The Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey

The Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey has begun and will obtain high quality spectroscopy of some 100000 Milky Way stars, in the field and in open clusters, down to magnitude 19, systematically covering all the major components of the Milky Way. This survey will provide the first homogeneous overview of the distributions of kinematics and chemical element abundances in the Galaxy. The motivation, organisation and implementation of the Gaia-ESO Survey are described, emphasising the complementarity with the ESA Gaia mission. Spectra from the very first observing run of the survey are presented.

La ricostruzione del soffitto della chiesa dell'Ospedale di San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti

The Gaia-ESO Survey: Structural and dynamical properties of the young cluster Chamaeleon i

Investigating the physical mechanisms driving the dynamical evolution of young star clusters is fundamental to our understanding of the star formation process and the properties of the Galactic field stars. The young (~2 Myr) and partially embedded cluster Chamaeleon I is one of the closest laboratories for the study of the early stages of star cluster dynamics in a low-density environment. The aim of this work is to study the structural and kinematical properties of this cluster combining parameters from the high-resolution spectroscopic observations of the Gaia-ESO Survey with data from the literature. Our main result is the evidence of a large discrepancy between the velocity dispersion …

The Gaia-ESO Survey: membership and initial mass function of the. Velorum cluster

Understanding the properties of young open clusters, such as the Initial Mass Function (IMF), star formation history and dynamic evolution, is crucial to obtain reliable theoretical predictions of the mechanisms involved in the star formation process. We want to obtain a list, as complete as possible, of confirmed members of the young open cluster Gamma Velorum, with the aim of deriving general cluster properties such as the IMF. We used all available spectroscopic membership indicators within the Gaia-ESO public archive together with literature photometry and X-ray data and, for each method, we derived the most complete list of candidate cluster members. Then, we considered photometry, gra…

The Gaia-ESO Survey: evidence of atomic diffusion in M67?

Investigating the chemical homogeneity of stars born from the same molecular cloud at virtually the same time is very important for our understanding of the chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium and with it the chemical evolution of the Galaxy. One major cause of inhomogeneities in the abundances of open clusters is stellar evolution of the cluster members. In this work, we investigate variations in the surface chemical composition of member stars of the old open clusterM67 as a possible consequence of atomic diffusion effects taking place during the main-sequence phase. The abundances used are obtained from high-resolution UVES/FLAMES spectra within the framework of the Gaia-ESO S…

Gamma Vel cluster membership and IMF

Understanding the properties of young open clusters, such as the Initial Mass Function (IMF), star formation history and dynamic evolution, is crucial to obtain reliable theoretical predictions of the mechanisms involved in the star formation process. We want to obtain a list, as complete as possible, of confirmed members of the young open cluster Gamma Velorum, with the aim of deriving general cluster properties such as the IMF. We used all available spectroscopic membership indicators within the Gaia-ESO public archive together with literature photometry and X-ray data and, for each method, we derived the most complete list of candidate cluster members. Then, we considered photometry, gra…

GES: pre-main-sequence clusters [Fe/H]

The radial metallicity distribution in the Galactic thin disc represents a crucial constraint for modelling disc formation and evolution. Open clusters allow us to derive both the radial metallicity distribution and its evolution over time. In this paper we perform the first investigation of the present-day radial metallicity distribution based on [Fe/H] determinations in late type members of pre-main-sequence clusters. Because of their youth, these clusters are therefore essential for tracing the current inter-stellar medium metallicity. We used the products of the Gaia-ESO Survey analysis of 12 young regions (age<100Myr), covering Galactocentric distances from 6.67 to 8.70kpc. For the fir…

Gaia-ESO Survey: Cha I members

Investigating the physical mechanisms driving the dynamical evolution of young star clusters is fundamental to our understanding of the star formation process and the properties of the Galactic field stars. The young (~2Myr) and partially embedded cluster Chamaeleon I is one of the closest laboratories to study the early stages of star cluster dynamics in a low-density environment. The aim of this work is to study the structural and kinematical properties of this cluster combining parameters from the high-resolution spectroscopic observations of the Gaia-ESO Survey with data from the literature. Our main result is the evidence of a large discrepancy between the velocity dispersion ({sigma}_…