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Zero-Age Main Sequence in the HR Diagram of the Vilnius Photometric System
The zero-age main sequence for solar metallicity stars in the absolutemagnitude vs. color diagram of the Vilnius seven-color photometricsystem is determined. The calibration is based on the results ofphotoelectric photometry of stars in the Hyades, Pleiades and Praesepeopen clusters and the Ori OB1 association. A theoretical Victoria-Reginaisochrone, corresponding to an age of 10 million years, coincides wellwith the lower envelope of the unevolved main sequence.
| A Catalog of Temperatures and Red Cousins Photometry for the Hyades
Using Hyades photometry published by Mendoza and other authors,Pinsonneault et al. have recently concluded that Cousins V-I photometrypublished by Taylor & Joner is not on the Cousins system. Extensivetests of the Taylor-Joner photometry and other pertinent results aretherefore performed in this paper. It is found that in part, thePinsonneault et al. conclusion rests on (1) a systematic error inMendoza's (R-I)J photometry and (2) a small error in anapproximate Johnson-to-Cousins transformation published by Bessell. Forthe Taylor-Joner values of (V-R)C, it is found that there arepossible (though not definite) differences of several mmag with otherresults. However, the Taylor-Joner values of (R-I)C data aresupported at the 1 mmag level. Using the (R-I)C data andother published results, an (R-I)C catalog is assembled for146 Hyades stars with spectral types earlier than about K5. For singlestars with multiple contributing data, the rms errors of the catalogentries are less than 4.4 mmag. Temperatures on the Di Benedettoangular-diameter scale are also given in the catalog and are used tohelp update published analyses of high-dispersion values of [Fe/H] forthe Hyades. The best current mean Hyades value of [Fe/H] is found to be+0.103+/-0.008 dex and is essentially unchanged from its previous value.In addition to these numerical results, recommendations are made aboutimproving attitudes and practices that are pertinent to issues likethose raised by Pinsonneault et al.
| Mg II chromospheric radiative loss rates in cool active and quiet stars
The Mg II k emission line is a good indicator of the level ofchromospheric activity in late-type stars. We investigate the dependenceof this activity indicator on fundamental stellar parameters. To thispurpose we use IUE observations of the Mg II k line in 225 late-typestars of luminosity classes I-V, with different levels of chromosphericactivity. We first re-analyse the relation between Mg II k lineluminosity and stellar absolute magnitude, performing linear fits to thepoints. The ratio of Mg II surface flux to total surface flux is foundto be independent of stellar luminosity for evolved stars and toincrease with decreasing luminosity for dwarfs. We also analyse the MgII k line surface flux-metallicity connection. The Mg II k emissionlevel turns out to be not dependent on metallicity. Finally, the Mg II kline surface flux-temperature relation is investigated by treatingseparately, for the first time, a large sample of very active and normalstars. The stellar surface fluxes in the k line of normal stars arefound to be strongly dependent on the temperature and slightly dependenton the gravity, thus confirming the validity of recently proposedmodels. In contrast, data relative to RS CVn binaries and BY Dra stars,which show very strong chromospheric activity, are not justified in theframework of a description based only on acoustic waves and uniformlydistributed magnetic flux tubes so that they require more detailedmodels.
| The Geneva-Copenhagen survey of the Solar neighbourhood. Ages, metallicities, and kinematic properties of 14 000 F and G dwarfs
We present and discuss new determinations of metallicity, rotation, age,kinematics, and Galactic orbits for a complete, magnitude-limited, andkinematically unbiased sample of 16 682 nearby F and G dwarf stars. Our63 000 new, accurate radial-velocity observations for nearly 13 500stars allow identification of most of the binary stars in the sampleand, together with published uvbyβ photometry, Hipparcosparallaxes, Tycho-2 proper motions, and a few earlier radial velocities,complete the kinematic information for 14 139 stars. These high-qualityvelocity data are supplemented by effective temperatures andmetallicities newly derived from recent and/or revised calibrations. Theremaining stars either lack Hipparcos data or have fast rotation. Amajor effort has been devoted to the determination of new isochrone agesfor all stars for which this is possible. Particular attention has beengiven to a realistic treatment of statistical biases and errorestimates, as standard techniques tend to underestimate these effectsand introduce spurious features in the age distributions. Our ages agreewell with those by Edvardsson et al. (\cite{edv93}), despite severalastrophysical and computational improvements since then. We demonstrate,however, how strong observational and theoretical biases cause thedistribution of the observed ages to be very different from that of thetrue age distribution of the sample. Among the many basic relations ofthe Galactic disk that can be reinvestigated from the data presentedhere, we revisit the metallicity distribution of the G dwarfs and theage-metallicity, age-velocity, and metallicity-velocity relations of theSolar neighbourhood. Our first results confirm the lack of metal-poor Gdwarfs relative to closed-box model predictions (the ``G dwarfproblem''), the existence of radial metallicity gradients in the disk,the small change in mean metallicity of the thin disk since itsformation and the substantial scatter in metallicity at all ages, andthe continuing kinematic heating of the thin disk with an efficiencyconsistent with that expected for a combination of spiral arms and giantmolecular clouds. Distinct features in the distribution of the Vcomponent of the space motion are extended in age and metallicity,corresponding to the effects of stochastic spiral waves rather thanclassical moving groups, and may complicate the identification ofthick-disk stars from kinematic criteria. More advanced analyses of thisrich material will require careful simulations of the selection criteriafor the sample and the distribution of observational errors.Based on observations made with the Danish 1.5-m telescope at ESO, LaSilla, Chile, and with the Swiss 1-m telescope at Observatoire deHaute-Provence, France.Complete Tables 1 and 2 are only available in electronic form at the CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/418/989
| Kinematics of chromospherically active binaries and evidence of an orbital period decrease in binary evolution
The kinematics of 237 chromospherically active binaries (CABs) werestudied. The sample is heterogeneous with different orbits andphysically different components from F to M spectral-type main-sequencestars to G and K giants and supergiants. The computed U, V, W spacevelocities indicate that the sample is also heterogeneous in velocityspace. That is, both kinematically younger and older systems exist amongthe non-evolved main sequence and the evolved binaries containing giantsand subgiants. The kinematically young (0.95 Gyr) subsample (N= 95),which is formed according to the kinematical criteria of moving groups,was compared with the rest (N= 142) of the sample (3.86 Gyr) toinvestigate any observational clues of binary evolution. Comparing theorbital period histograms between the younger and older subsamples,evidence was found supporting the finding of Demircan that the CABs losemass (and angular momentum) and evolve towards shorter orbital periods.The evidence of mass loss is noticeable on the histograms of the totalmass (Mh+Mc), which is compared between theyounger (only N= 53 systems available) and older subsamples (only N= 66systems available). The orbital period decrease during binary evolutionis found to be clearly indicated by the kinematical ages of 6.69, 5.19and 3.02 Gyr which were found in the subsamples according to the periodranges of logP<= 0.8, 0.8 < logP<= 1.7 and 1.7 < logP<=3, respectively, among the binaries in the older subsample.
| Beryllium Abundances in F and G Dwarfs in Praesepe and Other Young Clusters from Keck HIRES Observations
The study of both Be and Li gives useful clues about stellar internalstructure. Of particular interest is the study of these light elementsin open clusters, which have a known age and metallicity. In this paperwe present a study of Be abundances in 10 F-type stars in Praesepe and acomprehensive discussion about Be abundances in other open clusters:Hyades, Pleiades, α Per, Coma, and UMa. We have made observationsof the doublet of Be II around 3130 Å in Praesepe stars, using theKeck I telescope and the High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES).Beryllium abundances were derived from the spectra using the spectrumsynthesis method. We find four stars with definite Be depletion in thetemperature range of the Li dip like we found in our previous clusterstudies, notably for the Hyades and Coma clusters. Putting all theclusters together, we confirm the existence of a Be dip in a narrowtemperature range for F stars. Beryllium depletion in this dip is lesspronounced than Li depletion. For the cooler stars there is little or noBe depletion, even though there are large depletions of Li. For starsthat have little or no Li depletion, A(Li)>=3.0, the ratio Li/Be is75+/-4.6, compared to the meteoritic ratio of 77.6. For stars coolerthan ~5900 K there appears to be little or no Be depletion, and the meanA(Be) is 1.30+/-0.02. For these cooler stars within a given clusterthere is no evidence for intrinsic star-to-star differences in A(Be),with the possible exception of the cool Pleiades stars. In thetemperature range of the Li-Be dip, a strong correlation exists betweenLi and Be, consistent with the theory of rotationally induced mixing.Moreover, the slopes of the Li versus Be correlations are differentdepending on the temperature range. For the full sample of 42 starsbetween 5900 and 6650 K the slope is 0.43+/-0.05 [where A(Li) is theabscissa]. The slope is 0.48+/-0.08 for 6300K
| Dependence of coronal X-ray emission on spot-induced brightness variations in cool main sequence stars
The maximum amplitude (Amax) of spot-induced brightnessvariations from long-term V-band photometry and the ratioLX/Lbol between X-ray and bolometric luminositiesare suitable indicators of the level of magnetic activity in thephotosphere and in the corona of late-type stars, respectively. By usingthese activity indicators we investigate the dependence of coronal X-rayemission on the level of photospheric starspot activity in a homogeneoussample of low mass main sequence field and cluster stars of differentages (IC 2602, IC 4665,IC 2391, alpha Persei,Pleiades and Hyades). First, theactivity-rotation connection at the photospheric level is re-analysed,as well as its dependence on spectral type and age. The upper envelopeof Amax increases monotonically with decreasing rotationalperiod (P) and Rossby number (R0) showing a break around 1.1d that separates two rotation regimes where the starspot activity showsdifferent behaviours. The Amax-P andAmax-R0 relations are fitted with linear,exponential and power laws to look for the function which bestrepresents the trend of the data. The highest values of Amaxare found among K-type stars and at the ages of alphaPersei and Pleiades. We also analyse theactivity-rotation connection at the coronal level as well as itsdependence on spectral type. The level of X-ray emission increases withincreasing rotation rate up to a saturation level. The rotational periodat which saturation occurs is colour-dependent and increases withadvancing spectral type. Also the LX/Lbol-P andLX/Lbol-R0 relations are fitted withlinear, exponential and power laws to look for the best fittingfunction. Among the fastest rotating stars (P<=0.3 d) there isevidence of super-saturation. Also the highest values ofLXLbol are found among K-type stars. Finally, thephotospheric-coronal activity connection is investigated by using forthe first time the largest ever sample of light curve amplitudes asindicators of the magnetic filling factor. The activity parametersLX/Lbol and Amax are found to becorrelated with each other, thus confirming the dependence of coronalactivity on photospheric magnetic fields. More precisely, theLX/Lbol-Amax distribution shows thepresence of an upper envelope, which is constant at theLX/Lbol =~ -3.0 saturation level, and of a lowerenvelope. The best fit to the lower envelope is given by a power lawwith steepness decreasing from F-G to M spectral types. However, it isconsidered a tentative result, since the fit reduced chi-squares arelarge. Such spectral-type dependence may be related to a colourdependence of Amax on the total starspot filling factor, aswell as to the coronal emission being possibly more sensitive tostarspot activity variations in F- and G-type than in M-type stars. TheLX/Lbol-Amax mean values for eachcluster in our sample decrease monotonically with increasing age,showing that the levels of photospheric and coronal activity evolve intime according to a single power law till the Sun's age.Tables of the photometric and X-ray data sets are only available inelectronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/410/671
| The stellar activity-rotation relationship revisited: Dependence of saturated and non-saturated X-ray emission regimes on stellar mass for late-type dwarfs
We present the results of a new study on the relationship betweencoronal X-ray emission and stellar rotation in late-type main-sequencestars. We have selected a sample of 259 dwarfs in the B-V range 0.5-2.0,including 110 field stars and 149 members of the Pleiades, Hyades, alphaPersei, IC 2602 and IC 2391 open clusters. All the stars have beenobserved with ROSAT, and most of them have photometrically-measuredrotation periods available. Our results confirm that two emissionregimes exist, one in which the rotation period is a good predictor ofthe total X-ray luminosity, and the other in which a constant saturatedX-ray to bolometric luminosity ratio is attained; we present aquantitative estimate of the critical rotation periods below which starsof different masses (or spectral types) enter the saturated regime. Inthis work we have also empirically derived a characteristic time scale,taue , which we have used to investigate the relationshipbetween the X-ray emission level and an X-ray-based Rossby numberRe = Prot/taue: we show that ourempirical time scale taue resembles the theoreticalconvective turnover time for 0.4 <~ M/Msun <~ 1.2, butit also has the same functional dependence on B-V asLbol-1/2 in the color range 0.5 <~ B-V <~1.5. Our results imply that - for non-saturated coronae - theLx - Prot relation is equivalent to theLx/Lbol vs. Re relation. Tables 1 and 2are only available in electronic form at \ http://www.edpsciences.org
| New periodic variables from the Hipparcos epoch photometry
Two selection statistics are used to extract new candidate periodicvariables from the epoch photometry of the Hipparcos catalogue. Theprimary selection criterion is a signal-to-noise ratio. The dependenceof this statistic on the number of observations is calibrated usingabout 30000 randomly permuted Hipparcos data sets. A significance levelof 0.1 per cent is used to extract a first batch of candidate variables.The second criterion requires that the optimal frequency be unaffectedif the data are de-trended by low-order polynomials. We find 2675 newcandidate periodic variables, of which the majority (2082) are from theHipparcos`unsolved' variables. Potential problems with theinterpretation of the data (e.g. aliasing) are discussed.
| Beryllium in the Hyades F and G Dwarfs from Keck HIRES Spectra
Although there are extensive observations of Li in field stars of alltypes and in both open and (recently) globular cluster stars, there arerelatively few observations of Be. Because Be is not destroyed as easilyas Li, the abundances of Li and Be together can tell us more about theinternal physical processes in stars than either element can alone. Wehave obtained high-resolution (45,000) and high signal-to-noise ratio(typically 90 per pixel) spectra of the Be II resonance lines in 34Hyades F and G dwarfs with the Keck I telescope and HIRES. In additionwe took a spectrum of the daytime sky to use as a surrogate for thesolar spectrum so we could determine the value for Be in the Sun,analyzed in the same manner as that for the stars. We have adoptedstellar temperatures and some Li abundances for these stars from theliterature. For most of the F dwarfs we have rederived Li abundances.The Be abundances have been derived with the spectrum synthesis method.We find that Be is depleted, but detected, in the Li gap in the F starsreaching down to values of A(Be)=0.60 dex, or a factor of nearly 7 belowthe meteoritic Be abundance (a factor of 3.5 below the solar value ofChmielewski et al.). There is little or no depletion of Be in starscooler than 6000 K, in spite of the large depletions (0.5-2.5 dex) inLi. The mean value of A(Be) for the 10 coolest stars is 1.33+/-0.06, notfar from the meteoritic value of 1.42. The pattern in the Beabundances-a Be dip and undepleted Be in the cool stars-is well matchedby the predictions of slow mixing due to stellar rotation. We haveinterpolated the calculations of Deliyannis and Pinsonneault for Bedepletion due to rotational mixing to the age of the Hyades; we findexcellent agreement of the predictions with the observed Be abundancesbut less good agreement with the observed Li abundances. Some of ourHyades stars have photometrically determined rotation periods, but thereis no relation between Be and rotation period. (Generally, the lowermass stars have less Li and longer periods, which may indicate greaterspin-down and thus more Li depletion relative to Be.) The Li and Beabundances are correlated for stars in the temperature range of5850-6680 K, similar to results from earlier work on Li and Be in F andG field stars. This indicates that the depletions are not justcorrelated-the only claim that can be made for the field stars-but areprobably occurring together during main-sequence evolution. The Hyades Gdwarfs have more Be than the Sun; their initial Be may have been largeror they may not be old enough to have depleted much Be. For those Hyadesstars that seem to have little or no depletion of Li or Be, the Li/Beratio is found to be 75+/-30 the meteoritic ratio Li/Be is 78. TheHyades ratio is a representative value for the initial ratio in thematerial out of which the Hyades cluster was formed.
| Astrometric radial velocities. III. Hipparcos measurements of nearby star clusters and associations
Radial motions of stars in nearby moving clusters are determined fromaccurate proper motions and trigonometric parallaxes, without any use ofspectroscopy. Assuming that cluster members share the same velocityvector (apart from a random dispersion), we apply a maximum-likelihoodmethod on astrometric data from Hipparcos to compute radial and spacevelocities (and their dispersions) in the Ursa Major, Hyades, ComaBerenices, Pleiades, and Praesepe clusters, and for theScorpius-Centaurus, alpha Persei, and ``HIP 98321'' associations. Theradial motion of the Hyades cluster is determined to within 0.4 kms-1 (standard error), and that of its individual stars towithin 0.6 km s-1. For other clusters, Hipparcos data yieldastrometric radial velocities with typical accuracies of a few kms-1. A comparison of these astrometric values withspectroscopic radial velocities in the literature shows a good generalagreement and, in the case of the best-determined Hyades cluster, alsopermits searches for subtle astrophysical differences, such as evidencefor enhanced convective blueshifts of F-dwarf spectra, and decreasedgravitational redshifts in giants. Similar comparisons for the ScorpiusOB2 complex indicate some expansion of its associations, albeit slowerthan expected from their ages. As a by-product from the radial-velocitysolutions, kinematically improved parallaxes for individual stars areobtained, enabling Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams with unprecedentedaccuracy in luminosity. For the Hyades (parallax accuracy 0.3 mas), itsmain sequence resembles a thin line, possibly with wiggles in it.Although this main sequence has underpopulated regions at certaincolours (previously suggested to be ``Böhm-Vitense gaps''), suchare not visible for other clusters, and are probably spurious. Futurespace astrometry missions carry a great potential for absoluteradial-velocity determinations, insensitive to the complexities ofstellar spectra. Based on observations by the ESA Hipparcos satellite.Extended versions of Tables \ref{tab1} and \ref{tab2} are available inelectronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.125.8) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/381/446
| On the Wilson-Bappu relationship in the Mg II k line
An investigation is carried out on the Wilson-Bappu effect in the Mg Iik line at 2796.34 Å. The work is based on a selection of 230 starsobserved by both the IUE and HIPPARCOS satellites, covering a wide rangeof spectral types (F to M) and absolute visual magnitudes (-5.4<=MV <=9.0). A semi-automatic procedure is used to measurethe line widths, which applies also in the presence of strong centralabsorption reversal. The Wilson-Bappu relationship here provided isconsidered to represent an improvement over previous recent results forthe considerably larger data sample used, as well as for a properconsideration of the measurement errors. No evidence has been found fora possible dependence of the WB effect on stellar metallicity andeffective temperature.
| 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
| A Hipparcos study of the Hyades open cluster. Improved colour-absolute magnitude and Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams
Hipparcos parallaxes fix distances to individual stars in the Hyadescluster with an accuracy of ~ 6 percent. We use the Hipparcos propermotions, which have a larger relative precision than the trigonometricparallaxes, to derive ~ 3 times more precise distance estimates, byassuming that all members share the same space motion. An investigationof the available kinematic data confirms that the Hyades velocity fielddoes not contain significant structure in the form of rotation and/orshear, but is fully consistent with a common space motion plus a(one-dimensional) internal velocity dispersion of ~ 0.30 kms-1. The improved parallaxes as a set are statisticallyconsistent with the Hipparcos parallaxes. The maximum expectedsystematic error in the proper motion-based parallaxes for stars in theouter regions of the cluster (i.e., beyond ~ 2 tidal radii ~ 20 pc) isla 0.30 mas. The new parallaxes confirm that the Hipparcos measurementsare correlated on small angular scales, consistent with the limitsspecified in the Hipparcos Catalogue, though with significantly smaller``amplitudes'' than claimed by Narayanan & Gould. We use the Tycho-2long time-baseline astrometric catalogue to derive a set of independentproper motion-based parallaxes for the Hipparcos members. The newparallaxes provide a uniquely sharp view of the three-dimensionalstructure of the Hyades. The colour-absolute magnitude diagram of thecluster based on the new parallaxes shows a well-defined main sequencewith two ``gaps''/``turn-offs''. These features provide the first directobservational support of Böhm-Vitense's prediction that (the onsetof) surface convection in stars significantly affects their (B-V)colours. We present and discuss the theoretical Hertzsprung-Russelldiagram (log L versus log T_eff) for an objectively defined set of 88high-fidelity members of the cluster as well as the delta Scuti startheta 2 Tau, the giants delta 1, theta1, epsilon , and gamma Tau, and the white dwarfs V471 Tau andHD 27483 (all of which are also members). The precision with which thenew parallaxes place individual Hyades in the Hertzsprung-Russelldiagram is limited by (systematic) uncertainties related to thetransformations from observed colours and absolute magnitudes toeffective temperatures and luminosities. The new parallaxes providestringent constraints on the calibration of such transformations whencombined with detailed theoretical stellar evolutionary modelling,tailored to the chemical composition and age of the Hyades, over thelarge stellar mass range of the cluster probed by Hipparcos.
| The ``rotation-activity connection'': Its extension to photospheric activity diagnostics
In this paper we present the results of a different approach in thestudy of the so-called rotation-activity connection, which is a wellestablished correlation between rotation and magnetic activity atchromospheric and outer atmospheric levels. The present study concernsthe photospheric level and was carried out by using V-band photometriclight curve amplitudes as indicators of starspot coverage and ofmagnetic activity. A high degree of correlation between the envelope ofmaximum V-band light curve amplitudes and the rotation period is foundfor the active star members of young open clusters (IC 2602, IC 2391,Alpha Persei, Pleiades and Hyades), as well as for active field stars.This correlation shows a different behaviour in two different rotationperiod ranges. Moreover, some evidence of a possible activity``saturation'' is found among the most rapidly rotating stars of thesample. Additional correlations between photospheric and other magneticactivity indicators in the chromosphere, transition region and coronaare also investigated. The results presented here can be considered asan extension of the well established rotation-activity connection validfrom the corona, transition region and chromosphere, down to thephotosphere.
| On X-Ray Variability in Active Binary Stars
We have compared the X-ray emissions of active binary stars observed atvarious epochs by the Einstein and ROSAT satellites in order toinvestigate the nature of their X-ray variability. The primary aim ofthis work is to determine whether or not active binaries exhibitlong-term variations in X-ray emission, perhaps analogous to theobserved cyclic behavior of solar magnetic activity. We find that, whilethe mean level of emission of the sample remains steady, comparison ofdifferent ROSAT observations of the same stars shows significantvariation on timescales <~2 yr, with an ``effective variability''ΔI/I=0.32+/-0.04, where I and ΔI represent the mean emissionand variation from the mean emission, respectively. A comparison of theROSAT All-Sky Survey and later pointed observations with earlierobservations of the same stars carried out with Einstein yields onlymarginal evidence for a larger variation (ΔI/I=0.38+/-0.04 forEinstein vs. ROSAT All-Sky Survey and 0.46+/-0.05 for Einstein vs. ROSATpointed) at these longer timescales (~10 yr), thus indicating thepossible presence of a long-term component to the variability. Whetheror not this long-term component is due to the presence of cyclicvariability cannot be decided on the basis of existing data. However,assuming that this component is analogous to the observed cyclicvariability of the Sun, we find that the relative magnitude of thecyclic component in the ROSAT passband can, at most, be a factor of 4,i.e., I_cyc/I_min<4. This is to be compared with the correspondingbut significantly higher solar value of ~10-10^2 derived from GOES,Yohkoh, and Solrad data. These results are consistent with thesuggestions of earlier studies that a turbulent or distributive dynamomight be responsible for the observed magnetic activity on the mostactive, rapidly rotating stars.
| Color indices of the Sun and Hyades stars in the WBVR system
Using an original setup at high altitudes, we measured the color indicesof the Sun in the WBVR photometric system relative to standard stars: (W- B)_solar = -0.05, (B - V)_solar = +0.67, and (V - R)_solar = +0.53. Wepresent the WBVR photometry for the Hyades members selected by vanBueren by their space velocities. The solar position is shown intwo-color diagrams relative to Hyades stars and bright G2 V stars. Acomparison of our results with Kurucz's models reveals a discrepancybetween the metallicities of the models and the Hyades members.
| The Multiplicity of the Hyades and Its Implications for Binary Star Formation and Evolution
A 2.2 μm speckle imaging survey of 167 bright (K < 8.5 mag) Hyadesmembers reveals a total of 33 binaries with separations spanning 0.044"to 1.34" and magnitude differences as large as 5.5 mag. Of thesebinaries, 9 are new detections and an additional 20 are now spatiallyresolved spectroscopic binaries, providing a sample from which dynamicalmasses and distances can be obtained. The closest three systems,marginally resolved at Palomar Observatory, were reobserved with the 10m Keck Telescope in order to determine accurate binary star parameters.Combining the results of this survey with previous radial velocity,optical speckle, and direct-imaging Hyades surveys, the detectedmultiplicity of the sample is 98 singles, 59 binaries, and 10 triples. Astatistical analysis of this sample investigates a variety of multiplestar formation and evolution theories. Over the binary separation range0.1"-1.07" (5-50 AU), the sensitivity to companion stars is relativelyuniform, with = 4 mag, equivalent to a mass ratio = 0.23. Accounting for the inability to detect high fluxratio binaries results in an implied companion star fraction (CSF) of0.30 +/- 0.06 in this separation range. The Hyades CSF is intermediatebetween the values derived from observations of T Tauri stars (CSF_TTS =0.40 +/- 0.08) and solar neighborhood G dwarfs (CSF_SN = 0.14 +/- 0.03).This result allows for an evolution of the CSF from an initially highvalue for the pre-main sequence to that found for main-sequence stars.Within the Hyades, the CSF and the mass ratio distribution provideobservational tests of binary formation mechanisms. The CSF isindependent of the radial distance from the cluster center and theprimary star mass. The distribution of mass ratios is best fitted by apower law q^-1.3+/-0.3 and shows no dependence on the primary mass,binary separation, or radial distance from the cluster center. Overall,the Hyades data are consistent with scale-free fragmentation, butinconsistent with capture and disk-assisted capture in small clusters.Without testable predictions, scale-dependent fragmentation and diskfragmentation cannot be assessed with the Hyades data.
| Physical properties of active stars and stellar systems
We study spectra of 18 active stars and stellar systems, drawn fromlists of known active binaries or newly discovered extreme-ultravioletand soft X-ray sources. Using spectral synthesis and template modelling,we measure (often for the first time) a variety of physical propertiesof the stars, including spectral types, luminosities and vsini values.We report direct observation of previously undetected secondarycomponents in three systems, and refine the orbital elements for two ofthese (HR 7275 and HD 217344).
| The Hyades: distance, structure, dynamics, and age
{We use absolute trigonometric parallaxes from the Hipparcos Catalogueto determine individual distances to members of the Hyades cluster, fromwhich the 3-dimensional structure of the cluster can be derived.Inertially-referenced proper motions are used to rediscuss distancedeterminations based on convergent-point analyses. A combination ofparallaxes and proper motions from Hipparcos, and radial velocities fromground-based observations, are used to determine the position andvelocity components of candidate members with respect to the clustercentre, providing new information on cluster membership: 13 newcandidate members within 20 pc of the cluster centre have beenidentified. Farther from the cluster centre there is a gradual mergingbetween certain cluster members and field stars, both spatially andkinematically. Within the cluster, the kinematical structure is fullyconsistent with parallel space motion of the component stars with aninternal velocity dispersion of about 0.3 km s(-1) . The spatialstructure and mass segregation are consistent with N-body simulationresults, without the need to invoke expansion, contraction, rotation, orother significant perturbations of the cluster. The quality of theindividual distance determinations permits the cluster zero-age mainsequence to be accurately modelled. The helium abundance for the clusteris determined to be Y =3D 0.26+/-0.02 which, combined with isochronemodelling including convective overshooting, yields a cluster age of625+/-50 Myr. The distance to the observed centre of mass (a conceptmeaningful only in the restricted context of the cluster memberscontained in the Hipparcos Catalogue) is 46.34+/-0.27 pc, correspondingto a distance modulus m-M=3D3.33+/-0.01 mag for the objects within 10 pcof the cluster centre (roughly corresponding to the tidal radius). Thisdistance modulus is close to, but significantly better determined than,that derived from recent high-precision radial velocity studies,somewhat larger than that indicated by recent ground-based trigonometricparallax determinations, and smaller than those found from recentstudies of the cluster convergent point. These discrepancies areinvestigated and explained. } Based on observations made with the ESAHipparcos astrometry satellite. Table~2 is also available in electronicform at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5)or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| The age-mass relation for chromospherically active binaries. II. Lithium depletion in dwarf components.
We present an extensive study of lithium abundances in dwarf componentsof chromospherically active binary stars (CABS). Since most of thesebinaries have known radii, masses and ages, this kind of data isespecially useful for comparisons with theoretical models which try toexplain the Li depletion phenomenon. We show that a significant part ofthese stars have clear Li overabundances with respect to the typicalvalues for stars of the same mass and evolutionary stage. These excessesare evident when comparing our sample of CABS with binary and singlestars belonging to open clusters of different ages, namely Pleiades,Hyades, NGC 752, M 67 and NGC 188, which have ages ranging from 7x10^7^to 10^10^yr. The Li excesses are more conspicuous for masses in therange 0.75-0.95Msun_, indicating that the rate of Lidepletion has been less pronounced in CABS than in single stars. Thisphenomenon is interpreted in the context of transport of angularmomentum from the orbit to the stellar rotation due to tidal effects.This angular momentum transfer would avoid the radial differentialrotation and the associated turbulent mixing of material in the stellarinterior. Other explanations, however, can not be ruled out. This is thecase of transport of material induced by internal gravity waves, whichcould be inhibited due to the presence of strong magnetic fieldsassociated with the effective dynamo in CABS. The confirmed existence ofa relation between Li abundances and the fluxes in CaII H&K linescan also be accommodated within both scenarios.
| A New and Comprehensive Determination of the Distance to Member Stars of the Hyades
This paper critiques the methods used in the past for estimating thedistances to the stars that make up the Hyades moving cluster, anddevelops one which is new and comprehensive. We develop a formalism forthe application of stochastic restrictions to the adjustment parameters(velocity components and distances) and test it on constructed clustermodels. We perform model calculations with fictitious model starclusters in which the `true' values of the input parameters (ie.positions, distances and velocity components) are therefore known. Thecomparison of the distances recovered by different methods with the trueinput distances shows our approach to be very superior to thetraditional ones that estimate distances by the method of streamparallaxes without restricting the adjustment parameters. Applying ouralgorithm to the Hyades, we assume a dispersion of 0.25 kps in eachcoordinate about a common value for the velocity components of thecluster members and a dispersion of 5pc about the distance to thecluster's centre for the distances to the stars in the cluster. Underthese stochastic restrictions, we analyse the known estimates (ie.measurements) of trigonometric parallaxes, sets of high-precision propermotion pairs and high-precision radial velocities subject to theabove-stated stochastic constraints, and as a result estimate thecluster's centre to be at a distance of 45.8+/-1.25 (standard error) pc.
| Discrete Classification with Principal Component Analysis: Discrimination of Giant and Dwarf Spectra in K Stars
We demonstrate the use of a variant of Principal Component Analysis(PCA) for discrimination problems in astronomy. This variant of PCA isshown to provide the best linear discrimination between data classes. Asa test case, we present the problem of discrimination between K giantand K dwarf stars from intermediate resolution spectra near the Mg `b'feature. The discrimination procedure is trained on a set of 24 standardK giants and 24 standard K dwarfs, and then used to perform giant -dwarf classification on a sample of ~ 1500 field K stars of unknownluminosity class which were initially classified visually. For thehighest S/N spectra, the automated classification agrees very well (atthe 90 - 95% level) with the visual classification. Most importantly,however, the automated method is found to classify stars in a repeatablefashion, and, according to numerical experiments, is very robust tosignal to noise (S/N) degradation.
| Lithium abundance in binaries of the Hyades open cluster.
We have derived accurate and homogeneous lithium abundances in 49 MainSequence binary systems belonging to the Hyades open cluster by using adeconvolution method to determine individual magnitudes and colors forthe primary and secondary components of the binary. The input parametersof the model are the observed Li equivalent width, the actual distanceto the binary, the integrated apparent magnitude and the integratedcolors of the binaries -BV(RI)_K_. We show that the general behavior isthe same in binaries and in single stars (Li is depleted faster in Kstars than in G stars and there is a deep dip for mid-F stars). However,there is a larger scatter in the abundances of binary systems than insingle stars. Moreover, in general, binary systems have anoverabundance, which is more conspicuous in close binaries. In fact,there is a cut-off period, which can be estimated as P_orb_~9d. Thisvalue is in excellent agreement with the theoretical prediction of Zahn(1994).
| A new H-alpha survey of chromospherically active binaries.
Not Available
| Vitesses radiales. Catalogue WEB: Wilson Evans Batten. Subtittle: Radial velocities: The Wilson-Evans-Batten catalogue.
We give a common version of the two catalogues of Mean Radial Velocitiesby Wilson (1963) and Evans (1978) to which we have added the catalogueof spectroscopic binary systems (Batten et al. 1989). For each star,when possible, we give: 1) an acronym to enter SIMBAD (Set ofIdentifications Measurements and Bibliography for Astronomical Data) ofthe CDS (Centre de Donnees Astronomiques de Strasbourg). 2) the numberHIC of the HIPPARCOS catalogue (Turon 1992). 3) the CCDM number(Catalogue des Composantes des etoiles Doubles et Multiples) byDommanget & Nys (1994). For the cluster stars, a precise study hasbeen done, on the identificator numbers. Numerous remarks point out theproblems we have had to deal with.
| ROSAT All-Sky Survey Observations of the Hyades Cluster
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1995ApJ...448..683S&db_key=AST
| The Lithium Dip in M67: Comparison with the Hyades, Praesepe, and NGC 752 Clusters
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1995ApJ...446..203B&db_key=AST
| Coronal X-ray emission and rotation of cool main-sequence stars
We analyze the coronal X-ray emission of single main sequence stars ofspectral type F through M with photometrically (CaII H+K or broad-bandphotometry) determined rotation periods, using X-ray data from the ROSATall-sky-survey. Our sample contains both field stars in the solarneighborhood and members of the Pleiades and Hyades open clusters. Fieldstars and members of the two young open clusters follow the samerotation-activity relation, i.e., we find no intrinsic dependence ofcoronal activity on age. Assuming a power law relationship betweencoronal X-ray emission and stellar rotation, we estimate a power lawindex close to unity. With a high level of confidence (alpha = 0.99), wefind a qualitative change in behavior around Rossby number valuesR0 approximately equals 1. For R0 greater than 1,coronal activity drops more rapidly with increasing Rossby number as forR0 less than 1. Assuming an exponential relation between theLx/Lbol ratios and Rossby number, R0approximately equals 1/3 is the characteristic Rossby number for a dropof X-ray activity.
| Radio continuum emission from stars: a catalogue update.
An updated version of my catalogue of radio stars is presented. Somestatistics and availability are discussed.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Taurus |
| Right ascension: | 04h28m37.21s |
| Declination: | +19°44'26.5" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 8.626 |
| Distance: | 49.776 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | 98.7 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -39.6 |
| B-T magnitude: | 9.516 |
| V-T magnitude: | 8.7 |
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INHABITED SKY
