The SkyMapper DR1.1 search for extremely metal-poor stars

We present and discuss the results of a search for extremely metal-poor stars based on photometry from data release DR1.1 of the SkyMapper imaging survey of the southern sky. In particular, we outline our photometric selection procedures and describe the low-resolution (R ≈ 3000) spectroscopic follow-up observations that are used to provide estimates of effective temperature, surface gravity, and metallicity ([Fe/H]) for the candidates. The selection process is very efficient: of the 2618 candidates with low-resolution spectra that have photometric metallicity estimates less than or equal to -2.0, 41 per cent have [Fe/H] ≤ -2.75 and only approximately seven per cent have [Fe/H] > -2.0 dex. The most metal-poor candidate in the sample has [Fe/H] < -4.75 and is notably carbon rich. Except at the lowest metallicities ([Fe/H] < -4), the stars observed spectroscopically are dominated by a `carbon-normal' population with [C/Fe]_{1D, LTE} ≤ +1 dex. Consideration of the A(C)_{1D, LTE} versus [Fe/H]_{1D, LTE} diagram suggests that the current selection process is strongly biased against stars with A(C)_{1D, LTE} > 7.3 (predominantly CEMP-s) while any bias against stars with A(C)_{1D, LTE} < 7.3 and [C/Fe]_1D,_LTE > +1 (predominantly CEMP-no) is not readily quantifiable given the uncertainty in the SkyMapper v-band DR1.1 photometry. We find that the metallicity distribution function of the observed sample has a power-law slope of Δ(Log N)/Δ[Fe/H] = 1.5 ± 0.1 dex per dex for -4.0 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ -2.75, but appears to drop abruptly at [Fe/H] ≈ -4.2, in line with previous studies.