Contents
Images
Upload your image
DSS Images Other Images
Related articles
Doppler imaging and surface differential rotation of young open cluster stars - I. HD 307938 (R58) in IC 2602
In this paper we present Doppler images of a young active G dwarf (HD307938) in the southern open cluster IC 2602. Spectroscopic data wereobtained over a four-night period in 2000 January at the 3.9-mAnglo-Australian Telescope using the University College London EchelleSpectrograph. Simultaneous photometric observations (in the V and Rbands) were obtained at the 1.0-m Australian National Universitytelescope. By applying least-squares deconvolution (LSD) to the 2500+photospheric lines in each echelle spectrum a single highsignal-to-noise ratio LSD profile was produced for each phase of thespectroscopic observations. Maximum-entropy image reconstruction,incorporating both the LSD profiles and the photometric data, was usedto produce maps of the surface features of the star, with the inclusionof the photometric data producing an increase (compared with the use ofspectroscopic data alone) in the spot occupancy in both low- andmid-latitude regions of the star. The maps show that HD 307938 possessesa large, broken polar spot extending down to ~60° latitude, as wellas lower-latitude spots similar to other rapidly rotating G dwarfs. Byincorporating a solar-like differential rotation law into the imagingprocess the surface differential rotation of HD 307938 was determined.This gave a surface shear of dΩ= 0.025 +/- 0.015 radd-1 (for an inclination angle of 60°). Thus the equatorof HD 307938 laps the poles every ~250 d and has a photospheric sheararound half that of the Sun.
| Chemical Composition in the Globular Cluster M71 from Keck HIRES Spectra of Turnoff Stars
We have made observations with the Keck I telescope and HIRES at aresolution of ~45,000 of five nearly identical stars at the turnoff ofthe metal-rich globular cluster M71. We derive stellar parameters andabundances of several elements. Our mean Fe abundance,[Fe/H]=-0.80+/-0.02, is in excellent agreement with previous clusterdeterminations from both giants and near-turnoff stars. There is noclear evidence for any star-to-star abundance differences orcorrelations in our sample. Abundance ratios of the Fe peak elements(Cr, Ni) are similar to Fe. The turnoff stars in M71 have remarkablyconsistent enhancements of 0.2-0.3 dex in [Si/Fe], [Ca/Fe], and [Ti/Fe],like the red giants. Our [Mg/Fe] ratio is somewhat lower than thatsuggested by other studies. We compare our mean abundances for the fiveM71 stars with field stars of similar metallicity [Fe/H]: eight withhalo kinematics and 17 with disk kinematics. The abundances of theα-fusion products (Mg, Si, Ca, Ti) agree with both samples butseem a closer match to the disk stars. The Mg abundance in M71 is at thelower edge of the disk and halo samples. The neutron-capture elements, Yand Ba, are enhanced relative to solar in the M71 turnoff stars. Ourratio [Ba/Fe] is similar to that of the halo field stars but a factor of2 above that for the disk field stars. The important [Ba/Y] ratio issignificantly lower than M71 giant values; the precluster material mayhave been exposed to a higher neutron flux than the disk stars orself-enrichment has occurred subsequent to cluster star formation. TheNa content of the M71 turnoff stars is remarkably similar to that in thedisk field stars but more than a factor of 2 higher than the halo fieldstar sample. We find [Na/Fe]=+0.14+/-0.04 with a spread less than halfof that found in the red giants in M71. Excluding Mg, the lack ofintracluster α-element variations (turnoff vis-à-visgiants) suggests that the polluting material needed to explain theabundance patterns in M71 did not arise from explosive nucleosynthesisbut in a more traditional s-process environment such as AGB stars. Thedetermination of light s-peak abundances should reveal whether thispollution occurred before or after cluster formation.
| Statistical Constraints for Astrometric Binaries with Nonlinear Motion
Useful constraints on the orbits and mass ratios of astrometric binariesin the Hipparcos catalog are derived from the measured proper motiondifferences of Hipparcos and Tycho-2 (Δμ), accelerations ofproper motions (μ˙), and second derivatives of proper motions(μ̈). It is shown how, in some cases, statistical bounds can beestimated for the masses of the secondary components. Two catalogs ofastrometric binaries are generated, one of binaries with significantproper motion differences and the other of binaries with significantaccelerations of their proper motions. Mathematical relations betweenthe astrometric observables Δμ, μ˙, and μ̈ andthe orbital elements are derived in the appendices. We find a remarkabledifference between the distribution of spectral types of stars withlarge accelerations but small proper motion differences and that ofstars with large proper motion differences but insignificantaccelerations. The spectral type distribution for the former sample ofbinaries is the same as the general distribution of all stars in theHipparcos catalog, whereas the latter sample is clearly dominated bysolar-type stars, with an obvious dearth of blue stars. We point outthat the latter set includes mostly binaries with long periods (longerthan about 6 yr).
| Abundances of Mn, Co and Eu in a sample of 20 F-G disk stars: the influence of hyperfine structure splitting
We present Mn, Co and Eu abundances for a sample of 20 disk F and Gdwarfs and subgiants with metallicities in the range-0.8≤[Fe/H]≤+0.3. We investigate the influence of hyperfinestructure (HFS) on the derived abundances of Mn and Co by using HFS datafrom different sources in the literature, as well as calculated HFS frominteraction factors A and B. Eu abundances were obtained from spectralsynthesis of one Eu II line that takes into account HFS from a series ofrecent laboratory measurements. For the lines analysed in this study, wefind that for manganese, the differences between abundances obtainedwith different HFSs are no greater than 0.10 dex. Our cobalt abundancesare even less sensitive to the choice of HFS than Mn, presenting a 0.07dex maximum difference between determinations with different HFSs.However, the cobalt HFS data from different sources are significantlydifferent. Our abundance results for Mn offer an independentconfirmation of literature results, favouring type Ia supernovae as themain nucleosynthesis site of Mn production, in contrast to trends of Mnversus metallicity previously reported in the literature. For Co, weobtain [Co/Fe]0.0 in the range -0.3<[Fe/H]<+0.3 and [Co/Fe]rising to a level of +0.2 when [Fe/H] decreases from -0.3 to -0.8, indisagreement with recent results in the literature. The observeddiscrepancies may be attributed to the lack of HFS in the works we usedfor comparison. Our results for Eu are in accordance with low-mass typeII supernovae being the main site of the r-process nucleosynthesis.
| Sulphur abundance in Galactic stars
We investigate sulphur abundance in 74 Galactic stars by using highresolution spectra obtained at ESO VLT and NTT telescopes. For the firsttime the abundances are derived, where possible, from three opticalmultiplets: Mult. 1, 6, and 8. By combining our own measurements withdata in the literature we assemble a sample of 253 stars in themetallicity range -3.2 [Fe/H] +0.5. Two important features,which could hardly be detected in smaller samples, are obvious from thislarge sample: 1) a sizeable scatter in [S/Fe] ratios around [Fe/H]-1; 2) at low metallicities we observe stars with [S/Fe] 0.4, aswell as stars with higher [S/Fe] ratios. The latter do not seem to bekinematically different from the former ones. Whether the latter findingstems from a distinct population of metal-poor stars or simply from anincreased scatter in sulphur abundances remains an open question.
| Abundance trends in kinematical groups of the Milky Way's disk
We have compiled a large catalogue of metallicities and abundance ratiosfrom the literature in order to investigate abundance trends of severalalpha and iron peak elements in the thin disk and the thick disk of theGalaxy. The catalogue includes 743 stars with abundances of Fe, O, Mg,Ca, Ti, Si, Na, Ni and Al in the metallicity range -1.30 < [Fe/H]< +0.50. We have checked that systematic differences betweenabundances measured in the different studies were lower than randomerrors before combining them. Accurate distances and proper motions fromHipparcos and radial velocities from several sources have been retreivedfor 639 stars and their velocities (U, V, W) and galactic orbits havebeen computed. Ages of 322 stars have been estimated with a Bayesianmethod of isochrone fitting. Two samples kinematically representative ofthe thin and thick disks have been selected, taking into account theHercules stream which is intermediate in kinematics, but with a probabledynamical origin. Our results show that the two disks are chemicallywell separated, they overlap greatly in metallicity and both showparallel decreasing alpha elements with increasing metallicity, in theinterval -0.80 < [Fe/H] < -0.30. The Mg enhancement with respectto Fe of the thick disk is measured to be 0.14 dex. An even largerenhancement is observed for Al. The thick disk is clearly older than thethin disk with tentative evidence of an AMR over 2-3 Gyr and a hiatus instar formation before the formation of the thin disk. We do not observea vertical gradient in the metallicity of the thick disk. The Herculesstream has properties similar to that of the thin disk, with a widerrange of metallicity. Metal-rich stars assigned to the thick disk andsuper-metal-rich stars assigned to the thin disk appear as outliers inall their properties.
| The age of the Galactic thin disk from Th/Eu nucleocosmochronology. I. Determination of [Th/Eu] abundance ratios
The purpose of this work is to resume investigation of Galactic thindisk dating using nucleocosmochronology with Th/Eu stellar abundanceratios, a theme absent from the literature since 1990. A stellar sampleof 20 disk dwarfs/subgiants of F5 to G8 spectral types with-0.8≤[Fe/H]≤+0.3 was selected. In stars with such spectral typesand luminosity classes, spectral synthesis techniques must be employedif we wish to achieve acceptably accurate results. An homogeneous,self-consistent set of atmospheric parameters was determined. Effectivetemperatures were determined from photometric calibrations and Hαprofile fitting; surface gravities were obtained from Teff,stellar masses and luminosities; microturbulence velocities andmetallicities were obtained from detailed, differential spectroscopicanalysis, relative to the Sun, using equivalent widths of Fe I and Fe IIlines. Chemical abundances of the elements that contaminate the Th andEu spectral regions (Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Ce, Nd, and Sm) weredetermined through spectroscopic analysis. Abundance uncertainties werethoroughly scrutinised, their average value (0.10±0.02) dex being found to be satisfactorily low. Eu and Th abundances weredetermined by spectral synthesis of one Eu II line (4129.72 Å) andone Th II line (4019.13 Å), taking into account the detailedhyperfine structures of contaminating Co lines, as well as the hyperfinestructure and isotope shift of the Eu line. Comparison of our abundanceswith literature data shows that our results exhibit a similar behaviour,but a considerably lower scatter (36% lower for Eu, and 61% lower forTh). The [Th/Eu] abundance ratios thus obtained were used, in the secondpaper of this series, to determine the age of the Galactic disk.
| Abundance correlations in mildly metal-poor stars. II. Light elements (C to Ca)
Accurate relative abundances have been obtained for carbon, oxygen,sodium, aluminium, silicon, and calcium in a sample of mildly metal-poorstars. This analysis complements a previous study carried out by Jehinet al. ([CITE], A&A, 341, 241), which provided the basis for theEASE scenario. This scenario postulates that field metal-poor stars wereborn in self-enriched proto-globular cluster clouds. By furtherinvestigating the correlations between the different α-elementabundances, we propose a modified scenario for the formation ofintermediate metallicity stars, in which the stars exhibiting lower thanaverage α/Fe abundance ratios would form in low mass clouds,unable to sustain the formation of very massive stars (M 30~M_ȯ). Moreover, the carbon-to-iron ratio is found to decrease asone climbs the so-called Population IIb branch, i.e. when the s-elementabundance increases. In the framework of the EASE scenario, we interpretthis anticorrelation between the carbon and the s-element abundances asa signature of a hot bottom burning process in the metal-poor AGB starswhich expelled the matter subsequently accreted by our Population IIbstars.Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile (ESO Programmes 56.E-0384, 57.E-0400 and 59.E-0257).
| Chromospheric Ca II Emission in Nearby F, G, K, and M Stars
We present chromospheric Ca II H and K activity measurements, rotationperiods, and ages for ~1200 F, G, K, and M type main-sequence stars from~18,000 archival spectra taken at Keck and Lick Observatories as a partof the California and Carnegie Planet Search Project. We have calibratedour chromospheric S-values against the Mount Wilson chromosphericactivity data. From these measurements we have calculated medianactivity levels and derived R'HK, stellar ages,and rotation periods from general parameterizations for 1228 stars,~1000 of which have no previously published S-values. We also presentprecise time series of activity measurements for these stars.Based on observations obtained at Lick Observatory, which is operated bythe University of California, and on observations obtained at the W. M.Keck Observatory, which is operated jointly by the University ofCalifornia and the California Institute of Technology. The KeckObservatory was made possible by the generous financial support of theW. M. Keck Foundation.
| The Rise of the s-Process in the Galaxy
From newly obtained high-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio spectrathe abundances of the elements La and Eu have been determined over thestellar metallicity range -3<[Fe/H]<+0.3 in 159 giant and dwarfstars. Lanthanum is predominantly made by the s-process in the solarsystem, while Eu owes most of its solar system abundance to ther-process. The changing ratio of these elements in stars over a widemetallicity range traces the changing contributions of these twoprocesses to the Galactic abundance mix. Large s-process abundances canbe the result of mass transfer from very evolved stars, so to identifythese cases we also report carbon abundances in our metal-poor stars.Results indicate that the s-process may be active as early as[Fe/H]=-2.6, although we also find that some stars as metal-rich as[Fe/H]=-1 show no strong indication of s-process enrichment. There is asignificant spread in the level of s-process enrichment even at solarmetallicity.
| Synthetic Lick Indices and Detection of α-enhanced Stars. II. F, G, and K Stars in the -1.0 < [Fe/H] < +0.50 Range
We present an analysis of 402 F, G, and K solar neighborhood stars, withaccurate estimates of [Fe/H] in the range -1.0 to +0.5 dex, aimed at thedetection of α-enhanced stars and at the investigation of theirkinematical properties. The analysis is based on the comparison of 571sets of spectral indices in the Lick/IDS system, coming from fourdifferent observational data sets, with synthetic indices computed withsolar-scaled abundances and with α-element enhancement. We useselected combinations of indices to single out α-enhanced starswithout requiring previous knowledge of their main atmosphericparameters. By applying this approach to the total data set, we obtain alist of 60 bona fide α-enhanced stars and of 146 stars withsolar-scaled abundances. The properties of the detected α-enhancedand solar-scaled abundance stars with respect to their [Fe/H] values andkinematics are presented. A clear kinematic distinction betweensolar-scaled and α-enhanced stars was found, although a one-to-onecorrespondence to ``thin disk'' and ``thick disk'' components cannot besupported with the present data.
| Stellar Chemical Signatures and Hierarchical Galaxy Formation
To compare the chemistries of stars in the Milky Way dwarf spheroidal(dSph) satellite galaxies with stars in the Galaxy, we have compiled alarge sample of Galactic stellar abundances from the literature. Whenkinematic information is available, we have assigned the stars tostandard Galactic components through Bayesian classification based onGaussian velocity ellipsoids. As found in previous studies, the[α/Fe] ratios of most stars in the dSph galaxies are generallylower than similar metallicity Galactic stars in this extended sample.Our kinematically selected stars confirm this for the Galactic halo,thin-disk, and thick-disk components. There is marginal overlap in thelow [α/Fe] ratios between dSph stars and Galactic halo stars onextreme retrograde orbits (V<-420 km s-1), but this is notsupported by other element ratios. Other element ratios compared in thispaper include r- and s-process abundances, where we find a significantoffset in the [Y/Fe] ratios, which results in a large overabundance in[Ba/Y] in most dSph stars compared with Galactic stars. Thus, thechemical signatures of most of the dSph stars are distinct from thestars in each of the kinematic components of the Galaxy. This resultrules out continuous merging of low-mass galaxies similar to these dSphsatellites during the formation of the Galaxy. However, we do not ruleout very early merging of low-mass dwarf galaxies, since up to one-halfof the most metal-poor stars ([Fe/H]<=-1.8) have chemistries that arein fair agreement with Galactic halo stars. We also do not rule outmerging with higher mass galaxies, although we note that the LMC and theremnants of the Sgr dwarf galaxy are also chemically distinct from themajority of the Galactic halo stars. Formation of the Galaxy's thickdisk by heating of an old thin disk during a merger is also not ruledout; however, the Galaxy's thick disk itself cannot be comprised of theremnants from a low-mass (dSph) dwarf galaxy, nor of a high-mass dwarfgalaxy like the LMC or Sgr, because of differences in chemistry.The new and independent environments offered by the dSph galaxies alsoallow us to examine fundamental assumptions related to thenucleosynthesis of the elements. The metal-poor stars ([Fe/H]<=-1.8)in the dSph galaxies appear to have lower [Ca/Fe] and [Ti/Fe] than[Mg/Fe] ratios, unlike similar metallicity stars in the Galaxy.Predictions from the α-process (α-rich freeze-out) would beconsistent with this result if there have been a lack of hypernovae indSph galaxies. The α-process could also be responsible for thevery low Y abundances in the metal-poor stars in dSph's; since [La/Eu](and possibly [Ba/Eu]) are consistent with pure r-process results, thelow [Y/Eu] suggests a separate r-process site for this light(first-peak) r-process element. We also discuss SNe II rates and yieldsas other alternatives, however. In stars with higher metallicities([Fe/H]>=-1.8), contributions from the s-process are expected; [(Y,La, and Ba)/Eu] all rise as expected, and yet [Ba/Y] is still muchhigher in the dSph stars than similar metallicity Galactic stars. Thisresult is consistent with s-process contributions from lower metallicityAGB stars in dSph galaxies, and is in good agreement with the slowerchemical evolution expected in the low-mass dSph galaxies relative tothe Galaxy, such that the build-up of metals occurs over much longertimescales. Future investigations of nucleosynthetic constraints (aswell as galaxy formation and evolution) will require an examination ofmany stars within individual dwarf galaxies.Finally, the Na-Ni trend reported in 1997 by Nissen & Schuster isconfirmed in Galactic halo stars, but we discuss this in terms of thegeneral nucleosynthesis of neutron-rich elements. We do not confirm thatthe Na-Ni trend is related to the accretion of dSph galaxies in theGalactic halo.
| The Geneva-Copenhagen survey of the Solar neighbourhood. Ages, metallicities, and kinematic properties of 14 000 F and G dwarfs
We present and discuss new determinations of metallicity, rotation, age,kinematics, and Galactic orbits for a complete, magnitude-limited, andkinematically unbiased sample of 16 682 nearby F and G dwarf stars. Our63 000 new, accurate radial-velocity observations for nearly 13 500stars allow identification of most of the binary stars in the sampleand, together with published uvbyβ photometry, Hipparcosparallaxes, Tycho-2 proper motions, and a few earlier radial velocities,complete the kinematic information for 14 139 stars. These high-qualityvelocity data are supplemented by effective temperatures andmetallicities newly derived from recent and/or revised calibrations. Theremaining stars either lack Hipparcos data or have fast rotation. Amajor effort has been devoted to the determination of new isochrone agesfor all stars for which this is possible. Particular attention has beengiven to a realistic treatment of statistical biases and errorestimates, as standard techniques tend to underestimate these effectsand introduce spurious features in the age distributions. Our ages agreewell with those by Edvardsson et al. (\cite{edv93}), despite severalastrophysical and computational improvements since then. We demonstrate,however, how strong observational and theoretical biases cause thedistribution of the observed ages to be very different from that of thetrue age distribution of the sample. Among the many basic relations ofthe Galactic disk that can be reinvestigated from the data presentedhere, we revisit the metallicity distribution of the G dwarfs and theage-metallicity, age-velocity, and metallicity-velocity relations of theSolar neighbourhood. Our first results confirm the lack of metal-poor Gdwarfs relative to closed-box model predictions (the ``G dwarfproblem''), the existence of radial metallicity gradients in the disk,the small change in mean metallicity of the thin disk since itsformation and the substantial scatter in metallicity at all ages, andthe continuing kinematic heating of the thin disk with an efficiencyconsistent with that expected for a combination of spiral arms and giantmolecular clouds. Distinct features in the distribution of the Vcomponent of the space motion are extended in age and metallicity,corresponding to the effects of stochastic spiral waves rather thanclassical moving groups, and may complicate the identification ofthick-disk stars from kinematic criteria. More advanced analyses of thisrich material will require careful simulations of the selection criteriafor the sample and the distribution of observational errors.Based on observations made with the Danish 1.5-m telescope at ESO, LaSilla, Chile, and with the Swiss 1-m telescope at Observatoire deHaute-Provence, France.Complete Tables 1 and 2 are only available in electronic form at the CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/418/989
| New Metallicity Calibration Down to [Fe/H] = -2.75 dex
We have taken 88 dwarfs, covering the colour-index interval 0.37 <=(B-V)0 <= 1.07mag, with metallicities -2.70 <= [Fe/H]<= +0.26dex, from three different sources for new metallicitycalibration. The catalogue of Cayrel de Stroble et al. (2001), whichincludes 65% of the stars in our sample, supplies detailed informationon abundances for stars with determination based on high-resolutionspectroscopy. In constructing the new calibration we have used as`corner stones' 77 stars which supply at least one of the followingconditions: (i) the parallax is larger than 10mas (distance relative tothe Sun less than 100pc) and the galactic latitude is absolutely higherthan 30° (ii) the parallax is rather large, if the galactic latitudeis absolutely low and vice versa. Contrary to previous investigations, athird-degree polynomial is fitted for the new calibration: [Fe/H]=0.10 -2.76δ - 24.04δ2 + 30.00δ3. Thecoefficients were evaluated by the least-squares method, without regardto the metallicity of Hyades. However, the constant term is in the rangeof metallicity determined for this cluster, i.e.0.08<=[Fe/H]<=0.11dex. The mean deviation and the mean error inour work are equal to those of Carney (1979), for [Fe/H] >= -1.75dexwhere Carney's calibration is valid
| Some anomalies in the occurrence of debris discs around main-sequence A and G stars
Debris discs consist of large dust grains that are generated bycollisions of comets or asteroids around main-sequence stars, and thequantity and distribution of debris may be used to detect the presenceof perturbing planets akin to Neptune. We use stellar and disc surveysto compare the material seen around A- and G-type main-sequence stars.Debris is detected much more commonly towards A stars, even when acomparison is made only with G stars of comparable age. Detection ratesare consistent with disc durations of ~0.5 Gyr, which may occur at anytime during the main sequence. The higher detection rate for A stars canresult from this duration being a larger fraction of the main-sequencelifetime, possibly boosted by a globally slightly larger disc mass thanfor the G-type counterparts. The disc mass range at any given age is afactor of at least ~100 and any systematic decline with time is slow,with a power law estimated to not be steeper than t-1/2.Comparison with models shows that dust can be expected as late as a fewGyr when perturbing planetesimals form slowly at large orbital radii.Currently, the Solar system has little dust because the radius of theKuiper Belt is small and hence the time-scale to produce planetesimalswas less than 1 Gyr. However, the apparently constant duration of ~0.5Gyr when dust is visible is not predicted by the models.
| Improved Astrometry and Photometry for the Luyten Catalog. II. Faint Stars and the Revised Catalog
We complete construction of a catalog containing improved astrometry andnew optical/infrared photometry for the vast majority of NLTT starslying in the overlap of regions covered by POSS I and by the secondincremental Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) release, approximately 44%of the sky. The epoch 2000 positions are typically accurate to 130 mas,the proper motions to 5.5 mas yr-1, and the V-J colors to0.25 mag. Relative proper motions of binary components are measured to 3mas yr-1. The false-identification rate is ~1% for11<~V<~18 and substantially less at brighter magnitudes. Theseimprovements permit the construction of a reduced proper-motion diagramthat, for the first time, allows one to classify NLTT stars intomain-sequence (MS) stars, subdwarfs (SDs), and white dwarfs (WDs). We inturn use this diagram to analyze the properties of both our catalog andthe NLTT catalog on which it is based. In sharp contrast to popularbelief, we find that NLTT incompleteness in the plane is almostcompletely concentrated in MS stars, and that SDs and WDs are detectedalmost uniformly over the sky δ>-33deg. Our catalogwill therefore provide a powerful tool to probe these populationsstatistically, as well as to reliably identify individual SDs and WDs.
| STELIB: A library of stellar spectra at R ~ 2000
We present STELIB, a new spectroscopic stellar library, available athttp://webast.ast.obs-mip.fr/stelib. STELIB consists of an homogeneouslibrary of 249 stellar spectra in the visible range (3200 to 9500Å), with an intermediate spectral resolution (la 3 Å) andsampling (1 Å). This library includes stars of various spectraltypes and luminosity classes, spanning a relatively wide range inmetallicity. The spectral resolution, wavelength and spectral typecoverage of this library represents a substantial improvement overprevious libraries used in population synthesis models. The overallabsolute photometric uncertainty is 3%.Based on observations collected with the Jacobus Kaptein Telescope,(owned and operated jointly by the Particle Physics and AstronomyResearch Council of the UK, The Nederlandse Organisatie voorWetenschappelijk Onderzoek of The Netherlands and the Instituto deAstrofísica de Canarias of Spain and located in the SpanishObservatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos on La Palma which is operated bythe Instituto de AstrofÃsica de Canarias), the 2.3 mtelescope of the Australian National University at Siding Spring,Australia, and the VLT-UT1 Antu Telescope (ESO).Tables \ref{cat1} to \ref{cat6} and \ref{antab1} to A.7 are onlyavailable in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org. The StellarLibrary STELIB library is also available at the CDS, via anonymous ftpto cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/402/433
| Oxygen line formation in late-F through early-K disk/halo stars. Infrared O I triplet and [O I] lines
In order to investigate the formation of O I 7771-5 and [O I] 6300/6363lines, extensive non-LTE calculations for neutral atomic oxygen werecarried out for wide ranges of model atmosphere parameters, which areapplicable to early-K through late-F halo/disk stars of variousevolutionary stages.The formation of the triplet O I lines was found to be well described bythe classical two-level-atom scattering model, and the non-LTEcorrection is practically determined by the parameters of theline-transition itself without any significant relevance to the detailsof the oxygen atomic model. This simplifies the problem in the sensethat the non-LTE abundance correction is essentially determined only bythe line-strength (Wlambda ), if the atmospheric parametersof Teff, log g, and xi are given, without any explicitdependence of the metallicity; thus allowing a useful analytical formulawith tabulated numerical coefficients. On the other hand, ourcalculations lead to the robust conclusion that LTE is totally valid forthe forbidden [O I] lines.An extensive reanalysis of published equivalent-width data of O I 7771-5and [O I] 6300/6363 taken from various literature resulted in theconclusion that, while a reasonable consistency of O I and [O I]abundances was observed for disk stars (-1 <~ [Fe/H] <~ 0), theexistence of a systematic abundance discrepancy was confirmed between OI and [O I] lines in conspicuously metal-poor halo stars (-3 <~[Fe/H] <~ -1) without being removed by our non-LTE corrections, i.e.,the former being larger by ~ 0.3 dex at -3 <~ [Fe/H] <~ -2.An inspection of the parameter-dependence of this discordance indicatesthat the extent of the discrepancy tends to be comparatively lessenedfor higher Teff/log g stars, suggesting the preference ofdwarf (or subgiant) stars for studying the oxygen abundances ofmetal-poor stars.Tables 2, 5, and 7 are only available in electronic form, at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/402/343 and Table\ref{tab3} is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| The Wilson-Bappu effect: A tool to determine stellar distances
Wilson & Bappu (\cite{orig}) have shown the existence of aremarkable correlation between the width of the emission in the core ofthe K line of Ca II and the absolute visual magnitude of late-typestars.Here we present a new calibration of the Wilson-Bappu effect based on asample of 119 nearby stars. We use, for the first time, widthmeasurements based on high resolution and high signal to noise ratio CCDspectra and absolute visual magnitudes from the Hipparcos database.Our primary goal is to investigate the possibility of using theWilson-Bappu effect to determine accurate distances to single stars andgroups.The result of our calibration fitting of the Wilson-Bappu relationshipis MV=33.2-18.0 log W0, and the determinationseems free of systematic effects. The root mean square error of thefitting is 0.6 mag. This error is mostly accounted for by measurementerrors and intrinsic variability of W0, but in addition apossible dependence on the metallicity is found, which becomes clearlynoticeable for metallicities below [Fe/H] ~ -0.4. This detection ispossible because in our sample [Fe/H] ranges from -1.5 to 0.4.The Wilson-Bappu effect can be used confidently for all metallicitiesnot lower than ~ -0.4, including the LMC. While it does not provideaccurate distances to single stars, it is a useful tool to determineaccurate distances to clusters and aggregates, where a sufficient numberof stars can be observed.We apply the Wilson-Bappu effect to published data of the open cluster M67; the retrieved distance modulus is of 9.65 mag, in very goodagreement with the best distance estimations for this cluster, based onmain sequence fitting.Observations collected at ESO, La Silla.
| Statistical cataloging of archival data for luminosity class IV-V stars. II. The epoch 2001 [Fe/H] catalog
This paper describes the derivation of an updated statistical catalog ofmetallicities. The stars for which those metallicities apply are ofspectral types F, G, and K, and are on or near the main sequence. Theinput data for the catalog are values of [Fe/H] published before 2002February and derived from lines of weak and moderate strength. Theanalyses used to derive the data have been based on one-dimensional LTEmodel atmospheres. Initial adjustments which are applied to the datainclude corrections to a uniform temperature scale which is given in acompanion paper (see Taylor \cite{t02}). After correction, the data aresubjected to a statistical analysis. For each of 941 stars considered,the results of that analysis include a mean value of [Fe/H], an rmserror, an associated number of degrees of freedom, and one or moreidentification numbers for source papers. The catalog of these resultssupersedes an earlier version given by Taylor (\cite{t94b}).Catalog is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymousftp cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/398/731
| Statistical cataloging of archival data for luminosity class IV-V stars. I. The epoch 2001 temperature catalog
This paper is one of a pair in which temperatures and metallicitycatalogs for class IV-V stars are considered. The temperature catalogdescribed here is derived from a calibration based on stellar angulardiameters. If published calibrations of this kind are compared by usingcolor-index transformations, temperature-dependent differences among thecalibrations are commonly found. However, such differences are minimizedif attention is restricted to calibrations based on Johnson V-K. Acalibration of this sort from Di Benedetto (\cite{dib98}) is thereforetested and adopted. That calibration is then applied to spectroscopicand photometric data, with the latter predominating. Cousins R-Iphotometry receives special attention because of its high precision andlow metallicity sensitivity. Testing of temperatures derived from thecalibration suggests that their accuracy and precision are satisfactory,though further testing will be warranted as new results appear. Thesetemperatures appear in the catalog as values of theta equiv5040/T(effective). Most of these entries are accompanied by measured orderived values of Cousins R-I. Entries are given for 951 stars.Catalog is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymousftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/398/721
| On the Abundance of Potassium in Metal-Poor Stars
Based on extensive statistical-equilibrium calculations, we performed anon-LTE analysis of the K I 7699 equivalent-width data ofmetal-deficient stars for the purpose of clarifying the behavior of thephotospheric potassium abundance in disk/halo stars. While the resultingnon-LTE abundance corrections turned out to be considerably large,amounting to 0.2-0.7dex, their effect on the [K/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] relationis not very important, since these corrections do not show anysignificant dependence on the metallicity. Hence, we again confirmed theresults of previous LTE studies, that [K/Fe] shows a gradual systematicincrease toward a lowered metallicity up to [K/Fe] ~ 0.3 - 0.5 at[Fe/H]} ~ -1 to -2, such as in the case of αelements.
| Radial Velocities for 889 Late-Type Stars
We report radial velocities for 844 FGKM-type main-sequence and subgiantstars and 45 K giants, most of which had either low-precision velocitymeasurements or none at all. These velocities differ from the standardstars of Udry et al. by 0.035 km s-1 (rms) for the 26 FGKstandard stars in common. The zero point of our velocities differs fromthat of Udry et al.: =+0.053km s-1. Thus, these new velocities agree with the best knownstandard stars both in precision and zero point, to well within 0.1 kms-1. Nonetheless, both these velocities and the standardssuffer from three sources of systematic error, namely, convectiveblueshift, gravitational redshift, and spectral type mismatch of thereference spectrum. These systematic errors are here forced to be zerofor G2 V stars by using the Sun as reference, with Vesta and day sky asproxies. But for spectral types departing from solar, the systematicerrors reach 0.3 km s-1 in the F and K stars and 0.4 kms-1 in M dwarfs. Multiple spectra were obtained for all 889stars during 4 years, and 782 of them exhibit velocity scatter less than0.1 km s-1. These stars may serve as radial velocitystandards if they remain constant in velocity. We found 11 newspectroscopic binaries and report orbital parameters for them. Based onobservations obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operatedjointly by the University of California and the California Institute ofTechnology, and on observations obtained at the Lick Observatory, whichis operated by the University of California.
| Revised Coordinates and Proper Motions of the Stars in the Luyten Half-Second Catalog
We present refined coordinates and proper-motion data for the highproper-motion (HPM) stars in the Luyten Half-Second (LHS) catalog. Thepositional uncertainty in the original Luyten catalog is typicallygreater than 10" and is often greater than 30". We have used the digitalscans of the POSS I and POSS II plates to derive more accurate positionsand proper motions of the objects. Out of the 4470 candidates in the LHScatalog, 4323 objects were manually reidentified in the POSS I and POSSII scans. A small fraction of the stars were not found because of thelack of finder charts and digitized POSS II scans. The uncertainties inthe revised positions are typically ~2" but can be as high as ~8" in afew cases, which is a large improvement over the original data.Cross-correlation with the Tycho-2 and Hipparcos catalogs yielded 819candidates (with mR<~12). For these brighter sources, theposition and proper-motion data were replaced with the more accurateTycho-2/Hipparcos data. In total, we have revised proper-motionmeasurements and coordinates for 4040 stars and revised coordinates for4330 stars. The electronic version of the paper5 contains the updated information on all 4470stars in the LHS catalog.
| Behavior of Sulfur Abundances in Metal-poor Giants and Dwarfs
LTE and non-LTE (NLTE) abundances of sulfur in six metal-poor giants and61 dwarfs (62 dwarfs including the Sun) were explored in the range of-3<~[Fe/H]<~+0.5 using high-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratiospectra of the S I 8693.9 and 8694.6 Å lines observed by us andmeasured by François and Clegg, Lambert, & Tomkin. NLTEeffects in S abundances are found to be small and practicallynegligible. The behavior of [S/Fe] versus [Fe/H] exhibits a linearincreasing trend without plateau with decreasing [Fe/H]. Combining ourresults with those available in the literature, we find that the slopeof the increasing trend is -0.25 in the NLTE behavior of [S/Fe], whichis comparable to that observed in [O/Fe]. The observed behavior of S mayrequire chemical evolution models of the Galaxy, in which scenarios ofhypernovae nucleosynthesis and/or time-delayed deposition intointerstellar medium are incorporated.
| HIPPARCOS age-metallicity relation of the solar neighbourhood disc stars
We derive age-metallicity relations (AMRs) and orbital parameters forthe 1658 solar neighbourhood stars to which accurate distances aremeasured by the HIPPARCOS satellite. The sample stars comprise 1382 thindisc stars, 229 thick disc stars, and 47 halo stars according to theirorbital parameters. We find a considerable scatter for thin disc AMRalong the one-zone Galactic chemical evolution (GCE) model. Orbits andmetallicities of thin disc stars show now clear relation each other. Thescatter along the AMR exists even if the stars with the same orbits areselected. We examine simple extension of one-zone GCE models whichaccount for inhomogeneity in the effective yield and inhomogeneous starformation rate in the Galaxy. Both extensions of the one-zone GCE modelcannot account for the scatter in age - [Fe/H] - [Ca/Fe] relationsimultaneously. We conclude, therefore, that the scatter along the thindisc AMR is an essential feature in the formation and evolution of theGalaxy. The AMR for thick disc stars shows that the star formationterminated 8 Gyr ago in the thick disc. As already reported by Grattonet al. (\cite{Gratton_et.al.2000}) and Prochaska et al.(\cite{Prochaska_et.al.2000}), thick disc stars are more Ca-rich thanthin disc stars with the same [Fe/H]. We find that thick disc stars showa vertical abundance gradient. These three facts, the AMR, verticalgradient, and [Ca/Fe]-[Fe/H] relation, support monolithic collapseand/or accretion of satellite dwarf galaxies as likely thick discformation scenarios. Tables 2 and 3 are only available in electronicform at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5)or via http:/ /cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/ cgi-bin/qcat?J/ A+A/394/927
| Sulphur abundances in disk stars: A correlation with silicon
We have performed new determinations of sulphur and silicon abundancesfor a sample of 26 disk stars based on high-resolution, highsignal-to-noise spectra. The results indicate a solar [S/Fe] for [Fe/H]>-0.3, below which [S/Fe] increases to ~ 0.25 dex at [Fe/H] =-1.0. Wefind that there is a good correlation between [S/H] and [Si/H],indicating the same nucleosynthetic origin of the two elements. It seemsthat the ratio of sulphur to silicon does not depend on metallicity for[Fe/H] > -1.0. The implications of these results on models for thenucleosynthesis of alpha -capture elements and the chemical evolution ofthe Galaxy are discussed. Based on observations carried out at NationalAstronomical Observatories (Xinglong, PR China).
| Europium abundances in F and G disk dwarfs
Europium abundances for 74 F and G dwarf stars of the galactic disk havebeen determined from the 4129.7 Å Eu II line. The stars wereselected from the sample of Edvardsson et al. (1993) and [Eu/Fe] shows asmaller scatter and a slightly weaker trend with [Fe/H] than found byWoolf et al. (1995). The data of the two analyses are homogenized andmerged. We also discuss the adopted effective temperature scale. Basedon observations carried out at the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile. Tables 2 and 6 are only available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcal?J/A+A/381/500
| A search for previously unrecognized metal-poor subdwarfs in the Hipparcos astrometric catalogue
We have identified 317 stars included in the Hipparcos astrometriccatalogue that have parallaxes measured to a precision of better than 15per cent, and the location of which in the(MV,(B-V)T) diagram implies a metallicitycomparable to or less than that of the intermediate-abundance globularcluster M5. We have undertaken an extensive literature search to locateStrömgren, Johnson/Cousins and Walraven photometry for over 120stars. In addition, we present new UBV(RI)C photometry of 201of these candidate halo stars, together with similar data for a further14 known metal-poor subdwarfs. These observations provide the firstextensive data set of RCIC photometry ofmetal-poor, main-sequence stars with well-determined trigonometricparallaxes. Finally, we have obtained intermediate-resolution opticalspectroscopy of 175 stars. 47 stars still lack sufficient supplementaryobservations for population classification; however, we are able toestimate abundances for 270 stars, or over 80 per cent of the sample.The overwhelming majority have near-solar abundance, with theirinclusion in the present sample stemming from errors in the colourslisted in the Hipparcos catalogue. Only 44 stars show consistentevidence of abundances below [Fe/H]=-1.0. Nine are additions to thesmall sample of metal-poor subdwarfs with accurate photometry. Weconsider briefly the implication of these results for clustermain-sequence fitting.
| Sulphur Abundance in Very Metal-poor Stars
We have obtained high-resolution high signal-to-noise ratio spectra ofthe S I near-infrared doublet at 8694 Å in eight metal-poor starswith metallicities in the range -0.6<=[Fe/H]<=-3.0. Elementalsulphur abundances were derived for six targets, and upper limits wereset for two of the most metal-poor stars in the sample. The sulphurdoublet at 8694.62 Å has been detected in three stars (HD 19445,HD 2665, and HD 2796) with [Fe/H]<=-1.9. Our observations, combinedwith those available in the literature, indicate a monotonic increase ofthe [S/Fe] ratio as [Fe/H] decreases, reaching values of [S/Fe]~0.7-0.8below [Fe/H]=-2. We discuss plausible scenarios for the interpretationof these results. Based on observations obtained with the WilliamHerschel Telescope (WHT), operated on the island of La Palma by theIsaac Newton Group in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de losMuchachos (ORM) of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.
|
Submit a new article
Related links
Submit a new link
Member of following groups:
|
Observation and Astrometry data
Catalogs and designations:
|
