Metal-rich stellar counterpart of the Radcliffe Wave and the 3D chemical footprints of the Milky Way spiral arms

Abstract

Mapping the Milky Way spiral arms in the vertical direction remains a challenging task that has received little attention. Taking advantage of recent results that link the position of the Galactic spiral arms to metal-rich regions in the disc, we analyse a sample of young giant stars from {\it Gaia} DR3 and use their metallicity distribution to produce a 3D metallicity excess map. The map shows signatures of the spiral arms, whose vertical height vary across the Galactic disc, reaching up to 400 pc in amplitude and exhibiting vertical asymmetries with respect to the mid-plane. Specifically, the Perseus arm displays a high vertical asymmetry consistent with the Galactic warp. Moreover, we find evidence of a metal-rich stellar structure that undulates vertically, nearly in phase with the arrangement of star-forming regions named the Radcliffe Wave. This new structure is larger and extends beyond the Radcliffe Wave, reaching vertical amplitudes of $\sim$ 270 pc and extending for at least 4 kpc in length. We confirm that for at least half of its length this Extended Radcliffe Wave is the inner edge of the Local Arm. The finding of a metal-rich stellar counterpart of the Radcliffe Wave shows that mapping the three-dimensional metallicity distribution of young stellar populations reveals key information about the structures and chemical enrichment in the Galactic disc.