A Blueprint for the Milky Way's Stellar Populations. IV. A String of Pearls $-$ the Galactic Starburst Sequence

Abstract

We continue our series of papers on phase-space distributions of stars in the Milky Way based on photometrically derived metallicities and Gaia astrometry, with a focus on the halo-disk interface in the local volume. To exploit various photometric databases, we develop a method of empirically calibrating synthetic stellar spectra based on a comparison with observations of stellar sequences and individual stars in SDSS, SMSS, and PS1, overcoming band-specific corrections employed in our previous work. In addition, photometric zero-point corrections are derived to provide an internally consistent photometric system with a spatially uniform metallicity zero point. Using our phase-space diagrams, we find a remarkably narrow sequence in the rotational velocity ($v_{\varphi }$) versus metallicity ([Fe/H]) space for a sample of high proper-motion stars ($>25$ mas yr${}^{-1}$), which runs along Gaia Sausage/Enceladus (GSE) and the Splash sub-structures, and is linked to the disk, spanning nearly $2$ dex in [Fe/H]. Notably, a rapid increase of $v_{\varphi }$ from a nearly zero net rotation to $\sim 180$ km s${}^{-1}$ in a narrow metallicity interval ($-0.6\le$ [Fe/H] $\le -0.4$) suggests that some of these stars emerged quickly on a short gas-depletion time scale. Through measurements of a scale height and length, we argue that these stars are distinct from those heated dynamically by mergers. This chain of high proper-motion stars provides additional support for recent findings that suggest a starburst occurred when the young Milky Way encountered the gas-rich GSE progenitor, which eventually led to the settling of metal-enriched gas onto the disk.

39 pages, 30 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

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