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Abundance trends in kinematical groups of the Milky Way's disk
We have compiled a large catalogue of metallicities and abundance ratiosfrom the literature in order to investigate abundance trends of severalalpha and iron peak elements in the thin disk and the thick disk of theGalaxy. The catalogue includes 743 stars with abundances of Fe, O, Mg,Ca, Ti, Si, Na, Ni and Al in the metallicity range -1.30 < [Fe/H]< +0.50. We have checked that systematic differences betweenabundances measured in the different studies were lower than randomerrors before combining them. Accurate distances and proper motions fromHipparcos and radial velocities from several sources have been retreivedfor 639 stars and their velocities (U, V, W) and galactic orbits havebeen computed. Ages of 322 stars have been estimated with a Bayesianmethod of isochrone fitting. Two samples kinematically representative ofthe thin and thick disks have been selected, taking into account theHercules stream which is intermediate in kinematics, but with a probabledynamical origin. Our results show that the two disks are chemicallywell separated, they overlap greatly in metallicity and both showparallel decreasing alpha elements with increasing metallicity, in theinterval -0.80 < [Fe/H] < -0.30. The Mg enhancement with respectto Fe of the thick disk is measured to be 0.14 dex. An even largerenhancement is observed for Al. The thick disk is clearly older than thethin disk with tentative evidence of an AMR over 2-3 Gyr and a hiatus instar formation before the formation of the thin disk. We do not observea vertical gradient in the metallicity of the thick disk. The Herculesstream has properties similar to that of the thin disk, with a widerrange of metallicity. Metal-rich stars assigned to the thick disk andsuper-metal-rich stars assigned to the thin disk appear as outliers inall their properties.
| 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.
| Rotation Velocities of Red and Blue Field Horizontal-Branch Stars
We present measurements of the projected stellar rotation velocities(vsini) of a sample of 45 candidate field horizontal-branch (HB) starsspanning a wide range of effective temperatures, from red HB stars withTeff~=5000K to blue HB stars with Teff of 17,000K.Among the cooler blue HB stars (Teff=7500-11500 K), weconfirm prior studies showing that, although a majority of stars rotateat vsini<15kms-1, there exists a subset of ``fastrotators'' with vsini as high as 30-35 km s-1. All but one ofthe red HB stars in our sample have vsini<10kms-1, and noanalogous rotation bimodality is evident. We also identify anarrow-lined hot star (Teff~=16,000K) with enhancedphotospheric metal abundances and helium depletion, similar to theabundance patterns found among hot BHB stars in globular clusters, andfour other stars that may also belong in this category. We discussdetails of the spectral line fitting procedure that we use to deducevsini and explore how measurements of field HB star rotation may shedlight on the issue of HB star rotation in globular clusters.
| 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.
| Abundances and Kinematics of Field Stars. II. Kinematics and Abundance Relationships
As an investigation of the origin of ``α-poor'' halo stars, weanalyze kinematic and abundance data for 73 intermediate-metallicitystars (-1>[Fe/H]>=-2) selected from Paper I of this series. We findevidence for a connection between the kinematics and the enhancement ofcertain element-to-iron ([X/Fe]) ratios in these stars. Statisticallysignificant correlations were found between [X/Fe] and galacticrest-frame velocities (vRF) for Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, and Ni,with marginally significant correlations existing for Ti and Y as well.We also find that the [X/Fe] ratios for these elements all correlatewith a similar level of significance with [Na/Fe]. Finally, we comparethe abundances of these halo stars against those of stars in nearbydwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies. We find significant differencesbetween the abundance ratios in the dSph stars and halo stars of similarmetallicity. From this result, it is unlikely that the halo stars in thesolar neighborhood, including even the ``α-poor'' stars, were oncemembers of disrupted dSph galaxies similar to those studied to date.
| Abundances and Kinematics of Field Halo and Disk Stars. I. Observational Data and Abundance Analysis
We describe observations and abundance analysis of a high-resolution,high signal-to-noise ratio survey of 168 stars, most of which aremetal-poor dwarfs. We follow a self-consistent LTE analysis technique todetermine the stellar parameters and abundances, and we estimate theeffects of random and systematic uncertainties on the resultingabundances. Element-to-iron ratios are derived for key α-, odd-Z,Fe-peak, and r- and s-process elements. Effects of non-LTE on theanalysis of Fe I lines are shown to be very small on average.Spectroscopically determined surface gravities are derived that arequite close to those obtained from Hipparcos parallaxes.
| Radial Velocities of Population II Stars. II.
A program for radial velocity measurements of Population II stars wasstarted in 1988 and was carried out during six observing runs. Theprogram includes metal-deficient stars, components of Population IIvisual binaries or common proper motion stars, suspected radial velocityvariables and the Population II stars from the Hipparcos program. Themeasurements were made with the 1 meter reflector at the MaidanakObservatory in Uzbekistan. The average error of a single measurement isabout 0.6 km/s, but for stars at 13 mag or for extremely metal-deficientstars the error is about 2.5 km/s. The catalog contains 621 measurementsfor 164 stars.
| Radial velocities of Population II stars. I
Radial velocity measurements are presented for 81 Population II stars.The sample comprises components of metal-poor binary stars,spectroscopic binary candidates, high latitude supergiants,metal-deficient stars with spectroscopic determinations of Fe/H,HIPPARCOS program stars, and some other stars of metal-poor population.The radial velocity measurements were made in February 1988 with aphotoelectric stellar velocimeter.
| UBV photometry of stars whose positions are accurately known. III
UBV photometric observations of 417 stars at BD declination 35-49 degfrom the NPZT(74) catalog of Yasuda et al. (1982) and the AGK3R catalogof Corben (1978), obtained with the 40-cm Cassegrain reflector atKvistaberg Observatory during 1984-1985, are reported. The data arepresented in tables, and the mean errors per observation are given as0.016 mag in V, 0.011 mag in B-V, 0.012 mag in U-B for U less than 10,and 0.026 mag in U-B for U greater than 10.
| Estimation of spectral classifications for bright northern stars with interesting Stromgren indices
The purpose of this investigation is to provide spectroscopic observerswith finding lists of potentially interesting objects. From anunpublished UVBY catalogue of 7026 northern stars (mostly brighter than8.3m) 1094 objects with interesting combinations of UVBY indices havebeen selected. Most stars with post-HD classifications have beenexcluded, as well as late F dwarfs belonging to the intermediatepopulation II. For the 792 remaining stars estimated spectralclassifications are given. The techniques and experience from a previouspaper dealing with southern stars have been utilized here. Among thepredicted spectral classifications are 40 OB stars; 262 Ap, Am, or Fmstars; 16 supergiants of types A to G; 110 bright giants of types A to K(class II); 156 double stars or objects with composite spectra; 26 lateF dwarfs; 91 weak-lined dwarf and giant stars of types F to K, includingearly F-type population II field blue stragglers; and a few possiblefield horizontal branch stars, lambda Bootis-type stars, and late-typehalo giants.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | おおぐま座 |
| Right ascension: | 11h13m54.78s |
| Declination: | +39°58'39.9" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 7.897 |
| Distance: | 319.489 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -293.7 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -115.8 |
| B-T magnitude: | 8.67 |
| V-T magnitude: | 7.961 |
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INHABITED SKY
