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Differential Radial Velocities and Stellar Parameters of Nearby Young Stars
Radial velocity searches for substellar-mass companions have focusedprimarily on stars older than 1 Gyr. Increased levels of stellaractivity in young stars hinders the detection of solar system analogs,and therefore until recently there has been a prejudice againstinclusion of young stars in radial velocity surveys. Adaptive opticssurveys of young stars have given us insight into the multiplicity ofyoung stars, but only for massive, distant companions. Understanding thelimit of the radial velocity technique, restricted to high-mass,close-orbiting planets and brown dwarfs, we began a survey of youngstars of various ages. While the number of stars needed to carry outfull analysis of the problems of planetary and brown dwarf populationand evolution is large, the beginning of such a sample is included here.We report on 61 young stars ranging in age from the β Pictorisassociation (~12 Myr) to the Ursa Major association (~300 Myr). Thisinitial search resulted in no stars showing evidence of companionslarger than ~1MJup-2MJup in short-period orbits atthe 3 σ level. We also present derived stellar parameters, as mosthave unpublished values. The chemical homogeneity of a cluster, andpresumably of an association, may help to constrain true membership, sowe present [Fe/H] abundances for the stars in our sample.
| Reliability Checks on the Indo-US Stellar Spectral Library Using Artificial Neural Networks and Principal Component Analysis
The Indo-US coudé feed stellar spectral library (CFLIB) madeavailable to the astronomical community recently by Valdes et al. (2004,ApJS, 152, 251) contains spectra of 1273 stars in the spectral region3460 to 9464Å at a high resolution of 1Å (FWHM) and a widerange of spectral types. Cross-checking the reliability of this databaseis an important and desirable exercise since a number of stars in thisdatabase have no known spectral types and a considerable fraction ofstars has not so complete coverage in the full wavelength region of3460-9464Å resulting in gaps ranging from a few Å to severaltens of Å. We use an automated classification scheme based onArtificial Neural Networks (ANN) to classify all 1273 stars in thedatabase. In addition, principal component analysis (PCA) is carried outto reduce the dimensionality of the data set before the spectra areclassified by the ANN. Most importantly, we have successfullydemonstrated employment of a variation of the PCA technique to restorethe missing data in a sample of 300 stars out of the CFLIB.
| Frequency of Debris Disks around Solar-Type Stars: First Results from a Spitzer MIPS Survey
We have searched for infrared excesses around a well-defined sample of69 FGK main-sequence field stars. These stars were selected withoutregard to their age, metallicity, or any previous detection of IRexcess; they have a median age of ~4 Gyr. We have detected 70 μmexcesses around seven stars at the 3 σ confidence level. Thisextra emission is produced by cool material (<100 K) located beyond10 AU, well outside the ``habitable zones'' of these systems andconsistent with the presence of Kuiper Belt analogs with ~100 times moreemitting surface area than in our own planetary system. Only one star,HD 69830, shows excess emission at 24 μm, corresponding to dust withtemperatures >~300 K located inside of 1 AU. While debris disks withLdust/L*>=10-3 are rare around oldFGK stars, we find that the disk frequency increases from 2%+/-2% forLdust/L*>=10-4 to 12%+/-5% forLdust/L*>=10-5. This trend in thedisk luminosity distribution is consistent with the estimated dust inour solar system being within an order of magnitude greater or less thanthe typical level around similar nearby stars. Although there is nocorrelation of IR excess with metallicity or spectral type, there is aweak correlation with stellar age, with stars younger than a gigayearmore likely to have excess emission.
| Dwarfs in the Local Region
We present lithium, carbon, and oxygen abundance data for a sample ofnearby dwarfs-a total of 216 stars-including samples within 15 pc of theSun, as well as a sample of local close giant planet (CGP) hosts (55stars) and comparison stars. The spectroscopic data for this work have aresolution of R~60,000, a signal-to-noise ratio >150, and spectralcoverage from 475 to 685 nm. We have redetermined parameters and derivedadditional abundances (Z>10) for the CGP host and comparison samples.From our abundances for elements with Z>6 we determine the meanabundance of all elements in the CGP hosts to range from 0.1 to 0.2 dexhigher than nonhosts. However, when relative abundances ([x/Fe]) areconsidered we detect no differences in the samples. We find nodifference in the lithium contents of the hosts versus the nonhosts. Theplanet hosts appear to be the metal-rich extension of local regionabundances, and overall trends in the abundances are dominated byGalactic chemical evolution. A consideration of the kinematics of thesample shows that the planet hosts are spread through velocity space;they are not exclusively stars of the thin disk.
| Abundances of refractory elements in the atmospheres of stars with extrasolar planets
Aims.This work presents a uniform and homogeneous study of chemicalabundances of refractory elements in 101 stars with and 93 without knownplanetary companions. We carry out an in-depth investigation of theabundances of Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Na, Mg and Al. The newcomparison sample, spanning the metallicity range -0.70< [Fe/H]<0.50, fills the gap that previously existed, mainly at highmetallicities, in the number of stars without known planets.Methods.Weused an enlarged set of data including new observations, especially forthe field "single" comparison stars . The line list previously studiedby other authors was improved: on average we analysed 90 spectral linesin every spectrum and carefully measured more than 16 600 equivalentwidths (EW) to calculate the abundances.Results.We investigate possibledifferences between the chemical abundances of the two groups of stars,both with and without planets. The results are globally comparable tothose obtained by other authors, and in most cases the abundance trendsof planet-host stars are very similar to those of the comparison sample.Conclusions.This work represents a step towards the comprehension ofrecently discovered planetary systems. These results could also beuseful for verifying galactic models at high metallicities andconsequently improve our knowledge of stellar nucleosynthesis andgalactic chemical evolution.
| Prospects for population synthesis in the H band: NeMo grids of stellar atmospheres compared to observations
Context: .For applications in population synthesis, libraries oftheoretical stellar spectra are often considered an alternative totemplate libraries of observed spectra, because they allow a completesampling of stellar parameters. Most of the attention in publishedtheoretical spectral libraries has been devoted to the visual wavelengthrange.Aims.The goal of the present work is to explore the near-infraredrange where few observed fully calibrated spectra and no theoreticallibraries are available.Methods.We make a detailed comparison oftheoretical spectra in the range 1.57-1.67 μm for spectral types fromA to early M and for giant and dwarf stars, with observed stellarspectra at resolutions around 3000, which would be sufficient todisentangle the different groups of late-type stars. We selected theNeMo grids of stellar atmospheres to perform this comparison.Results.Wefirst demonstrate that observed spectral flux distributions can bematched very well with theoretical ones for almost the entire parameterrange covered by the NeMo grids at moderate resolution in the visualrange. In the infrared range, although the overall shape of the observedflux distributions still matches reasonably well, the individualspectral features are reproduced by the theoretical spectra only forstars earlier than mid F type. For later spectral types the differencesincrease, and theoretical spectra of K type stars have systematicallyweaker line features than those found in observations. Thesediscrepancies are traced back to stem primarily from incomplete data onneutral atomic lines, although some of them are also related tomolecules.Conclusions.Libraries of theoretical spectra for A to early Mtype stars can be successfully used in the visual regions for populationsynthesis, but their application in the infrared is restricted to earlyand intermediate type stars. Improving atomic data in the near infraredis a key element in making the construction of reliable libraries ofstellar spectra feasible in the infrared.
| Oxygen abundances in planet-harbouring stars. Comparison of different abundance indicators
We present a detailed and uniform study of oxygen abundances in 155solar type stars, 96 of which are planet hosts and 59 of which form partof a volume-limited comparison sample with no known planets. EWmeasurements were carried out for the [O I] 6300 Å line and the OI triplet, and spectral synthesis was performed for several OH lines.NLTE corrections were calculated and applied to the LTE abundanceresults derived from the O I 7771-5 Å triplet. Abundances from [OI], the O I triplet and near-UV OH were obtained in 103, 87 and 77dwarfs, respectively. We present the first detailed and uniformcomparison of these three oxygen indicators in a large sample ofsolar-type stars. There is good agreement between the [O/H] ratios fromforbidden and OH lines, while the NLTE triplet shows a systematicallylower abundance. We found that discrepancies between OH, [O I] and the OI triplet do not exceed 0.2 dex in most cases. We have studied abundancetrends in planet host and comparison sample stars, and no obviousanomalies related to the presence of planets have been detected. Allthree indicators show that, on average, [O/Fe] decreases with [Fe/H] inthe metallicity range -0.8< [Fe/H] < 0.5. The planet host starspresent an average oxygen overabundance of 0.1-0.2 dex with respect tothe comparison sample.
| A New Stellar Library in the K Band
Stellar population synthesis models are crucial for the understanding ofthe large amount of data which is being gathered for galaxies at low andhigh redshift, and provide the only way to compare the ``real world''with the theoretical framework. The best models require extensiveempirical stellar spectral libraries, which at present are starting tobe quite complete in the optical range. However the situation isdifferent in the near-infrared, which observational windows have been,until recently, poorly exploited. This is specially due to the lack ofappropriate instrumentation. We present the preliminary results of anongoing observational program aimed to overcome this problem and toprovide a stellar library in the K band with the required coverage ofphysical stellar parameters: effective temperature, gravity, metallicityand non-solar abundance ratios. In particular, the CO feature at 2.3μ m is a very promising spectroscopic line-strength index that willhelp to face outstanding problems in galaxy formation and evolution. Theavailability of this library will be essential to interpret the stellarcontent of composite stellar populations with EMIR. In addition, thislibrary will be also useful for other purposes, like the study of highlyreddened objects, and the spectral classification of late type stars.
| Lithium Abundances of F-, G-, and K-Type Stars: Profile-Fitting Analysis of the Li I 6708 Doublet
An extensive profile-fitting analysis was performed for the Li(+Fe)6707-6708Å feature of nearby 160 F-K dwarfs/subgiants (including27 planet-host stars) in the Galactic disk ( 7000 K ≳Teff ≳ 5000 K, -1 ≲ [Fe/H] ≲ +0.4), in orderto establish the photospheric lithium abundances of these stars. Thenon-LTE effect (though quantitatively insignificant) was taken intoaccount based on our statistical equilibrium calculations, which werecarried out on an adequate grid of models. Our results confirmed most ofthe interesting observational characteristics revealed by recentlypublished studies, such as the bimodal distribution of the Li abundancesfor stars at Teff ≳ 6000 K, the satisfactory agreementof the upper envelope of the A(Li) vs. [Fe/H] distribution with thetheoretical models, the existence of a positive correlation betweenA(Li) and the stellar mass, and the tendency of lower lithium abundancesof planet-host stars (as compared to stars without planets) at thenarrow ``transition'' region of 5900 K ≳ Teff ≳5800 K. The solar Li abundance derived from this analysis is 0.92 (H =12.00), which is by 0.24dex lower than the widely referenced standardvalue of 1.16.
| Spectroscopic Study on the Atmospheric Parameters of Nearby F--K Dwarfs and Subgiants
Based on a collection of high-dispersion spectra obtained at OkayamaAstrophysical Observatory, the atmospheric parameters (Teff,log g, vt, and [Fe/H]) of 160 mid-F through early-K starswere extensively determined by the spectroscopic method using theequivalent widths of Fe I and Fe II lines along with the numericaltechnique of Takeda et al. (2002, PASJ, 54, 451). The results arecomprehensively discussed and compared with the parameter values derivedby different approaches (e.g., photometric colors, theoreticalevolutionary tracks, Hipparcos parallaxes, etc.) as well as with thepublished values found in various literature. It has been confirmed thatour purely spectroscopic approach yields fairly reliable and consistentresults.
| Spectroscopic Properties of Cool Stars (SPOCS). I. 1040 F, G, and K Dwarfs from Keck, Lick, and AAT Planet Search Programs
We present a uniform catalog of stellar properties for 1040 nearby F, G,and K stars that have been observed by the Keck, Lick, and AAT planetsearch programs. Fitting observed echelle spectra with synthetic spectrayielded effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, projectedrotational velocity, and abundances of the elements Na, Si, Ti, Fe, andNi, for every star in the catalog. Combining V-band photometry andHipparcos parallaxes with a bolometric correction based on thespectroscopic results yielded stellar luminosity, radius, and mass.Interpolating Yonsei-Yale isochrones to the luminosity, effectivetemperature, metallicity, and α-element enhancement of each staryielded a theoretical mass, radius, gravity, and age range for moststars in the catalog. Automated tools provide uniform results and makeanalysis of such a large sample practical. Our analysis method differsfrom traditional abundance analyses in that we fit the observed spectrumdirectly, rather than trying to match equivalent widths, and wedetermine effective temperature and surface gravity from the spectrumitself, rather than adopting values based on measured photometry orparallax. As part of our analysis, we determined a new relationshipbetween macroturbulence and effective temperature on the main sequence.Detailed error analysis revealed small systematic offsets with respectto the Sun and spurious abundance trends as a function of effectivetemperature that would be inobvious in smaller samples. We attempted toremove these errors by applying empirical corrections, achieving aprecision per spectrum of 44 K in effective temperature, 0.03 dex inmetallicity, 0.06 dex in the logarithm of gravity, and 0.5 kms-1 in projected rotational velocity. Comparisons withprevious studies show only small discrepancies. Our spectroscopicallydetermined masses have a median fractional precision of 15%, but theyare systematically 10% higher than masses obtained by interpolatingisochrones. Our spectroscopic radii have a median fractional precisionof 3%. Our ages from isochrones have a precision that variesdramatically with location in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. We planto extend the catalog by applying our automated analysis technique toother large stellar samples.
| Predicting the Length of Magnetic Cycles in Late-Type Stars
In this paper we present a modification of a local approximation of theso-called interface dynamo in an attempt to reproduce the length of themagnetic cycles for a sample of late-type stars. The sample consists of25 stars, observed during the Mount Wilson and Las Campanas long-termmonitoring campaigns, for which well-defined cycles have been detected.We have focused our efforts on reproducing general trends observed,namely, the dependence of the cycle length, Pcyc, on thestellar rotation period, Prot, rather than attempting toinfer from the dynamo model individual cycle lengths for each star. Inspite of the simplicity of the model, the results are promising. Thetrend of increasing cycle length with increasing rotation period isreproduced with a minimum of assumptions.
| Single-Visit Photometric and Obscurational Completeness
We report a method that uses ``completeness'' to estimate the number ofextrasolar planets discovered by an observing program with adirect-imaging instrument. We develop a completeness function forEarth-like planets on ``habitable'' orbits for an instrument with acentral field obscuration, uniform sensitivity in an annular detectionzone, and limiting sensitivity that is expressed as a ``deltamagnitude'' with respect to the star, determined by systematic effects(given adequate exposure time). We demonstrate our method of estimationby applying it to our understanding of the coronagraphic version of theTerrestrial Planet Finder (TPF-C) mission as of 2004 October. Weestablish an initial relationship between the size, quality, andstability of the instrument's optics and its ability to meet missionscience requirements. We provide options for increasing the fidelity andversatility of the models on which our method is based, and we discusshow the method could be extended to model the TPF-C mission as a wholeto verify that its design can meet the science requirements.
| The Planet-Metallicity Correlation
We have recently carried out spectral synthesis modeling to determineTeff, logg, vsini, and [Fe/H] for 1040 FGK-type stars on theKeck, Lick, and Anglo-Australian Telescope planet search programs. Thisis the first time that a single, uniform spectroscopic analysis has beenmade for every star on a large Doppler planet search survey. We identifya subset of 850 stars that have Doppler observations sufficient todetect uniformly all planets with radial velocity semiamplitudes K>30m s-1 and orbital periods shorter than 4 yr. From this subsetof stars, we determine that fewer than 3% of stars with-0.5<[Fe/H]<0.0 have Doppler-detected planets. Above solarmetallicity, there is a smooth and rapid rise in the fraction of starswith planets. At [Fe/H]>+0.3 dex, 25% of observed stars have detectedgas giant planets. A power-law fit to these data relates the formationprobability for gas giant planets to the square of the number of metalatoms. High stellar metallicity also appears to be correlated with thepresence of multiple-planet systems and with the total detected planetmass. This data set was examined to better understand the origin of highmetallicity in stars with planets. None of the expected fossilsignatures of accretion are observed in stars with planets relative tothe general sample: (1) metallicity does not appear to increase as themass of the convective envelopes decreases, (2) subgiants with planetsdo not show dilution of metallicity, (3) no abundance variations for Na,Si, Ti, or Ni are found as a function of condensation temperature, and(4) no correlations between metallicity and orbital period oreccentricity could be identified. We conclude that stars with extrasolarplanets do not have an accretion signature that distinguishes them fromother stars; more likely, they are simply born in higher metallicitymolecular clouds.Based on observations obtained at Lick and Keck Observatories, operatedby the University of California, and the Anglo-Australian Observatories.
| The Cornell High-Order Adaptive Optics Survey for Brown Dwarfs in Stellar Systems. I. Observations, Data Reduction, and Detection Analyses
In this first of a two-paper sequence, we report techniques and resultsof the Cornell High-Order Adaptive Optics Survey (CHAOS) for brown dwarfcompanions. At the time of this writing, this study represents the mostsensitive published population survey of brown dwarf companions tomain-sequence stars for separations akin to our own outer solar system.The survey, conducted using the Palomar 200 inch (5 m) Hale Telescope,consists of Ks coronagraphic observations of 80 main-sequencestars out to 22 pc. At 1" separation from a typical target system, thesurvey achieves median sensitivities 10 mag fainter than the parentstar. In terms of companion mass, the survey achieves typicalsensitivities of 25MJ (1 Gyr), 50MJ (solar age),and 60MJ (10 Gyr), using the evolutionary models of Baraffeand coworkers. Using common proper motion to distinguish companions fromfield stars, we find that no systems show positive evidence of asubstellar companion (searchable separation ~1"-15" projected separation~10-155 AU at the median target distance). In the second paper of theseries we will present our Monte Carlo population simulations.
| Stars within 15 Parsecs: Abundances for a Northern Sample
We present an abundance analysis for stars within 15 pc of the Sunlocated north of -30° declination. We have limited our abundancesample to absolute magnitudes brighter than +7.5 and have eliminatedseveral A stars in the local vicinity. Our final analysis list numbers114 stars. Unlike Allende Prieto et al. in their consideration of a verysimilar sample, we have enforced strict spectroscopic criteria in thedetermination of atmospheric parameters. Nevertheless, our results arevery similar to theirs. We determine the mean metallicity of the localregion to be <[Fe/H]>=-0.07 using all stars and -0.04 when interlopersfrom the thick disk are eliminated.
| 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.
| Spectroscopic metallicities for planet-host stars: Extending the samples
We present stellar parameters and metallicities for 29 planet-hoststars, as well as for a large volume-limited sample of 53 stars notknown to be orbited by any planetary-mass companion. These stars add tothe results presented in our previous series of papers, providing twolarge and uniform samples of 119 planet-hosts and 94“single” stars with accurate stellar parameters and [Fe/H]estimates. The analysis of the results further confirms that stars withplanets are metal-rich when compared with average field dwarfs.Important biases that may compromise future studies are also discussed.Finally, we compare the metallicity distributions for singleplanet-hosts and planet-hosts in multiple stellar systems. The resultsshow that a small difference cannot be excluded, in the sense that thelatter sample is slighly overmetallic. However, more data are needed toconfirm this correlation.
| Mg II chromospheric radiative loss rates in cool active and quiet stars
The Mg II k emission line is a good indicator of the level ofchromospheric activity in late-type stars. We investigate the dependenceof this activity indicator on fundamental stellar parameters. To thispurpose we use IUE observations of the Mg II k line in 225 late-typestars of luminosity classes I-V, with different levels of chromosphericactivity. We first re-analyse the relation between Mg II k lineluminosity and stellar absolute magnitude, performing linear fits to thepoints. The ratio of Mg II surface flux to total surface flux is foundto be independent of stellar luminosity for evolved stars and toincrease with decreasing luminosity for dwarfs. We also analyse the MgII k line surface flux-metallicity connection. The Mg II k emissionlevel turns out to be not dependent on metallicity. Finally, the Mg II kline surface flux-temperature relation is investigated by treatingseparately, for the first time, a large sample of very active and normalstars. The stellar surface fluxes in the k line of normal stars arefound to be strongly dependent on the temperature and slightly dependenton the gravity, thus confirming the validity of recently proposedmodels. In contrast, data relative to RS CVn binaries and BY Dra stars,which show very strong chromospheric activity, are not justified in theframework of a description based only on acoustic waves and uniformlydistributed magnetic flux tubes so that they require more detailedmodels.
| 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 Indo-US Library of Coudé Feed Stellar Spectra
We have obtained spectra for 1273 stars using the 0.9 m coudéfeed telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. This telescope feedsthe coudé spectrograph of the 2.1 m telescope. The spectra havebeen obtained with the no. 5 camera of the coudé spectrograph anda Loral 3K×1K CCD. Two gratings have been used to provide spectralcoverage from 3460 to 9464 Å, at a resolution of ~1 Å FWHMand at an original dispersion of 0.44 Å pixel-1. For885 stars we have complete spectra over the entire 3460 to 9464 Åwavelength region (neglecting small gaps of less than 50 Å), andpartial spectral coverage for the remaining stars. The 1273 stars havebeen selected to provide broad coverage of the atmospheric parametersTeff, logg, and [Fe/H], as well as spectral type. The goal ofthe project is to provide a comprehensive library of stellar spectra foruse in the automated classification of stellar and galaxy spectra and ingalaxy population synthesis. In this paper we discuss thecharacteristics of the spectral library, viz., details of theobservations, data reduction procedures, and selection of stars. We alsopresent a few illustrations of the quality and information available inthe spectra. The first version of the complete spectral library is nowpublicly available from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory(NOAO) via ftp and http.
| Synthetic Lick Indices and Detection of α-enhanced Stars. II. F, G, and K Stars in the -1.0 < [Fe/H] < +0.50 Range
We present an analysis of 402 F, G, and K solar neighborhood stars, withaccurate estimates of [Fe/H] in the range -1.0 to +0.5 dex, aimed at thedetection of α-enhanced stars and at the investigation of theirkinematical properties. The analysis is based on the comparison of 571sets of spectral indices in the Lick/IDS system, coming from fourdifferent observational data sets, with synthetic indices computed withsolar-scaled abundances and with α-element enhancement. We useselected combinations of indices to single out α-enhanced starswithout requiring previous knowledge of their main atmosphericparameters. By applying this approach to the total data set, we obtain alist of 60 bona fide α-enhanced stars and of 146 stars withsolar-scaled abundances. The properties of the detected α-enhancedand solar-scaled abundance stars with respect to their [Fe/H] values andkinematics are presented. A clear kinematic distinction betweensolar-scaled and α-enhanced stars was found, although a one-to-onecorrespondence to ``thin disk'' and ``thick disk'' components cannot besupported with the present data.
| The Brown Dwarf Desert at 75-1200 AU
We present results of a comprehensive infrared coronagraphic search forsubstellar companions to nearby stars. The research consisted of (1) a178-star survey at Steward and Lick observatories, with opticalfollow-up from Keck Observatory, capable of detecting companions withmasses greater than 30 MJ, and semimajor axes between about140 to 1200 AU; (2) a 102-star survey using the Keck Telescope, capableof detecting extrasolar brown dwarfs and planets typically more massivethan 10 MJ, with semimajor axes between about 75 and 300 AU.Only one brown dwarf companion was detected, and no planets. Thefrequency of brown dwarf companions to G, K, and M stars orbitingbetween 75 and 300 AU is measured to be 1%+/-1%, the most precisemeasurement of this quantity to date. The frequency of massive (greaterthan 30 MJ) brown dwarf companions at 120-1200 AU is found tobe f=0.7%+/-0.7%. The frequency of giant planet companions with massesbetween 5 and 10 MJ orbiting between 75 and 300 AU ismeasured here for the first time to be no more than ~3%. Together withother surveys that encompass a wide range of orbital separations, theseresults imply that substellar objects with masses between 12 and 75MJ form only rarely as companions to stars. Theories of starformation that could explain these data are only now beginning toemerge.
| A new Böhm-Vitense gap in the temperature range 5560 to 5610 K in the main sequence hm-Vitense gap in the main sequence
Highly precise temperatures (σ = 10-15 K) have been determinedfrom line depth ratios for a set of 248 F-K field dwarfs of about solarmetallicity (-0.5 < [Fe/H] < +0.4), based on high resolution (R=42000), high S/N echelle spectra. A new gap has been discovered in thedistribution of stars on the Main Sequence in the temperature range 5560to 5610 K. This gap coincides with a jump in the microturbulent velocityVt and the well-known Li depression near 5600 K in fielddwarfs and open clusters. As the principal cause of the observeddiscontinuities in stellar properties we propose the penetration of theconvective zone into the inner layers of stars slightly less massivethan the Sun and related to it, a change in the temperature gradient.Based on spectra collected with the ELODIE spectrograph at the 1.93-mtelescope of the Observatoire de Haute-Provence (France).Full Table 1 is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| Chemical enrichment and star formation in the Milky Way disk. III. Chemodynamical constraints
In this paper, we investigate some chemokinematical properties of theMilky Way disk, by using a sample composed by 424 late-type dwarfs. Weshow that the velocity dispersion of a stellar group correlates with theage of this group, according to a law proportional to t0.26,where t is the age of the stellar group. The temporal evolution of thevertex deviation is considered in detail. It is shown that the vertexdeviation does not seem to depend strongly on the age of the stellargroup. Previous studies in the literature seem to not have found it dueto the use of statistical ages for stellar groups, rather thanindividual ages. The possibility to use the orbital parameters of a starto derive information about its birthplace is investigated, and we showthat the mean galactocentric radius is likely to be the most reliablestellar birthplace indicator. However, this information cannot bepresently used to derive radial evolutionary constraints, due to anintrinsic bias present in all samples constructed from nearby stars. Anextensive discussion of the secular and stochastic heating mechanismscommonly invoked to explain the age-velocity dispersion relation ispresented. We suggest that the age-velocity dispersion relation couldreflect the gradual decrease in the turbulent velocity dispersion fromwhich disk stars form, a suggestion originally made by Tinsley &Larson (\cite{tinsley}, ApJ, 221, 554) and supported by several morerecent disk evolution calculations. A test to distinguish between thetwo types of models using high-redshift galaxies is proposed.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/423/517
| S4N: A spectroscopic survey of stars in the solar neighborhood. The Nearest 15 pc
We report the results of a high-resolution spectroscopic survey of allthe stars more luminous than M_V = 6.5 mag within 14.5 pc from the Sun.The Hipparcos catalog's completeness limits guarantee that our survey iscomprehensive and free from some of the selection effects in othersamples of nearby stars. The resulting spectroscopic database, which wehave made publicly available, includes spectra for 118 stars obtainedwith a resolving power of R ≃ 50 000, continuous spectral coveragebetween 362-921 nm, and typical signal-to-noise ratios in therange 150-600. We derive stellar parameters and perform a preliminaryabundance and kinematic analysis of the F-G-K stars in the sample. Theinferred metallicity ([Fe/H]) distribution is centered at about -0.1dex, and shows a standard deviation of 0.2 dex. A comparison with largersamples of Hipparcos stars, some of which have been part of previousabundance studies, suggests that our limited sample is representative ofa larger volume of the local thin disk. We identify a number ofmetal-rich K-type stars which appear to be very old, confirming theclaims for the existence of such stars in the solar neighborhood. Withatmospheric effective temperatures and gravities derived independentlyof the spectra, we find that our classical LTE model-atmosphere analysisof metal-rich (and mainly K-type) stars provides discrepant abundancesfrom neutral and ionized lines of several metals. This ionizationimbalance could be a sign of departures from LTE or inhomogeneousstructure, which are ignored in the interpretation of the spectra.Alternatively, but seemingly unlikely, the mismatch could be explainedby systematic errors in the scale of effective temperatures. Based ontransitions of majority species, we discuss abundances of 16 chemicalelements. In agreement with earlier studies we find that the abundanceratios to iron of Si, Sc, Ti, Co, and Zn become smaller as the ironabundance increases until approaching the solar values, but the trendsreverse for higher iron abundances. At any given metallicity, stars witha low galactic rotational velocity tend to have high abundances of Mg,Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, Co, Zn, and Eu, but low abundances of Ba, Ce, and Nd.The Sun appears deficient by roughly 0.1 dex in O, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, Y,Ce, Nd, and Eu, compared to its immediate neighbors with similar ironabundances.Based on observations made with the 2.7 m telescope at the McDonaldObservatory of the University of Texas at Austin (Texas), and the 1.52 mtelescope at the European Southern Observatory (La Silla, Chile) underthe agreement with the CNPq/Observatorio Nacional (Brazil).Tables 3-5 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/420/183
| 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
| On the correlation of elemental abundances with kinematics among galactic disk stars
We have performed the detailed analysis of 174 high-resolution spectraof FGK dwarfs obtained with the ELODIE echelle spectrograph at theObservatoire de Haute-Provence. Abundances of Fe, Si and Ni have beendetermined from equivalent widths under LTE approximation, whereasabundances of Mg have been determined under NLTE approximation usingequivalent widths of 4 lines and profiles of 5 lines. Spatial velocitieswith an accuracy better than 1 km s-1, as well as orbits,have been computed for all stars. They have been used to define 2subsamples kinematically representative of the thin disk and the thickdisk in order to highlight their respective properties. A transitionoccurs at [Fe/H] =-0.3. Stars more metal-rich than this value have aflat distribution with Zmax;<1 kpc and σW<20 km s-1, and a narrow distribution of [α/Fe].There exist stars in this metallicity regime which cannot belong to thethin disk because of their excentric orbits, neither to the thick diskbecause of their low scale height. Several thin disk stars areidentified down to [Fe/H] =-0.80. Their Mg enrichment is lower thanthick disk stars with the same metallicity. We confirm from a largersample the results of Feltzing et al. (\cite{felt03}) and Bensby et al.(\cite{ben03}) showing a decrease of [α/Fe] with [Fe/H] in thethick disk interpreted as the signature of the SNIa which haveprogressively enriched the ISM with iron. However our data suggest thatthe star formation in the thick disk stopped when the enrichment was[Fe/H] =-0.30, [Mg/Fe] =+0.20, [Si/Fe] =+0.17. A vertical gradient in[α/Fe] may exist in the thick disk but should be confirmed with alarger sample. Finally we have identified 2 new candidates of the HR1614moving group.Based on spectra collected with the ELODIE spectrograph at the 1.93-mtelescope of the Observatoire de Haute Provence (France).Tables 3 and 8 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/418/551
| NEXXUS: A comprehensive ROSAT survey of coronal X-ray emission among nearby solar-like stars
We present a final summary of all ROSAT X-ray observations of nearbystars. All available ROSAT observations with the ROSAT PSPC, HRI and WFChave been matched with the CNS4 catalog of nearby stars and the resultsgathered in the Nearby X-ray and XUV-emitting Stars data base, availablevia www from the Home Page of the Hamburger Sternwarte at the URLhttp://www.hs.uni-hamburg.de/DE/For/Gal/Xgroup/nexxus. Newvolume-limited samples of F/G-stars (dlim = 14 pc), K-stars(dlim = 12 pc), and M-stars (dlim = 6 pc) areconstructed within which detection rates of more than 90% are obtained;only one star (GJ 1002) remains undetected in a pointed follow-upobservation. F/G-stars, K-stars and M-stars have indistinguishablesurface X-ray flux distributions, and the lower envelope of the observeddistribution at FX ≈ 104 erg/cm2/sis the X-ray flux level observed in solar coronal holes. Large amplitudevariations in X-ray flux are uncommon for solar-like stars, but maybemore common for stars near the bottom of the main sequence; a largeamplitude flare is reported for the M star LHS 288. Long term X-raylight curves are presented for α Cen A/B and Gl 86, showingvariations on time scales of weeks and demonstrating that α Cen Bis a flare star.Tables 1-3 are also 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/417/651
| The Cosmic Production of Helium
We estimate the cosmic production rate of helium relative to metals(ΔY/ΔZ) using K dwarf stars in the Hipparcos catalog withaccurate spectroscopic metallicities. The best fitting value isΔY/ΔZ = 2.1 +/- 0.4 at the 68% confidence level. Our derivedvalue agrees with determinations from H II regions and with theoreticalpredictions from stellar yields with standard assumptions for theinitial mass function. The amount of helium in stars determines how longthey live and therefore how fast they will enrich the interstellarmedium with fresh material.
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Osservazione e dati astrometrici
| Costellazione: | Ofiuco |
| Ascensione retta: | 16h36m21.50s |
| Declinazione: | -02°19'29.0" |
| Magnitudine apparente: | 5.75 |
| Distanza: | 9.778 parsec |
| Moto proprio RA: | 455 |
| Moto proprio Dec: | -308.1 |
| B-T magnitude: | 6.815 |
| V-T magnitude: | 5.854 |
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