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Revisiting two local constraints of the Galactic chemical evolution
I review the uncertainties in two observational local constraints of theGalactic disc chemical evolution: the metallicity distribution oflong-lived dwarfs and the age-metallicity relation. Analysing mostrecent data, it is shown first that the observed metallicitydistribution at solar galactocentric radius, designed with standardmethods, is more fit to a closed-box model than to the infallmetallicity distribution. We argue that this is due to the specificcontribution of the thick-disc population, which has been overlookedboth in the derivation of the observed metallicity distribution and inthe standard chemical evolution models. Although this agreementdisqualifies the metallicity distribution as the best supportive(indirect) evidence for infall, we argue that the evolution must be morecomplex than described by either the closed-box or the standard infallmodels.It is then shown that recent determinations of the age-metallicitydistribution (AMD) from large Strömgren photometric surveys aredominated by noise resulting from systematic biases in metallicities andeffective temperatures. These biases are evaluated and a new AMD isobtained, where particularities of the previous determinations arephased out. The new age-metallicity relation shows a mean increaselimited to about a factor of 2 in Z over the disc age. It is shown thatbelow 3 Gyr, the dispersion in metallicity is about 0.1 dex, which,given the observational uncertainties in the derived metallicities, iscompatible with the small cosmic dispersion measured on the interstellarmedium and meteoritic pre-solar dust grains. A population that isprogressively older and more metal rich arises at a metallicity greaterthan that of the Hyades, to reach [Fe/H] ~ +0.5 dex at ages greater than5 Gyr. We suggest that this is best explained by radial migration. Asymmetrical widening of the metallicity interval towards lower values isseen at about the same age, which is attributed to a similar cause.Finally, the new derived ages are sufficiently consistent that anage-metallicity relation within the thick disc is confirmed. These newfeatures altogether draw a picture of the chemical evolution in thesolar neighbourhood where dynamical effects and complexity in the AMDdominate, rather than a generalized high dispersion at all ages.
| Effective temperature scale and bolometric corrections from 2MASS photometry
We present a method to determine effective temperatures, angularsemi-diameters and bolometric corrections for population I and II FGKtype stars based on V and 2MASS IR photometry. Accurate calibration isaccomplished by using a sample of solar analogues, whose averagetemperature is assumed to be equal to the solar effective temperature of5777 K. By taking into account all possible sources of error we estimateassociated uncertainties to better than 1% in effective temperature andin the range 1.0-2.5% in angular semi-diameter for unreddened stars.Comparison of our new temperatures with other determinations extractedfrom the literature indicates, in general, remarkably good agreement.These results suggest that the effective temperaure scale of FGK starsis currently established with an accuracy better than 0.5%-1%. Theapplication of the method to a sample of 10 999 dwarfs in the Hipparcoscatalogue allows us to define temperature and bolometric correction (Kband) calibrations as a function of (V-K), [m/H] and log g. Bolometriccorrections in the V and K bands as a function of T_eff, [m/H] and log gare also given. We provide effective temperatures, angularsemi-diameters, radii and bolometric corrections in the V and K bandsfor the 10 999 FGK stars in our sample with the correspondinguncertainties.
| Chemical abundances of 32 mildly metal-poor stars
Context: .The formation scenario of the Galactic thick disk is anunresolved problem. Chemical abundances in long-lived dwarf stars of thethin and thick disks provide information of the Galactic diskformation.Aims.We present photospheric abundances of the O, Na, Mg, Al,Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Ni, and Ba elements for 32 mildly metal-poorstars with [Fe/H] -0.7. According to their kinematics, age, and [α/Fe] , sample stars are identified to thin disk, thick disk, andhalo population memberships. Element abundances for sample stars arediscussed as a function of metallicity.Methods.High resolution and highsignal-to-noise ratio spectra were obtained with the CoudéEchelle Spectrograph mounted on the 2.16 m telescope at the NationalAstronomical Observatories (Xinglong, China). Effective temperatureswere estimated from colour indices, and surface gravities from Hipparcosparallaxes. Stellar abundances were determined from a differential LTEanalysis. The kinematics parameters were calculated from the parallax,proper motion, and radial velocity. Stellar ages were determined fromtheoretical stellar evolution tracks.Results.The average age of thethick disk stars is older than the thin disk stars. Our elementabundance results extend and confirm previous works. The oxygen andother α-elements (Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti) abundances of thin and thickdisk stars show distinct trends at [Fe/H]≤-0.60. The [Al/Fe]behaviour is exactly as an α-element, although the separation for[Na/Fe] of thin and thick disk stars is not clear. The elements V, Cr,and Ni follow Fe very closely, and there is no offset between thin andthick disk stars, but the Sc and Mn abundance trends of the thin andthick disk stars are different, and [Ba/Fe] of thin disk and thick diskstars shows different behaviour.
| 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
| Lithium abundances of the local thin disc stars
Lithium abundances are presented for a sample of 181 nearby F and Gdwarfs with accurate Hipparcos parallaxes. The stars are on circularorbits about the Galactic centre and, hence, are identified as belongingto the thin disc. This sample is combined with two published surveys toprovide a catalogue of lithium abundances, metallicities ([Fe/H]),masses, and ages for 451 F-G dwarfs, almost all belonging to the thindisc. The lithium abundances are compared and contrasted with publishedlithium abundances for F and G stars in local open clusters. The fieldstars span a larger range in [Fe/H] than the clusters for which [Fe/H]~=0.0 +/- 0.2. The initial (i.e. interstellar) lithium abundance of thesolar neighbourhood, as derived from stars for which astration oflithium is believed to be unimportant, is traced from logɛ(Li) =2.2 at [Fe/H]=-1 to logɛ(Li) = 3.2 at +0.1. This form for theevolution is dependent on the assumption that astration of lithium isnegligible for the stars defining the relation. An argument is advancedthat this latter assumption may not be entirely correct, and, theevolution of lithium with [Fe/H] may be flatter than previouslysupposed. A sharp Hyades-like Li dip is not seen among the field starsand appears to be replaced by a large spread among lithium abundances ofstars more massive than the lower mass limit of the dip. Astration oflithium by stars of masses too low to participate in the Li dip isdiscussed. These stars show little to no spread in lithium abundance ata given [Fe/H] and mass.
| 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}
| Sodium Abundances in Stellar Atmospheres with Differing Metallicities
The non-LTE sodium abundances of 100 stars with metallicities-3<[Fe/H]<0.3 are determined using high-dispersion spectra withhigh signal-to-noise ratios. The sodium abundances [Na/Fe] obtained areclose to the solar abundance and display a smaller scatter than valuespublished previously. Giants (logg<3.8) with [Fe/H]<-1 do notdisplay overabundances of sodium, and their sodium abundances do notshow an anticorrelation with the oxygen abundance, in contrast toglobular-cluster giants. They likewise do not show sodium-abundancevariations with motion along the giant branch. No appreciable decreasein the sodium abundance was detected for dwarfs (logg>3.8) withmetallicities -2<[Fe/H]<-1. The observed relation between [Na/Fe]and [Fe/H] is in satisfactory agreement with the theoreticalcomputations of Samland, which take into account the metallicitydependence of the sodium yield and a number of other factors affectingthe distribution of elements in the Galaxy during the course of itsevolution.
| 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
| Abundances of Cu and Zn in metal-poor stars: Clues for Galaxy evolution
We present new observations of copper and zinc abundances in 90metal-poor stars, belonging to the metallicity range -3<[Fe/H]<-0.5. The present study is based on high resolutionspectroscopic measurements collected at the Haute Provence Observatoire(R= 42 000, S/N>100). The trend of Cu and Zn abundances as a functionof the metallicity [Fe/H] is discussed and compared to that of otherheavy elements beyond iron. We also estimate spatial velocities andgalactic orbital parameters for our target stars in order to disentanglethe population of disk stars from that of halo stars using kinematiccriteria. In the absence of a firm a priori knowledge of thenucleosynthesis mechanisms controlling Cu and Zn production, and of therelative stellar sites, we derive constraints on these last from thetrend of the observed ratios [Cu/Fe] and [Zn/Fe] throughout the historyof the Galaxy, as well as from a few well established properties ofbasic nucleosynthesis processes in stars. We thus confirm that theproduction of Cu and Zn requires a number of different sources (neutroncaptures in massive stars, s-processing in low and intermediate massstars, explosive nucleosynthesis in various supernova types). We alsoattempt a ranking of the relative roles played by different productionmechanisms, and verify these hints through a simple estimate of thegalactic enrichment in Cu and Zn. In agreement with suggestionspresented earlier, we find evidence that type Ia Supernovae must play arelevant role, especially for the production of Cu. Based on the spectracollected with the 1.93-m telescope of Haute Provence Observatory.
| α Element Abundances in Mildly Metal-Poor Stars
We present [O/Fe] and other α-elements/Fe ratios in a sample of 24mildly metal-poor stars. The sample stars are thought to be brighterthan 9.0 magnitude and have available uvby photometric data. Also, basedon the typical LTE abundance analysis, we find that [Si/Fe] and [Ca/Fe]are correlated with each other. Combining the kinematic data and themetallicity, we can classify the sample stars into three groups. Anabundance analysis shows some evidence that these groups are chemicallydiscrete from each other. Further, the general trend of a decreasingoverabundance of the α elements with increasing metallicity hasbeen confirmed.
| Abundances and Kinematics of Field Stars. II. Kinematics and Abundance Relationships
As an investigation of the origin of ``α-poor'' halo stars, weanalyze kinematic and abundance data for 73 intermediate-metallicitystars (-1>[Fe/H]>=-2) selected from Paper I of this series. We findevidence for a connection between the kinematics and the enhancement ofcertain element-to-iron ([X/Fe]) ratios in these stars. Statisticallysignificant correlations were found between [X/Fe] and galacticrest-frame velocities (vRF) for Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, and Ni,with marginally significant correlations existing for Ti and Y as well.We also find that the [X/Fe] ratios for these elements all correlatewith a similar level of significance with [Na/Fe]. Finally, we comparethe abundances of these halo stars against those of stars in nearbydwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies. We find significant differencesbetween the abundance ratios in the dSph stars and halo stars of similarmetallicity. From this result, it is unlikely that the halo stars in thesolar neighborhood, including even the ``α-poor'' stars, were oncemembers of disrupted dSph galaxies similar to those studied to date.
| The Galactic Evolution of Beryllium and Boron Revisited
The largest, highest-quality, and most near-homogeneously treated extantavailable samples of Be, B, Fe, and O abundances are analyzed on fourdifferent stellar parameter scales, considering different O abundanceindicators and deriving uncertainties in their relation with therequired aid of jackknife and bootstrap simulations/resampling. Despitelarge slope and zero-point differences, the various Fe-poor([Fe/H]<~-1) BeB-FeO relations are found to be independent ofparameter scale within the present, sometimes substantial,uncertainties. Variations in the BeB-O relations (as large as 1.12dex/dex and 1.24 dex in slope and zero point) from differing Oindicators do significantly differ; surprisingly, the largestdifferences are within the same parameter scale and not across differentones. The well-defined mean Be-Fe relation isBe~Fe1.16+/-0.04 the B-Fe relation is virtually identical,B~Fe1.17+/-0.08. The BeB-mean O relations show smallerdispersion than BeB-OH or BeB-O I relations alone, because of thesignificant reduction in parameter uncertainties, and are in remarkableagreement, indicating Be~mean O1.51+/-0.05 and B~meanO1.61+/-0.12. The latter is in good agreement with the slope(B~O1.39+/-0.08) derived for metal-rich dwarfs by Smith etal. utilizing enhanced Mg I b-f opacity and presumed reliableλ6300 [O I] and λ6158 O I features. The BeB-FeO slopes arealso all in excellent agreement with the reanalysis of Garcia Lopez, whoutilizes a Hipparcos-based gravity scale. The equivalence of the Be- andB-FeO slopes limits prodigious ν-process 11B production atlow metallicity and suggests little Galactic evolution of the B/Beratio. The BeB-mean O slopes differ significantly from pure ``primary''and ``secondary'' values, requiring a combination of productionmechanisms. The differing behavior of [O/Fe] and [Be/Fe] with [Fe/H]seems to rule out production by accelerated CO-rich grain debris inejecta of Type II supernovae having progenitor masses M>~8Msolar. Instead, the data are in fine accord withnear-primary/intermediate BeB-FeO slopes produced by varioustwo-component models, including standard GCR and superbubble production.Such models with a low-energy cosmic-ray source from supernovaerestricted to very large progenitor mass may be consistent with thelarge Be abundance in the ultra-metal-poor dwarf G64-12 found by Primaset al.; however, they predict unobserved maxima in B/Be evolution near[Fe/H]~-2, produce too much total Li at intermediate metallicity, andhave been suggested to be energetically untenable. Superbubble modelsconsidering a range of supernova progenitor mass and a constantcosmic-ray source composition predict the inferred modest or flat slopesin B/Be evolution. These models face possible difficulties inreproducing any nonprimordial Be plateaus at very low [Fe/H], and notunderproducing 6Li for [Fe/H]<~-2 additional data arerequired to provide firmer observational constraints. The BeB/FeO ratiosdo not show consistent evidence for two metal-poor populations expectedfrom bimodal (isolated supernovae and collective supernovae insuperbubbles) production mechanisms, though these signatures may be lostin the scatter or have drastically different contributing fractions.Finally, comparison of the metal-poor BeB-Fe and BeB-mean O slopessuggests that [O/Fe]~-0.25 [Fe/H]-not constant, but not as steep assuggested in some recent analyses and in agreement with the shallow[O/Fe] increase with declining [Fe/H] suggested by King.
| Lithium abundances for 185 main-sequence stars: Galactic evolution and stellar depletion of lithium
We present a survey of lithium abundances in 185 main-sequence fieldstars with 5600 <~ Teff <~ 6600 K and -1.4 <~ [Fe/H]<~ +0.2 based on new measurements of the equivalent width of thelambda 6708 Li I line in high-resolution spectra of 130 stars and areanalysis of data for 55 stars from Lambert et al. (\cite{Lambert91}).The survey takes advantage of improved photometric and spectroscopicdeterminations of effective temperature and metallicity as well as massand age derived from Hipparcos absolute magnitudes, offering anopportunity to investigate the behaviour of Li as a function of theseparameters. An interesting result from this study is the presence of alarge gap in the log varepsilon (Li) - Teff plane, whichdistinguishes ``Li-dip'' stars like those first identified in the Hyadescluster by Boesgaard & Tripicco (\cite{Boesgaard86}) from otherstars with a much higher Li abundance. The Li-dip stars concentrate on acertain mass, which decreases with metallicity from about 1.4Msun at solar metallicity to 1.1 Msun at [Fe/H] =~-1.0. Excluding the Li-dip stars and a small group of lower mass starswith Teff < 5900 K and log varepsilon (Li) < 1.5, theremaining stars, when divided into four metallicity groups, may show acorrelation between Li abundance and stellar mass. The dispersion aroundthe log varepsilon (Li)-mass relation is about 0.2 dex below [Fe/H] =~-0.4 and 0.3 dex above this metallicity, which cannot be explained byobservational errors or differences in metallicity. Furthermore, thereis no correlation between the residuals of the log varepsilon (Li)-massrelations and stellar age, which ranges from 1.5 Gyr to about 15 Gyr.This suggests that Li depletion occurs early in stellar life and thatparameters other than stellar mass and metallicity affect the degree ofdepletion, e.g. initial rotation velocity and/or the rate of angularmomentum loss. It cannot be excluded, however, that a cosmic scatter ofthe Li abundance in the Galaxy at a given metallicity contributes to thedispersion in Li abundance. These problems make it difficult todetermine the Galactic evolution of Li from the data, but a comparisonof the upper envelope of the distribution of stars in the log varepsilon(Li) - [Fe/H] plane with recent Galactic evolutionary models by Romanoet al. (\cite{Romano99}) suggests that novae are a major source for theLi production in the Galactic disk; their occurrence seems to be theexplanation for the steep increase of Li abundance at [Fe/H] =~ -0.4.Based on observations carried out at Beijing Astronomical Observatory(Xinglong, PR China) and European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile.Table 1 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/371/943 and athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| Analysis of neutron capture elements in metal-poor stars
We derived model atmosphere parameters (Teff, log g, [Fe/H],Vt) for 90 metal-deficient stars (-0.5<[Fe/H]<-3),using echelle spectra from the ELODIE library (Soubiran et al.\cite{soubet98}). These parameters were analyzed and compared withcurrent determinations by other authors. The study of the followingelements was carried out: Mg, Si, Ca, Sr, Y, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, and Eu. Therelative contributions of s- and r-processes were evaluated andinterpreted through theoretical computations of the chemical evolutionof the Galaxy. The chemical evolution models (Pagel &Tautvaišienė \cite{pagta95}; Timmes et al. \cite{timet95})depict quite well the behaviour of [Si/Fe], [Ca/Fe] with [Fe/H]. Thetrend of [Mg/Fe] compares more favourably with the computations of Pagel& Tautvaišienė (\cite{pagta95}) than those of Timmes etal. (\cite{timet95}). The runs of n-capture elements vs. metallicity aredescribed well both by the model of Pagel & Tautvaišienė(\cite{pagta95}, \cite{pagta97}) and by the model of Travaglio et al.(\cite{travet99}) at [Fe/H]>-1.5, when the matter of the Galaxy issufficiently homogeneous. The analysis of n-capture element abundancesconfirms the jump in [Ba/Fe] at [Fe/H]=-2.5. Some stars from our sampleat [Fe/H]<-2.0 show a large scatter of Sr, Ba, Y, Ce. This scatter isnot caused by the errors in the measurements, and may reflect theinhomogeneous nature of the prestellar medium at early stages ofgalactic evolution. The matching of [Ba/Fe], [Eu/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] with theinhomogeneous model by Travaglio et al. (\cite{travet01a}) suggests thatat [Fe/H]<-2.5, the essential contribution to the n-rich elementabundances derives from the r-process. The main sources of theseprocesses may be low mass SN II. The larger dispersion of s-processelement abundances with respect to alpha -rich elements may arise bothfrom the birth of metal-poor stars in globular clusters with followingdifferent evolutionary paths and (or) from differences in s-elementenrichment in Galaxy populations. Based on spectra collected at theObservatoire de Haute-Provence (OHP), France
| On the stellar content of the open clusters Melotte 105, Hogg 15, Pismis 21 and Ruprecht 140
CCD observations in the B, V and I passbands have been used to generatecolour-magnitude diagrams reaching down to V ~ 19 mag for two slightlycharacterized (Melotte 105 and Hogg 15) and two almost unstudied (Pismis21 and Ruprecht 140) open clusters. The sample consists of about 1300stars observed in fields of about 4arcmin x4arcmin . Our analysis showsthat neither Pismis 21 nor Ruprecht 140 are genuine open clusters sinceno clear main sequences or other meaningful features can be seen intheir colour-magnitude diagrams. Melotte 105 and Hogg 15 are openclusters affected by E(B-V) = 0.42 +/- 0.03 and 0.95 +/- 0.05,respectively. Their distances to the Sun have been estimated as 2.2 +/-0.3 and 2.6 +/- 0.08 kpc, respectively, while the corresponding agesestimated from empirical isochrones fitted to the Main Sequence clustermembers are ~ 350 Myr and 300 Myr, respectively. The present data arenot consistent with the membership of the WN6 star HDE 311884 to Hogg15. Tables 2 to 5 are only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.793.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/370/931
| A database of high and medium-resolution stellar spectra
We present a database of 908 spectra of 709 stars obtained with theELODIE spectrograph at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence. 52 orders ofthe echelle spectra have been carefully fitted together to providecontinuous, high-resolution spectra in the wavelength range lambdalambda = 410-680 nm. The archive provides a large coverage of the spaceof atmospheric parameters: T_eff from 3700 K to 13 600 K, log g from0.03 to 5.86 and [Fe/H] from -2.8 to +0.7. At the nominal resolution,R=42 000, the mean signal-to-noise ratio is 150 per pixel. The spectragiven at this resolution are normalized to their pseudo-continuum andare intended to serve for abundance studies, spectral classification andtests of stellar atmosphere models. A lower resolution version of thearchive, at R=10 000, is calibrated in physical flux with a broad-bandphotometric precision of 2.5% and narrow-band precision of 0.5%. It iswell suited to stellar population synthesis of galaxies and clusters,and to kinematical investigations of stellar systems. The archive isdistributed in FITS format through the HYPERCAT and CDS databases. Basedon observations made on the 193 cm telescope at the Haute-ProvenceObservatory, France. Table 1 is only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/369/1048
| Abundances and Kinematics of Field Halo and Disk Stars. I. Observational Data and Abundance Analysis
We describe observations and abundance analysis of a high-resolution,high signal-to-noise ratio survey of 168 stars, most of which aremetal-poor dwarfs. We follow a self-consistent LTE analysis technique todetermine the stellar parameters and abundances, and we estimate theeffects of random and systematic uncertainties on the resultingabundances. Element-to-iron ratios are derived for key α-, odd-Z,Fe-peak, and r- and s-process elements. Effects of non-LTE on theanalysis of Fe I lines are shown to be very small on average.Spectroscopically determined surface gravities are derived that arequite close to those obtained from Hipparcos parallaxes.
| Abundance analysis in the mildly metal-poor stars.
Not Available
| The galactic lithium evolution revisited
The evolution of the 7Li abundance in the Galaxy has beencomputed by means of the two-infall model of Galactic chemicalevolution. We took into account several stellar 7Li sources:novae, massive AGB stars, C-stars and Type II SNe. In particular, weadopted new theoretical yields for novae. We also took into account the7Li production from GCRs. In particular, the absolute yieldsof 7Li, as suggested by a recent reevaluation of thecontribution of GCR spallation to the 7Li abundance, havebeen adopted. We compared our theoretical predictions for the evolutionof 7Li abundance in the solar neighborhood with a newcompilation of data, where we identified the population membership ofthe stars on a kinematical basis. A critical analysis of extantobservations revealed a possible extension of the Li plateau towardshigher metallicities (up to [Fe/H] ~ -0.5 or even -0.3) with a steeprise afterwards. We conclude that 1) the 7Li contributionfrom novae is required in order to reproduce the shape of the growth ofA(Li) versus [Fe/H], 2) the contribution from Type II SNe should belowered by at least a factor of two, and 3) the 7Liproduction from GCRs is probably more important than previouslyestimated, in particular at high metallicities: by taking into accountGCR nucleosynthesis we noticeably improved the predictions on the7Li abundance in the presolar nebula and at the present timeas inferred from measures in meteorites and T Tauri stars, respectively.We also predicted a lower limit for the present time 7Liabundance expected in the bulge, a prediction which might be tested byfuture observations. Tables~3 and 4 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/Abstract.html
| Stellar Iron Abundances: Non-LTE Effects
We report new statistical equilibrium calculations for Fe I and Fe II inthe atmosphere of late-type stars. We used atomic models for Fe I and FeII having, respectively, 256 and 190 levels, as well as 2117 and 3443radiative transitions. Photoionization cross sections are from the IronProject. These atomic models were used to investigate non-LTE (NLTE)effects in iron abundances of late-type stars with different atmosphericparameters. We found that most Fe I lines in metal-poor stars are formedin conditions far from LTE. We derived metallicity corrections of about0.3 dex with respect to LTE values for the case of stars with[Fe/H]~-3.0. Fe II is found not to be affected by significant NLTEeffects. The main NLTE effect invoked in the case of Fe I isoverionization by ultraviolet radiation; thus classical ionizationequilibrium is far from being satisfied. An important consequence isthat surface gravities derived by LTE analysis are in error and shouldbe corrected before final abundance corrections. This apparently solvesthe observed discrepancy between spectroscopic surface gravities derivedby LTE analyses and those derived from Hipparcos parallaxes. A table ofNLTE [Fe/H] and log g values for a sample of metal-poor late-type starsis given.
| Observing Boron in Metal-Poor Stars
A new sample of 7 stars ranging in metallicity from [Fe/H] = ‑2.0to [Fe/H] = ‑0.75 has been analyzed in the boron spectral region.The targets were selected according to the availability (in theliterature) of their lithium and beryllium abundances, because thesimultaneous knowledge of LiBeB in the same targets is a powerfuldiagnostic for testing depletion and internal mixing predicted bydifferent stellar structure models. Two stars (HD 94028 and HD 194598),characterized by similar Li contents, are found to have also similar Babundances, despite a 0.3 dex difference in their Be abundances claimedby Thorburn and Hobbs (1996). Four stars out of 7 are characterized bystrongly depleted Li and Be abundances: 2 of them (HD 2665 and HD 3795)are also significantly B-depleted, while two others (HD 106516 and HD221377) have near normal B abundances despite being depleted by a factor≥ 10 in both Li and Be abundances. These stars place strongconstraints on the nature and depth of the mixing processes responsiblefor their light element abundances. The 7th star (HD 160617) shows theremarkable aspect of deficient B, probably deficient Be, and completelynormal Li. No stellar destruction mechanism can explain this. Rather,chemical inhomogeneities in the halo could be the cause.
| A new set of HST boron observations. I. Testing light elements stellar depletion
A sample of 7 new stars ranging in metallicity from [Fe/H]=-2.0 to[Fe/H]=-0.75 has been analyzed in the boron spectral region. The spectrawere observed with the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) ofthe Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The targets were selected on the basisof their lithium and beryllium abundances in order to investigate in amore complete way light element depletion and internal mixing bycomparing all 3 elements Li, Be, and B at once in the same objects. Fourstars out of 7 are characterized by strongly depleted Li and Beabundances, compared to stars of similar characteristics. We find that 2of them (HD 2665 and HD 3795) are also significantly B-depleted. Twoothers (HD 106516 and HD 221377) have normal or near normal B abundancesdespite being depleted by a factor >=10 in both Li and Be abundances.These stars place strong constraints on the nature and depth of themixing processes responsible for their light element abundances. Twoother stars, HD 94028 and HD 194598, are found to have normal Babundances, despite a 0.3 dex difference in their Be abundances claimedby Thorburn & Hobbs (\cite{thorburn}). We consider the reported Bedifference unconfirmed. The 7th star belonging to this cycle of HSTobservations is HD 160617. Although subjected to a separate analysis(Primas et al. \cite{primas2}), it has also been included here becauseof the remarkable aspect of its low B, probably low Be, and completelynormal Li. No stellar destruction mechanism can explain this. Rather,chemical inhomogeneities in the halo could be the cause. Based onspectroscopic observations obtained with the NASA/ESA Hubble SpaceTelescope at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated bythe Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., underNASA contract NAS5-26555.
| Oxygen in Unevolved Metal-Poor Stars from Keck Ultraviolet HIRES Spectra
The determination of the abundance of oxygen (O) is important in ourunderstanding of mass-spectrum of previous generations of stars, theevolution of the Galaxy, stellar evolution, and the age-metallicityrelation. We have measured O in 24 unevolved stars with Keck HIRESobservations of the OH lines in the ultraviolet spectral region at aspectral resolution of ~45,000. The spectra have high signal-to-noiseratios, typically 60-110, and high dispersion, 0.022 Å per pixel.Very special care has been taken in determining the stellar parametersin a consistent way and we have done this for two different, plausibletemperature scales. The O abundance from OH has been computed byspectrum synthesis techniques for all 24 stars plus the Sun for which wehave a Keck spectrum of the daytime sky. In addition, we determined Oabundances from the O I triplet with our stellar parameters and thepublished equivalent widths of the three O I lines from six sources. Thecomparison of data analyzed with the same, consistently determined,parameter sets show generally excellent agreement in the O abundances;differences in the origin of the models (not the parameters) may resultin abundance differences of 0.07 to 0.11 dex. We show that the Oabundances from OH and from O I are reliable and independent and averagethe two for the adopted O. This averaging has the great benefit ofneutralizing uncertainties in the parameters since OH and O I strengthsdepend on effective temperature and gravity in opposite directions. Forthese cool, unevolved stars we find that O is enhanced relative to Fewith a completely linear relation between [O/H] and [Fe/H] over 3 ordersof magnitude with very little scatter; taking the errors into account indetermining the fits, we find [O/H] = +0.66 (+/-0.02) [Fe/H] + 0.05(+/-0.04). The O abundances from 76 disk stars of Edvardsson et al. havea measured slope of 0.66 (identical to our halo dwarf stars) and fitthis relationship smoothly. The relation between [O/Fe] and [Fe/H] isrobustly linear and shows no sign of a break at metallicities between-1.0 and -2.0, as has been discussed by others. At low metallicities,[Fe/H]<-3.0, [O/Fe]>+1.0. The fit to this relationship (taking theerrors into account) is [O/Fe] = -0.35 (+/-0.03) [Fe/H] + 0.03(+/-0.05). The enrichment of O is probably still from massive stars andType II supernovae; however, the absence of a break in [O/Fe] versus[Fe/H] runs counter to traditional galactic evolution models, and theinterplay of Type II and Type Ia supernovae in the production of O andFe should be reexamined. It appears that either Fe or O can be used as achronometer in studies of galactic evolution.
| Galactic Evolution of the Light Elements: A New Set of B Observations
The boron 2500 Angstroms spectral region has been observed with theGoddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) of the Hubble SpaceTelescope (HST) in a new set of metal-poor stars and analyzed byspectrum synthesis technique, adopting the most recent modelatmospheres. By taking into account the Li and Be abundances availablefrom the literature for this same set of objects, the resulting patternsof their light elements abundances cannot be easily justified with thecurrently known stellar structure scenarios. The finding of realdifferences in the B content between stars with very similar stellarcharacteristics suggest that also production effects, rather thandepletion and/or mixing only, should be taken into account as a possibleand valuable explanation.
| A catalogue of [Fe/H] determinations: 1996 edition
A fifth Edition of the Catalogue of [Fe/H] determinations is presentedherewith. It contains 5946 determinations for 3247 stars, including 751stars in 84 associations, clusters or galaxies. The literature iscomplete up to December 1995. The 700 bibliographical referencescorrespond to [Fe/H] determinations obtained from high resolutionspectroscopic observations and detailed analyses, most of them carriedout with the help of model-atmospheres. The Catalogue is made up ofthree formatted files: File 1: field stars, File 2: stars in galacticassociations and clusters, and stars in SMC, LMC, M33, File 3: numberedlist of bibliographical references The three files are only available inelectronic form at the Centre de Donnees Stellaires in Strasbourg, viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5), or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Classification of Population II Stars in the Vilnius Photometric System. I. Methods
The methods used for classification of Population II stars in theVilnius photometric system are described. An extensive set of standardswith known astrophysical parameters compiled from the literature sourcesis given. These standard stars are classified in the Vilnius photometricsystem using the methods described. The accuracy of classification isevaluated by a comparison of the astrophysical parameters derived fromthe Vilnius photometric system with those estimated from spectroscopicstudies as well as from photometric data in other systems. For dwarfsand subdwarfs, we find a satisfactory agreement between our reddeningsand those estimated in the uvbyscriptstyle beta system. The standarddeviation of [Fe/H] deter mined in the Vilnius system is about 0.2 dex.The absolute magnitude for dwarfs and subdwarfs is estimated with anaccuracy of scriptstyle <=0.5 mag.
| Galactic evolution of Beryllium
The abundance of Be in the lowest-metallicity stars is a probe of BigBang Nucleosynthesis and its abundance in halo and disk stars is a probeof galactic evolution and stellar structure. We present observations ofthe Be II resonance lines in 14 halo stars and 27 (mostly old) diskstars with (Fe/H) from -2.7 to +0.13. The spectra were obtained at theCanada-France-Hawaii (CFH) 3.6 m telescope and have a measuredresolution of 0.13 A and a median signal-to-noise ratio of approximately50. For 18 of the 41 stars we have also made observations of the O Itriplet at the Palomar 5 m telescope, the UH 2.2 m telescope, and theCFH telescope. Stellar parameters of Teff, log g, and (Fe/H)were carefully determined from several independent estimates. Abundancesare determined for log N (Be/H) and (O/H) from measured equivalentwidths, model parameters, and Kurucz (1991) model atmospheres with theRAI10 model atmosphere abundance program. The agreement with previouslypublished Be detections is very good (a mean difference of 0.05 dex) forfive of six determinations in four halo stars and in four of five diskstars. The agreement with very recently published O abundances is0.0075 dex. It is plausible, but far from conclusive, thatthere is a plateau in the amount of Be present in the lowest metallicitystars: log N (Be/H) approximately -12.8 for (Fe/H) less than -2.2 As(Fe/H) increases from -2.2 to -1.0, log N (Be/H) increases and the slopeis 1.2-1.3, indicating a faster increase in Be than in Fe. This isconsistent with the production of Be by spallation reactions betweencosmic rays and O atoms from massive stars and the production of Fe fromintermediate mass stars. Evidence for stellar processing of Be exists inthe disk stars and in at least two of the halo stars. A plot of Beabundance vs O abundances shows that Be increases as O1.12,indicating that Be is produced primarily is the vicinity of supernovaeenvelopes, but a small and interesting fraction is produced in thegeneral interstellar gas in the halo.
| A preliminary compilation of DS-programme star positions
A catalog is presented of the double-star-program (DS-program) starpositions, listing right ascensions for 930 DSs and declinations for1225 DSs of the program. The positions were compiled from the observedvalues obtained between 1980 and 1987 with the meridian circles of sixUSSR observatories (the Moscow, Kazan', Kiev, Khar'kov, Odessa, andTashkent Observatories) and the Belgrade Observatory. The measurementsand the treatment of the observational material were performed using therelative method, and the FK-4 system stars were used as reference stars.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Cassiopée |
| Right ascension: | 23h31m19.73s |
| Declination: | +52°24'38.5" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 7.58 |
| Distance: | 90.827 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | 101 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -29.2 |
| B-T magnitude: | 8.066 |
| V-T magnitude: | 7.621 |
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