Chemical clocks & r-process timescales
Using ESO VLT/FLAMES spectra for 98 red giant branch stars in the Sculptor dSph galaxy we probe, for the first time, the use of [Y/Mg] and [Ba/Mg] as chemical clocks in a galaxy different from the Milky Way. These abundance ratios have a strong correlation with age in Sculptor, but the trend is significantly offset from those observed in the Milky Way and the Fornax dSph galaxy. Thus we conclude that chemical clocks based on the delayed timescale of the s-process are not Universal but depend on both metallicity and environment. Continue reading Chemical clocks & r-process timescales