2024A&A...686A.198A

We present the first comprehensive chemical study of a representative sample of 27 luminous red giant branch (RGB) stars belonging to Liller 1, a complex stellar system in the Galactic bulge. This study is based on medium-resolution near-infrared spectra acquired with X-shooter at the Very Large Telescope. We found a subpopulation counting 22 stars with subsolar metallicity (⟨[Fe/H]⟩ = -0.31 ± 0.02 and 1σ dispersion of 0.08 dex) and with enhanced [α/Fe], [Al/Fe], and [K/Fe] that likely formed early and quickly from gas that was mainly enriched by type II supernovae, and a metal-rich population counting 5 stars with supersolar metallicity (⟨[Fe/H]⟩ = +0.22 ± 0.03 and 1σ dispersion of 0.06 dex) and roughly solar-scaled [α/Fe], [Al/Fe], and [K/Fe] that formed at later epochs from gas that was also enriched by type Ia supernovae. Moreover, both subpopulations show enhanced [Na/Fe], as in the bulge field, about solar-scaled [V/Fe], and depletion of [C/Fe] and ¹²C/¹³C with respect to the solar values. This indicates that mixing and extra-mixing processes during the RGB evolution also occur at very high metallicities. Notably, no evidence of a Na-O anticorrelation, which is considered the fingerprint of genuine globular clusters, has been found. This challenges any formation scenarios that invoke the accretion of a molecular cloud or an additional stellar system onto a genuine globular cluster. The results of this study underline the strong chemical similarity between Liller 1 and Terzan 5 and support the hypothesis that these complex stellar systems might be fossil fragments of the epoch of Galactic bulge formation.