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Kuiper belts around nearby stars
Context. The existence of dusty debris disks around a large fraction ofsolar type main-sequence stars, inferred from excess far-IR andsubmillimetre emission compared to that expected from stellarphotospheres, suggests that leftover planetesimal belts analogous to theasteroid- and comet reservoirs of the solar system are common. Aims: Sensitive submillimetre observations are essential to detect andcharacterise cold extended dust originating from collisions of smallbodies in disks, belts, or rings at Kuiper-belt distances (30-50 AU orbeyond). Measurements of the flux densities at these wavelengths willextend existing IR photometry and permit more detailed modelling of theRayleigh-Jeans tail of the disks spectral energy distribution (SED),effectively constraining dust properties and disk extensions. Byobserving stars spanning from a few up to several hundred Myr, theevolution of debris disks during crucial phases of planet formation canbe studied. Methods: We observed 22 exo-Kuiper-belt candidates at870 ?m, as part of a large programme with the LABOCA bolometer at theAPEX telescope. Dust masses (or upper limits) were calculated fromintegrated 870 ?m fluxes, and fits to the SED of detected sourcesrevealed the fractional dust luminosities fdust, dusttemperatures Tdust, and power-law exponents ? of theopacity law. Results: A total of 10 detections with at least3? significance were made, out of which five (HD 95086, HD 131835,HD 161868, HD 170773, and HD 207129) have previously never been detectedat submillimetre wavelengths. Three additional sources are marginallydetected with > 2.5? significance. The best-fit ?parameters all lie between 0.1 and 0.8, in agreement with previousresults indicating the presence of significantly larger grains thanthose in the ISM. From our relatively small sample we estimatefdust ? t-?, with ? ~ 0.8-2.0,and identify an evolution of the characteristic radial dust distanceRdust that is consistent with the t1/3 increasepredicted from models of self-stirred collisions in debris disks.Based on observations with APEX, Llano Chajnantor, Chile (OSO programme081.F-9330(A)).
| XID II: Statistical Cross-Association of ROSAT Bright Source Catalog X-ray Sources with 2MASS Point Source Catalog Near-Infrared Sources
The 18,806 ROSAT All Sky Survey Bright Source Catalog (RASS/BSC) X-raysources are quantitatively cross-associated with near-infrared (NIR)sources from the Two Micron All Sky Survey Point Source Catalog(2MASS/PSC). An association catalog is presented, listing the mostlikely counterpart for each RASS/BSC source, the probability Pid that the NIR source and X-ray source are uniquelyassociated, and the probability P no-id that none of the2MASS/PSC sources are associated with the X-ray source. The catalogincludes 3853 high quality (P id>0.98) X-ray-NIR matches,2280 medium quality (0.98 >= P id>0.9) matches, and4153 low quality (0.9 >= P id>0.5) matches. Of the highquality matches, 1418 are associations that are not listed in the SIMBADdatabase, and for which no high quality match with a USNO-A2 opticalsource was presented for the RASS/BSC source in previous work. Thepresent work offers a significant number of new associations withRASS/BSC objects that will require optical/NIR spectroscopy forclassification. For example, of the 6133 P id>0.92MASS/PSC counterparts presented in the association catalog, 2411 haveno classification listed in the SIMBAD database. These 2MASS/PSC sourceswill likely include scientifically useful examples of known sourceclasses of X-ray emitters (white dwarfs, coronally active stars, activegalactic nuclei), but may also contain previously unknown sourceclasses. It is determined that all coronally active stars in theRASS/BSC should have a counterpart in the 2MASS/PSC, and that the uniqueassociation of these RASS/BSC sources with their NIR counterparts thusis confusion limited.
| 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
| X-Ray-Emitting Stars Identified from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
The ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) was the first imaging X-ray survey ofthe entire sky. Combining the RASS Bright and Faint Source Catalogsyields an average of about three X-ray sources per square degree.However, while X-ray source counterparts are known to range from distantquasars to nearby M dwarfs, the RASS data alone are often insufficientto determine the nature of an X-ray source. As a result, large-scalefollow-up programs are required to construct samples of known X-rayemitters. We use optical data produced by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey(SDSS) to identify 709 stellar X-ray emitters cataloged in the RASS andfalling within the SDSS Data Release 1 footprint. Most of these arebright stars with coronal X-ray emission unsuitable for SDSSspectroscopy, which is designed for fainter objects (g > 15 [mag]).Instead, we use SDSS photometry, correlations with the Two Micron AllSky Survey and other catalogs, and spectroscopy from the Apache PointObservatory 3.5 m telescope to identify these stellar X-raycounterparts. Our sample of 707 X-ray-emitting F, G, K, and M stars isone of the largest X-ray-selected samples of such stars. We derivedistances to these stars using photometric parallax relationsappropriate for dwarfs on the main sequence, and use these distances tocalculate LX . We also identify a previously unknowncataclysmic variable (CV) as a RASS counterpart. Separately, we usecorrelations of the RASS and the SDSS spectroscopic catalogs of CVs andwhite dwarfs (WDs) to study the properties of these rarer X-ray-emittingstars. We examine the relationship between (fX /fg) and the equivalent width of the Hβ emission line for 46X-ray-emitting CVs and discuss tentative classifications for a subsetbased on these quantities. We identify 17 new X-ray-emitting DA(hydrogen) WDs, of which three are newly identified WDs. We report onfollow-up observations of three candidate cool X-ray-emitting WDs (oneDA and two DB (helium) WDs); we have not confirmed X-ray emission fromthese WDs.Includes observations obtained with the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 mtelescope, which is owned and operated by the Astrophysical ResearchConsortium.
| Long-wavelength observations of debris discs around sun-like stars
Context: Tracing the evolution of debris discs is essential for ourunderstanding of the architecture of planetary system. Even though theevolution of their inner discs has been recently studied with theSpitzer Space Telescope at mid- to far-infrared wavelengths, the outerdiscs are best characterised by sensitive millimetre observations. Aims: The goal of our study is to understand the evolution timescaleof circumstellar debris discs, and the physical mechanisms responsiblefor such evolution around solar-type stars. In addition, we make adetailed characterisation of the detected debris discs. Methods:Two deep surveys of circumstellar discs around solar-type stars atdifferent ages were carried out at 350 ?m with the CSO and at 1.2 mmwith the IRAM 30-m telescope. The dust disc masses were computed fromthe millimetre emission, where the discs are optically thin.Theoretically, the mass of the disc is expected to decrease with time.To test this hypothesis, we performed the generalised Kendall's taucorrelation and three different two-sample tests. A characterisation ofthe detected debris discs has been obtained by computing the collisionand Poynting-Robertson timescales and by modelling the spectral energydistribution. Results: The Kendall's tau correlation yields aprobability of 76% that the mass of debris discs and their age arecorrelated. Similarly, the three two-sample tests give a probabilitybetween 70 and 83% that younger and older debris systems belong todifferent parent populations in terms of dust mass. We detectedsubmillimetre/millimetre emission from six debris discs, enabling adetailed SED modelling. Conclusions: Our results on thecorrelation and evolution of dust mass as a function of age areconditioned by the sensitivity limit of our survey. Deeper millimetreobservations are needed to confirm the evolution of debris materialaround solar-like stars. In the case of the detected discs, thecomparison between collision and Poynting-Robertson timescales supportsthe hypothesis that these discs are dominated by collisions. Alldetected debris disc systems show the inner part evacuated from smallmicron-sized grains.This work is based on observations made with the IRAM (Institut deRadioastonomie Millimétrique) 30-m telescope and the CSO (CaltechSubmillimetre Observatory) 10-m telescope. IRAM is supported byINSU/CNRS (France), MPG (Germany), and IGN (Spain).
| Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems: Properties of Debris Dust Around Solar-Type Stars
We present Spitzer photometric (IRAC and MIPS) and spectroscopic (IRSlow resolution) observations for 314 stars in the Formation andEvolution of Planetary Systems Legacy program. These data are used toinvestigate the properties and evolution of circumstellar dust aroundsolar-type stars spanning ages from approximately 3 Myr-3 Gyr.We identify 46 sources that exhibit excess infrared emission above thestellar photosphere at 24 μm, and 21 sources with excesses at 70μm. Five sources with an infrared excess have characteristics ofoptically thick primordial disks, while the remaining sources haveproperties akin to debris systems. The fraction of systems exhibiting a24 μm excess greater than 10.2% above the photosphere is 15% for ages< 300 Myr and declines to 2.7% for older ages. The upper envelope tothe 70 μm fractional luminosity appears to decline over a similar agerange. The characteristic temperature of the debris inferred from theIRS spectra range between 60 and 180 K, with evidence for the presenceof cooler dust to account for the strength of the 70 μm excessemission. No strong correlation is found between dust temperature andstellar age. Comparison of the observational data with disk modelscontaining a power-law distribution of silicate grains suggests that thetypical inner-disk radius is gsim 10 AU. Although the interpretation isnot unique, the lack of excess emission shortward of 16 μm and therelatively flat distribution of the 24 μm excess for ages lsim 300Myr is consistent with steady-state collisional models.
| The Palomar/Keck Adaptive Optics Survey of Young Solar Analogs: Evidence for a Universal Companion Mass Function
We present results from an adaptive optics survey for substellar andstellar companions to Sun-like stars. The survey targeted 266 F5-K5stars in the 3 Myr-3 Gyr age range with distances of 10-190 pc.Results from the survey include the discovery of two brown dwarfcompanions (HD 49197B and HD 203030B), 24 new stellar binaries, and atriple system. We infer that the frequency of 0.012-0.072Msun brown dwarfs in 28-1590 AU orbits around young solaranalogs is 3.2+3.1 -2.7% (2σ limits).The result demonstrates that the deficiency of substellar companions atwide orbital separations from Sun-like stars is less pronounced than inthe radial velocity "brown dwarf desert." We infer that the massdistribution of companions in 28-1590 AU orbits around solar-mass starsfollows a continuous dN/dM 2 vprop M -0.42 relation over the 0.01-1.0 M sun secondary massrange. While this functional form is similar to that for isolatedobjects less than 0.1 M sun, over the entire 0.01-1.0 Msun range, the mass functions of companions and of isolatedobjects differ significantly. Based on this conclusion and on similarresults from other direct imaging and radial velocity companion surveysin the literature, we argue that the companion mass function follows thesame universal form over the entire range between 0 and 1590 AU inorbital semimajor axis and ≈ 0.01-20 M sun in companionmass. In this context, the relative dearth of substellar versus stellarsecondaries at all orbital separations arises naturally from theinferred form of the companion mass function.
| The Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems: Description of the Spitzer Legacy Science Database
We present the science database produced by the Formation and Evolutionof Planetary Systems (FEPS) Spitzer Legacy program. Data reduction andvalidation procedures for the IRAC, MIPS, and IRS instruments aredescribed in detail. We also derive stellar properties for the FEPSsample from available broadband photometry and spectral types, andpresent an algorithm to normalize Kurucz synthetic spectra to opticaland near-infrared photometry. The final FEPS data products include IRACand MIPS photometry for each star in the FEPS sample and calibrated IRSspectra.
| The Complete Census of 70 μm-bright Debris Disks within ``the Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems'' Spitzer Legacy Survey of Sun-like Stars
We report detection of cool dust surrounding solar-type stars fromobservations performed as part of the Spitzer Legacy Science ProgramFEPS. From a sample of 328 stars having ages ~0.003-3 Gyr we haveselected sources with 70 μm flux densities indicating excess in theirSEDs above expected photospheric emission. Six strong excess sources arelikely primordial circumstellar disks, remnants of the star formationprocess. Another 25 sources having >=3 σ excesses areassociated with dusty debris disks, generated by collisions withinplanetesimal belts that are possibly stirred by existing planets. Sixadditional sources with >=2 σ excesses require confirmation asdebris disks. In our analysis, most (>80%) 70 μm excess sourceshave >=3 σ excesses at 33 μm as well, while only a minority(<40%) have >=3 σ excesses at 24 μm. The rising SEDstoward (and perhaps beyond) 70 μm imply dust temperatures <45-85 Kfor debris in equilibrium with the stellar radiation field. From fittedsingle-temperature blackbody models we infer bulk dust properties suchas characteristic temperature, location, fractional luminosity, andmass. For >1/3 of the debris sources we find that multipletemperature components are suggested, implying a dust distributionextending over many tens of AU. Because the disks are dominated bycollisional processes, the parent body (planetesimal) belts may beextended as well. Preliminary assessment of the statistics of colddebris around Sun-like stars shows that ~10% of FEPS targets with massesbetween 0.6 and 1.8 Msolar and ages between 30 Myr and 3 Gyrexhibit excess 70 μm emission. We find that fractional excessamplitudes appear higher for younger stars and that there may be a trendin 70 μm excess frequency with stellar mass.
| High-Dispersion Optical Spectra of Nearby Stars Younger Than the Sun
We present high-dispersion (R~16,000) optical (3900-8700 Å)spectra of 390 stars obtained with the Palomar 60 inch telescope. Themajority of stars observed are part of the Spitzer Legacy ScienceProgram ``The Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems.'' Throughdetailed analysis we determine stellar properties for this sample,including radial and rotational velocities, Li I λ6708 andHα equivalent widths, the chromospheric activity indexR'HK, and temperature- and gravity-sensitive lineratios. Several spectroscopic binaries are also identified. From ourtabulations, we illustrate basic age- and rotation-related correlationsamong measured indices. One novel result is that Ca II chromosphericemission appears to saturate at vsini values above ~30 kms-1, similar to the well-established saturation of X-raysthat originate in the spatially separate coronal region.
| Characterization of Dusty Debris Disks: The IRAS and Hipparcos Catalogs
Dusty debris disks around main-sequence stars are signposts for theexistence of planetesimals and exoplanets. From cross-correlatingHipparcos stars with the IRAS catalogs, we identify 146 stars within 120pc of Earth that show excess emission at 60 μm. This search tookspecial precautions to avoid false positives. Our sample is reasonablywell distributed from late B to early K-type stars, but it contains veryfew later type stars. Even though IRAS flew more than 20 years ago andmany astronomers have cross-correlated its catalogs with stellarcatalogs, we were still able to newly identify debris disks at as manyas 33 main-sequence stars; of these, 32 are within 100 pc of Earth. Thepower of an all-sky survey satellite like IRAS is evident when comparingour 33 new debris disks with the total of only 22 dusty debris diskstars first detected with the more sensitive, but pointed, satelliteISO. Our investigation focuses on the mass, dimensions, and evolution ofdusty debris disks.
| The Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems: Placing Our Solar System in Context with Spitzer
We provide an overview of the Spitzer Legacy Program, Formation andEvolution of Planetary Systems, that was proposed in 2000, begun in2001, and executed aboard the Spitzer Space Telescope between 2003 and2006. This program exploits the sensitivity of Spitzer to carry outmid-infrared spectrophotometric observations of solar-type stars. With asample of ~328 stars ranging in age from ~3 Myr to ~3 Gyr, we trace theevolution of circumstellar gas and dust from primordial planet-buildingstages in young circumstellar disks through to older collisionallygenerated debris disks. When completed, our program will help define thetimescales over which terrestrial and gas giant planets are built,constrain the frequency of planetesimal collisions as a function oftime, and establish the diversity of mature planetary architectures. Inaddition to the observational program, we have coordinated a concomitanttheoretical effort aimed at understanding the dynamics of circumstellardust with and without the effects of embedded planets, dust spectralenergy distributions, and atomic and molecular gas line emission.Together with the observations, these efforts will provide anastronomical context for understanding whether our solar system-and itshabitable planet-is a common or a rare circumstance. Additionalinformation about the FEPS project can be found on the team Web site.
| Search for cold debris disks around M-dwarfs
Debris disks are believed to be related to planetesimals left overaround stars after planet formation has ceased. The frequency of debrisdisks around M-dwarfs which account for 70% of the stars in the Galaxyis unknown while constrains have already been found for A- to K-typestars. We have searched for cold debris disks around 32 field M-dwarfsby conducting observations at λ = 850~μm with the SCUBAbolometer array camera at the JCMT and at λ = 1.2 mm with theMAMBO array at the IRAM 30-m telescopes. This is the first survey of alarge sample of M-dwarfs conducted to provide statistical constraints ondebris disks around this type of stars. We have detected a new debrisdisk around the M0.5 dwarf GJ 842.2 at λ = 850~μm, providingevidence for cold dust at large distance from this star (~300 AU). Bycombining the results of our survey with the ones of Liu et al. (2004),we estimate for the first time the detection rate of cold debris disksaround field M-dwarfs with ages between 20 and 200 Myr. This detectionrate is 13+6-8% and is consistent with thedetection rate of cold debris disks (9-23%) around A- to K-type mainsequence stars of the same age. This is an indication that cold disksmay be equally prevalent across stellar spectral types.
| Pulkovo compilation of radial velocities for 35495 stars in a common system.
Not Available
| Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems: Upper Limits to the Gas Mass in Disks around Sun-like Stars
We have carried out a sensitive search for gas emission lines at IR andmillimeter wavelengths for a sample of 15 young Sun-like stars selectedfrom our dust disk survey with Spitzer. We have used mid-IR lines totrace the warm (300-100 K) gas in the inner disk and millimetertransitions of 12CO to probe the cold (~20 K) outer disk. Wereport no gas line detections from our sample. Line flux upper limitsare first converted to warm and cold gas mass limits using simpleapproximations allowing a direct comparison with values from theliterature. We also present results from more sophisticated modelsfollowing Gorti & Hollenbach that confirm and extend our simpleanalysis. These models show that the [S I] 25.23 μm line can setconstraining limits on the gas surface density at the disk inner radiusand traces disk regions up to a few AU. We find that none of the 15systems have more than 0.04MJ of gas within a few AU from thedisk inner radius for disk radii from 1 to ~40 AU. These gas mass upperlimits even in the eight systems younger than ~30 Myr suggest that mostof the gas is dispersed early. The gas mass upper limits in the 10-40 AUregion, which is mainly traced by our CO data, are <2M⊕. If these systems are analogs of the solar system,they either have already formed Uranus- and Neptune-like planets or willnot form them beyond 100 Myr. Finally, the gas surface density upperlimits at 1 AU are smaller than 0.01% of the minimum mass solar nebulafor most of the sources. If terrestrial planets form frequently andtheir orbits are circularized by gas, then circularization occurs early.
| An 850 μm Survey for Dust around Solar-Mass Stars
We present the results of an 850 μm JCMT/SCUBA survey for dust around13 nearby solar-mass stars. The dust mass sensitivity ranged from5×10-3 to 0.16 M⊕. Three sources weredetected in the survey, one of which (HD 107146) has been previouslyreported. One of the other two submillimeter sources, HD 104860, was notdetected by IRAS and is surrounded by a cold, massive dust disk with adust temperature and mass of Tdust=33 K andMdust=0.16 M⊕, respectively. The thirdsource, HD 8907, was detected by IRAS and ISO at 60-87 μm and has adust temperature and mass of Tdust=48 K andMdust=0.036 M⊕, respectively. We find thatthe deduced masses and radii of the dust disks in our sample are roughlyconsistent with models for the collisional evolution of planetesimaldisks with embedded planets. We also searched for residual gas in two ofthe three systems with detected submillimeter excesses and place limitson the mass of gas residing in these systems. When the propertiesmeasured for the detected excess sources are combined with the largerpopulation of submillimeter excess sources from the literature, we findstrong evidence that the mass in small grains declines significantly ona ~200 Myr timescale, approximately inversely with age. However, we alsofind that the characteristic dust radii of the population, obtained fromthe dust temperature of the excess and assuming blackbody grains, isuncorrelated with age. This is in contrast to self-stirred collisionalmodels for debris disk evolution, which predict a trend of radiusincreasing with age tage~R3d. The lackof agreement suggests that processes beyond self-stirring, such as giantplanet formation, play a role in the evolutionary histories ofplanetesimal disks.
| Evolution of Cold Circumstellar Dust around Solar-type Stars
We present submillimeter (Caltech Submillimeter Observatory 350 μm)and millimeter (Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope [SEST] 1.2 mm, OwensValley Radio Observatory [OVRO] 3 mm) photometry for 127 solar-typestars from the Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems SpitzerLegacy program that have masses between ~0.5 and 2.0 Msolarand ages from ~3 Myr to 3 Gyr. Continuum emission was detected towardfour stars with a signal-to-noise ratio>=3: the classical T Tauristars RX J1842.9-3532, RX J1852.3-3700, and PDS 66 with SEST, and thedebris-disk system HD 107146 with OVRO. RX J1842.9-3532 and RXJ1852.3-3700 are located in projection near the R CrA molecular cloud,with estimated ages of ~10 Myr (Neuhäuser et al.), whereas PDS 66is a probable member of the ~20 Myr old Lower Centaurus-Crux subgroup ofthe Scorpius-Centaurus OB association (Mamajek et al.). The continuumemission toward these three sources is unresolved at the 24" SESTresolution and likely originates from circumstellar accretion disks,each with estimated dust masses of ~5×10-5Msolar. Analysis of the visibility data toward HD 107146(age~80-200 Myr) indicates that the 3 mm continuum emission is centeredon the star within the astrometric uncertainties and resolved with aGaussian-fit FWHM size of (6.5"+/-1.4")×(4.2"+/-1.3"), or185AU×120 AU. The results from our continuum survey are combinedwith published observations to quantify the evolution of dust mass withtime by comparing the mass distributions for samples with differentstellar ages. The frequency distribution of circumstellar dust massesaround solar-type stars in the Taurus molecular cloud (age~2 Myr) isdistinguished from that around 3-10 Myr and 10-30 Myr old stars at asignificance level of ~1.5 and ~3 σ, respectively. These resultssuggest a decrease in the mass of dust contained in small dust grainsand/or changes in the grain properties by stellar ages of 10-30 Myr,consistent with previous conclusions. Further observations are needed todetermine if the evolution in the amount of cold dust occurs on evenshorter timescales.
| Chromospheric Ca II Emission in Nearby F, G, K, and M Stars
We present chromospheric Ca II H and K activity measurements, rotationperiods, and ages for ~1200 F, G, K, and M type main-sequence stars from~18,000 archival spectra taken at Keck and Lick Observatories as a partof the California and Carnegie Planet Search Project. We have calibratedour chromospheric S-values against the Mount Wilson chromosphericactivity data. From these measurements we have calculated medianactivity levels and derived R'HK, stellar ages,and rotation periods from general parameterizations for 1228 stars,~1000 of which have no previously published S-values. We also presentprecise time series of activity measurements for these stars.Based on observations obtained at Lick Observatory, which is operated bythe University of California, and on observations obtained at the W. M.Keck Observatory, which is operated jointly by the University ofCalifornia and the California Institute of Technology. The KeckObservatory was made possible by the generous financial support of theW. M. Keck Foundation.
| The 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
| The Pul-3 catalogue of 58483 stars in the Tycho-2 system
A catalogue of positions and proper motions of 58483 stars (Pul-3) hasbeen constructed at the Pulkovo observatory. The Pul-3 is based on theresults of measurements of photographic plates with galaxies (Deutsch'splan). All plates were taken using the Pulkovo Normal Astrograph (thefirst epoch is in the 1950s and the second epoch is in the 1970s).The Pul-3 catalogue contains stars of mainly 12 to 16.5 mag in 146fields with galaxies in the declination zone from -5o to+85o. The Tycho-2 has been used as a reference catalogue.The mean epoch of the Pul-3 is 1963.25. The internal positional accuracyof the Pul-3 catalogue at the mean epoch of observations is ±80mas. The accuracy of the proper motions is mostly within ±3mas/yr to ±12 mas/yr. Comparisons of the Pul-3 with Tycho-2 andARIHIP have been done at the mean epoch of the Pul-3. The Pul-3 externalpositional accuracy relative to Tycho-2 is ±150 mas.The catalogue 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/418/357
| The Hamburg/RASS Catalogue of optical identifications. Northern high-galactic latitude ROSAT Bright Source Catalogue X-ray sources
We present the Hamburg/RASS Catalogue (HRC) of optical identificationsof X-ray sources at high-galactic latitude. The HRC includes all X-raysources from the ROSAT Bright Source Catalogue (RASS-BSC) with galacticlatitude |b| >=30degr and declination delta >=0degr . In thispart of the sky covering ~ 10 000 deg2 the RASS-BSC contains5341 X-ray sources. For the optical identification we used blue Schmidtprism and direct plates taken for the northern hemisphere Hamburg QuasarSurvey (HQS) which are now available in digitized form. The limitingmagnitudes are 18.5 and 20, respectively. For 82% of the selectedRASS-BSC an identification could be given. For the rest either nocounterpart was visible in the error circle or a plausibleidentification was not possible. With ~ 42% AGN represent the largestgroup of X-ray emitters, ~ 31% have a stellar counterpart, whereasgalaxies and cluster of galaxies comprise only ~ 4% and ~ 5%,respectively. In ~ 3% of the RASS-BSC sources no object was visible onour blue direct plates within 40\arcsec around the X-ray sourceposition. The catalogue is used as a source for the selection of(nearly) complete samples of the various classes of X-ray emitters.
| Nearby young stars
We present the results of an extensive all-sky survey of nearby stars ofspectral type F8 or later in a systematic search of young (zero-age mainsequence) objects. Our sample has been derived by cross-correlating theROSAT All-Sky Survey and the TYCHO catalogue, yielding a total of 754candidates distributed more or less randomly over the sky. Follow-upspectroscopy of these candidate objects has been performed on 748 ofthem. We have discovered a tight kinematic group of ten stars withextremely high lithium equivalent widths that are presumably youngerthan the Pleiades, but again distributed rather uniformly over the sky.Furthermore, about 43 per cent of our candidates have detectable levelsof lithium, thus indicating that these are relatively young objects withages not significantly above the Pleiades age.Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory,Chile (ESO No. 62.I-0650, 66.D-0159(A), 67.D-0236(A)).
| The domain of γ Doradus variables in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
70 new γ Doradus candidates were identified from Hipparcosphotometry, which represents more than a doubling of the presently knownnumber. Selecting the objects with good evidence for multiperiodicity,it is found that these stars, together with bona fide members of theclass, occupy a well-defined region in a colour-magnitude diagram. Thisdomain corresponds to a range of 7200-7700K on the zero-age mainsequence (ZAMS) and 6900-7500K one magnitude above it, which partlyoverlaps with the instability strip of δ Scuti stars. For thefirst time, γ Doradus stars can be discussed as a group. They canbe found over a significant fraction of the main sequence lifetimes forobjects in the relevant temperature range. An upper limit on the surfacemetallicity of γ Doradus stars is apparent, which may guide thesearch for their pulsation driving mechanism. The importance of possibleobjects exhibiting both γ Doradus and δ Scuti-typepulsations is discussed.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Drache |
| Right ascension: | 12h04m33.73s |
| Declination: | +66°20'11.7" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 7.92 |
| Distance: | 47.939 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -56.1 |
| Proper motion Dec: | 49.7 |
| B-T magnitude: | 8.632 |
| V-T magnitude: | 7.979 |
Catalogs and designations:
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