Pristine Inner Galaxy Survey (PIGS) IX. The largest detailed chemical analysis of very metal-poor stars in the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy

Federico Sestito, Sara Vitali, Paula Jofre, Kim A. Venn, David S. Aguado, Claudia Aguilera-Gómez, Anke Ardern-Arentsen, Danielle de Brito Silva, Raymond Carlberg, Camilla J. L. Eldridge, Felipe Gran, Vanessa Hill, Pascale Jablonka, Georges Kordopatis, Nicolas F. Martin, Tadafumi Matsuno, Samuel Rusterucci, Else Starkenburg, Akshara Viswanathan

Published 2024-04-30Version 1

The most metal-poor stars provide valuable insights into the early chemical enrichment history of a system, carrying the chemical imprints of the first generations of supernovae. The most metal-poor region of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy remains inadequately observed and characterised. To date, only a handful of stars with [Fe/H]$<-2.0$ have been chemically analysed with high-resolution spectroscopy. In this study, we present the most extensive chemical abundance analysis of 12 low-metallicity stars with metallicities down to [Fe/H]$=-3.26$ and located in the main body of Sagittarius. These targets, selected from the Pristine Inner Galaxy survey, were observed using the MIKE high-resolution spectrograph at the Magellan-Clay telescope, which allows us to measure up to 17 chemical species. The chemical composition of these stars reflects the imprint of a variety of type~II supernovae. A combination of low- to intermediate-mass core-collapse and hypernovae ($\sim10-70 M_{\odot}$) is required to account for the abundance patterns of the lighter elements up to the Fe-peak. The trend of the heavy elements suggests the involvement of compact binary merger events and fast-rotating (up to $\sim300$ km s$^{-1}$) intermediate-mass to massive metal-poor stars ($\sim25-120 M_{\odot}$) that are the sources of rapid- and slow-processes, respectively. Additionally, asymptotic giant branch stars contribute to a wide dispersion of [Ba/Mg] and [Ba/Eu]. The absence of an $\alpha-$knee in our data indicates that type Ia supernovae did not contribute in the very metal-poor region ( [Fe/H]$\leq-2.0$). However, they might have started to pollute the interstellar medium at [Fe/H]$>-2.0$, given the relatively low [Co/Fe] in this metallicity region.