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Galactic model parameters for field giants separated from field dwarfs by their 2MASS and V apparent magnitudes
We present a method which separates field dwarfs and field giants bytheir 2MASS and V apparent magnitudes. This method is based onspectroscopically selected standards and is hence reliable. We appliedit to stars in two fields, SA 54 and SA 82, and we estimated a full setof Galactic model parameters for giants including their total localspace density. Our results are in agreement with the ones given in therecent literature.
| The Effective Temperature Scale of FGK Stars. I. Determination of Temperatures and Angular Diameters with the Infrared Flux Method
The infrared flux method (IRFM) has been applied to a sample of 135dwarf and 36 giant stars covering the following regions of theatmospheric parameter space: (1) the metal-rich ([Fe/H]>~0) end(consisting mostly of planet-hosting stars), (2) the cool(Teff<~5000 K) metal-poor (-1<~[Fe/H]<~-3) dwarfregion, and (3) the very metal-poor ([Fe/H]<~-2.5) end. These starswere especially selected to cover gaps in previous works onTeff versus color relations, particularly the IRFMTeff scale of A. Alonso and collaborators. Our IRFMimplementation was largely based on the Alonso et al. study (absoluteinfrared flux calibration, bolometric flux calibration, etc.) with theaim of extending the ranges of applicability of their Teffversus color calibrations. In addition, in order to improve the internalaccuracy of the IRFM Teff scale, we recomputed thetemperatures of almost all stars from the Alonso et al. work usingupdated input data. The updated temperatures do not significantly differfrom the original ones, with few exceptions, leaving the Teffscale of Alonso et al. mostly unchanged. Including the stars withupdated temperatures, a large sample of 580 dwarf and 470 giant stars(in the field and in clusters), which cover the ranges3600K<~Teff<~8000K and -4.0<~[Fe/H]<~+0.5, haveTeff homogeneously determined with the IRFM. The meanuncertainty of the temperatures derived is 75 K for dwarfs and 60 K forgiants, which is about 1.3% at solar temperature and 4500 K,respectively. It is shown that the IRFM temperatures are reliable in anabsolute scale given the consistency of the angular diameters resultingfrom the IRFM with those measured by long baseline interferometry, lunaroccultation, and transit observations. Using the measured angulardiameters and bolometric fluxes, a comparison is made between IRFM anddirect temperatures, which shows excellent agreement, with the meandifference being less than 10 K for giants and about 20 K for dwarfstars (the IRFM temperatures being larger in both cases). This resultwas obtained for giants in the ranges 3800K
| Estimation of Carbon Abundances in Metal-Poor Stars. I. Application to the Strong G-Band Stars of Beers, Preston, and Shectman
We develop and test a method for the estimation of metallicities([Fe/H]) and carbon abundance ratios ([C/Fe]) for carbon-enhancedmetal-poor (CEMP) stars based on the application of artificial neuralnetworks, regressions, and synthesis models to medium-resolution (1-2Å) spectra and J-K colors. We calibrate this method by comparisonwith metallicities and carbon abundance determinations for 118 starswith available high-resolution analyses reported in the recentliterature. The neural network and regression approaches make use of apreviously defined set of line-strength indices quantifying the strengthof the Ca II K line and the CH G band, in conjunction with J-K colorsfrom the Two Micron All Sky Survey Point Source Catalog. The use ofnear-IR colors, as opposed to broadband B-V colors, is required becauseof the potentially large affect of strong molecular carbon bands onbluer color indices. We also explore the practicality of obtainingestimates of carbon abundances for metal-poor stars from the spectralinformation alone, i.e., without the additional information provided byphotometry, as many future samples of CEMP stars may lack such data. Wefind that although photometric information is required for theestimation of [Fe/H], it provides little improvement in our derivedestimates of [C/Fe], and hence, estimates of carbon-to-iron ratios basedsolely on line indices appear sufficiently accurate for most purposes.Although we find that the spectral synthesis approach yields the mostaccurate estimates of [C/Fe], in particular for the stars with thestrongest molecular bands, it is only marginally better than is obtainedfrom the line index approaches. Using these methods we are able toreproduce the previously measured [Fe/H] and [C/Fe] determinations withan accuracy of ~0.25 dex for stars in the metallicity interval-5.5<=[Fe/H]<=-1.0 and with 0.2<=(J-K)0<=0.8. Athigher metallicity, the Ca II K line begins to saturate, especially forthe cool stars in our program, and hence, this approach is not useful insome cases. As a first application, we estimate the abundances of [Fe/H]and [C/Fe] for the 56 stars identified as possibly carbon-rich, relativeto stars of similar metal abundance, in the sample of ``strong G-band''stars discussed by Beers, Preston, and Shectman.
| Local kinematics of K and M giants from CORAVEL/Hipparcos/Tycho-2 data. Revisiting the concept of superclusters
The availability of the Hipparcos Catalogue has triggered many kinematicand dynamical studies of the solar neighbourhood. Nevertheless, thosestudies generally lacked the third component of the space velocities,i.e., the radial velocities. This work presents the kinematic analysisof 5952 K and 739 M giants in the solar neighbourhood which includes forthe first time radial velocity data from a large survey performed withthe CORAVEL spectrovelocimeter. It also uses proper motions from theTycho-2 catalogue, which are expected to be more accurate than theHipparcos ones. An important by-product of this study is the observedfraction of only 5.7% of spectroscopic binaries among M giants ascompared to 13.7% for K giants. After excluding the binaries for whichno center-of-mass velocity could be estimated, 5311 K and 719 M giantsremain in the final sample. The UV-plane constructed from these datafor the stars with precise parallaxes (σπ/π≤20%) reveals a rich small-scale structure, with several clumpscorresponding to the Hercules stream, the Sirius moving group, and theHyades and Pleiades superclusters. A maximum-likelihood method, based ona Bayesian approach, has been applied to the data, in order to make fulluse of all the available stars (not only those with precise parallaxes)and to derive the kinematic properties of these subgroups. Isochrones inthe Hertzsprung-Russell diagram reveal a very wide range of ages forstars belonging to these groups. These groups are most probably relatedto the dynamical perturbation by transient spiral waves (as recentlymodelled by De Simone et al. \cite{Simone2004}) rather than to clusterremnants. A possible explanation for the presence of younggroup/clusters in the same area of the UV-plane is that they have beenput there by the spiral wave associated with their formation, while thekinematics of the older stars of our sample has also been disturbed bythe same wave. The emerging picture is thus one of dynamical streamspervading the solar neighbourhood and travelling in the Galaxy withsimilar space velocities. The term dynamical stream is more appropriatethan the traditional term supercluster since it involves stars ofdifferent ages, not born at the same place nor at the same time. Theposition of those streams in the UV-plane is responsible for the vertexdeviation of 16.2o ± 5.6o for the wholesample. Our study suggests that the vertex deviation for youngerpopulations could have the same dynamical origin. The underlyingvelocity ellipsoid, extracted by the maximum-likelihood method afterremoval of the streams, is not centered on the value commonly acceptedfor the radial antisolar motion: it is centered on < U > =-2.78±1.07 km s-1. However, the full data set(including the various streams) does yield the usual value for theradial solar motion, when properly accounting for the biases inherent tothis kind of analysis (namely, < U > = -10.25±0.15 kms-1). This discrepancy clearly raises the essential questionof how to derive the solar motion in the presence of dynamicalperturbations altering the kinematics of the solar neighbourhood: doesthere exist in the solar neighbourhood a subset of stars having no netradial motion which can be used as a reference against which to measurethe solar motion?Based on observations performed at the Swiss 1m-telescope at OHP,France, and on data from the ESA Hipparcos astrometry satellite.Full Table \ref{taba1} is 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/430/165}
| The Indo-US Library of Coudé Feed Stellar Spectra
We have obtained spectra for 1273 stars using the 0.9 m coudéfeed telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. This telescope feedsthe coudé spectrograph of the 2.1 m telescope. The spectra havebeen obtained with the no. 5 camera of the coudé spectrograph anda Loral 3K×1K CCD. Two gratings have been used to provide spectralcoverage from 3460 to 9464 Å, at a resolution of ~1 Å FWHMand at an original dispersion of 0.44 Å pixel-1. For885 stars we have complete spectra over the entire 3460 to 9464 Åwavelength region (neglecting small gaps of less than 50 Å), andpartial spectral coverage for the remaining stars. The 1273 stars havebeen selected to provide broad coverage of the atmospheric parametersTeff, logg, and [Fe/H], as well as spectral type. The goal ofthe project is to provide a comprehensive library of stellar spectra foruse in the automated classification of stellar and galaxy spectra and ingalaxy population synthesis. In this paper we discuss thecharacteristics of the spectral library, viz., details of theobservations, data reduction procedures, and selection of stars. We alsopresent a few illustrations of the quality and information available inthe spectra. The first version of the complete spectral library is nowpublicly available from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory(NOAO) via ftp and http.
| The Rise of the s-Process in the Galaxy
From newly obtained high-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio spectrathe abundances of the elements La and Eu have been determined over thestellar metallicity range -3<[Fe/H]<+0.3 in 159 giant and dwarfstars. Lanthanum is predominantly made by the s-process in the solarsystem, while Eu owes most of its solar system abundance to ther-process. The changing ratio of these elements in stars over a widemetallicity range traces the changing contributions of these twoprocesses to the Galactic abundance mix. Large s-process abundances canbe the result of mass transfer from very evolved stars, so to identifythese cases we also report carbon abundances in our metal-poor stars.Results indicate that the s-process may be active as early as[Fe/H]=-2.6, although we also find that some stars as metal-rich as[Fe/H]=-1 show no strong indication of s-process enrichment. There is asignificant spread in the level of s-process enrichment even at solarmetallicity.
| Stellar Chemical Signatures and Hierarchical Galaxy Formation
To compare the chemistries of stars in the Milky Way dwarf spheroidal(dSph) satellite galaxies with stars in the Galaxy, we have compiled alarge sample of Galactic stellar abundances from the literature. Whenkinematic information is available, we have assigned the stars tostandard Galactic components through Bayesian classification based onGaussian velocity ellipsoids. As found in previous studies, the[α/Fe] ratios of most stars in the dSph galaxies are generallylower than similar metallicity Galactic stars in this extended sample.Our kinematically selected stars confirm this for the Galactic halo,thin-disk, and thick-disk components. There is marginal overlap in thelow [α/Fe] ratios between dSph stars and Galactic halo stars onextreme retrograde orbits (V<-420 km s-1), but this is notsupported by other element ratios. Other element ratios compared in thispaper include r- and s-process abundances, where we find a significantoffset in the [Y/Fe] ratios, which results in a large overabundance in[Ba/Y] in most dSph stars compared with Galactic stars. Thus, thechemical signatures of most of the dSph stars are distinct from thestars in each of the kinematic components of the Galaxy. This resultrules out continuous merging of low-mass galaxies similar to these dSphsatellites during the formation of the Galaxy. However, we do not ruleout very early merging of low-mass dwarf galaxies, since up to one-halfof the most metal-poor stars ([Fe/H]<=-1.8) have chemistries that arein fair agreement with Galactic halo stars. We also do not rule outmerging with higher mass galaxies, although we note that the LMC and theremnants of the Sgr dwarf galaxy are also chemically distinct from themajority of the Galactic halo stars. Formation of the Galaxy's thickdisk by heating of an old thin disk during a merger is also not ruledout; however, the Galaxy's thick disk itself cannot be comprised of theremnants from a low-mass (dSph) dwarf galaxy, nor of a high-mass dwarfgalaxy like the LMC or Sgr, because of differences in chemistry.The new and independent environments offered by the dSph galaxies alsoallow us to examine fundamental assumptions related to thenucleosynthesis of the elements. The metal-poor stars ([Fe/H]<=-1.8)in the dSph galaxies appear to have lower [Ca/Fe] and [Ti/Fe] than[Mg/Fe] ratios, unlike similar metallicity stars in the Galaxy.Predictions from the α-process (α-rich freeze-out) would beconsistent with this result if there have been a lack of hypernovae indSph galaxies. The α-process could also be responsible for thevery low Y abundances in the metal-poor stars in dSph's; since [La/Eu](and possibly [Ba/Eu]) are consistent with pure r-process results, thelow [Y/Eu] suggests a separate r-process site for this light(first-peak) r-process element. We also discuss SNe II rates and yieldsas other alternatives, however. In stars with higher metallicities([Fe/H]>=-1.8), contributions from the s-process are expected; [(Y,La, and Ba)/Eu] all rise as expected, and yet [Ba/Y] is still muchhigher in the dSph stars than similar metallicity Galactic stars. Thisresult is consistent with s-process contributions from lower metallicityAGB stars in dSph galaxies, and is in good agreement with the slowerchemical evolution expected in the low-mass dSph galaxies relative tothe Galaxy, such that the build-up of metals occurs over much longertimescales. Future investigations of nucleosynthetic constraints (aswell as galaxy formation and evolution) will require an examination ofmany stars within individual dwarf galaxies.Finally, the Na-Ni trend reported in 1997 by Nissen & Schuster isconfirmed in Galactic halo stars, but we discuss this in terms of thegeneral nucleosynthesis of neutron-rich elements. We do not confirm thatthe Na-Ni trend is related to the accretion of dSph galaxies in theGalactic halo.
| Comparing Deep Mixing in Globular Cluster and Halo Field Giants: Carbon Abundance Data from the Literature
The behavior of carbon abundance as a function of luminosity is used tocompare the rates of deep mixing within red giants of four globularclusters and the Galactic halo field population. Measurements of [C/Fe]for the clusters M92, NGC 6397, M3, and M13 have been compiled from theliterature, together with the Gratton et al. data for halo field stars.Plots of [C/Fe] versus absolute visual magnitude show that forMV<+1.6 the rate of decline of carbon abundance withincreasing luminosity on the red giant branch isd[C/Fe]/dMV~0.22+/-0.03 among the field stars, as well as inM92, NGC 6397, and M3. Among giants fainter than MV=+1.6 thevariation of [C/Fe] with absolute magnitude is much less. The dataindicate that the rate at which deep mixing introduces carbon-depletedmaterial into the convective envelopes of field halo stars during theupper red giant branch phase of evolution is similar to that of manyglobular cluster giants. The notable exception appears to be M13, inwhich stars exhibit deep mixing at a greater rate; this may account forthe high incidence of very low oxygen abundances among the most luminousgiants in M13 in comparison to M3.
| Oxygen Abundances in Metal-poor Stars
We present oxygen abundances derived from both the permitted andforbidden oxygen lines for 55 subgiants and giants with [Fe/H] valuesbetween -2.7 and solar with the goal of understanding the discrepancy inthe derived abundances. A first attempt, using Teff valuesfrom photometric calibrations and surface gravities from luminositiesobtained agreement between the indicators for turn-off stars, but thedisagreement was large for evolved stars. We find that the difference inthe oxygen abundances derived from the permitted and forbidden lines ismost strongly affected by Teff, and we derive a newTeff scale based on forcing the two sets of lines to give thesame oxygen abundances. These new parameters, however, do not agree withother observables, such as theoretical isochrones or Balmer-line profilebased Teff determinations. Our analysis finds thatone-dimensional, LTE analyses (with published non-LTE corrections forthe permitted lines) cannot fully resolve the disagreement in the twoindicators without adopting a temperature scale that is incompatiblewith other temperature indicators. We also find no evidence ofcircumstellar emission in the forbidden lines, removing such emission asa possible cause for the discrepancy.
| Spectroscopic Binaries, Velocity Jitter, and Rotation in Field Metal-poor Red Giant and Red Horizontal-Branch Stars
We summarize 2007 radial velocity measurements of 91 metal-poor fieldred giants. Excluding binary systems with orbital solutions, ourcoverage averages 13.7 yr per star, with a maximum of 18.0 yr. We reportfour significant findings. (1) Sixteen stars are found to bespectroscopic binaries, and we present orbital solutions for 14 of them.The spectroscopic binary frequency of the metal-poor red giants, with[Fe/H]<=-1.4, for periods less than 6000 days, is 16%+/-4%, which isnot significantly different from that of comparable-metallicity fielddwarfs, 17%+/-2%. The two CH stars in our program, BD -1°2582 and HD135148, are both spectroscopic binaries. (2) Velocity jitter is presentamong about 40% of the giants with MV<=-1.4. The twobest-observed cases, HD 3008 and BD +22°2411, showpseudoperiodicities of 172 and 186 days, longer than any knownlong-period variable in metal-poor globular clusters. Photometricvariability seen in HD 3008 and three other stars showing velocityjitter hints that starspots are the cause. However, the phasing of thevelocity data with the photometry data from Hipparcos is not consistentwith a simple starspot model for HD 3008. We argue against orbitalmotion effects and radial pulsation, so rotational modulation remainsthe best explanation. The implied rotational velocities for HD 3008 andBD +22°2411, both with MV<=-1.4 and R~50Rsolar, exceed 12 km s-1. (3) Including HD 3008and BD +22°2411, we have found signs of significant excess linebroadening in eight of the 17 red giants with MV<=-1.4,which we interpret as rotation. In three cases, BD +30°2034, CD-37°14010, and HD 218732, the rotation is probably induced by tidallocking between axial rotation and the observed orbital motion with astellar companion. But this cannot explain the other five stars in oursample that display signs of significant rotation. This high frequencyof elevated rotational velocities does not appear to be caused bystellar mass transfer or mergers: there are too few main-sequencebinaries with short enough periods. We also note that the lack of anynoticeable increase in mean rotation at the magnitude level of the redgiant branch luminosity function ``bump'' argues against the rapidrotation's being caused by the transport of internal angular momentum tothe surface. Capture of a planetary-mass companion as a red giantexpands in radius could explain the high rotational velocities. (4) Wealso find significant rotation in at least six of the roughly 15 (40%)red horizontal-branch stars in our survey. It is likely that theenhanced rotation seen among a significant fraction of both blue and redhorizontal-branch stars arose when these stars were luminous red giants.Rapid rotation alone therefore appears insufficient cause to populatethe blue side of the horizontal branch. While the largest projectedrotational velocities seen among field blue and red horizontal-branchstars are consistent with their different sizes, neither are consistentwith the large values we find for the largest red giants. This suggeststhat some form of angular momentum loss (and possibly mass loss) hasbeen at work. Also puzzling is the apparent absence of rotation seen infield RR Lyrae variables. Angular momentum transfer and conservation inevolved metal-poor field stars thus pose many interesting questions forthe evolution of low-mass stars.
| Oxygen line formation in late-F through early-K disk/halo stars. Infrared O I triplet and [O I] lines
In order to investigate the formation of O I 7771-5 and [O I] 6300/6363lines, extensive non-LTE calculations for neutral atomic oxygen werecarried out for wide ranges of model atmosphere parameters, which areapplicable to early-K through late-F halo/disk stars of variousevolutionary stages.The formation of the triplet O I lines was found to be well described bythe classical two-level-atom scattering model, and the non-LTEcorrection is practically determined by the parameters of theline-transition itself without any significant relevance to the detailsof the oxygen atomic model. This simplifies the problem in the sensethat the non-LTE abundance correction is essentially determined only bythe line-strength (Wlambda ), if the atmospheric parametersof Teff, log g, and xi are given, without any explicitdependence of the metallicity; thus allowing a useful analytical formulawith tabulated numerical coefficients. On the other hand, ourcalculations lead to the robust conclusion that LTE is totally valid forthe forbidden [O I] lines.An extensive reanalysis of published equivalent-width data of O I 7771-5and [O I] 6300/6363 taken from various literature resulted in theconclusion that, while a reasonable consistency of O I and [O I]abundances was observed for disk stars (-1 <~ [Fe/H] <~ 0), theexistence of a systematic abundance discrepancy was confirmed between OI and [O I] lines in conspicuously metal-poor halo stars (-3 <~[Fe/H] <~ -1) without being removed by our non-LTE corrections, i.e.,the former being larger by ~ 0.3 dex at -3 <~ [Fe/H] <~ -2.An inspection of the parameter-dependence of this discordance indicatesthat the extent of the discrepancy tends to be comparatively lessenedfor higher Teff/log g stars, suggesting the preference ofdwarf (or subgiant) stars for studying the oxygen abundances ofmetal-poor stars.Tables 2, 5, and 7 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/402/343 and Table\ref{tab3} is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| Detection of Metal-poor Stars in the Direction of the North Galactic Pole
A simple approach to detecting metal-poor stars is to measure amagnesium index, which depends on the Mg H band plus the three nearby Mgb lines and is derived through intermediate-band interference filters.An empirically established line of demarcation in the Mg index versusB-V diagram separates metal-poor stars from solar-abundance stars. Afurther separation between metal-poor dwarfs and giants depends on B-Vprimarily dwarfs for B-V<0.55, giants for B-V>0.7, with both dwarfsand giants falling in the transition region. For the metal-poor giantsthe distance from the demarcation line correlates well with [Fe/H],permitting estimates of stellar abundances. Stars in two regions on thesky in the vicinity of the north Galactic pole have been observed withsuch a set of filters. Eighteen stars (6% of the population of 299) inthe sample covering the V range 8.7 to 15.6 and 48 stars (31% of thepopulation of 163) in a deeper probe to V=19.9 found through thisprocess are suspected metal-poor stars according to their Mg indices.Twenty-three are specifically deemed giants, with<[Fe/H]><=-1.5.
| Neutron-Capture Elements in the Early Galaxy: Insights from a Large Sample of Metal-poor Giants
New abundances for neutron-capture (n-capture) elements in a largesample of metal-poor giants from the Bond survey are presented. Thespectra were acquired with the KPNO 4 m echelle and coudé feedspectrographs, and have been analyzed using LTE fine-analysis techniqueswith both line analysis and spectral synthesis. Abundances of eightn-capture elements (Sr, Y, Zr, Ba, La, Nd, Eu, and Dy) in 43 stars havebeen derived from blue (λλ4070-4710, R~20,000, S/Nratio~100-200) echelle spectra and red (λλ6100-6180,R~22,000, S/N ratio~100-200) coudé spectra, and the abundance ofBa only has been derived from the red spectra for an additional 27stars. Overall, the abundances show clear evidence for a largestar-to-star dispersion in the heavy element-to-iron ratios. Thiscondition must have arisen from individual nucleosynthetic events inrapidly evolving halo progenitors that injected newly manufacturedn-capture elements into an inhomogeneous early Galactic halointerstellar medium. The new data also confirm that at metallicities[Fe/H]<~-2.4, the abundance pattern of the heavy (Z>=56) n-captureelements in most giants is well-matched to a scaled solar systemr-process nucleosynthesis pattern. The onset of the main r-process canbe seen at [Fe/H]~-2.9 this onset is consistent with the suggestion thatlow mass Type II supernovae are responsible for the r-process.Contributions from the s-process can first be seen in some stars withmetallicities as low as [Fe/H]~-2.75 and are present in most stars withmetallicities [Fe/H]>-2.3. The appearance of s-process contributionsas metallicity increases presumably reflects the longer stellarevolutionary timescale of the (low-mass) s-process nucleosynthesissites. The lighter n-capture elements (Sr-Y-Zr) are enhanced relative tothe heavier r-process element abundances. Their production cannot beattributed solely to any combination of the solar system r- and mains-processes, but requires a mixture of material from the r-process andfrom an additional n-capture process that can operate at early Galactictime. This additional process could be the weak s-process in massive(~25 Msolar) stars, or perhaps a second r-process site, i.e.,different from the site that produces the heavier (Z>=56) n-captureelements.
| Kinematics of Metal-poor Stars in the Galaxy. II. Proper Motions for a Large Nonkinematically Selected Sample
We present a revised catalog of 2106 Galactic stars, selected withoutkinematic bias and with available radial velocities, distance estimates,and metal abundances in the range -4.0<=[Fe/H]<=0.0. This updateof the 1995 Beers & Sommer-Larsen catalog includes newly derivedhomogeneous photometric distance estimates, revised radial velocitiesfor a number of stars with recently obtained high-resolution spectra,and refined metallicities for stars originally identified in the HKobjective-prism survey (which account for nearly half of the catalog)based on a recent recalibration. A subset of 1258 stars in this cataloghave available proper motions based on measurements obtained with theHipparcos astrometry satellite or taken from the updated AstrographicCatalogue (second epoch positions from either the Hubble Space TelescopeGuide Star Catalog or the Tycho Catalogue), the Yale/San Juan SouthernProper Motion Catalog 2.0, and the Lick Northern Proper Motion Catalog.Our present catalog includes 388 RR Lyrae variables (182 of which arenewly added), 38 variables of other types, and 1680 nonvariables, withdistances in the range 0.1 to 40 kpc.
| Abundances of light elements in metal-poor stars. III. Data analysis and results
We present the results of the analysis of an extensive set of new andliterature high quality data concerning Fe, C, N, O, Na, and Mg. Thisanalysis exploited the T_eff scale determined in Gratton et al. (1996a),and the non-LTE abundance corrections computed in Gratton et al.(1999a). Results obtained with various abundance indices are discussedand compared. Detailed comparison with models of galactic chemicalevolution will be presented in future papers of this series. Our non-LTEanalysis yields the same O abundances from both permitted and forbiddenlines for stars with T_eff >4600 K, in agreement with King (1993),but not with other studies using a lower T_eff -scale for subdwarfs.However, we obtain slightly smaller O abundances for the most luminousmetal-poor field stars than for fainter stars of similar metallicities,an effect attributed to inadequacies of the adopted model atmospheres(Kurucz 1992, with overshooting) for cool stars. We find a nearlyconstant O overundance in metal-poor stars ([Fe/H]<-0.8), at a meanvalue of 0.46+/- 0.02 dex (sigma =0.12, 32 stars), with only a gentleslope with [Fe/H] ( ~ -0.1); this result is different from the steeperslope recently obtained using OH band in the near UV. If only bonafideunmixed stars are considered, C abundances scale with Fe ones (i.e.[C/Fe]~ 0) down to [Fe/H] ~ -2.5. Due to our adoption of a differentT_eff scale, we do not confirm the slight C excess in the most metalpoor disk dwarfs (-0.8<[Fe/H]<-0.4) found in previousinvestigations. Na abundances scale as Fe ones in the high metallicityregime, while metal-poor stars present a Na underabundance. None of thefield stars analyzed belong to the group of O-poor and Na-rich starsobserved in globular clusters. Na is deficient with respect to Mg inhalo and thick disk stars; within these populations, Na deficiency maybe a slow function of [Mg/H]. Solar [Na/Mg] ratios are obtained for thindisk stars. Tables~ 2 to 9 are only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strabg.fr/Abstract.html
| Mixing along the red giant branch in metal-poor field stars
We have determined Li, C, N, O, Na, and Fe abundances, and12C/13C isotopic ratios for a sample of 62 fieldmetal-poor stars in the metallicity range -2<=[Fe/H]<= -1. Starswere selected in order to have accurate luminosity estimates from theliterature, so that evolutionary phases could be clearly determined foreach star. We further enlarged this dataset by adding 43 more starshaving accurate abundances for some of these elements and similarly welldefined luminosities from the literature. This large sample was used toshow that (small mass) lower-RGB stars (i.e. stars brighter than thefirst dredge-up luminosity and fainter than that of the RGB bump) haveabundances of light elements in agreement with predictions fromclassical evolutionary models: only marginal changes occur for CNOelements, while dilution within the convective envelope causes thesurface Li abundance to decrease by a factor of ~ 20. A second, distinctmixing episode occurs in most (perhaps all) small mass metal-poor starsjust after the RGB bump, when the molecular weight barrier left by themaximum inward penetration of the convective shell is canceled by theoutward expansion of the H-burning shell, in agreement with recenttheoretical predictions. In field stars, this second mixing episode onlyreaches regions of incomplete CNO burning: it causes a depletion of thesurface 12C abundance by about a factor of 2.5, and acorresponding increase in the N abundance by about a factor of 4. The12C/13C is lowered to about 6 to 10 (close to butdistinctly higher than the equilibrium value of 3.5), while practicallyall remaining Li is burnt. However an O-Na anti-correlation such astypically observed amongst globular cluster stars, is not present infield stars. None of the 29 field stars more evolved than the RGB bump(including 8 RHB stars) shows any sign of an O depletion or Naenhancement. This means that the second mixing episode is not deepenough to reach regions were ON-burning occurs in field stars. Based inpart on observations made at the ESO La Silla ObservatoryTables 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 are available in electronic form only at the CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| CH, CN, and NH Band Strengths of Metal-poor Cluster and Field Red Giants
The strengths of the CN, NH, and CH bands in the spectra of PopulationII red giants are discussed based on observations of a sample of bothglobular cluster and field giants. We confirm an anticorrelation betweenthe oxygen abundance and the CN indices and a correlation between the3883 Å CN band and the 3360 Å NH band strengths among giantsin the globular clusters M15 and M13. We find one M15 star (IV-38) witha strong 3883 Å CN band and detectable 4215 Å CN and 3360Å NH bands. Abundance analysis of M15 IV-38 reveals a comparablecarbon abundance to a comparison star that has much weaker CN bands. Onepossible reason for this may be that IV-38 is an insipid CH star thathas also undergone some deep mixing. Alternatively, the atmosphere ofIV-38 may have been extensively processed through the O-->N cycle ofhydrogen burning such that carbon has been affected by O-->Cconversion. By combining our data set with material from the literatureand high-quality B-V photometry, we find that the CN band strengthdifferences among the M5 red giants do not appear to broaden the giantbranch of that cluster within the photometric errors. Using the CN, CH,and NH bands, we are able to confirm that the metal-poor field giant HD135148 is a CH-strong star and has not undergone deep mixing.
| Estimation of Stellar Metal Abundance. II. A Recalibration of the Ca II K Technique, and the Autocorrelation Function Method
We have recalibrated a method for the estimation of stellar metalabundance, parameterized as [Fe/H], based on medium-resolution (1-2Å) optical spectra (the majority of which cover the wavelengthrange 3700-4500 Å). The equivalent width of the Ca II K line (3933Å) as a function of [Fe/H] and broadband B-V color, as predictedfrom spectrum synthesis and model atmosphere calculations, is comparedwith observations of 551 stars with high-resolution abundances availablefrom the literature (a sevenfold increase in the number of calibrationstars that were previously available). A second method, based on theFourier autocorrelation function technique first described by Ratnatunga& Freeman, is used to provide an independent estimate of [Fe/H], ascalibrated by comparison with 405 standard-star abundances.Metallicities based on a combination of the two techniques for dwarfsand giants in the color range 0.30<=(B-V)_0<=1.2 exhibit anexternal 1 sigma scatter of approximately 0.10-0.20 dex over theabundance range -4.0<=[Fe/H]<=0.5. Particular attention has beengiven to the determination of abundance estimates at the metal-rich endof the calibration, where our previous attempt suffered from aconsiderable zero-point offset. Radial velocities, accurate toapproximately 10 km s^-1, are reported for all 551 calibration stars.
| Ca II H and K Photometry on the UVBY System. III. The Metallicity Calibration for the Red Giants
New photometry on the uvby Ca system is presented for over 300 stars.When combined with previous data, the sample is used to calibrate themetallicity dependence of the hk index for cooler, evolved stars. Themetallicity scale is based upon the standardized merger of spectroscopicabundances from 38 studies since 1983, providing an overlap of 122evolved stars with the photometric catalog. The hk index producesreliable abundances for stars in the [Fe/H] range from -0.8 to -3.4,losing sensitivity among cooler stars due to saturation effects athigher [Fe/H], as expected.
| On the Use of [Na/Fe] and [alpha/Fe] Ratios and Hipparcos-based (U, V, W) Velocities as Age Indicators among Low-Metallicity Halo Field Giants
We have examined the [Na/Fe] and [Mg/Fe] ratios in a sample of 68 fieldhalo giants with -3 <~ [Fe/H] <~ -1. We recalculated the Galactic(U, V, W) velocity components for these stars, using Hipparcos propermotions and a new Hipparcos-based distance scale. We used these data tosee how the abundance ratios may relate to kinematical substructure inthe Galactic halo. To isolate a set of true halo stars, we eliminatedmetal-weak thick-disk stars, about 10% of our sample. The field halogiants show the expected correlation of Na and Mg abundances, so we canuse Na as a surrogate for Mg and the alpha-elements. The most metal-poorstars show a wider dispersion of [Na/Fe] ratios than do the lessmetal-poor stars; the difference is most striking for stars onretrograde galactic orbits. Some 20% of our retrograde giants and 13% ofall our halo giants have [Na/Fe] <= -0.35 and may be significantlyyounger than the oldest halo objects. Halo giants considered ``young''by this Na abundance criterion show a preference for retrograde orbits.Giants in some globular clusters (e.g., M13) do not exhibit the Mgversus Na correlation found among halo field giants. Instead, they havevery large [Na/Fe] ratios and widely scattered [Mg/Fe] ratios, probablyinduced by deep mixing, which field halo giants apparently do notexperience.
| Early evolution of the Galactic halo revealed from Hipparcos observations of metal-poor stars
The kinematics of 122 red giant and 124 RR Lyrae stars in the solarneighborhood are studied using accurate measurements of their propermotions obtained by the Hipparcos astrometry satellite, combined withtheir published photometric distances, metal abundances, and radialvelocities. A majority of these sample stars have metal abundances of(Fe/H) = -1 or less and thus represent the old stellar populations inthe Galaxy. The halo component, with (Fe/H) = -1.6 or less, ischaracterized by a lack of systemic rotation and a radially elongatedvelocity ellipsoid. About 16 percent of such metal-poor stars have loworbital eccentricities, and we see no evidence of a correlation between(Fe/H) and e. Based on the model for the e-distribution of orbits, weshow that this fraction of low-e stars for (Fe/H) = -1.6 or less isexplained by the halo component alone, without introducing the extradisk component claimed by recent workers. This is also supported by theabsence of a significant change in the e-distribution with height fromthe Galactic plane. In the intermediate-metallicity range, we find thatstars with disklike kinematics have only modest effects on thedistributions of rotational velocities and e for the sample at absolutevalue of z less than 1 kpc. This disk component appears to constituteonly 10 percent for (Fe/H) between -1.6 and -1 and 20 percent for (Fe/H)between -1.4 and -1.
| A catalogue of [Fe/H] determinations: 1996 edition
A fifth Edition of the Catalogue of [Fe/H] determinations is presentedherewith. It contains 5946 determinations for 3247 stars, including 751stars in 84 associations, clusters or galaxies. The literature iscomplete up to December 1995. The 700 bibliographical referencescorrespond to [Fe/H] determinations obtained from high resolutionspectroscopic observations and detailed analyses, most of them carriedout with the help of model-atmospheres. The Catalogue is made up ofthree formatted files: File 1: field stars, File 2: stars in galacticassociations and clusters, and stars in SMC, LMC, M33, File 3: numberedlist of bibliographical references The three files are only available inelectronic form at the Centre de Donnees Stellaires in Strasbourg, viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5), or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| More light on RV Tauri variables.
This study confirms the results of the preliminary study (Russell, 1997,in "Advances in Stellar Evolution", eds. R.T. Rood & A. Renzini, inpress) indicating that RV Tau variables in globular clusters don't showthe kind of anomalous abundances seen in RV Tau variables observed inthe field. By making comparisons with red giants in the same clusters,it has been possible, for the first time, to identify precisely how eachelement deviates from the normal abundance ratios of evolved giants. Theapparent systematic deficiency in s-process elements reported for RV Tauvariables in the literature is not confirmed in the present study.Either the stars observed here are of such low metallicity, that whatever process causes s-process deficiencies in more metal rich fieldstars doesn't operate; or the systematic deficiency in s-processelements is simply an illusion of small number statistics.
| A New Version of the Catalog of CH and Related Stars (CH95 Catalog)
A new version of the catalog of CH and related stars contains 244 fieldstars and 17 globular cluster stars. Here a list of these stars withtheir coordinates, their positions in the HR diagram and somestatistical diagrams is presented. The catalog will soon be available inthe printed and computerized versions.
| Classification of Population II Stars in the Vilnius Photometric System. I. Methods
The methods used for classification of Population II stars in theVilnius photometric system are described. An extensive set of standardswith known astrophysical parameters compiled from the literature sourcesis given. These standard stars are classified in the Vilnius photometricsystem using the methods described. The accuracy of classification isevaluated by a comparison of the astrophysical parameters derived fromthe Vilnius photometric system with those estimated from spectroscopicstudies as well as from photometric data in other systems. For dwarfsand subdwarfs, we find a satisfactory agreement between our reddeningsand those estimated in the uvbyscriptstyle beta system. The standarddeviation of [Fe/H] deter mined in the Vilnius system is about 0.2 dex.The absolute magnitude for dwarfs and subdwarfs is estimated with anaccuracy of scriptstyle <=0.5 mag.
| Al, Mg and Eu Abundances in Globular Cluster Giants. I. Tests of Deep Mixing
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1996AJ....112.1517S&db_key=AST
| Sodium Abundances in Field Metal-Poor Stars
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1996AJ....111.1689P&db_key=AST
| Abundances of light elements in metal-poor stars. I. Atmospheric parameters and a new T_eff_ scale
We present atmospheric parameters for about 300 stars of differentchemical composition, whose spectra will be used to study the galacticenrichment of Fe and light elements. These parameters were derived usingan homogeneous iterative procedure, which considers new calibrations ofcolour-T_eff_ relations for F, G and K-type stars based on Infrared FluxMethod (IRFM) and interferometric diameters for population I stars, andthe Kurucz (1992) model atmospheres. We found that these calibrationsyield a self-consistent set of atmospheric parameters forT_eff_>4400K, representing a clear improvement over results obtainedwith older model atmospheres. Using this T_eff_ -scale and Feequilibrium of ionization, we obtained very low gravities (implyingluminosities incompatible with that expected for RGB stars) formetal-poor stars cooler than 4400K; this might be due either to amoderate Fe overionization (expected from statistical equilibriumcalculations) or to inadequacy of Kurucz models to describe theatmospheres of very cool giants. Our T_eff_ scale is compared with otherscales recently used for metal-poor stars; it agrees well with thoseobtained using Kurucz (1992) models, but it gives much larger T_eff_'sthan those obtained using OSMARCS models (Edvardsson et al. 1993). Thisdifference is attributed to the different treatment of convection in thetwo sets of models. For the Sun, the Kurucz (1992) model appears to bepreferable to the OSMARCS ones because it better predicts the solar limbdarkening; furthermore, we find that our photometric T_eff_ 's formetal-poor stars agree well with both direct estimates based on theIRFM, and with T_eff_'s derived from Hα wings when using Kuruczmodels.
| Kinematics of metal-poor stars in the galaxy
We discuss the kinematic properties of a sample of 1936 Galactic stars,selected without kinematic bias, and with abundances (Fe/H) is less thanor equal to -0.6. The stars selected for this study all have measuredradial velocities, and the majority have abundances determined fromspectroscopic or narrow-/intermediate-band photometric techniques. Incontrast to previous examinations of the kinematics of the metal-poorstars in the Galaxy, our sample contains large numbers of stars that arelocated at distances in excess of 1 kpc from the Galactic plane. Thus, amuch clearer picture of the nature of the metal-deficient populations inthe Galaxy can now be drawn.
| Ca II H and K Filter Photometry on the UVBY System. II. The Catalog of Observations
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1995AJ....109.2828T&db_key=AST
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Serpent |
| Right ascension: | 15h13m17.46s |
| Declination: | +12°27'25.5" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 9.402 |
| Proper motion RA: | -26.8 |
| Proper motion Dec: | 2.1 |
| B-T magnitude: | 11.338 |
| V-T magnitude: | 9.562 |
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