Contents
Images
Upload your image
DSS Images Other Images
Related articles
Hunting the Coolest Dwarfs: Methods and Early Results
We present the methods and first results of a survey of nearby highproper motion main-sequence stars to probe for cool companions with theGemini camera at Lick Observatory. This survey uses a sample of old (age> 2 Gyr) stars as targets to probe for companions down totemperatures of 500 K. Multi-epoch observations allow us to discriminatecomoving companions from background objects. So far, our survey hassuccessfully rediscovered the wide T8.5 companion to GJ 1263 and hasdiscovered a companion to the nearby M0V star GJ 660.1. The companion toGJ 660.1 (GJ 660.1B) is ~4 mag fainter than its host star in the J-bandand is located at a projected separation of ~120 AU. Known trigonometricparallax and Two Micron All Sky Survey magnitudes for the GJ 660.1system indicate a spectral type for the companion of M9 ± 2.
| Observation and modelling of main-sequence star chromospheres - XV. New constraints on the dynamo mechanisms for dM1 stars
With the help of measures of rotation, radius and metallicity for aselected sample of dM1 stars (with Teff= 3460 ± 60 K),we aim to set new constraints on the dynamo mechanisms.We recover 913 high-resolution spectra for 97 different M1 dwarfs fromthe European Southern Observatory and Observatoire de Haute Provencedata bases. We present 660 new measurements of the Ca II resonance linesand 913 new measurements of the H? line for dM1 stars. We alsocompile other measurements available in the literature. In total, weobtain 2216 measures of the Ca II lines for 113 different dM1 stars.This represents the largest compilation of chromospheric linemeasurements at a single spectral type.We cross-correlate these magnetic activity indicators with variousstellar parameters to set new constraints on the dynamo mechanisms andon the properties of the outer atmosphere.We find a correlation of the Ca II line mean equivalent width with theabsolute magnitude and the metallicity. We correct the Ca II linemeasures from the metallicity effect and find that the surface flux inthe Ca II lines grows roughly as the power of 3.6 of the stellar radius.This corrected flux is a direct measure of magnetic activity at thechromospheric level. We find that the total magnetic activity levelgrows roughly as the power of 5.6 of the stellar radius. This trend isconfirmed by the correlation between the H? line and absolutemagnitude and the H? line luminosity and stellar radius: theH? luminosity grows roughly as the volume of the star for lowactivity dM1 stars and as the power of roughly 5/2 of the stellar radiusfor dM1e stars. The advantage of the H? line is that its formationin not dependent on metallicity.In contrast to the Ca II line, we find no correlation betweenLX and the absolute magnitude. We find that LXroughly correlates with the Ca II luminosity although the correlation isnot very good. This correlation shows that LX grows as thepower of 3/2 of the Ca II luminosity, i.e. the coronal emission growsfaster than the chromospheric emission.We find a correlation between the corrected Ca II line equivalent widthand P/sin i, i.e. the Ca II surface flux grows as the power of -1.5 ofthe rotation period. We also find a correlation between FX,the X-ray surface flux, and P/sin i: FX? (P/sini)-3.7. In other words, the coronal emission is much moredependent on the rotation period than the chromospheric emission.We find that the level of magnetic activity in dM1 stars is moredependent on the stellar radius than on rotation at the chromosphericlevel. We discuss the implications of these results on the models ofstellar dynamos. Based on observations available at Observatoire deHaute Provence and the European Southern Observatory data bases and onHipparcos parallax measurements.
| Bayesian inference of stellar parameters and interstellar extinction using parallaxes and multiband photometry
Astrometric surveys provide the opportunity to measure the absolutemagnitudes of large numbers of stars, but only if the individualline-of-sight extinctions are known. Unfortunately, extinction is highlydegenerate with stellar effective temperature when estimated frombroad-band optical/infrared photometry. To address this problem, Iintroduce a Bayesian method for estimating the intrinsic parameters of astar and its line-of-sight extinction. It uses both photometry andparallaxes in a self-consistent manner in order to provide anon-parametric posterior probability distribution over the parameters.The method makes explicit use of domain knowledge by employing theHertzsprung-Russell Diagram (HRD) to constrain solutions and to ensurethat they respect stellar physics. I first demonstrate this method byusing it to estimate effective temperature and extinction from BVJHKdata for a set of artificially reddened Hipparcos stars, for whichaccurate effective temperatures have been estimated from high-resolutionspectroscopy. Using just the four colours, we see the expected strongdegeneracy (positive correlation) between the temperature andextinction. Introducing the parallax, apparent magnitude and the HRDreduces this degeneracy and improves both the precision (reduces theerror bars) and the accuracy of the parameter estimates, the latter byabout 35 per cent. The resulting accuracy is about 200 K in temperatureand 0.2 mag in extinction. I then apply the method to estimate theseparameters and absolute magnitudes for some 47 000 F, G, K Hipparcosstars which have been cross-matched with Two-Micron All-Sky Survey(2MASS). The method can easily be extended to incorporate the estimationof other parameters, in particular metallicity and surface gravity,making it particularly suitable for the analysis of the 109stars from Gaia.
| Chromospheric Activity and Jitter Measurements for 2630 Stars on the California Planet Search
We present time series measurements of chromospheric activity for morethan 2600 main-sequence and subgiant stars on the California PlanetSearch (CPS) program with spectral types ranging from about F5V to M4Vfor main-sequence stars and from G0IV to about K5IV for subgiants. Thelarge data set of more than 44,000 spectra allows us to identify anempirical baseline floor for chromospheric activity as a function ofcolor and height above the main sequence. We define ?S as anexcess in emission in the Ca II H and K lines above the baselineactivity floor and define radial velocity jitter as a function of?S and B - V for main-sequence and subgiant stars. Although thejitter for any individual star can always exceed the baseline level, wefind that K dwarfs have the lowest level of jitter. The lack ofcorrelation between observed jitter and chromospheric activity in Kdwarfs suggests that the observed jitter is dominated by instrumental oranalysis errors and not astrophysical noise sources. Thus, given thelong-term precision for the CPS program, radial velocities are notcorrelated with astrophysical noise for chromospherically quiet K dwarfstars, making these stars particularly well suited for the highestprecision Doppler surveys. Chromospherically quiet F and G dwarfs andsubgiants exhibit higher baseline levels of astrophysical jitter than Kdwarfs. Despite the fact that the rms in Doppler velocities iscorrelated with the mean chromospheric activity, it is rare to seeone-to-one correlations between the individual time series activity andDoppler measurements, diminishing the prospects for correctingactivity-induced velocity variations in F and G dwarfs.Based on observations obtained at the Keck Observatory and LickObservatory, which are operated by the University of California.
| A High-Contrast Imaging Survey of SIM Lite Planet Search Targets
With the development of extreme high contrast ground-based adaptiveoptics instruments and space missions aimed at detecting andcharacterizing Jupiter- and terrestrial-mass planets, it is criticalthat each target star be thoroughly vetted to determine whether it is aviable target, given both the instrumental design and scientific goalsof the program. With this in mind, we have conducted a high-contrastimaging survey of mature AFGKM stars with the PALAO/PHARO instrument onthe Palomar 200 inch telescope. The survey reached sensitivitiessufficient to detect brown dwarf companions at separations of >50 AU.The results of this survey will be utilized both by future directimaging projects such as GPI, SPHERE, and P1640 and indirect detectionmissions such as SIM Lite. Out of 84 targets, all but one have noclose-in (0.45-1") companions and 64 (76%) have no stars at all withinthe 25" field of view. The sensitivity contrasts in the Kspassband ranged from 4.5 to 10 for this set of observations. These starswere selected as the best nearby targets for habitable planet searchesbecause of their long-lived habitable zones (>1 billion years). Wereport two stars, GJ 454 and GJ 1020, with previously unpublished propermotion companions. In both cases, the companions are stellar in natureand are most likely M dwarfs based on their absolute magnitudes andcolors. Based on our mass sensitivities and level of completeness, wecan place an upper limit of ˜17% on the presence of brown dwarfcompanions with masses >40 MJ at separations of >1". Wealso discuss the importance of including statistics on those stars withno detected companions in their field of view for the sake of futurecompanion searches and an overall understanding of the population oflow-mass objects around nearby stars.
| Observation and modelling of main-sequence star chromospheres - XIV. Rotation of dM1 stars
We have measured v sin i for a selected sample of dM1-typestars. We give 114 measurements of v sin i for 88 different stars, andsix upper detection limits. These are the first measurements of v sin ifor most of the stars studied here. This represents the largest sampleof v sin i measurements for M dwarfs at a given spectral type. For thesemeasurements, we used four different spectrographs: HARPS (ESO), SOPHIE(OHP), ÉLODIE (OHP) and UVES (ESO). Two of these spectrographs(HARPS and SOPHIE) are particularly stable in wavelength since they weredesigned for exoplanet searches.We measured v sin i down to an accuracy of 0.3kms-1 for thehighest resolution spectrographs and a detection limit of about1kms-1. We show that this unprecedented accuracy for M dwarfsin our data set is possible because all the targets have the samespectral type. This is an advantage and it facilitates the determinationof the narrowest line profiles for v sin i ~ 0. Although it is possibleto derive the zero-point profiles using several spectral types at atime. These values were combined with other measurements taken from theliterature. The total sample represents detected rotation for 100 stars(10 dM1e and 90 dM1 stars). We confirm our finding of Paper VII that thedistribution of the projected rotation period is bimodal for dM1 starswith a much larger sample, i.e. there are two groups of stars: the fastrotators with P/sin i ~ 4.5d and the slow rotators with P/sin i ~ 14.4d.There is a gap between these two groups. We find that the distributionof stars as a function of P/sin i has two very abrupt cuts, below 10dand above 18d. There are very few stars observed out of this range10-18d. We also observe that the distribution increases slightly from 18to 10d.We find that the M1 subdwarfs (very low metallicity dwarfs) rotate withan average period of P/sin i ~ 7.2d, which is about twice faster as themain group of normal M1 dwarfs. We also find a correlation for P/sin ito decrease with stellar radius among dM1e stars. Such a trend is alsoobserved in dM1 stars.We also derive metallicity and radius for all our target stars using thesame method as in Paper VII. We notably found that 11 of our targetstars are subdwarfs with metallicities below -0.5dex.Based on observations available at Observatoire de Haute Provence andthe European Southern Observatory data bases and on Hipparcos parallaxmeasurements.E-mail: eric_houdebine@yahoo.fr
| UBV(RI)C JHK observations of Hipparcos-selected nearby stars
We present homogeneous, standardized UBV(RI)C photometry forover 700 nearby stars selected on the basis of Hipparcos parallaxes.Additionally, we list JHK photometry for about half of these stars, aswell as L photometry for 86 of the brightest. A number of stars withpeculiar colours or anomalous locations in various colour-magnitudediagrams are discussed.
| Rotation and Magnetic Activity in a Sample of M-Dwarfs
We have analyzed the rotational broadening and chromospheric activity ina sample of 123 M-dwarfs, using spectra taken at the W.M. KeckObservatory as part of the California Planet Search program. We findthat only seven of these stars are rotating more rapidly than ourdetection threshold of v sin i ? 2.5 km s-1.Rotation appears to be more common in stars later than M3 than in theM0-M2.5 mass range: we estimate that less than 10% of early-M stars aredetectably rotating, whereas roughly a third of those later than M4 showsigns of rotation. These findings lend support to the view thatrotational braking becomes less effective in fully convective stars. Bymeasuring the equivalent widths of the Ca II H and K lines for the starsin our sample, and converting these to approximate L Ca/Lbol measurements, we also provide constraints on theconnection between rotation and magnetic activity. Measurable rotationis a sufficient, but not necessary condition for activity in our sample:all the detectable rotators show strong Ca II emission, but so too do asmall number of non-rotating stars, which we presume may lie at highinclination angles relative to our line of sight. Our data areconsistent with a "saturation-type" rotation-activity relationship, withactivity roughly independent of rotation above a threshold velocity ofless than 6 km s-1. We also find weak evidence for a"gap" in L Ca/L bol between a highly activepopulation of stars, which typically are detected as rotators, andanother much less active group.
| The M dwarf planet search programme at the ESO VLT + UVES. A search for terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of M dwarfs
We present radial velocity (RV) measurements of our sample of 40 Mdwarfs from our planet search programme with VLT+UVES begun in 2000.Although with our RV precision down to 2-2.5 m/s and timebase line of upto 7 years, we are capable of finding planets of a few Earth masses inthe close-in habitable zones of M dwarfs, there is no detection of aplanetary companion. To demonstrate this we present mass detectionlimits allowing us to exclude Jupiter-mass planets up to 1 AU for mostof our sample stars. We identified 6 M dwarfs that host a brown dwarf orlow-mass stellar companion. With the exception of these, all othersample stars show low RV variability with an rms <20 m/s. Some highproper motion stars exhibit a linear RV trend consistent with theirsecular acceleration. Furthermore, we examine our data sets for apossible correlation between RVs and stellar activity as seen invariations of the Hα line strength. For Barnard's star we found asignificant anticorrelation, but most of the sample stars do not showsuch a correlation.Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory,Paranal Chile, ESO programmes 65.L-0428, 66.C-0446, 267.C-5700,68.C-0415, 69.C-0722, 70.C-0044, 71.C-0498, 072.C-0495, 173.C-0606,078.C-0829. Radial velocity data are available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/505/859
| Identifying the Young Low-mass Stars within 25 pc. I. Spectroscopic Observations
We have completed a high-resolution (R ≈ 60,000) opticalspectroscopic survey of 185 nearby M dwarfs identified using ROSAT datato select active, young objects with fractional X-ray luminositiescomparable to or greater than Pleiades members. Our targets are drawnfrom the NStars 20 pc census and the Moving-M sample with distancesdetermined from parallaxes or spectrophotometric relations. We limitedour sample to 25 pc from the Sun, prior to correcting forpre-main-sequence overluminosity or binarity. Nearly half of theresulting M dwarfs are not present in the Gliese catalog and have nopreviously published spectral types. We identified 30 spectroscopicbinaries (SBs) from the sample, which have strong X-ray emission due totidal spin-up rather than youth. This is equivalent to a 16% SBfraction, with at most a handful of undiscovered SBs. We estimate upperlimits on the age of the remaining M dwarfs using spectroscopic youthindicators such as surface gravity-sensitive indices (CaH and K I). Wefind that for a sample of field stars with no metallicity measurements,a single CaH gravity index may not be sufficient, as highermetallicities mimic lower gravity. This is demonstrated in a subsampleof metal-rich radial velocity (RV) standards, which appear to have lowsurface gravity as measured by the CaH index, yet show no other evidenceof youth. We also use additional youth diagnostics such as lithiumabsorption and strong Hα emission to set more stringent agelimits. Eleven M dwarfs with no Hα emission or absorption arelikely old (>400 Myr) and were caught during an X-ray flare. Weestimate that our final sample of the 144 youngest and nearest low-massobjects in the field is less than 300 Myr old, with 30% of them beingyounger than 150 Myr and four very young (lap10 Myr), representing agenerally untapped and well-characterized resource of M dwarfs forintensive planet and disk searches.Based on observations collected at the W. M. Keck Observatory and theCanada-France-Hawaii Telescope. The Keck Observatory is operated as ascientific partnership between the California Institute of Technology,the University of California, and NASA, and was made possible by thegenerous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation. The CFHT isoperated by the National Research Council of Canada, the Centre Nationalde la Recherche Scientifique of France, and the University of Hawaii.
| UBVRI Photometric Standard Stars Around the Celestial Equator: Updates and Additions
New broadband UBVRI photoelectric observations on theJohnson-Kron-Cousins photometric system have been made of 202 starsaround the sky, and centered at the celestial equator. These starsconstitute both an update of and additions to a previously publishedlist of equatorial photometric standard stars. The list is capable ofproviding, for both celestial hemispheres, an internally consistenthomogeneous broadband standard photometric system around the sky. Whenthese new measurements are included with those previously published byLandolt (1992), the entire list of standard stars in this paperencompasses the magnitude range 8.90 < V < 16.30, and the colorindex range -0.35 < (B - V) < +2.30.
| Observation and modelling of main-sequence stellar chromospheres - VII. Rotation and metallicity of dM1 stars
We have measured v sini and metallicity from high-resolutionspectroscopic observations of a selected sample of dM1-type stars.To measure v sini, we first selected three template stars known fortheir slow rotation or their very low activity levels and thencross-correlated their spectra with those of our target stars. Theexcess broadening of the cross-correlation peaks gives v sini. Formetallicity, we compiled all available measurements from the literatureand correlated them with the stellar radius. Provided the parallax isknown, this new method allows us to derive metallicities for all ourtarget stars.We measured v sini to an accuracy of 2 kms-1. These valueswere combined with other measurements taken from the literature. We havedetected rotation in seven dM1e stars and 11 dM1 stars and upper limitsfor 20 other dM1 stars. Our results show that the distribution of therotation period may be bimodal for dM1 stars, i.e. there are two groupsof stars: the fast rotators with Prot ~ 6 d and the slowrotators with Prot ~ 24 d. There is a gap between these twogroups.We obtained a correlation between metallicity and stellar radius whichallows us to derive metallicities for all stars in our sample and moregenerally for all dM1 stars with [M/H] in the range -1.5 to 0.5 dex,with a reasonable accuracy. We compare this correlation to models andfind a significant disagreement in radii. However, the observed shape ofthe correlation is globally reproduced by the models. We derive themetallicity for 87 M1 dwarfs and subdwarfs.Based on observations collected at Observatoire de Haute Provence andthe European Southern Observatory and on Hipparcos parallaxmeasurements.E-mail: eric_houdebine@yahoo.fr
| M dwarfs: effective temperatures, radii and metallicities
We empirically determine effective temperatures and bolometricluminosities for a large sample of nearby M dwarfs, for which highaccuracy optical and infrared photometry is available. We introduce anew technique which exploits the flux ratio in different bands as aproxy of both effective temperature and metallicity. Our temperaturescale for late-type dwarfs extends well below 3000K (almost to the browndwarf limit) and is supported by interferometric angular diametermeasurements above 3000K. Our metallicities are in excellent agreement(usually within 0.2dex) with recent determinations via independenttechniques. A subsample of cool M dwarfs with metallicity estimatesbased on hotter Hipparcos common proper motion companions indicates ourmetallicities are also reliable below 3000K, a temperature rangeunexplored until now. The high quality of our data allows us to identifya striking feature in the bolometric luminosity versus temperatureplane, around the transition from K to M dwarfs. We have compared oursample of stars with theoretical models and conclude that thistransition is due to an increase in the radii of the M dwarfs, a featurewhich is not reproduced by theoretical models.
| BD -22 5866: A Low-Mass, Quadruple-lined Spectroscopic and Eclipsing Binary
We report our discovery of an extremely rare, low-mass, quadruple-linedspectroscopic binary BD -22 5866 (=NLTT 53279, integrated spectral type= M0 V), found during an ongoing search for the youngest M dwarfs in thesolar neighborhood. From the cross-correlation function, we are able tomeasure relative flux levels, estimate the spectral types of thecomponents, and set upper limits on the orbital periods and separations.The resulting system is hierarchical, composed of a K7 + K7 binary andan M1 + M2 binary with semimajor axes ofaAsiniA<=0.06 andaBsiniB<=0.30 AU. A subsequent search of theSuperWASP photometric database revealed that the K7 + K7 binary iseclipsing with a period of 2.21 days and at an inclination angle of85°. Within uncertainties of 5%, the masses and radii of bothcomponents appear to be equal (0.59 Msolar, 0.61Rsolar). These two tightly orbiting stars (a=0.035 AU) are insynchronous rotation, causing the observed excess Ca II, Hα,X-ray, and UV emission. The fact that the system was unresolved withpublished adaptive optics imaging, limits the projected physicalseparation of the two binaries at the time of the observation todAB<~4.1 AU at the photometric distance of 51 pc. Themaximum observed radial velocity difference between the A and B binarieslimits the orbit to aABsiniAB<=6.1 AU. As thistight configuration is difficult to reproduce with current formationmodels of multiple systems, we speculate that an early dynamical processreduced the size of the system, such as the interaction of the twobinaries with a circumquadruple disk. Intensive photometric,spectroscopic, and interferometric monitoring, as well as a parallaxmeasurement of this rare quadruple system, is certainly warranted.Based on observations collected at the W. M. Keck Observatory and theCanada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). The Keck Observatory is operatedas a scientific partnership between the California Institute ofTechnology, the University of California, and NASA, and was madepossible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.The CFHT is operated by the National Research Council of Canada, theCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France, and theUniversity of Hawaii.
| The effect of activity on stellar temperatures and radii
Context: Recent analyses of low-mass eclipsing binary stars haveunveiled a significant disagreement between the observations andpredictions of stellar structure models. Results show that theoreticalmodels underestimate the radii and overestimate the effectivetemperatures of low-mass stars but yield luminosities that accord withobservations. A hypothesis based upon the effects of stellar activitywas put forward to explain the discrepancies. Aims: In this paper westudy the existence of the same trend in single active stars and providea consistent scenario to explain systematic differences between activeand inactive stars in the H-R diagram reported earlier. Methods: Theanalysis is done using single field stars of spectral types late-K and Mand computing their bolometric magnitudes and temperatures throughinfrared colours and spectral indices. The properties of the stars insamples of active and inactive stars are compared statistically toreveal systematic differences. Results: After accounting for a numberof possible bias effects, active stars are shown to be cooler thaninactive stars of similar luminosity therefore implying a larger radiusas well, in proportions that are in excellent agreement with those foundfrom eclipsing binaries. Conclusions: The present results generalisethe existence of strong radius and temperature dependences on stellaractivity to the entire population of low-mass stars, regardless of theirmembership in close binary systems.Tables 1 and 2 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/478/507
| Further observations of Hipparcos red stars and standards for UBV(RI)C photometry
We present homogeneous and standardized UBV(RI)C JHKphotometry for over 100 M stars selected from an earlier paper on thebasis of apparent photometric constancy. L photometry has been obtainedfor stars brighter than about L = 6. Most of the stars have asubstantial number of UBV(RI)C observations and, it is hoped,will prove useful as red supplementary standards. Additionally, we listJHK photometry for nearly 300 Hipparcos red stars not selected asstandards, as well as L photometry for the brightest stars.
| Optical spectroscopy of high proper motion stars: new M dwarfs within 10 pc and the closest pair of subdwarfs
We present spectra of 59 nearby star candidates, M dwarfs and whitedwarfs, previously identified using high proper motion catalogues andthe DENIS database. We review the existing spectral classificationschemes and spectroscopic parallax calibrations in the near-infrared Jband and derive spectral types and distances of the nearby candidates.Forty-two stars have spectroscopic distances smaller than 25 pc, threeof them being white dwarfs. Two targets lie within 10 pc, one M8 star at10.0 pc (APMPM J0103-3738), and one M4 star at 8.3 pc (L 225-57). Onestar, LHS 73, is found to be among the few subdwarfs lying within 20 pc.Furthermore, together with LHS 72, it probably belongs to the closestpair of subdwarfs we know.
| Pulkovo compilation of radial velocities for 35495 stars in a common system.
Not Available
| Exploring the Frequency of Close-in Jovian Planets around M Dwarfs
We discuss our high-precision radial velocity results of a sample of 90M dwarfs observed with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope and the Harlan J.Smith 2.7 m Telescope at McDonald Observatory, as well as the ESO VLTand the Keck I telescopes, within the context of the overall frequencyof Jupiter-mass planetary companions to main-sequence stars. None of thestars in our sample show variability indicative of a giant planet in ashort-period orbit, with a<=1 AU. We estimate an upper limit of thefrequency f of close-in Jovian planets around M dwarfs as <1.27% (atthe 1 σ confidence level). Furthermore, we determine that theefficiency of our survey in noticing planets in circular orbits is 98%for companions with msini>3.8MJ and a<=0.7 AU. Foreccentric orbits (e=0.6) the survey completeness is 95% for all planetswith msini>3.5MJ and a<=0.7 AU. Our results pointtoward a generally lower frequency of close-in Jovian planets for Mdwarfs as compared to FGK-type stars. This is an important piece ofinformation for our understanding of the process of planet formation asa function of stellar mass.Based on data collected with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, which isoperated by McDonald Observatory on behalf of the University of Texas atAustin, Pennsylvania State University, Stanford University,Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, andGeorg-August-Universität Göttingen. Also based on observationscollected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile (ESO programs65.L-0428, 66.C-0446, 267.C-5700, 68.C-0415, 69.C-0722, 70.C-0044,71.C-0498, 072.C-0495, 173.C-0606). Additional data were obtained at theW. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnershipamong the California Institute of Technology, the University ofCalifornia, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA), and with the McDonald Observatory Harlan J. Smith 2.7 mtelescope.
| Ca II H and K Chromospheric Emission Lines in Late-K and M Dwarfs
We have measured the profiles of the Ca II H and K chromosphericemission lines in 147 main-sequence stars of spectral type M5-K7 (masses0.30-0.55 Msolar) using multiple high-resolution spectraobtained during 6 years with the HIRES spectrometer on the Keck Itelescope. Remarkably, the average FWHM, equivalent widths, and lineluminosities of Ca II H and K increase by a factor of 3 with increasingstellar mass over this small range of stellar masses. We fit the Ca II Hand K lines with a double-Gaussian model to represent both thechromospheric emission and the non-LTE central absorption. Most of thesample stars display a central absorption that is typically redshiftedby ~0.1 km s-1 relative to the emission. This implies thatthe higher level, lower density chromospheric material has a smalleroutward velocity (or higher inward velocity) by 0.1 km s-1than the lower level material in the chromosphere, but the nature ofthis velocity gradient remains unknown. The FWHM of the Ca II H and Kemission lines increase with stellar luminosity, reminiscent of theWilson-Bappu effect in FGK-type stars. Both the equivalent widths andFWHM exhibit modest temporal variability in individual stars. At a givenvalue of MV, stars exhibit a spread in both the equivalentwidth and FWHM of Ca II H and K, due both to a spread in fundamentalstellar parameters, including rotation rate, age, and possiblymetallicity, and to the spread in stellar mass at a given MV.The K line is consistently wider than the H line, as expected, and itscentral absorption is more redshifted, indicating that the H and K linesform at slightly different heights in the chromosphere where thevelocities are slightly different. The equivalent width of Hαcorrelates with Ca II H and K only for stars having Ca II equivalentwidths above ~2 Å, suggesting the existence of a magneticthreshold above which the lower and upper chromospheres become thermallycoupled.Based on observations obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which isoperated jointly by the University of California and the CaliforniaInstitute of Technology. Keck time has been granted by both NASA and theUniversity of California.
| 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.
| Improved Astrometry and Photometry for the Luyten Catalog. II. Faint Stars and the Revised Catalog
We complete construction of a catalog containing improved astrometry andnew optical/infrared photometry for the vast majority of NLTT starslying in the overlap of regions covered by POSS I and by the secondincremental Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) release, approximately 44%of the sky. The epoch 2000 positions are typically accurate to 130 mas,the proper motions to 5.5 mas yr-1, and the V-J colors to0.25 mag. Relative proper motions of binary components are measured to 3mas yr-1. The false-identification rate is ~1% for11<~V<~18 and substantially less at brighter magnitudes. Theseimprovements permit the construction of a reduced proper-motion diagramthat, for the first time, allows one to classify NLTT stars intomain-sequence (MS) stars, subdwarfs (SDs), and white dwarfs (WDs). We inturn use this diagram to analyze the properties of both our catalog andthe NLTT catalog on which it is based. In sharp contrast to popularbelief, we find that NLTT incompleteness in the plane is almostcompletely concentrated in MS stars, and that SDs and WDs are detectedalmost uniformly over the sky δ>-33deg. Our catalogwill therefore provide a powerful tool to probe these populationsstatistically, as well as to reliably identify individual SDs and WDs.
| Hipparcos red stars in the HpV_T2 and V I_C systems
For Hipparcos M, S, and C spectral type stars, we provide calibratedinstantaneous (epoch) Cousins V - I color indices using newly derivedHpV_T2 photometry. Three new sets of ground-based Cousins V I data havebeen obtained for more than 170 carbon and red M giants. These datasetsin combination with the published sources of V I photometry served toobtain the calibration curves linking Hipparcos/Tycho Hp-V_T2 with theCousins V - I index. In total, 321 carbon stars and 4464 M- and S-typestars have new V - I indices. The standard error of the mean V - I isabout 0.1 mag or better down to Hp~9 although it deteriorates rapidly atfainter magnitudes. These V - I indices can be used to verify thepublished Hipparcos V - I color indices. Thus, we have identified ahandful of new cases where, instead of the real target, a random fieldstar has been observed. A considerable fraction of the DMSA/C and DMSA/Vsolutions for red stars appear not to be warranted. Most likely suchspurious solutions may originate from usage of a heavily biased color inthe astrometric processing.Based on observations from the Hipparcos astrometric satellite operatedby the European Space Agency (ESA 1997).}\fnmsep\thanks{Table 7 is onlyavailable 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/397/997
| 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.
| UBV(RI)C photometry of Hipparcos red stars
We present homogeneous and standardized UBV(RI)C photometryfor nearly 550 M stars selected from the Hipparcos satellite data baseusing the following selection criteria: lack of obvious variability (noHipparcos variability flag); δ<+10°(V-I)>1.7 and Vmagnitude fainter than about 7.6. Comparisons are made between thecurrent photometry, other ground-based data sets and Hipparcosphotometry. We use linear discriminant analysis to determine aluminosity segregation criterion for late-type stars, and principalcomponent analysis to study the statistical structure of the colourindices and to calibrate absolute magnitude in terms of (V-I) for thedwarf stars. Various methods are used to determine the mean absolutemagnitude of the giant stars. We find 10 dwarf stars, apparentlypreviously unrecognized (prior to Hipparcos) as being within 25pc,including five within 20pc.
| Revised Coordinates and Proper Motions of the Stars in the Luyten Half-Second Catalog
We present refined coordinates and proper-motion data for the highproper-motion (HPM) stars in the Luyten Half-Second (LHS) catalog. Thepositional uncertainty in the original Luyten catalog is typicallygreater than 10" and is often greater than 30". We have used the digitalscans of the POSS I and POSS II plates to derive more accurate positionsand proper motions of the objects. Out of the 4470 candidates in the LHScatalog, 4323 objects were manually reidentified in the POSS I and POSSII scans. A small fraction of the stars were not found because of thelack of finder charts and digitized POSS II scans. The uncertainties inthe revised positions are typically ~2" but can be as high as ~8" in afew cases, which is a large improvement over the original data.Cross-correlation with the Tycho-2 and Hipparcos catalogs yielded 819candidates (with mR<~12). For these brighter sources, theposition and proper-motion data were replaced with the more accurateTycho-2/Hipparcos data. In total, we have revised proper-motionmeasurements and coordinates for 4040 stars and revised coordinates for4330 stars. The electronic version of the paper5 contains the updated information on all 4470stars in the LHS catalog.
| The WARPS Survey. VI. Galaxy Cluster and Source Identifications from Phase I
We present in catalog form the optical identifications for objects fromthe first phase of the Wide Angle ROSAT Pointed Survey (WARPS). WARPS isa serendipitous survey of relatively deep, pointed ROSAT observationsfor clusters of galaxies. The X-ray source detection algorithm used byWARPS is Voronoi Tessellation and Percolation (VTP), a technique whichis equally sensitive to point sources and extended sources of lowsurface brightness. WARPS-I is based on the central regions of 86 ROSATPSPC fields, covering an area of 16.2 square degrees. We describe herethe X-ray source screening and optical identification process forWARPS-I, which yielded 34 clusters at 0.06
| The Palomar/MSU Nearby Star Spectroscopic Survey. III. Chromospheric Activity, M Dwarf Ages, and the Local Star Formation History
We present high-resolution echelle spectroscopy of 676 nearby M dwarfs.Our measurements include radial velocities, equivalent widths ofimportant chromospheric emission lines, and rotational velocities forrapidly rotating stars. We identify several distinct groups by theirHα properties and investigate variations in chromospheric activityamong early (M0-M2.5) and mid (M3-M6) dwarfs. Using a volume-limitedsample together with a relationship between age and chromosphericactivity, we show that the rate of star formation in the immediate solarneighborhood has been relatively constant over the last 4 Gyr. Inparticular, our results are inconsistent with recent large bursts ofstar formation. We use the correlation between Hα activity and ageas a function of color to set constraints on the properties of L and Tdwarf secondary components in binary systems. We also identify a numberof interesting stars, including rapid rotators, radial velocityvariables, and spectroscopic binaries. Observations were made at the 60inch telescope at Palomar Mountain, which is jointly owned by theCalifornia Institute of Technology and the Carnegie Institution ofWashington.
| Toward Spectral Classification of L and T Dwarfs: Infrared and Optical Spectroscopy and Analysis
We present 0.6-2.5 μm, R>~400 spectra of 27 cool, low-luminositystars and substellar objects. Based on these and previously publishedspectra, we develop a preliminary spectral classification system for Land T dwarfs. For late L and T types the classification system is basedentirely on four spectral indices in the 1-2.5 μm interval. Two ofthese indices are derived from water absorption bands at 1.15 and 1.4μm, the latter of which shows a smooth increase in depth through theL and T sequences and can be used to classify both spectral types. Theother two indices make use of methane absorption features in the H and Kbands, with the K-band index also applicable to mid-to-late L dwarfs.Continuum indices shortward of 1 μm used by previous authors toclassify L dwarfs are found to be useful only through mid-L subclasses.We employ the 1.5 μm water index and the 2.2 μm methane index tocomplete the L classification through L9.5 and to link the new systemwith a modified version of the 2MASS ``color-d'' index. By correlatingthe depths of the methane and water absorption features, we establish aT spectral sequence from T0 to T8, based on all four indices, that is asmooth continuation of the L sequence. We reclassify two 2MASS L8 dwarfsas L9 and L9.5 and identify one SDSS object as L9. In the proposedsystem methane absorption appears in the K band approximately at L8, twosubclasses earlier than its appearance in the H band. The L and Tspectral classes are distinguished by the absence and presence,respectively, of H-band methane absorption.
| Spectral Energy Distributions for Disk and Halo M Dwarfs
We have obtained infrared (1-2.5 ?m) spectroscopy for 42 halo anddisk dwarfs with spectral types M1-M6.5. These data are compared tosynthetic spectra generated by the latest model atmospheres of Allard& Hauschildt. Photospheric parameters metallicity, effectivetemperature, and radius are determined for the sample.We find goodagreement between observation and theory except for known problems dueto incomplete molecular data for metal hydrides and H2O. Themetal-poor M subdwarfs are well matched by the models, as oxide opacitysources are less important in this case. The derived effectivetemperatures for the sample range from 3600 to 2600 K; at thesetemperatures grain formation and extinction are not significant in thephotosphere. The derived metallicities range from solar to 1/10 solar.The radii and effective temperatures derived agree well with recentmodels of low-mass stars. The spectra are available in electronic formupon request.
|
Submit a new article
Related links
Submit a new link
Member of following groups:
|
Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Aquarius |
| Right ascension: | 21h09m17.43s |
| Declination: | -13°18'09.0" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 10.957 |
| Distance: | 12.146 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | 715.6 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -1993.2 |
| B-T magnitude: | 12.301 |
| V-T magnitude: | 11.068 |
Catalogs and designations:
|
INHABITED SKY
