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The Geneva-Copenhagen survey of the solar neighbourhood. III. Improved distances, ages, and kinematics
Context: Ages, chemical compositions, velocity vectors, and Galacticorbits for stars in the solar neighbourhood are fundamental test datafor models of Galactic evolution. The Geneva-Copenhagen Survey of theSolar Neighbourhood (Nordström et al. 2004; GCS), amagnitude-complete, kinematically unbiased sample of 16 682 nearby F andG dwarfs, is the largest available sample with complete data for starswith ages spanning that of the disk. Aims: We aim to improve theaccuracy of the GCS data by implementing the recent revision of theHipparcos parallaxes. Methods: The new parallaxes yield improvedastrometric distances for 12 506 stars in the GCS. We also use theparallaxes to verify the distance calibration for uvby? photometryby Holmberg et al. (2007, A&A, 475, 519; GCS II). We add newselection criteria to exclude evolved cool stars giving unreliableresults and derive distances for 3580 stars with large parallax errorsor not observed by Hipparcos. We also check the GCS II scales of T_effand [Fe/H] and find no need for change. Results: Introducing thenew distances, we recompute MV for 16 086 stars, and U, V, W,and Galactic orbital parameters for the 13 520 stars that also haveradial-velocity measurements. We also recompute stellar ages from thePadova stellar evolution models used in GCS I-II, using the new valuesof M_V, and compare them with ages from the Yale-Yonsei andVictoria-Regina models. Finally, we compare the observed age-velocityrelation in W with three simulated disk heating scenarios to show thepotential of the data. Conclusions: With these revisions, thebasic data for the GCS stars should now be as reliable as is possiblewith existing techniques. Further improvement must await consolidationof the T_eff scale from angular diameters and fluxes, and the Gaiatrigonometric parallaxes. We discuss the conditions for improvingcomputed stellar ages from new input data, and for distinguishingdifferent disk heating scenarios from data sets of the size andprecision of the GCS.Full Table 1 is 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/501/941
| Apex diagrams for the stellar population of the solar neighborhood
We have studied some kinematic features of the coronas of near-solarstellar streams, based on Hipparcos observations. Apex diagrams forkinematic streams, open clusters, and field stars are plotted. In ouranalysis, we used the apex-diagram (AD) method we developed earlier. Wefind that the Eggen streams and Arcturus stream have similar properties,providing evidence for kinematic inhomogeneity of their coronas and theexistence of stellar groups such as those detected in the corona of theUrsa Major stream.
| The usage of Strömgren photometry in studies of local group dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Application to Draco: a new catalogue of Draco members and a study of the metallicity distribution function and radial gradients
Aims.In this paper we demonstrate how Strömgren uvby photometry canbe efficiently used to: 1. identify red giant branch stars that aremembers in a dwarf spheroidal galaxy; 2. derive age-independentmetallicities for the same stars and quantify the associated errors. Methods: Strömgren uvby photometry in a 11 × 22 arcmin fieldcentered on the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy was obtained using theIsaac Newton Telescope on La Palma. Members of the Draco dSph galaxywere identified using the surface gravity sensitive c1 indexwhich discriminates between red giant and dwarf stars. Thus enabling usto distinguish the (red giant branch) members of the dwarf spheroidalgalaxy from the foreground dwarf stars in our galaxy. The method isevaluated through a comparison of our membership list with membershipclassifications in the literature based on radial velocities and propermotions. The metallicity sensitive m1 index was used toderive individual and age-independent metallicities for the members ofthe Draco dSph galaxy. The derived metallicities are compared to studiesbased on high resolution spectroscopy and the agreement is found to bevery good. Results: We present metallicities for 169 members of the redgiant branch in the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy (the largest sample todate). The metallicity distribution function for the Draco dSph galaxyshows a mean [Fe/H] = -1.74 dex with a spread of 0.24 dex. Thecorrelation between metallicity and colour for the stars on the redgiant branch is consistent with a dominant old, and coeval population.There is a possible spatial population gradient over the field with themost metal-rich stars being more centrally concentrated than themetal-poor stars.Based on observations made with the Isaac Newton Telescope, operated onthe Island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the SpanishObservatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisicade Canarias. Guest User, Canadian Astronomy Data Centre, which isoperated by the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National ResearchCouncil of Canada. Full Tables 2 and 6 are only available athttp://www.aanda.org
| Oxygen abundances in nearby stars. Clues to the formation and evolution of the Galactic disk
The abundances of iron and oxygen are homogeneously determined in asample of 523 nearby (d<150 pc) FGK disk and halo stars withmetallicities in the range -1.5<[Fe/H]<0.5. Iron abundances wereobtained from an LTE analysis of a large set of Fe I and Fe II lineswith reliable atomic data. Oxygen abundances were inferred from arestricted non-LTE analysis of the 777 nm O I triplet. We adopted theinfrared flux method temperature scale and surface gravities based onHipparcos trigonometric parallaxes. Within this framework, theionization balance of iron lines is not satisfied: the mean abundancesfrom the Fe I lines are systematically lower by 0.06 dex than those fromthe Fe II lines for dwarf stars of Teff>5500 K and[Fe/H]<0.0, and giant stars of all temperatures and metallicitiescovered by our sample. The discrepancy worsens for cooler and metal-richmain-sequence stars. We use the stellar kinematics to compute theprobabilities of our sample stars to be members of the thin disk, thickdisk, or halo of the Galaxy. We find that the majority of thekinematically-selected thick-disk stars show larger [O/Fe] ratioscompared to thin-disk stars while the rest show thin-disk abundances,which suggests that the latter are thin-disk members with unusual(hotter) kinematics. A close examination of this pattern for disk starswith ambiguous probabilities shows that an intermediate population withproperties between those of the thin and thick disks does not exist, atleast in the solar neighborhood. Excluding the stars with unusualkinematics, we find that thick-disk stars show slowly decreasing [O/Fe]ratios from about 0.5 to 0.4 in the -0.8<[Fe/H]<-0.3 range. Usinga simple model for the chemical evolution of the thick disk we show thatthis trend results directly from the metallicity dependence of the TypeII supernova yields. At [Fe/H]>-0.3, we find no obvious indication ofa sudden decrease (i.e., a "knee") in the [O/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] pattern ofthick-disk stars that would connect the thick and thin disk trends at ahigh metallicity. We conclude that Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) did notcontribute significantly to the chemical enrichment of the thick disk.In the -0.8<[Fe/H]<+0.3 range, thin-disk stars show decreasing[O/Fe] ratios from about 0.4 to 0.0 that require a SN Ia contribution.The implications of these results for studies of the formation andevolution of the Galactic disk are discussed.Tables 4-6 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/465/271 Partially based onobservations obtained with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, which is a jointproject of the University of Texas at Austin, the Pennsylvania StateUniversity, Stanford University, Ludwig-Maximilians-UniversitätMünchen, and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen; and datafrom the UVES Paranal Observatory Project (ESO DDT Program ID266.D-5655).
| Pulkovo compilation of radial velocities for 35495 stars in a common system.
Not Available
| Elemental abundance survey of the Galactic thick disc
We have performed an abundance analysis for F- and G- dwarfs of theGalactic thick-disc component. A sample of 176 nearby (d<= 150pc)thick-disc candidate stars was chosen from the Hipparcos catalogue andsubjected to a high-resolution spectroscopic analysis. Using accurateradial velocities combined with the Hipparcos astrometry, kinematics (U,V and W) and Galactic orbital parameters were computed. We estimate theprobability for a star to belong to the thin disc, the thick disc or thehalo. With a probability P>= 70 per cent taken as certain membership,we assigned 95 stars to the thick disc, 13 to the thin disc, and 20 tothe halo. The remaining 48 stars in the sample cannot be assigned withreasonable certainty to one of the three components.Abundances of C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni,Cu, Zn, Y, Ba, Ce, Nd and Eu have been obtained. The abundances for thethick-disc stars are compared with those for the thin-disc members fromReddy et al. The ratios of α-elements (O, Mg, Si, Ca and Ti) toiron for thick-disc stars show a clear enhancement compared to thin-discmembers in the range -0.3 < [Fe/H] < -1.2. There are also otherelements - Al, Sc, V, Co, and possibly Zn - which show enhanced ratiosto iron in the thick disc relative to the thin disc. The abundances ofNa, Cr, Mn, Ni and Cu (relative to Fe) are very similar for thin- andthick-disc stars. The dispersion in abundance ratios [X/Fe] at given[Fe/H] for thick-disc stars is consistent with the expected scatter dueto measurement errors, suggesting a lack of `cosmic' scatter.A few stars classified as members of the thick disc by our kinematiccriteria show thin-disc abundances. These stars, which appear older thanmost thin-disc stars, are also, on average, younger than the thick-discpopulation. They may have originated early in the thin-disc history, andbeen subsequently scattered to hotter orbits by collisions. The thickdisc may not include stars with [Fe/H] > -0.3. The observedcompositions of the thin and thick discs seem to be consistent with themodels of galaxy formation by hierarchical clustering in a Lambda colddark matter (ΛCDM) universe.
| 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.
| 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
| Distances and ages of NGC 6397, NGC 6752 and 47 Tuc
New improved distances and absolute ages for the Galactic globularclusters NGC 6397, NGC 6752, and 47 Tuc are obtained using the MainSequence Fitting Method. We derived accurate estimates of reddening andmetal abundance for these three clusters using a strictly differentialprocedure, where the Johnson B-V and Strömgren b-y colours and UVEShigh resolution spectra of turn-off stars and early subgiants belongingto the clusters were compared to similar data for field subdwarfs withaccurate parallaxes measured by Hipparcos. The use of a reddening freetemperature indicator (the profile of Hα ) allowed us to reducethe error bars in reddening determinations to about 0.005 mag, and inmetal abundances to 0.04 dex, in the scales defined by the localsubdwarfs. Error bars in distances are then reduced to about 0.07 magfor each cluster, yielding ages with typical random errors of about 1Gyr. We find that NGC 6397 and NGC 6752 have ages of 13.9+/- 1.1 and13.8+/- 1.1 Gyr respectively, when standard isochrones withoutmicroscopic diffusion are used, while 47 Tuc is probably about 2.6 Gyryounger, in agreement with results obtained by other techniquessensitive to relative ages. If we use models that include the effects ofsedimentation due to microscopic diffusion in agreement with ourobservations of NGC 6397, and take into account various sources ofpossible systematic errors with a statistical approach, we conclude thatthe age of the oldest globular clusters in the Galaxy is 13.4+/- 0.8+/-0.6 Gyr, where the first error bar accounts for random effects, and thesecond one for systematic errors. This age estimate is fully compatiblewith the very recent results from WMAP, and indicates that the oldestGalactic globular clusters formed within the first 1.7 Gyr after the BigBang, corresponding to a redshift of z>= 2.5, in a standard LambdaCDM model. The epoch of formation of the (inner halo) globular clusterslasted about 2.6 Gyr, ending at a time corresponding to a redshift ofz>= 1.3. On the other hand, our new age estimate once combined withvalues of H_0 given by WMAP and by the HST Key Project, provides arobust upper limit at 95% level of confidence of Omega_M <0.57,independently of type Ia SNe, and strongly supports the need for a darkenergy. The new cluster distances lead to new estimates of thehorizontal branch luminosity, that may be used to derive the zero pointof the relation between the horizontal branch absolute magnitude andmetallicity: we obtain M_V(HB)=(0.22+/- 0.05)([Fe/H]+1.5)+(0.56+/-0.07). This zero point is 0.03 mag shorter than obtained by Carretta etal. (\cite{Carretta2000}) and within the error bar it agrees with, butit is more precise than most of the previous individual determinationsof the RR Lyrae absolute magnitude. When combined with the apparentaverage luminosity of the RR Lyrae stars in the LMC by Clementini et al.(\cite{Clementini2003}), this zero point provides a new estimate of thedistance modulus to the LMC: (m-M)_0=18.50+/- 0.09.Based on data collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile,telescopes (program 165.L-0263).
| Abundances for metal-poor stars with accurate parallaxes. I. Basic data
We present element-to-element abundance ratios measured from highdispersion spectra for 150 field subdwarfs and early subgiants withaccurate Hipparcos parallaxes (errors <20%). For 50 stars new spectrawere obtained with the UVES on Kueyen (VLT UT2), the McDonald 2.7 mtelescope, and SARG at TNG. Additionally, literature equivalent widthswere taken from the works by Nissen & Schuster, Fulbright, andProchaska et al. to complement our data. The whole sample includes boththick disk and halo stars (and a few thin disk stars); most stars havemetallicities in the range -2<[Fe/H]<-0.6. We found our data, thatof Nissen & Schuster, and that of Prochaska to be of comparablequality; results from Fulbright scatter a bit more, but they are stillof very good quality and are extremely useful due to the large size ofhis sample. The results of the present analysis will be used inforthcoming papers to discuss the chemical properties of thedissipational collapse and accretion components of our Galaxy.Based in part on data collected at the European Southern Observatory,Chile, at the MacDonald Observatory, Texas, USA, and at the TelescopioNazionale Galileo, Canary Island, INAF,Italy-Spain.}\fnmsep\thanks{Table 1 is only available in electronic format the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) orvia\resizebox{8.8cm}{2.2mm}htpp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/404/187}
| 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.
| 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
| A Survey of Proper-Motion Stars. XVI. Orbital Solutions for 171 Single-lined Spectroscopic Binaries
We report 25,563 radial velocity measurements for 1359 single-linedstars in the Carney-Latham sample of 1464 stars selected for high propermotion. For 171 of these, we present spectroscopic orbital solutions. Wefind no obvious difference between the binary characteristics in thehalo and the disk populations. The observed frequency is the same, andthe period distributions are consistent with the hypothesis that the twosets of binaries were drawn from the same parent population. Thissuggests that metallicity in general, and radiative opacities inparticular, have little influence over the fragmentation process thatleads to short-period binaries. All the binaries with periods shorterthan 10 days have nearly circular orbits, while the binaries withperiods longer than 20 days exhibit a wide range of eccentricities and amedian value of 0.37. For the metal-poor high-velocity halo binaries inour sample, the transition from circular to eccentric orbits appears tooccur at about 20 days, supporting the conclusion that tidalcircularization on the main sequence is important for the oldestbinaries in the Galaxy. Some of the results presented here usedobservations made with the Multiple Mirror Telescope, a joint facilityof the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Arizona.
| 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.
| Resolving the 47 Tucanae Distance Problem
We present new B-, V-, and I-band photometry for a sample of 43 localsubdwarfs with Hipparcos parallax errors less than 13%, in themetallicity range -1.0<[Fe/H]<-0.3, which we use to performmain-sequence (MS) fitting to the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tuc. Thissample is many times larger than those used in previous MS-fittingstudies and also enables us to fit in two color planes, V/(B-V) andV/(V-I). With this enlarged subdwarf sample we investigate whether thecurrent discrepancy in empirical distance estimates for 47 Tuc, arisingfrom recent MS-fitting and white dwarf fitting results, is due toinaccuracies in the MS-fitting method. Comparison of publishedphotometries for 47 Tuc has revealed systematic offsets, which meansthat the (B-V) main line used in previous studies may be too blue by~0.02 mag, which would have the effect of making any derived distancemodulus too large by around 0.1 mag. Preliminary work has alsohighlighted discrepancies between results obtained in the two colorplanes, V/(B-V) and V/(V-I). We have derived main lines in V/(B-V) andV/(V-I) from the data of Kaluzny et al., which we have recalibrated fromthe ``secondary'' standards in 47 Tuc of Stetson (2000). Using anassumed cluster reddening of E(B-V)=0.04, our best-fit apparent distancemodulus is (m-M)V=13.37+0.10-0.11 inboth color planes, which implies a cluster age of 11.0+/-1.4 Gyr andleads to a dereddened distance modulus of(m-M)0=13.25+0.06-0.07. Comparison withprevious work shows that our apparent distance modulus is ~0.2 magsmaller than those derived in previous MS-fitting studies. Thedifference is accounted for by our preferred cluster reddening and therecalibration of the cluster photometry, which has made the main lineredder by an average of 0.02 mag in (B-V). Our derived distance modulusis also now plausibly consistent with the short distance recentlyderived from white dwarf fitting. Independent support for our MS-fittingdistance comes from consideration of the red clump in the cluster, fromwhich we derive a dereddened distance modulus of(m-M)0=13.31+/-0.05, which is in agreement with theMS-fitting result.
| Three-dimensional Spectral Classification of Low-Metallicity Stars Using Artificial Neural Networks
We explore the application of artificial neural networks (ANNs) for theestimation of atmospheric parameters (Teff, logg, and [Fe/H])for Galactic F- and G-type stars. The ANNs are fed withmedium-resolution (Δλ~1-2 Å) non-flux-calibratedspectroscopic observations. From a sample of 279 stars with previoushigh-resolution determinations of metallicity and a set of (external)estimates of temperature and surface gravity, our ANNs are able topredict Teff with an accuracy ofσ(Teff)=135-150 K over the range4250<=Teff<=6500 K, logg with an accuracy ofσ(logg)=0.25-0.30 dex over the range 1.0<=logg<=5.0 dex, and[Fe/H] with an accuracy σ([Fe/H])=0.15-0.20 dex over the range-4.0<=[Fe/H]<=0.3. Such accuracies are competitive with theresults obtained by fine analysis of high-resolution spectra. It isnoteworthy that the ANNs are able to obtain these results withoutconsideration of photometric information for these stars. We have alsoexplored the impact of the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) on the behaviorof ANNs and conclude that, when analyzed with ANNs trained on spectra ofcommensurate S/N, it is possible to extract physical parameter estimatesof similar accuracy with stellar spectra having S/N as low as 13. Takentogether, these results indicate that the ANN approach should be ofprimary importance for use in present and future large-scalespectroscopic surveys.
| The Galactic Thick Disk Stellar Abundances
We present first results from a program to measure the chemicalabundances of a large (N>30) sample of thick disk stars with theprincipal goal of investigating the formation history of the Galacticthick disk. We have obtained high-resolution, high signal-to-noisespectra of 10 thick disk stars with the HIRES spectrograph on the 10 mKeck I telescope. Our analysis confirms previous studies of O and Mg inthe thick disk stars, which reported enhancements in excess of the thindisk population. Furthermore, the observations of Si, Ca, Ti, Mn, Co, V,Zn, Al, and Eu all argue that the thick disk population has a distinctchemical history from the thin disk. With the exception of V and Co, thethick disk abundance patterns match or tend toward the values observedfor halo stars with [Fe/H]~-1. This suggests that the thick disk starshad a chemical enrichment history similar to the metal-rich halo stars.With the possible exception of Si, the thick disk abundance patterns arein excellent agreement with the chemical abundances observed in themetal-poor bulge stars, suggesting the two populations formed from thesame gas reservoir at a common epoch. The principal results of ouranalysis are as follows. (1) All 10 stars exhibit enhanced α/Feratios with O, Si, and Ca showing tentative trends of decreasingoverabundances with increasing [Fe/H]. In contrast, the Mg and Tienhancements are constant. (2) The light elements Na and Al are enhancedin these stars. (3) With the exception of Ni, Cr, and possibly Cu, theiron-peak elements show significant departures from the solarabundances. The stars are deficient in Mn, but overabundant in V, Co,Sc, and Zn. (4) The heavy elements Ba and Y are consistent with solarabundances, but Eu is significantly enhanced. If the trends ofdecreasing O, Si, and Ca with increasing [Fe/H] are explained by theonset of Type Ia SN, then the thick disk stars formed over the course of>~1 Gyr. We argue that this formation time-scale would rule out mostdissipational collapse scenarios for the formation of the thick disk.Models which consider the heating of an initial thin disk-either through``gradual'' heating mechanisms or a sudden merger event-are favored.These observations provide new tests of theories of nucleosynthesis inthe early universe. In particular, the enhancements of Sc, V, Co, and Znmay imply overproduction during an enhanced α-rich freeze outfueled by neutrino-driven winds. Meanwhile, the conflicting trends forMg, Ti, Ca, Si, and O pose a difficult challenge to our currentunderstanding of nucleosynthesis in Type Ia and Type II SN. The Ba/Euratios favor r-process dominated enrichment for the heavy elements,consistent with the ages (tage>10 Gyr) expected for thesestars. Finally, we discuss the impact of the thick disk abundances oninterpretations of the abundance patterns of the damped Lyαsystems. The observations of mildly enhanced Zn/Fe imply aninterpretation for the damped systems which includes a dust depletionpattern on top of a Type II SN enrichment pattern. We also argue thatthe S/Zn ratio is not a good indicator of nucleosynthetic processes.
| Estimation of Stellar Metal Abundance. II. A Recalibration of the Ca II K Technique, and the Autocorrelation Function Method
We have recalibrated a method for the estimation of stellar metalabundance, parameterized as [Fe/H], based on medium-resolution (1-2Å) optical spectra (the majority of which cover the wavelengthrange 3700-4500 Å). The equivalent width of the Ca II K line (3933Å) as a function of [Fe/H] and broadband B-V color, as predictedfrom spectrum synthesis and model atmosphere calculations, is comparedwith observations of 551 stars with high-resolution abundances availablefrom the literature (a sevenfold increase in the number of calibrationstars that were previously available). A second method, based on theFourier autocorrelation function technique first described by Ratnatunga& Freeman, is used to provide an independent estimate of [Fe/H], ascalibrated by comparison with 405 standard-star abundances.Metallicities based on a combination of the two techniques for dwarfsand giants in the color range 0.30<=(B-V)_0<=1.2 exhibit anexternal 1 sigma scatter of approximately 0.10-0.20 dex over theabundance range -4.0<=[Fe/H]<=0.5. Particular attention has beengiven to the determination of abundance estimates at the metal-rich endof the calibration, where our previous attempt suffered from aconsiderable zero-point offset. Radial velocities, accurate toapproximately 10 km s^-1, are reported for all 551 calibration stars.
| Ca II H and K Photometry on the UVBY System. III. The Metallicity Calibration for the Red Giants
New photometry on the uvby Ca system is presented for over 300 stars.When combined with previous data, the sample is used to calibrate themetallicity dependence of the hk index for cooler, evolved stars. Themetallicity scale is based upon the standardized merger of spectroscopicabundances from 38 studies since 1983, providing an overlap of 122evolved stars with the photometric catalog. The hk index producesreliable abundances for stars in the [Fe/H] range from -0.8 to -3.4,losing sensitivity among cooler stars due to saturation effects athigher [Fe/H], as expected.
| Kinematics and Metallicity of Stars in the Solar Region
Several samples of nearby stars with the most accurate astrometric andphotometric parameters are searched for clues to their evolutionaryhistory. The main samples are (1) the main-sequence stars with b - ybetween 0.29 and 0.59 mag (F3 to K1) in the Yale parallax catalog, (2) agroup of high-velocity subgiants studied spectroscopically by Ryan &Lambert, and (3) high-velocity main-sequence stars in the extensiveinvestigation by Norris, Bessel, & Pickles. The major conclusionsare as follows: (1) The oldest stars (halo), t >= 10-12 Gyr, haveV-velocities (in the direction of Galactic rotation and referred to theSun) in the range from about -50 to -800 km s^-1 and have aheavy-element abundance [Fe/H] of less than about -0.8 dex. The agerange of these objects depends on our knowledge of globular clusterages, but if age is correlated with V-velocity, the youngest may be M22and M28 (V ~ -50 km s^-1) and the oldest NGC 3201 (V ~ -500 km s^-1) andassorted field stars. (2) The old disk population covers the large agerange from about 2 Gyr (Hyades, NGC 752) to 10 or 12 Gyr (Arcturusgroup, 47 Tuc), but the lag (V) velocity is restricted to less thanabout 120 km s^-1 and [Fe/H] >= -0.8 or -0.9 dex. The [Fe/H] ~ -0.8dex division between halo and old disk, near t ~ 10-12 Gyr, is marked bya change in the character of the CN index (C_m) and of the blanketingparameter K of the DDO photometry. (3) The young disk population, t <2 Gyr, is confined exclusively to a well-defined area of the (U, V)velocity plane. The age separating young and old disk stars is also thatseparating giant evolution of the Hyades (near main-sequence luminosity)and M67 (degenerate helium cores and a large luminosity rise) kinds. Thetwo disk populations are also separated by such indexes as the g-indexof Geveva photometry. There appears to be no obvious need to invokeexogeneous influences to understand the motion and heavy-elementabundance distributions of the best-observed stars near the Sun.Individual stars of special interest include the parallax star HD 55575,which may be an equal-component binary, and the high-velocity star HD220127, with a well-determined space velocity near 1000 km s^-1.
| Vitesses radiales. Catalogue WEB: Wilson Evans Batten. Subtittle: Radial velocities: The Wilson-Evans-Batten catalogue.
We give a common version of the two catalogues of Mean Radial Velocitiesby Wilson (1963) and Evans (1978) to which we have added the catalogueof spectroscopic binary systems (Batten et al. 1989). For each star,when possible, we give: 1) an acronym to enter SIMBAD (Set ofIdentifications Measurements and Bibliography for Astronomical Data) ofthe CDS (Centre de Donnees Astronomiques de Strasbourg). 2) the numberHIC of the HIPPARCOS catalogue (Turon 1992). 3) the CCDM number(Catalogue des Composantes des etoiles Doubles et Multiples) byDommanget & Nys (1994). For the cluster stars, a precise study hasbeen done, on the identificator numbers. Numerous remarks point out theproblems we have had to deal with.
| Ca II H and K Filter Photometry on the UVBY System. II. The Catalog of Observations
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1995AJ....109.2828T&db_key=AST
| The general catalogue of trigonometric [stellar] paralaxes
Not Available
| Low-mass stars in cooling-flow galaxies
Many cooling-flow models of X-ray data predict a very large populationof low-mass stars in otherwise normal elliptical galaxies. To date, noconclusive evidence either in favour of or against the formation of thissignificant population of low-mass stars has been found, largely becauseof the lack of appropriate techniques. The aim of this paper is toinvestigate the feasibility of near-infrared photometry and spectroscopyas a potential diagnostic for the existence of a substantial populationof low-mass stars in cooling-flow ellipticals. The technique discussedhere, based on the CO absorption band at 2.3 microns, appears to be verypromising for this purpose because the 2.3-micron CO absorption band isa sensitive luminosity class indicator. We assume that a cooling-flowgalaxy is a normal elliptical galaxy with a low-mass star accretionpopulation. By simulating the K-band spectrum of the cooling-flowgalaxy, we investigate the sensitivity of the broad-band V - K colourand the CO index on the mass function and accretion rate of theaccretion population. We find that the CO index is a much more sensitiveindicator of the accretion population in the CO-M_V_ plane than the V -K colour is in the (V - K)M_V_ plane. An accretion population with amass of approximately 3 X 10^12^ M_sun_ can be detected with highconfidence in the CO-M_V_ plane. If the upper mass cut-off of theaccretion population is less than 0.5 M_sun_ then its CO index isapproximately - 0.4 and is independent of the stellar mass function. TheCO index of any cooling- flow galaxy lies in the range -0.05 < CO< 0. 15. We also perform differential spectral analysis by simulatingthe K-band spectrum (2-2.5 microns) of a cooling-flow galaxy under ourabove assumption. By varying the mass accretion rate and thesignal-to-noise ratio, we study the sensitivity of spectral fitting, inorder to constrain the mass function parameters of the accretionpopulation. We find that a signal-to-noise ratio of about 100 allowsuseful constraints of mass function parameters, provided that the massof the accretion population is more than about 3 X 10^12^ M_sun_.Smaller accretion masses require larger signal-to-noise data for usefulspectral fitting. Accretion rates of low-mass stars on to the centralgalaxy that are larger than about 500 M_sun_ yr^-1^, with a duration ofa Hubble time, result in a cooling-flow galaxy that is brighter than theaverage brightest galaxy of a large cluster of galaxies. A cooling-flowgalaxy with such an accretion rate is entirely composed of the accretionpopulation and is physically inconsistent with the existence of a`parent' elliptical galaxy.
| A survey of proper motion stars. 12: an expanded sample
We report new photometry and radial velocities for almost 500 stars fromthe Lowell Proper Motion Catalog. We combine these results with ourprior sample and rederive stellar temperatures based on the photometry,reddening, metallicities (using chi squared matching of our 22,500 lowSignal to Noise (S/N) high resolution echelle spectra with a grid ofsynthetic spectra), distances, space motions, and Galactic orbitalparameters for 1269 (kinematics) and 1261 (metallicity) of the 1464stars in the complete survey. The frequency of spectroscopic binariesfor the metal-poor ((m/H) less than or equal to -1.2) stars with periodsshorter than 3000 days is at least 15%. The spectroscopic binaryfrequency for metal-rich stars ((m/H) greater than -0.5) appears to belower, about 9%, but this may be a selection effect. We also discussspecial classes of stars, including treatment of the double-linedspectroscopic binaries, and identification of subgiants. Four possiblenew members of the class of field blue stragglers are noted. We pointout the detection of three possible new white dwarfs, six broad-lined(binary) systems, and discuss briefly the three already knownnitrogen-rich halo dwarfs. The primary result of this paper will beavailable on CD-ROM, in the form of a much larger table.
| Analysis of Neckel and Chini standard stars in the UBVRI photometric system
This paper studies the list of 60 faint standard stars of Neckel andChini (1980) in the UBVRI Johnson photometric system. We have re-reducedthe standard stars using our own method of reduction from a large numberof selected observations made at the Observatorio Astronomico Nacionaland at the Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman, both at Calar Alto, Spain,and at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma Island,Spain. The reduction method used is explained and the results are givenfor the four colors used: (B-V), (U-B), (V-R), and (V-I), together withthe V magnitude, that is, we have corrected many standard stars for eachcolor and magnitude. These results are supported with graphs whereresidual color is plotted against corresponding color (or magnitude).Finally, our (V-R) and (V-I) results are compared to those of Taylor etal. (1989), with a good correspondence.
| Ca II H and K filter photometry on the UVBY system. I - The standard system
A fifth filter (fwhm = 90 A) centered on Ca II H and K has beendeveloped for use with the standard uvby system. The filter, called Ca,is designed primarily for applications to metal-poor dwarfs and redgiants, regions where the uvby metallicity index, m(l), loses somesensitivity. An index, hk, is defined by replacing v in m(l) by Ca. Theeffects of interstellar extinction on the index are modeled anddemonstrated to be modest and relatively insensitive to spectral type.Observations of V, (b-y), and hk for 163 primary standards are detailedand transformed to the standard V and (b-y) system. A qualitativeanalysis using only the primary standards indicates that hk is moresensitive than m(l) over the regions of interest by about a factor of 3.
| Subdwarf studies. II - Abundances and kinematics from medium resolution spectra. III - The halo metallicity distribution
Stars previously identified as having UV excesses are observed at 1-Aresolution in the Ca II K-line region. Comparisons of these data withother samples and with Monte Carlo simulations involving a singlecomponent halo have yielded estimates of halo velocity dispersions androtation velocity, corrected for the kinematic biases in the sample. Itis suggested that the data are not consistent with a model in which thehalo formed from star formation in a dissipating, collapsing cloud; theyare, however, reconcilable with the formation of the halo stars bynumerous, independently evolving gas clouds. The metallicitydistribution of a sample of 372 kinematically selected halo stars isthen constructed, with a view to selection effects in the data. Goodagreement is noted between the globular cluster metallicity distributionand a stochastic model with a mean of 10 enrichments/fragment.
| First giant branch and asymptotic giant branch stars in nearby aggregates
The properties of the brightest red stars in several aggregates in theGalaxy are compared with theoretical models. 22 asymptotic giant branch(AGB) stars are identified, four of which are in the thermally pulsingAGB (TPAGB) phase and four of which are TPAGB carbon stars. Also, fourcases of RGB stars are identified which have accreted substantial massfrom the carbon-rich TPAGB precursor of a current white dwarf companion.There is general agreement between the observed and theoretical slopesof the RGB and early AGB branches, and quantitative differences betweenthe positioning of observed sequences can be understood in terms ofdifferences in metallicity and mass predicted by the theory.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Hydra |
| Right ascension: | 08h50m21.00s |
| Declination: | -05°32'09.7" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 9.175 |
| Proper motion RA: | -183.3 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -512.8 |
| B-T magnitude: | 10.09 |
| V-T magnitude: | 9.251 |
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