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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.
| Calibrating M Dwarf Metallicities Using Molecular Indices
We report progress in the calibration of a method to determine cooldwarf star metallicities using molecular band strength indices. Themolecular band index to metallicity relation can be calibrated usingchemical abundances calculated from atomic-line equivalent widthmeasurements in high-resolution spectra. Building on previous work, wehave measured Fe and Ti abundances in 32 additional M and K dwarf starsto extend the range of temperature and metallicity covered. A test ofour analysis method using warm star-cool star binaries shows we cancalculate reliable abundances for stars warmer than 3500 K. We have usedabundance measurements for warmer binary or cluster companions toestimate abundances in six additional cool dwarfs. Adding stars measuredin our previous work and others from the literature provides 76 starswith Fe abundance and CaH2 and TiO5 index measurements. The CaH2molecular index is directly correlated with temperature. TiO5 depends ontemperature and metallicity. Metallicity can be estimated to within+/-0.3 dex within the bounds of our calibration, which extends fromroughly [Fe/H]=+0.05 to -1.0, with a limited extension to -1.5.
| First Results from the CHARA Array. IV. The Interferometric Radii of Low-Mass Stars
We have measured the angular diameters of six M dwarfs with the CHARAArray, a long-baseline optical interferometer located at Mount WilsonObservatory. Spectral types range from M1.0 V to M3.0 V and linear radiifrom 0.38 to 0.69 Rsolar. These results are consistent withthe seven other M dwarf radii measurements from optical interferometryand with those for 14 stars in eclipsing binary systems. We compare alldirectly measured M dwarf radii to model predictions and find thatcurrent models underestimate the true stellar radii by up to 15%-20%.The differences are small among the metal-poor stars but becomesignificantly larger with increasing metallicity. This suggests thattheoretical models for low-mass stars may be missing some opacity sourcethat alters the computed stellar radii.
| TRIDENT: An Infrared Differential Imaging Camera Optimized for the Detection of Methanated Substellar Companions
We describe a near-infrared camera in use at the Canada-France-HawaiiTelescope (CFHT) and at the 1.6 m telescope of the Observatoire du montMégantic (OMM). The camera is based on a Hawaii-1 1024 ×1024 HgCdTe array detector. Its main feature is the acquisition of threesimultaneous images at three wavelengths across the methane absorptionbandhead at 1.6 μm, enabling, in theory, an accurate subtraction ofthe stellar point-spread function (PSF) and the detection of faintclose, methanated companions. The instrument has no coronagraph andfeatures fast data acquisition, yielding high observing efficiency onbright stars. The performance of the instrument is described, and it isillustrated by laboratory tests and CFHT observations of the nearbystars GL 526, υ And, and χ And. TRIDENT can detect (6 σ)a methanated companion with ΔH=9.5 at 0.5" separation from thestar in 1 hr of observing time. Non-common-path aberrations andamplitude modulation differences between the three optical paths arelikely to be the limiting factors preventing further PSF attenuation.Instrument rotation and reference-star subtraction improve the detectionlimit by a factor of 2 and 4, respectively. A PSF noise attenuationmodel is presented to estimate the non-common-path wave-front differenceeffect on PSF subtraction performance.Based on observations obtained at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope(CFHT), which is operated by the National Research Council of Canada,the Institut National des Science de l'Univers of the Centre National dela Recherche Scientifique of France, and the University of Hawaii.
| The highly spotted photosphere of the young rapid rotator Speedy Mic
We present high-resolution images of the young rapidly rotating K3 dwarfSpeedy Mic (BO Mic, HD 197890). The photospheric spot maps reveal aheavily and uniformly spotted surface from equatorial to high-latituderegions. Contrary to many images of similar objects, Speedy Mic does notpossess a uniform filling at high latitudes, but exhibits structure inthe polar regions showing greatest concentration in a particularlongitude range. The asymmetric rotation profile of Speedy Mic indicatesthe presence of a companion or nearby star which shows radial velocityshifts over a time-scale of several years. Using a simple dynamicalargument, we show that Speedy Mic is unlikely to be a binary system, andconclude that the feature must be the result of a chance alignment witha background binary. Complete phase coverage on two consecutive nightsin addition to 60 per cent phase coverage after a three-night gap hasenabled us to track the evolution of spots with time. By incorporating asolar-like differential rotation model into the image reconstructionprocess, we find that the equator laps the polar regions once every 191+/- 17 d. This finding is in close agreement with measurements for otherlate-type rapid rotators.
| Metallicity measurements using atomic lines in M and K dwarf stars
We report the first survey of chemical abundances in M and K dwarf starsusing atomic absorption lines in high-resolution spectra. We havemeasured Fe and Ti abundances in 35 M and K dwarf stars using equivalentwidths measured from λ/Δλ~ 33000 spectra. Ouranalysis takes advantage of recent improvements in model atmospheres oflow-temperature dwarf stars. The stars have temperatures between 3300and 4700 K, with most cooler than 4100 K. They cover an iron abundancerange of -2.44 < [Fe/H] < +0.16. Our measurements show [Ti/Fe]decreasing with increasing [Fe/H], a trend similar to that measured forwarmer stars, where abundance analysis techniques have been tested morethoroughly. This study is a step towards the observational calibrationof procedures to estimate the metallicity of low-mass dwarf stars usingphotometric and low-resolution spectral indices.
| The Cornell High-Order Adaptive Optics Survey for Brown Dwarfs in Stellar Systems. I. Observations, Data Reduction, and Detection Analyses
In this first of a two-paper sequence, we report techniques and resultsof the Cornell High-Order Adaptive Optics Survey (CHAOS) for brown dwarfcompanions. At the time of this writing, this study represents the mostsensitive published population survey of brown dwarf companions tomain-sequence stars for separations akin to our own outer solar system.The survey, conducted using the Palomar 200 inch (5 m) Hale Telescope,consists of Ks coronagraphic observations of 80 main-sequencestars out to 22 pc. At 1" separation from a typical target system, thesurvey achieves median sensitivities 10 mag fainter than the parentstar. In terms of companion mass, the survey achieves typicalsensitivities of 25MJ (1 Gyr), 50MJ (solar age),and 60MJ (10 Gyr), using the evolutionary models of Baraffeand coworkers. Using common proper motion to distinguish companions fromfield stars, we find that no systems show positive evidence of asubstellar companion (searchable separation ~1"-15" projected separation~10-155 AU at the median target distance). In the second paper of theseries we will present our Monte Carlo population simulations.
| Metallicity of M dwarfs. I. A photometric calibration and the impact on the mass-luminosity relation at the bottom of the main sequence
We obtained high resolution ELODIE and CORALIE spectra for bothcomponents of 20 wide visual binaries composed of an F-, G- or K-dwarfprimary and an M-dwarf secondary. We analyse the well-understood spectraof the primaries to determine metallicities ([Fe/H]) for these 20systems, and hence for their M dwarf components. We pool thesemetallicities with determinations from the literature to obtain aprecise (±0.2 dex) photometric calibration of M dwarfmetallicities. This calibration represents a breakthrough in a fieldwhere discussions have had to remain largely qualitative, and it helpsus demonstrate that metallicity explains most of the large dispersion inthe empirical V-band mass-luminosity relation. We examine themetallicity of the two known M-dwarf planet-host stars, Gl876 (+0.02 dex) and Gl 436 (-0.03 dex), inthe context of preferential planet formation around metal-rich stars. Wefinally determine the metallicity of the 47 brightest single M dwarfs ina volume-limited sample, and compare the metallicity distributions ofsolar-type and M-dwarf stars in the solar neighbourhood.
| Spatially resolving the accretion shocks on the rapidly-rotating M0 T-Tauri star MN Lupi
We obtained high-resolution, high-quality VLT/UVES spectra toreconstruct the two-dimensional surface structure of therapidly-rotating classical T-Tauri star MN Lupi on two separate nights.Both surface maps show a structured warm (5000 K) band centered aroundthe pole at a latitude of ≈65°. Located within the band are twohot spots with temperatures of approximately or possibly even in excessof 5800 K, i.e. 2000 K above the effective photospheric temperature.Both maps appear with an adjacent equatorial band of temperature 3400 K,some 400-500 K below the effective photospheric temperature. While weinterpret the two hot spots and the warm high-latitude band to be theheating points from two accretion impacts at the time of ourobservations and their redistributed energy trailed due to the faststellar rotation, respectively, the cool equatorial band may not be coolafter all but due to obscuration of the stellar surface by the innermostregion of the disk. The fact that the hot spots appear at high stellarlatitude is in agreement with the magnetospheric accretion model thatproposes material funnelling onto the star along a predominantly dipolarmagnetic field at roughly 50° latitude. The evidence of ongoing diskaccretion, together with the very fast rotation of MN Lupi of just 3-4times below its break-up velocity, suggests that the accretion mechanismis the cause of its rapid surface rotation. We present a model ofmagnetic star-disk coupling for MN Lupi that predicts a polar surfacemagnetic field of ≈3 kG.
| The χ Factor: Determining the Strength of Activity in Low-Mass Dwarfs
We describe a new, distance-independent method for calculating themagnetic activity strength in low-mass dwarfs,LHα/Lbol. Using a well-observed sample ofnearby stars and cool standards spanning spectral type M0.5 to L0, wecompute χ, the ratio between the continuum flux near Hα andthe bolometric flux, fλ6560/fbol. Thisratio can be multiplied by the measured equivalent width of the Hαemission line to yield LHα/Lbol. We provideχ values for all objects in our sample, and also fits to χ as afunction of color and average values by spectral type. This method wasused by West et al. to examine trends in magnetic activity strength inlow-mass stars.
| CHORIZOS: A χ2 Code for Parameterized Modeling and Characterization of Photometry and Spectrophotometry
We have developed CHi-square cOde for parameterRized modeling andcharacterIZation of phOtometry and Spectrophotmetry (CHORIZOS). CHORIZOScan use up to two intrinsic free parameters (e.g., temperature andgravity for stars, type and redshift for galaxies, or age andmetallicity for stellar clusters) and two extrinsic parameters (amountand type of extinction). The code uses χ2 minimization tofind all models compatible with the observed data in the modelN-dimensional (N=1, 2, 3, 4) parameter space. CHORIZOS can use eithercorrelated or uncorrelated colors as input and is specially designed toidentify possible parameter degeneracies and multiple solutions. Thecode is written in IDL and is available to the astronomical community.Here we present the techniques used, test the code, apply it to a fewwell-known astronomical problems, and suggest possible applications. Asa first scientific result from CHORIZOS, we confirm from photometry theneed for a revised temperature-spectral type scale for OB starspreviously derived from spectroscopy.
| 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.
| Classification of Spectra from the Infrared Space Observatory PHT-S Database
We have classified over 1500 infrared spectra obtained with the PHT-Sspectrometer aboard the Infrared Space Observatory according to thesystem developed for the Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS) spectra byKraemer et al. The majority of these spectra contribute to subclassesthat are either underrepresented in the SWS spectral database or containsources that are too faint, such as M dwarfs, to have been observed byeither the SWS or the Infrared Astronomical Satellite Low ResolutionSpectrometer. There is strong overall agreement about the chemistry ofobjects observed with both instruments. Discrepancies can usually betraced to the different wavelength ranges and sensitivities of theinstruments. Finally, a large subset of the observations (~=250 spectra)exhibit a featureless, red continuum that is consistent with emissionfrom zodiacal dust and suggest directions for further analysis of thisserendipitous measurement of the zodiacal background.Based on observations with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), aEuropean Space Agency (ESA) project with instruments funded by ESAMember States (especially the Principle Investigator countries: France,Germany, Netherlands, and United Kingdom) and with the participation ofthe Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
| NEXXUS: A comprehensive ROSAT survey of coronal X-ray emission among nearby solar-like stars
We present a final summary of all ROSAT X-ray observations of nearbystars. All available ROSAT observations with the ROSAT PSPC, HRI and WFChave been matched with the CNS4 catalog of nearby stars and the resultsgathered in the Nearby X-ray and XUV-emitting Stars data base, availablevia www from the Home Page of the Hamburger Sternwarte at the URLhttp://www.hs.uni-hamburg.de/DE/For/Gal/Xgroup/nexxus. Newvolume-limited samples of F/G-stars (dlim = 14 pc), K-stars(dlim = 12 pc), and M-stars (dlim = 6 pc) areconstructed within which detection rates of more than 90% are obtained;only one star (GJ 1002) remains undetected in a pointed follow-upobservation. F/G-stars, K-stars and M-stars have indistinguishablesurface X-ray flux distributions, and the lower envelope of the observeddistribution at FX ≈ 104 erg/cm2/sis the X-ray flux level observed in solar coronal holes. Large amplitudevariations in X-ray flux are uncommon for solar-like stars, but maybemore common for stars near the bottom of the main sequence; a largeamplitude flare is reported for the M star LHS 288. Long term X-raylight curves are presented for α Cen A/B and Gl 86, showingvariations on time scales of weeks and demonstrating that α Cen Bis a flare star.Tables 1-3 are also available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/417/651
| Library of flux-calibrated echelle spectra of southern late-type dwarfs with different activity levels
We present Echelle spectra of 91 late-type dwarfs, of spectral typesfrom F to M and of different levels of chromospheric activity, obtainedwith the 2.15 m telescope of the CASLEO Observatory located in theArgentinean Andes. Our observations range from 3890 to 6690 Å, ata spectral resolution from 0.141 to 0.249 Å per pixel(R=λ/δ λ ≈ 26 400). The observations were fluxcalibrated with the aid of long slit spectra. A version of thecalibrated spectra is available via the World Wide Web.Table 2 is also available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymousftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/414/699The spectra are available as FITS and ascii-files at the URL:http://www.iafe.uba.ar/cincunegui/spectra/Table2.html. They are alsoavailable 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/414/699. When convertingthe fits to ascii, the spectra were oversampled to a constant δλ ≈ 0.15 Å.Table 2 is also available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous
| Activity and kinematics of members of the TW Hydrae association
We present high-resolution echelle spectroscopy of 20 stars in 16systems catalogued as members of the TW Hydrae association, and 16 starsidentified as possible new members. We have calibrated the range ofcoronal and chromospheric activity expected for such young stars as afunction of spectral type by combining our observations with literaturedata for field and open cluster stars. We also compute space motions forTWA members and candidate members with proper motion measurements, usingtwo techniques to estimate distances to stars lacking directtrigonometric parallax measurements. The mean space motion of the fourTWA members with known parallaxes is (U, V, W: -10.0, -17.8, -4.6) kms-1. 14 of the candidates have properties inconsistent withcluster membership; the remaining two are potential new members,although further observations are required to confirm this possibility.
| Target Selection for SETI. II. Tycho-2 Dwarfs, Old Open Clusters, and the Nearest 100 Stars
We present the full target list and prioritization algorithm developedfor use by the microwave search for technological signals at the SETIInstitute. We have included the Catalog of Nearby Habitable StellarSystems (HabCat, described in Paper I), all of the nearest 100 stars and14 old open clusters. This is further augmented by a subset of theTycho-2 catalog based on reduced proper motions, and this larger catalogshould routinely provide at least three target stars within the largeprimary field of view of the Allen Telescope Array. The algorithm forprioritizing objects in the full target list includes scoring based onthe subset category of each target (i.e., HabCat, cluster, Tycho-2, ornearest 100), its distance (if known), and its proximity to the Sun onthe color-magnitude diagram.
| 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
| The radii and spectra of the nearest stars
We discuss direct measurements of the radii of 36 stars located closerthan 25 parsecs to the Sun. We present the data on 307 radii and 326spectral types and luminosity classes for the nearest stars locatedinside the sphere with a radius of 10 parsecs.
| 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.
| 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 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.
| Meeting the Cool Neighbors. I. Nearby Stars in the NLTT Catalogue: Defining the Sample
We are currently undertaking a program aimed at identifying previouslyunrecognized late-type dwarfs within 20 pc of the Sun. As a first step,we have cross-referenced Luyten's NLTT proper-motion catalog against thesecond incremental release of the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)Point Source Catalog and use optical/infrared colors, derived bycombining Luyten's mr estimates with 2MASS data, to identifycandidate nearby stars. This paper describes the definition of areference sample of 1245 stars and presents a compilation of literaturedata for more than one-third of the sample. Only 274 stars havetrigonometric parallax measurements, but we have used data for nearbystars with well-determined trigonometric parallaxes to computecolor-magnitude relations in the (MV, V-K), (MV,V-I), and (MI, I-J) planes and use those relations todetermine photometric parallaxes for NLTT stars with optical photometry.Based on the 2MASS JHKs data alone, we have identified afurther 42 ultracool dwarfs (J-Ks>0.99) and useJ-Ks colors to estimate photometric parallaxes. Combiningthese various techniques, we identify 308 stars with formal distances ofless than 20 pc, while a further 46 have distance estimates within 1σ of our survey limit. Of these 354 stars, 75, including 39 of theultracool dwarfs, are new to nearby-star catalogs. Two stars with bothoptical and near-infrared photometry are potential additions to theimmediate solar neighborhood, with formal distance estimates of lessthan 10 pc.
| A Near-Infrared, Wide-Field, Proper-Motion Search for Brown Dwarfs
A common proper-motion survey of M dwarf stars within 8 pc of the Sunreveals no new stellar or brown dwarf companions at wide separations(~100-1400 AU). This survey tests whether the brown dwarf ``desert''extends to large separations around M dwarf stars and further exploresthe census of the solar neighborhood. The sample includes 66 stars northof -30° and within 8 pc of the Sun. Existing first-epoch images arecompared with new J-band images of the same fields an average of 7 yrlater to reveal proper-motion companions within a ~4' radius of theprimary star. No new companions are detected to a J-band limitingmagnitude of ~16.5, corresponding to a companion mass of ~40 Jupitermasses for an assumed age of 5 Gyr at the mean distance of the objectsin the survey, 5.8 pc.
| The Solar Neighborhood. VI. New Southern Nearby Stars Identified by Optical Spectroscopy
Broadband optical spectra are presented for 34 known and candidatenearby stars in the southern sky. Spectral types are determined using anew method that compares the entire spectrum with spectra of more than100 standard stars. We estimate distances to 13 candidate nearby starsusing our spectra and new or published photometry. Six of these starsare probably within 25 pc, and two are likely to be within the ResearchConsortium on Nearby Stars (RECONS) horizon of 10 pc.
| Doppler images from dual-site observations of southern rapidly rotating stars - II. Starspot patterns and differential rotation on Speedy Mic
We have secured high spatial and temporal resolution spectra of therapidly rotating K dwarf Speedy Mic (HD 197890) at two sites and acommon epoch of observations. The 0.38-d axial rotation period and theV-band magnitude of 9.33 make it a difficult target for Doppler imaging.In order to obtain high signal-to-noise ratio profiles from 300-sexposures, we apply the technique of least-squares deconvolution to thelarge number of photospheric absorption lines available in each of ourspectra. This allows us to derive high-resolutionmaximum-entropy-regularized Doppler images of the stellar surface. Usingthese techniques, we also derive radial velocities and accurateprojected equatorial rotation velocities which are consistent to within~1kms-1. Our surface maps reveal one of the most heavilyspotted photospheres seen on a rapid rotator, with starspots occurringat all latitudes. At the time of observations, Speedy Mic had no strongpolar spot, but it shows spots concentrated in low- andintermediate-latitude bands. We attempt a differential rotationmeasurement, but lack of sufficient phase coverage allows determinationof only a lower limit of 59d for the time it takes the equatorialregions to lap the polar regions. We also find variations in the heavilyfilled-in Hα line which can be attributed to prominences passingin front of the stellar disc. Despite the rapid rotation, the appearanceof the same features on consecutive nights of observations shows theclouds to be stable on time-scales of at least a day.
| A Coronagraphic Survey for Companions of Stars within 8 Parsecs
We present the technique and results of a survey of stars within 8 pc ofthe Sun with declinations δ>-35° (J2000.00). The survey,designed to find without color bias faint companions, consists ofoptical coronagraphic images of the 1' field of view centered on eachstar and infrared direct images with a 32" field of view. The imageswere obtained through the optical Gunn r and z filters and the infraredJ and K filters. The survey achieves sensitivities up to 4 absolutemagnitudes fainter than the prototype brown dwarf, Gliese 229B. However,this sensitivity varies with the seeing conditions, the intrinsicbrightness of the star observed, and the angular distance from the star.As a result, we tabulate sensitivity limits for each star in the survey.We used the criterion of common proper motion to distinguish companionsand to determine their luminosities. In addition to the brown dwarf Gl229B, we have identified six new stellar companions of the sample stars.Since the survey began, accurate trigonometric parallax measurements formost of the stars have become available. As a result, some of the starswe originally included should no longer be included in the 8 pc sample.In addition, the 8 pc sample is incomplete at the faint end of the mainsequence, complicating our calculation of the binary fraction of browndwarfs. We assess the sensitivity of the survey to stellar companionsand to brown dwarf companions of different masses and ages.
| Catalogue of Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (CADARS) - Third edition - Comments and statistics
The Catalogue, available at the Centre de Données Stellaires deStrasbourg, consists of 13 573 records concerning the results obtainedfrom different methods for 7778 stars, reported in the literature. Thefollowing data are listed for each star: identifications, apparentmagnitude, spectral type, apparent diameter in arcsec, absolute radiusin solar units, method of determination, reference, remarks. Commentsand statistics obtained from CADARS are given. The Catalogue isavailable 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/qcar?J/A+A/367/521
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Bouvier |
| Right ascension: | 13h45m43.78s |
| Declination: | +14°53'29.5" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 8.5 |
| Distance: | 5.431 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | 1777.9 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -1455.2 |
| B-T magnitude: | 10.242 |
| V-T magnitude: | 8.644 |
Catalogs and designations:
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INHABITED SKY
