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Spectroscopic investigation of stars on the lower main sequence
Aims. The aim of this paper is to provide fundamental parameters andabundances with a high accuracy for a large sample of cool main sequencestars. This study is part of wider project, in which the metallicitydistribution of the local thin disc is investigated from a completesample of G and K dwarfs within 25 pc. Methods: The stars were observedat high resolution and a high signal-to-noise ratio with the ELODIEechelle spectrograph. The V sin i were obtained with a calibration ofthe cross-correlation function. Effective temperatures were estimated bythe line depth ratio method. Surface gravities (log g) were determinedby two methods: parallaxes and ionization balance of iron. The Mg and Naabundances were derived using a non-LTE approximation. Abundances ofother elements were obtained by measuring equivalent widths. Results:Rotational velocities, atmospheric parameters (T_eff, log g, [Fe/H],V_t), and Li, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Co, Ni, and Znabundances are provided for 131 stars. Among them, more than 30 starsare active stars with a fraction of BY Dra and RS CVn type stars forwhich spectral peculiarities were investigated. We find the meanabundances of the majority of elements in active and nonactive stars tobe similar, except for Li, and possibly for Zn and Co. The lithium isreliably detected in 54% of active stars but only in 20% of nonactivestars. No correlation is found between Li abundances and rotationalvelocities. A possible anticorrelation of log A(Li) with the index ofchromospheric activity GrandS is observed. Conclusions: Active andnonactive cool dwarfs show similar dependencies of most elemental ratiosvs. [Fe/H]. This allows us to use such abundance ratios to study thechemical and dynamical evolution of the Galaxy. Among active stars, noclear correlation has been found between different indicators ofactivity for our sample stars.Based on spectra collected with the ELODIE spectrograph at the 1.93-mtelescope of the Observatoire de Haute Provence (France). Tables A.1-A3are only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/489/923
| Vertical distribution of Galactic disk stars. IV. AMR and AVR from clump giants
We present the parameters of 891 stars, mostly clump giants, includingatmospheric parameters, distances, absolute magnitudes, spatialvelocities, galactic orbits and ages. One part of this sample consistsof local giants, within 100 pc, with atmospheric parameters eitherestimated from our spectroscopic observations at high resolution andhigh signal-to-noise ratio, or retrieved from the literature. The otherpart of the sample includes 523 distant stars, spanning distances up to1 kpc in the direction of the North Galactic Pole, for which we haveestimated atmospheric parameters from high resolution but lowsignal-to-noise Echelle spectra. This new sample is kinematicallyunbiased, with well-defined boundaries in magnitude and colours. Werevisit the basic properties of the Galactic thin disk as traced byclump giants. We find the metallicity distribution to be different fromthat of dwarfs, with fewer metal-rich stars. We find evidence for avertical metallicity gradient of -0.31 dex kpc-1 and for atransition at ~4-5 Gyr in both the metallicity and velocities. Theage-metallicity relation (AMR), which exhibits a very low dispersion,increases smoothly from 10 to 4 Gyr, with a steeper increase for youngerstars. The age-velocity relation (AVR) is characterized by thesaturation of the V and W dispersions at 5 Gyr, and continuous heatingin U.
| Ages for Illustrative Field Stars Using Gyrochronology: Viability, Limitations, and Errors
We here develop an improved way of using a rotating star as a clock, setit using the Sun, and demonstrate that it keeps time well. Thistechnique, called gyrochronology, derives ages for low-massmain-sequence stars using only their rotation periods and colors. Thetechnique is developed here and used to derive ages for illustrativegroups of nearby field stars with measured rotation periods. We firstdemonstrate the reality of the interface sequence, the unifying featureof the rotational observations of cluster and field stars that makes thetechnique possible, and extend it beyond the proposal of Skumanich byspecifying the mass dependence of rotation for these stars. We delineatewhich stars it cannot currently be used on. We then calibrate the agedependence using the Sun. The errors are propagated to understand theirdependence on color and period. Representative age errors associatedwith the technique are estimated at ~15% (plus possible systematicerrors) for late F, G, K, and early M stars. Gyro ages for the MountWilson stars are shown to be in good agreement with chromospheric agesfor all but the bluest stars, and probably superior. Gyro ages are thencalculated for each of the active main-sequence field stars studied byStrassmeier and collaborators. These are shown to have a median age of365 Myr. The sample of single field stars assembled by Pizzolato andcollaborators is then assessed and shown to have gyro ages ranging fromunder 100 Myr to several Gyr, with a median age of 1.2 Gyr. Finally, wedemonstrate that the individual components of the three wide binariesξ Boo AB, 61 Cyg AB, and α Cen AB yield substantially the samegyro ages.
| The Ca II infrared triplet as a stellar activity diagnostic. II. Test and calibration with high resolution observations
Aims.We report on our analysis of the high resolution spectra (R≈86000) of a sample of 42 late-type active stars (with measured{log{R'_HK}} spanning from ≈{ -}3 to ≈{ -}5) acquired with theItalian 3.6 m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) using the SARGspectrometer in the 4960-10 110 Å range. The high quality of thespectra and the good activity-level coverage allow us to measure twodifferent chromospheric indicators that can be derived from the Ca iiinfrared triplet (Ca ii IRT) lines: the residual equivalent width (EQW)and the chromospheric indicator {R_IRT}. The aim of this work isdetermine and test the best way of deriving activity-level informationand errors from the Ca ii IRT lines, in preparation of the GAIACornerstone mission by ESA, by which the Ca ii IRT spectral range willbe spectroscopically observed for millions of stars. Methods: The{R_IRT} index is calculated for each observed star as the differencebetween the calculated NLTE photospheric central intensity and theobserved one. The residual EQW, {Δ W_IRT}, is calculated as thearea of the positive profile obtained as the difference between thecalculated NLTE photospheric and the observed profiles. We correlate{log{R'_HK}} with {R_IRT} and the {Δ W_IRT}. Results: Thisanalysis indicates that Ca ii IRT lines are good chromosphericdiagnostics. We find that both {Δ W_IRT} and the {R_IRT}quantities can be used as chromospheric indicators, although the formerexhibits a tighter correlation with the {log{R'_HK}} index. Furthermore,we find that the total chromospheric excess EQW in the Ca ii IRT isalmost linearly correlated with the excess in the Ca ii H & Kdoublet, as estimated through the {log{R'_HK}} index.Based on observations made with the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo(TNG) operated on the island of La Palma by the Centro Galileo Galileiof the Consorzio Nazionale per l'Astronomia e l'Astrofisica at theSpanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto deAstrofísica de Canarias. Table 4 is only available in electronicform at http://www.aanda.org
| Structure and Evolution of Nearby Stars with Planets. II. Physical Properties of ~1000 Cool Stars from the SPOCS Catalog
We derive detailed theoretical models for 1074 nearby stars from theSPOCS (Spectroscopic Properties of Cool Stars) Catalog. The Californiaand Carnegie Planet Search has obtained high-quality (R~=70,000-90,000,S/N~=300-500) echelle spectra of over 1000 nearby stars taken with theHamilton spectrograph at Lick Observatory, the HIRES spectrograph atKeck, and UCLES at the Anglo Australian Observatory. A uniform analysisof the high-resolution spectra has yielded precise stellar parameters(Teff, logg, vsini, [M/H], and individual elementalabundances for Fe, Ni, Si, Na, and Ti), enabling systematic erroranalyses and accurate theoretical stellar modeling. We have created alarge database of theoretical stellar evolution tracks using the YaleStellar Evolution Code (YREC) to match the observed parameters of theSPOCS stars. Our very dense grids of evolutionary tracks eliminate theneed for interpolation between stellar evolutionary tracks and allowprecise determinations of physical stellar parameters (mass, age,radius, size and mass of the convective zone, surface gravity, etc.).Combining our stellar models with the observed stellar atmosphericparameters and uncertainties, we compute the likelihood for each set ofstellar model parameters separated by uniform time steps along thestellar evolutionary tracks. The computed likelihoods are used for aBayesian analysis to derive posterior probability distribution functionsfor the physical stellar parameters of interest. We provide a catalog ofphysical parameters for 1074 stars that are based on a uniform set ofhigh-quality spectral observations, a uniform spectral reductionprocedure, and a uniform set of stellar evolutionary models. We explorethis catalog for various possible correlations between stellar andplanetary properties, which may help constrain the formation anddynamical histories of other planetary systems.
| Accurate fundamental parameters for lower main-sequence stars
We derive an empirical effective temperature and bolometric luminositycalibration for G and K dwarfs, by applying our own implementation ofthe Infrared Flux Method to multiband photometry. Our study is based on104 stars for which we have excellent BV(RI)C JHKSphotometry, excellent parallaxes and good metallicities.Colours computed from the most recent synthetic libraries (ATLAS9 andMARCS) are found to be in good agreement with the empirical colours inthe optical bands, but some discrepancies still remain in the infrared.Synthetic and empirical bolometric corrections also show fair agreement.A careful comparison to temperatures, luminosities and angular diametersobtained with other methods in the literature shows that systematiceffects still exist in the calibrations at the level of a few per cent.Our Infrared Flux Method temperature scale is 100-K hotter than recentanalogous determinations in the literature, but is in agreement withspectroscopically calibrated temperature scales and fits well thecolours of the Sun. Our angular diameters are typically 3 per centsmaller when compared to other (indirect) determinations of angulardiameter for such stars, but are consistent with the limb-darkeningcorrected predictions of the latest 3D model atmospheres and also withthe results of asteroseismology.Very tight empirical relations are derived for bolometric luminosity,effective temperature and angular diameter from photometric indices.We find that much of the discrepancy with other temperature scales andthe uncertainties in the infrared synthetic colours arise from theuncertainties in the use of Vega as the flux calibrator. Angulardiameter measurements for a well-chosen set of G and K dwarfs would go along way to addressing this problem.
| Pulkovo compilation of radial velocities for 35495 stars in a common system.
Not Available
| The 78th Name-List of Variable Stars
We present the next regular Name-List of variable stars containinginformation on 1706 variable stars recently designated in the system ofthe General Catalogue of Variable Stars.
| Spectrometric composition of nearby K dwarfs
We have obtained relatively high resolution spectra of Northernhemisphere K dwarfs. This is the first spectrometric project dedicatedonly to K dwarfs. Earlier studies have concentrated on more massive Fand G dwarfs. However, these stars have already undergone evolutionaryeffects, unlike K dwarfs, which offer more accurate information aboutthe evolution of the Solar neighbourhood. We have determined the LTEabundances of 14 elements for 42 stars with initial metallicity rangecovered by -1.52 < [Fe/H] < 0.48. We confirm the discrepancy inthe abundances derived from neutral and ionized lines. The solution tothis problem cannot just be the modification of initial physicalparameters, but requires fundamental changes in the modeling of Kdwarfs.
| Kinematic structure of the corona of the Ursa Major flow found using proper motions and radial velocities of single stars
Aims.We study the kinematic structure of peripheral areas of the UrsaMajoris stream (Sirius supercluster). Methods.We use diagrams ofindividual stellar apexes developed by us and the classical technique ofproper motion diagrams generalized to a star sample distributed over thesky. Results.Out of 128 cluster members we have identified threecorona (sub)structures comprised of 13, 13 and 8 stars. Thesubstructures have a spatial extension comparable to the size of thecorona. Kinematically, these groups are distinguished by their propermotions, radial velocities and by the directions of their spatialmotion. Coordinates of their apexes significantly differ from those ofthe apexes of the stream and its nucleus. Our analysis shows that thesesubstructures do not belong to known kinematic groups, such as Hyades orCastor. We find kinematic inhomogeneity of the corona of the UMa stream.
| 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.
| How Dry is the Brown Dwarf Desert? Quantifying the Relative Number of Planets, Brown Dwarfs, and Stellar Companions around Nearby Sun-like Stars
Sun-like stars have stellar, brown dwarf, and planetary companions. Tohelp constrain their formation and migration scenarios, we analyze theclose companions (orbital period <5 yr) of nearby Sun-like stars. Byusing the same sample to extract the relative numbers of stellar, browndwarf, and planetary companions, we verify the existence of a very drybrown dwarf desert and describe it quantitatively. With decreasing mass,the companion mass function drops by almost 2 orders of magnitude from 1Msolar stellar companions to the brown dwarf desert and thenrises by more than an order of magnitude from brown dwarfs toJupiter-mass planets. The slopes of the planetary and stellar companionmass functions are of opposite sign and are incompatible at the 3σ level, thus yielding a brown dwarf desert. The minimum number ofcompanions per unit interval in log mass (the driest part of the desert)is at M=31+25-18MJ. Approximately 16%of Sun-like stars have close (P<5 yr) companions more massive thanJupiter: 11%+/-3% are stellar, <1% are brown dwarf, and 5%+/-2% aregiant planets. The steep decline in the number of companions in thebrown dwarf regime, compared to the initial mass function of individualstars and free-floating brown dwarfs, suggests either a differentspectrum of gravitational fragmentation in the formation environment orpost-formation migratory processes disinclined to leave brown dwarfs inclose orbits.
| The N2K Consortium. V. Identifying Very Metal-rich Stars with Low-Resolution Spectra: Finding Planet-Search Targets
We present empirical calibrations that provide estimates of stellarmetallicity, effective temperature, and surface gravity as a function ofLick IDS indices. These calibrations have been derived from a trainingset of 261 stars for which (1) high-precision measurements of [Fe/H],Teff, and logg have been made using spectral-synthesisanalysis of HIRES spectra, and (2) Lick indices have also been measured.Estimation of atmospheric parameters with low-resolution spectroscopyrather than photometry has the advantage of producing a highly accuratemetallicity calibration, and requires only one observation per star. Ourcalibrations have identified a number of bright (V<9) metal-richstars that are now being screened for hot-Jupiter-type planets. Usingthe Yonsei-Yale stellar models, we show that the calibrations providedistance estimates accurate to ~20% for nearby stars. We have alsoinvestigated the possibility of constructing a ``planeticity''calibration to predict the presence of planets based on stellarabundance ratios but find no evidence that a convincing relation of thistype can be established. High metallicity remains the best singleindicator that a given star is likely to harbor extrasolar planets.
| High-Resolution Spectroscopy of Ursa Major Moving Group Stars
We use new and extant literature spectroscopy to address abundances andmembership for UMa moving group stars. We first compare the UMa, Coma,and Hyades H-R diagrams via a homogeneous set of isochrones and findthat these three aggregates are essentially coeval; this (near)coevality can explain the indistinguishable distributions of UMa andHyades dwarfs in the chromospheric emission versus color plane. Ourspectroscopy of cool UMa dwarfs reveals striking abundanceanomalies-trends with Teff, ionization state, and excitationpotential-like those recently seen in young, cool M34, Pleaides, andHyades dwarfs. In particular, the trend of rising λ7774-based O Iabundance with declining Teff is markedly subdued in UMacompared to the Pleiades, suggesting a dependence on age or metallicity.Recent photometric metallicity estimates for several UMa dwarfs aremarkedly low compared to the group's canonical metallicity, and similardeviants are seen among cool Hyads as well. Our spectroscopy does notconfirm these curious photometric estimates, which seem to be calledinto question for cool dwarfs. Despite disparate sources of Li data, ourhomogeneous analysis indicates that UMa members evince remarkably smallscatter in the Li-Teff plane for Teff>=5200 K.Significant star-to-star scatter suggested by previous studies is seenfor cooler stars. Comparison with the consistently determined HyadesLi-Teff trend reveals differences that are qualitativelyconsistent with this cluster's larger [Fe/H] (and perhaps slightlygreater age). However, quantitative comparison with standard stellarmodels indicates the differences are smaller than expected, suggestingthe action of a fourth parameter beyond age, mass, and [Fe/H]controlling Li depletion. The UMa-Coma cool star Li abundances may showa slight 0.2 dex difference; however, this may be mass-independent andthus more consistent with a modest initial Li abundance difference.This paper includes data taken at the McDonald Observatory of theUniversity of Texas at Austin.Based on observations obtained at Kitt Peak National Observatory, adivision of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which isoperated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy,Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.
| Kinematics, ages and metallicities for F- and G-type stars in the solar neighbourhood
A new metallicity distribution and an age-metallicity relation arepresented for 437 nearby F and G turn-off and sub-giant stars selectedfrom radial velocity data of Nidever et al. Photometric metallicitiesare derived from uvby- Hβ photometry, and the stellar ages from theisochrones of Bergbusch & VandenBerg as transformed to uvbyphotometry using the methods of Clem et al.The X (stellar population) criterion of Schuster et al., which combinesboth kinematic and metallicity information, provides 22 thick-discstars. σW= 32 +/- 5 km s-1,= 154 +/- 6 km s-1 and<[M/H]>=-0.55 +/- 0.03 dex for these thick-disc stars, which is inagreement with values from previous studies of the thick disc.α-element abundances which are available for some of thesethick-disc stars show the typical α-element signatures of thethick disc, supporting the classification procedure based on the Xcriterion.Both the scatter in metallicity at a given age and the presence of old,metal-rich stars in the age-metallicity relation make it difficult todecide whether or not an age-metallicity relation exists for the olderthin-disc stars. For ages greater than 3 Gyr, our results agree with theother recent studies that there is almost no correlation between age andmetallicity, Δ([M/Fe])/Δ(age) =-0.01 +/- 0.005 dexGyr-1. For the 22 thick-disc stars there is a range in agesof 7-8 Gyr, but again almost no correlation between age and metallicity.For the subset of main-sequence stars with extra-solar planets, theage-metallicity relation is very similar to that of the total sample,very flat, the main difference being that these stars are mostlymetal-rich, [M/H]>~-0.2 dex. However, two of these stars have[M/H]~-0.6 dex and have been classified as thick-disc stars. As for thetotal sample, the range in ages for these stars with extra-solarplanetary systems is considerable with a nearly uniform distributionover 3 <~ age <~ 13 Gyr.
| 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.
| 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.
| 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
| Meeting the Cool Neighbors. VIII. A Preliminary 20 Parsec Census from the NLTT Catalogue
Continuing our census of late-type dwarfs in the solar neighborhood, wepresent BVRI photometry and optical spectroscopy of 800 mid-type Mdwarfs drawn from the NLTT proper-motion catalog. The targets are takenboth from our own cross-referencing of the NLTT Catalogue and the 2MASSSecond Incremental Data Release, and from the revised NLTT compiledrecently by Salim & Gould. All are identified as nearby-starcandidates based on their location in the(mr,mr-Ks) diagram. Three hundred starsdiscussed here have previous astrometric, photometric, or spectroscopicobservations. We present new BVRI photometry for 101 stars, togetherwith low-resolution spectroscopy of a further 400 dwarfs. In total, wefind that 241 stars are within 20 pc of the Sun, while a further 70 liewithin 1 σ of our distance limit. Combining the present resultswith previous analyses, we have quantitative observations for 1910 ofthe 1913 candidates in our NLTT nearby-star samples. Eight hundredfifteen of those stars have distance estimates of 20 pc or less,including 312 additions to the local census. With our NLTT follow-upobservations essentially complete, we have searched the literature for Kand early-type M dwarfs within the sampling volume covered by the 2MASSsecond release. Comparing the resultant 20 pc census against predictednumbers, derived from the 8 pc luminosity function, shows an overalldeficit of ~20% for stellar systems and ~35% for individual stars.Almost all are likely to be fainter than MJ=7, and at leasthalf are probably as yet undiscovered companions of known nearby stars.Our results suggest that there are relatively few missing systems at thelowest luminosities, MJ>8.5. We discuss possible means ofidentifying the missing stars.
| 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
| Nearby stars of the Galactic disk and halo. III.
High-resolution spectroscopic observations of about 150 nearby stars orstar systems are presented and discussed. The study of these and another100 objects of the previous papers of this series implies that theGalaxy became reality 13 or 14 Gyr ago with the implementation of amassive, rotationally-supported population of thick-disk stars. The veryhigh star formation rate in that phase gave rise to a rapid metalenrichment and an expulsion of gas in supernovae-driven Galactic winds,but was followed by a star formation gap for no less than three billionyears at the Sun's galactocentric distance. In a second phase, then, thethin disk - our ``familiar Milky Way'' - came on stage. Nowadays ittraces the bright side of the Galaxy, but it is also embedded in a hugecoffin of dead thick-disk stars that account for a large amount ofbaryonic dark matter. As opposed to this, cold-dark-matter-dominatedcosmologies that suggest a more gradual hierarchical buildup throughmergers of minor structures, though popular, are a poor description forthe Milky Way Galaxy - and by inference many other spirals as well - if,as the sample implies, the fossil records of its long-lived stars do notstick to this paradigm. Apart from this general picture that emergeswith reference to the entire sample stars, a good deal of the presentwork is however also concerned with detailed discussions of manyindividual objects. Among the most interesting we mention the bluestraggler or merger candidates HD 165401 and HD 137763/HD 137778, thelikely accretion of a giant planet or brown dwarf on 59 Vir in itsrecent history, and HD 63433 that proves to be a young solar analog at\tau200 Myr. Likewise, the secondary to HR 4867, formerly suspectednon-single from the Hipparcos astrometry, is directly detectable in thehigh-resolution spectroscopic tracings, whereas the visual binary \chiCet is instead at least triple, and presumably even quadruple. Withrespect to the nearby young stars a complete account of the Ursa MajorAssociation is presented, and we provide as well plain evidence foranother, the ``Hercules-Lyra Association'', the likely existence ofwhich was only realized in recent years. On account of its rotation,chemistry, and age we do confirm that the Sun is very typical among itsG-type neighbors; as to its kinematics, it appears however not unlikelythat the Sun's known low peculiar space velocity could indeed be thecause for the weak paleontological record of mass extinctions and majorimpact events on our parent planet during the most recent Galactic planepassage of the solar system. Although the significance of thiscorrelation certainly remains a matter of debate for years to come, wepoint in this context to the principal importance of the thick disk fora complete census with respect to the local surface and volumedensities. Other important effects that can be ascribed to this darkstellar population comprise (i) the observed plateau in the shape of theluminosity function of the local FGK stars, (ii) a small thoughsystematic effect on the basic solar motion, (iii) a reassessment of theterm ``asymmetrical drift velocity'' for the remainder (i.e. the thindisk) of the stellar objects, (iv) its ability to account for the bulkof the recently discovered high-velocity blue white dwarfs, (v) itsmajor contribution to the Sun's 220 km s-1 rotationalvelocity around the Galactic center, and (vi) the significant flatteningthat it imposes on the Milky Way's rotation curve. Finally we note ahigh multiplicity fraction in the small but volume-complete local sampleof stars of this ancient population. This in turn is highly suggestivefor a star formation scenario wherein the few existing single stellarobjects might only arise from either late mergers or the dynamicalejection of former triple or higher level star systems.
| Contributions to the Nearby Stars (NStars) Project: Spectroscopy of Stars Earlier than M0 within 40 Parsecs: The Northern Sample. I.
We have embarked on a project, under the aegis of the Nearby Stars(NStars)/Space Interferometry Mission Preparatory Science Program, toobtain spectra, spectral types, and, where feasible, basic physicalparameters for the 3600 dwarf and giant stars earlier than M0 within 40pc of the Sun. In this paper, we report on the results of this projectfor the first 664 stars in the northern hemisphere. These resultsinclude precise, homogeneous spectral types, basic physical parameters(including the effective temperature, surface gravity, and overallmetallicity [M/H]), and measures of the chromospheric activity of ourprogram stars. Observed and derived data presented in this paper arealso available on the project's Web site.
| Stellar Kinematic Groups. II. A Reexamination of the Membership, Activity, and Age of the Ursa Major Group
Utilizing Hipparcos parallaxes, original radial velocities and recentliterature values, new Ca II H and K emission measurements,literature-based abundance estimates, and updated photometry (includingrecent resolved measurements of close doubles), we revisit the UrsaMajor moving group membership status of some 220 stars to produce afinal clean list of nearly 60 assured members, based on kinematic andphotometric criteria. Scatter in the velocity dispersions and H-Rdiagram is correlated with trial activity-based membership assignments,indicating the usefulness of criteria based on photometric andchromospheric emission to examine membership. Closer inspection,however, shows that activity is considerably more robust at excludingmembership, failing to do so only for <=15% of objects, perhapsconsiderably less. Our UMa members demonstrate nonzero vertex deviationin the Bottlinger diagram, behavior seen in older and recent studies ofnearby young disk stars and perhaps related to Galactic spiralstructure. Comparison of isochrones and our final UMa group membersindicates an age of 500+/-100 Myr, some 200 Myr older than thecanonically quoted UMa age. Our UMa kinematic/photometric members' meanchromospheric emission levels, rotational velocities, and scattertherein are indistinguishable from values in the Hyades and smaller thanthose evinced by members of the younger Pleiades and M34 clusters,suggesting these characteristics decline rapidly with age over 200-500Myr. None of our UMa members demonstrate inordinately low absolutevalues of chromospheric emission, but several may show residual fluxes afactor of >=2 below a Hyades-defined lower envelope. If one defines aMaunder-like minimum in a relative sense, then the UMa results maysuggest that solar-type stars spend 10% of their entire main-sequencelives in periods of precipitously low activity, which is consistent withestimates from older field stars. As related asides, we note six evolvedstars (among our UMa nonmembers) with distinctive kinematics that liealong a 2 Gyr isochrone and appear to be late-type counterparts to diskF stars defining intermediate-age star streams in previous studies,identify a small number of potentially very young but isolated fieldstars, note that active stars (whether UMa members or not) in our samplelie very close to the solar composition zero-age main sequence, unlikeHipparcos-based positions in the H-R diagram of Pleiades dwarfs, andargue that some extant transformations of activity indices are notadequate for cool dwarfs, for which Ca II infrared triplet emissionseems to be a better proxy than Hα-based values for Ca II H and Kindices.
| K dwarfs and the chemical evolution of the solar cylinder
K dwarfs have lifetimes older than the present age of the Galactic disc,and are thus ideal stars for investigating the chemical evolution of thedisc. We have developed several photometric metallicity indicators for Kdwarfs, based on a sample of accurate spectroscopic metallicities for 34disc and halo G and K dwarfs. The photometric metallicities lead us todevelop a metallicity index for K dwarfs based only on their position inthe colour-absolute-magnitude diagram. Metallicities have beendetermined for 431 single K dwarfs drawn from the Hipparcos catalogue,selecting the stars by absolute magnitude and removing multiple systems.The sample is essentially a complete reckoning of the metal content innearby K dwarfs. We use stellar isochrones to mark the stars by mass,and select a subset of 220 of the stars, which is complete within anarrow mass interval. We fit the data with a model of the chemicalevolution of the solar cylinder. We find that only a modest cosmicscatter is required to fit our age-metallicity relation. The modelassumes two main infall episodes for the formation of the halo-thickdisc and thin disc, respectively. The new data confirm that the solarneighbourhood formed on a long time-scale of the order of 7 Gyr.
| Radial Velocities for 889 Late-Type Stars
We report radial velocities for 844 FGKM-type main-sequence and subgiantstars and 45 K giants, most of which had either low-precision velocitymeasurements or none at all. These velocities differ from the standardstars of Udry et al. by 0.035 km s-1 (rms) for the 26 FGKstandard stars in common. The zero point of our velocities differs fromthat of Udry et al.: =+0.053km s-1. Thus, these new velocities agree with the best knownstandard stars both in precision and zero point, to well within 0.1 kms-1. Nonetheless, both these velocities and the standardssuffer from three sources of systematic error, namely, convectiveblueshift, gravitational redshift, and spectral type mismatch of thereference spectrum. These systematic errors are here forced to be zerofor G2 V stars by using the Sun as reference, with Vesta and day sky asproxies. But for spectral types departing from solar, the systematicerrors reach 0.3 km s-1 in the F and K stars and 0.4 kms-1 in M dwarfs. Multiple spectra were obtained for all 889stars during 4 years, and 782 of them exhibit velocity scatter less than0.1 km s-1. These stars may serve as radial velocitystandards if they remain constant in velocity. We found 11 newspectroscopic binaries and report orbital parameters for them. Based onobservations obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operatedjointly by the University of California and the California Institute ofTechnology, and on observations obtained at the Lick Observatory, whichis operated by the University of California.
| Determination of accurate stellar radial-velocity measures
Wavelength measurements in stellar spectra cannot readily be interpretedas true stellar motion on the sub-km s-1 accuracy level dueto the presence of many other effects, such as gravitational redshiftand stellar convection, which also produce line shifts. Following arecommendation by the IAU, the result of an accurate spectroscopicradial-velocity observation should therefore be given as the``barycentric radial-velocity measure'', i.e. the absolute spectralshift as measured by an observer at zero gravitational potential locatedat the solar-system barycentre. Standard procedures for reducingaccurate radial-velocity observations should be reviewed to take intoaccount this recommendation. We describe a procedure to determineaccurate barycentric radial-velocity measures of bright stars, based ondigital cross-correlation of spectra obtained with the ELODIEspectrometer (Observatoire de Haute-Provence) with a synthetic templateof Fe I lines. The absolute zero point of the radial-velocity measuresis linked to the wavelength scale of the Kurucz (1984) Solar Flux Atlasvia ELODIE observations of the Moon. Results are given for the Sun and42 stars, most of them members of the Hyades and Ursa Major clusters.The median internal standard error is 27 m s-1. The externalerror is estimated at around 120 m s-1, mainly reflecting theuncertainty in the wavelength scale of the Solar Flux Atlas. For the Sunwe find a radial-velocity measure of +257+/- 11 m s-1referring to the full-disk spectrum of the selected Fe I lines. Based onobservations made at Observatoire de Haute-Provence
| Astrometric radial velocities. III. Hipparcos measurements of nearby star clusters and associations
Radial motions of stars in nearby moving clusters are determined fromaccurate proper motions and trigonometric parallaxes, without any use ofspectroscopy. Assuming that cluster members share the same velocityvector (apart from a random dispersion), we apply a maximum-likelihoodmethod on astrometric data from Hipparcos to compute radial and spacevelocities (and their dispersions) in the Ursa Major, Hyades, ComaBerenices, Pleiades, and Praesepe clusters, and for theScorpius-Centaurus, alpha Persei, and ``HIP 98321'' associations. Theradial motion of the Hyades cluster is determined to within 0.4 kms-1 (standard error), and that of its individual stars towithin 0.6 km s-1. For other clusters, Hipparcos data yieldastrometric radial velocities with typical accuracies of a few kms-1. A comparison of these astrometric values withspectroscopic radial velocities in the literature shows a good generalagreement and, in the case of the best-determined Hyades cluster, alsopermits searches for subtle astrophysical differences, such as evidencefor enhanced convective blueshifts of F-dwarf spectra, and decreasedgravitational redshifts in giants. Similar comparisons for the ScorpiusOB2 complex indicate some expansion of its associations, albeit slowerthan expected from their ages. As a by-product from the radial-velocitysolutions, kinematically improved parallaxes for individual stars areobtained, enabling Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams with unprecedentedaccuracy in luminosity. For the Hyades (parallax accuracy 0.3 mas), itsmain sequence resembles a thin line, possibly with wiggles in it.Although this main sequence has underpopulated regions at certaincolours (previously suggested to be ``Böhm-Vitense gaps''), suchare not visible for other clusters, and are probably spurious. Futurespace astrometry missions carry a great potential for absoluteradial-velocity determinations, insensitive to the complexities ofstellar spectra. Based on observations by the ESA Hipparcos satellite.Extended versions of Tables \ref{tab1} and \ref{tab2} are available inelectronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.125.8) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/381/446
| Late-type members of young stellar kinematic groups - I. Single stars
This is the first paper of a series aimed at studying the properties oflate-type members of young stellar kinematic groups. We concentrate ourstudy on classical young moving groups such as the Local Association(Pleiades moving group, 20-150Myr), IC 2391 supercluster (35Myr), UrsaMajor group (Sirius supercluster, 300Myr), and Hyades supercluster(600Myr), as well as on recently identified groups such as the Castormoving group (200Myr). In this paper we compile a preliminary list ofsingle late-type possible members of some of these young stellarkinematic groups. Stars are selected from previously established membersof stellar kinematic groups based on photometric and kinematicproperties as well as from candidates based on other criteria such astheir level of chromospheric activity, rotation rate and lithiumabundance. Precise measurements of proper motions and parallaxes takenfrom the Hipparcos Catalogue, as well as from the Tycho-2 Catalogue, andpublished radial velocity measurements are used to calculate theGalactic space motions (U, V, W) and to apply Eggen's kinematic criteriain order to determine the membership of the selected stars to thedifferent groups. Additional criteria using age-dating methods forlate-type stars will be applied in forthcoming papers of this series. Afurther study of the list of stars compiled here could lead to a betterunderstanding of the chromospheric activity and their age evolution, aswell as of the star formation history in the solar neighbourhood. Inaddition, these stars are also potential search targets for directimaging detection of substellar companions.
| A revision of the solar neighbourhood metallicity distribution
We present a revised metallicity distribution of dwarfs in the solarneighbourhood. This distribution is centred on solar metallicity. Weshow that previous metallicity distributions, selected on the basis ofspectral type, are biased against stars with solar metallicity orhigher. A selection of G-dwarf stars is inherently biased againstmetal-rich stars and is not representative of the solar neighbourhoodmetallicity distribution. Using a sample selected on colour, we obtain adistribution where approximately half the stars in the solarneighbourhood have metallicities higher than [Fe/H]=0. The percentage ofmid-metal-poor stars ([Fe/H]<-0.5) is approximately 4 per cent, inagreement with present estimates of the thick disc. In order to have ametallicity distribution comparable to chemical evolution modelpredictions, we convert the star fraction to mass fraction, and showthat another bias against metal-rich stars affects dwarf metallicitydistributions, due to the colour (or spectral type) limits of thesamples. Reconsidering the corrections resulting from the increasingthickness of the stellar disc with age, we show that the simpleclosed-box model with no instantaneous recycling approximation gives areasonable fit to the observed distribution. Comparisons with theage-metallicity relation and abundance ratios suggest that the simpleclosed-box model may be a viable model of the chemical evolution of theGalaxy at solar radius.
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Dades d'Observació i Astrometria
| Constel·lació: | Lynx |
| Ascensió Recta: | 07h33m00.58s |
| Declinació: | +37°01'47.5" |
| Magnitud Aparent: | 7.707 |
| Distancia: | 19.685 parsecs |
| Moviment propi RA: | -49.6 |
| Moviment propi Dec: | 10 |
| B-T magnitude: | 8.795 |
| V-T magnitude: | 7.797 |
Catàlegs i designacions:
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