are associated with chemical patterns that favour stars with enhanced metallicities and lower [α/Fe] abundance ratios compared to the median values in the radial distributions. This is detected both for young objects that trace the spiral arms and older populations. Several α, iron-peak elements and at least one heavy element trace the thin and thick disc properties in the solar cylinder. Third, young disc stars show a recent chemical impoverishment in several elements. Fourth, the largest chemo-dynamical sample of open clusters analysed so far shows a steepening of the radial metallicity gradient with age, which is also observed in the young field population. Finally, the Gaia chemical data have the required coverage and precision to unveil galaxy accretion debris and heated disc stars on halo orbits through their [α/Fe] ratio, and to allow the study of the chemo-dynamical properties of globular clusters.

Conclusions. Gaia DR3 chemo-dynamical diagnostics open new horizons before the era of ground-based wide-field spectroscopic surveys. They unveil a complex Milky Way that is the outcome of an eventful evolution, shaping it to the present day.