Homogeneity in the early chemical evolution of the Sextans dwarf Spheroidal galaxy

R. Lucchesi, C. Lardo, F. Primas, P. Jablonka, P. North, G. Battaglia, E. Starkenburg, V. Hill, M. Irwin, P. Francois, M. Shetrone, E. Tolstoy, K. Venn

Published 2020-01-29Version 1

We present the high-resolution spectroscopic analysis of two new extremely metal-poor stars (EMPS) candidates in the dwarf spheroidal galaxy Sextans. These targets were pre-selected from medium resolution spectra centered around the Ca II triplet in the near-infrared and followed-up at higher resolution with VLT/UVES. We confirm their low metallicities with [Fe/H]=-2.95 and [Fe/H]=-3.01, placing them among the most metal-poor stars known in Sextans. The abundances of 18 elements, including C, Na, the alpha-elements, Fe-peak, and neutron capture elements, are determined. In particular, we present the first measurements of Zn in a classical dwarf at extremely low metallicity. There has been previous hints of a large scatter in the abundance ratios of the Sextans stellar population around [Fe/H] -3 when compared to other galaxies. We took the opportunity of this work to re-analyse the full sample of EMPS and find a Milky-Way -like plateau and a normal dispersion at fixed metallicity.