Multi-Element Abundance Measurements From Medium-Resolution Spectra. I. The Sculptor Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy

We present measurements of Fe, Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti abundances for 388 radial velocity member stars in the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph), a satellite of the Milky Way (MW). This is the largest sample of individual a element (Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti) abundance measurements in any single dSph. The measurements are made from Keck/Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrometer medium-resolution spectra (6400-9000 angstrom, R similar to 6500). Based on comparisons to published high-resolution (R greater than or similar to 20,000) spectroscopic measurements, our measurements have uncertainties of sigma[Fe/H] = 0.14 and sigma[alpha/Fe] = 0.13. The Sculptor [Fe/H] distribution has a mean <[Fe/H]> = -1.58 and is asymmetric with a long, metal-poor tail, indicative of a history of extended star formation. Sculptor has a larger fraction of stars with [Fe/H] < -2 than the MW halo. We have discovered one star with [Fe/H] = -3.80 +/- 0.28, which is the most metal-poor star known anywhere except the MW halo, but high-resolution spectroscopy is needed to measure this star's detailed abundances. As has been previously reported based on high-resolution spectroscopy, [alpha/Fe] in Sculptor falls as [Fe/H] increases. The metal-rich stars ([Fe/H] similar to -1.5) have lower [alpha/Fe] than Galactic halo field stars of comparable metallicity. This indicates that star formation proceeded more gradually in Sculptor than in the Galactic halo. We also observe radial abundance gradients of -0.030 +/- 0.003 dex arcmin(-1) in [Fe/H] and +0.013 +/- 0.003 dex arcmin(-1) in [alpha/Fe] out to 11 arcmin (275 pc). Together, these measurements cast Sculptor and possibly other surviving dSphs as representative of the dwarf galaxies from which the metal-poor tail of the Galactic halo formed.