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The ALHAMBRA Photometric System
This paper presents the characterization of the optical range of theALHAMBRA photometric system, a 20 contiguous, equal-width, medium-bandCCD system with wavelength coverage from 3500 Å to 9700 Å.The photometric description of the system is done by presenting the fullresponse curve as a product of the filters, CCD, and atmospherictransmission curves, and using some first- and second-order moments ofthis response function. We also introduce the set of standard stars thatdefines the system, formed by 31 classic spectrophotometric standardstars which have been used in the calibration of other known photometricsystems, and 288 stars, flux calibrated homogeneously, from the NextGeneration Spectral Library (NGSL). Based on the NGSL, we determine thetransformation equations between Sloan Digital Sky Survey ugrizphotometry and the ALHAMBRA photometric system, in order to establishsome relations between both systems. Finally, we develop and discuss astrategy to calculate the photometric zero points of the differentpointings in the ALHAMBRA project.
| An Overview of the Rotational Behavior of Metal-poor Stars
This paper describes the behavior of the rotational velocity inmetal-poor stars ([Fe/H] <= -0.5 dex) in different evolutionarystages, based on vsin i values from the literature. Our sample iscomprised of stars in the field and some Galactic globular clusters,including stars on the main sequence, the red giant branch (RGB), andthe horizontal branch (HB). The metal-poor stars are, mainly, slowrotators, and their vsin i distribution along the HR diagram is quitehomogeneous. Nevertheless, a few moderate to high values of vsin i arefound in stars located on the main sequence and the HB. We show that theoverall distribution of vsin i values is basically independent ofmetallicity for the stars in our sample. In particular, thefast-rotating main sequence stars in our sample present rotation ratessimilar to their metal-rich counterparts, suggesting that some of themmay actually be fairly young, in spite of their low metallicity, or elsethat at least some of them would be better classified as blue stragglerstars. We do not find significant evidence of evolution in vsin i valuesas a function of position on the RGB; in particular, we do not confirmprevious suggestions that stars close to the RGB tip rotate faster thantheir less-evolved counterparts. While the presence of fast rotatorsamong moderately cool blue HB stars has been suggested to be due toangular momentum transport from a stellar core that has retainedsignificant angular momentum during its prior evolution, we find thatany such transport mechanisms most likely operate very fast as the stararrives on the zero-age HB (ZAHB), since we do not find a link betweenevolution off the ZAHB and vsin i values. We present an extensivetabulation of all quantities discussed in this paper, including rotationvelocities, temperatures, gravities, and metallicities [Fe/H], as wellas broadband magnitudes and colors.
| The End of Nucleosynthesis: Production of Lead and Thorium in the Early Galaxy
We examine the Pb and Th abundances in 27 metal-poor stars(-3.1< [Fe/H] <-1.4) whose very heavy metal (Z >56) enrichment was produced only by the rapid (r-) nucleosynthesisprocess. New abundances are derived from Hubble Space Telescope/SpaceTelescope Imaging Spectrograph, Keck/High Resolution EchelleSpectrograph, and Very Large Telescope/UV-Visual Echelle Spectrographspectra and combined with other measurements from the literature to forma more complete picture of nucleosynthesis of the heaviest elementsproduced in the r-process. In all cases, the abundance ratios among therare earth elements and the third r-process peak elements considered(La, Eu, Er, Hf, and Ir) are constant and equivalent to the scaled solarsystem r-process abundance distribution. We compare the stellarobservations with r-process calculations within the classical"waiting-point" approximation. In these computations a superposition of15 weighted neutron-density components in the range 23 <=lognn <= 30 is fit to the r-process abundance peaks tosuccessfully reproduce both the stable solar system isotopicdistribution and the stable heavy element abundance pattern between Baand U in low-metallicity stars. Under these astrophysical conditions,which are typical of the "main" r-process, we find very good agreementbetween the stellar Pb r-process abundances and those predicted by ourmodel. For stars with anomalously high Th/Eu ratios (the so-calledactinide boost), our observations demonstrate that any nucleosyntheticdeviations from the main r-process affect—at most—only theelements beyond the third r-process peak, namely Pb, Th, and U. Ourtheoretical calculations also indicate that possible r-process abundance"losses" by nuclear fission are negligible for isotopes along ther-process path between Pb and the long-lived radioactive isotopes of Thand U.
| Calibration of Strömgren uvby-H? photometry for late-type stars - a model atmosphere approach
Context: The use of model atmospheres for deriving stellar fundamentalparameters, such as T_eff, log g, and [Fe/H], will increase as we findand explore extreme stellar populations where empirical calibrations arenot yet available. Moreover, calibrations for upcoming large satellitemissions of new spectrophotometric indices, similar to the uvby-H?system, will be needed. Aims: We aim to test the power oftheoretical calibrations based on a new generation of MARCS models bycomparisons with observational photomteric data. Methods: Wecalculated synthetic uvby-H? colour indices from synthetic spectra.A sample of 367 field stars, as well as stars in globular clusters, isused for a direct comparison of the synthetic indices versus empiricaldata and for scrutinizing the possibilities of theoretical calibrationsfor temperature, metallicity, and gravity. Results: We show thatthe temperature sensitivity of the synthetic (b-y) colour is very closeto its empirical counterpart, whereas the temperature scale based uponH? shows a slight offset. The theoretical metallicity sensitivityof the m1 index (and for G-type stars its combination withc_1) is somewhat higher than the empirical one, based upon spectroscopicdeterminations. The gravity sensitivity of the synthetic c1index shows satisfactory behaviour when compared to obervations of Fstars. For stars cooler than the sun, a deviation is significant in thec1-(b-y) diagram. The theoretical calibrations of (b-y),(v-y), and c1 seem to work well for Pop II stars and lead toeffective temperatures for globular cluster stars supporting recentclaims that atomic diffusion occurs in stars near the turnoff point ofNGC 6397. Conclusions: Synthetic colours of stellar atmospherescan indeed be used, in many cases, to derive reliable fundamentalstellar parameters. The deviations seen when compared to observationaldata could be due to incomplete linelists but are possibly also due tothe effects of assuming plane-parallell or spherical geometry and LTE.Model colours 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/498/527
| Taking Another Look: Light n-Capture Element Abundances in Metal-Poor Halo Stars
Elements are produced in stars through a variety of processes; some arewell known, others are still the object of active research. The elementszirconium (Zr) and yttrium (Y) reside in the mass range where there isuncertainty about the production mechanism at early time. The rapidn-capture elements.
| Probing Atlas model atmospheres at high spectral resolution. Stellar synthesis and reference template validation
Aims. The fast improvement of spectroscopic observations makes mandatorya strong effort on the theoretical side to better reproduce the spectralenergy distribution (SED) of stars at high spectral resolution. In thisregard, relying on the Kurucz Atlas/Synthe original codes we computedthe Bluered library, consisting of 832 synthetic SED of stars, thatcover a large parameter space at very high spectral resolution (R = 500000) along the 3500-7000 Å wavelength range. Methods: Blueredsynthetic spectra have been used to assess in finer detail the intrinsicreliability and the performance limits of the Atlas theoreticalframework. The continuum-normalized spectra of theSun, Arcturus, andVega, plus a selected list of 45 bright stars withhigh-quality SEDs from the Prugniel & Soubiran Elodie catalog, formour sample designed to probe the global properties of synthetic spectraacross the entire range of H-R parameters. Results: Atlas modelsdisplay a better fitting performance with increasing stellartemperature. High-resolution spectra of Vega, the Sun, and Arcturus havebeen reproduced at R=100 000, respectively, within a 0.7%, 4.5%, and8.8% relative scatter in residual flux. In all the three cases, theresidual flux distribution shows a significant asymmetry (skewnessparameter γ = -2.21, -0.98, -0.67, respectively), which neatlyconfirms an overall “excess” of theoretical line blanketing.For the Sun, this apparent discrepancy is alleviated, but not recovered,by a systematic decrease (-40%) of the line oscillator strengths, log(gf), especially referring to iron transitions. Definitely, a straight“astrophysical” determination of log (gf) for eachindividual atomic transition has to be devised to overcome the problem.By neglecting overblanketing effects in theoretical models when fittinghigh-resolution continuum-normalized spectra of real stars, we lead to asystematically warmer effective temperature (between +80 and +300 K forthe solar fit) and a slightly poorer metal content.
| Enrichment of Lead (Pb) in the Galactic Halo
We determined lead (Pb) abundances for 12 red giants with the stellarmetallicity [Fe/H] ranging between ?2.1 and ?1.3 and itsupper limits for 2 lower-metallicity objects, as well as lanthanum (La)and europium (Eu) abundances. The averages of [Pb/Fe] and [Pb/Eu] were?0.3 and ?0.6, respectively, and no clear increase of theseratios with increasing metallicity was found. The [La/Eu] values areonly slightly higher than that of the r-process component insolar-system material. These results, together with the previous studiesfor globular clusters, suggest a small contribution of the s-process tothe Pb abundance of the field stars studied here, supporting an estimateof Pb production by the r-process from the solar-system abundances.
| Rotation and Macroturbulence in Metal-Poor Field Red Giant and Red Horizontal Branch Stars
We report the results for rotational velocities, Vrot sin i,and macroturbulence dispersions, ζRT, for 12 metal-poorfield red giant branch (RGB) stars and 7 metal-poor field red horizontalbranch (RHB) stars. The results are based on Fourier transform analysesof absorption line profiles from high-resolution (R ≈ 120,000),high-S/N (≈215 per pixel; ≈345 per resolution element) spectraobtained with the Gecko spectrograph at the Canada-France-HawaiiTelescope (CFHT). The stars were selected from the authors' previousstudies of 20 RHB and 116 RGB stars, based primarily onlarger-than-average line-broadening values. We find thatζRT values for the metal-poor RGB stars are very similarto those for metal-rich disk giants studied earlier by Gray and hiscollaborators. Six of the RGB stars have small rotational values, lessthan 2.0 km s-1, while five show significantrotation/enhanced line broadening, over 3 km s-1. We confirmthe rapid rotation rate for RHB star HD 195636, found earlier byPreston. This star's rotation is comparable to that of the fastest knownrotating blue horizontal branch (BHB) stars, when allowance is made fordifferences in radii and moments of inertia. The other six RHB starshave somewhat lower rotation but show a trend to higher values at highertemperatures (lower radii). Comparing our results with those for BHBstars from Kinman et al., we find that the fraction of rapidly rotatingRHB stars is somewhat lower than is found among BHB stars. The number ofrapidly rotating RHB stars is also smaller than we would have expectedfrom the observed rotation of the RGB stars. We devise two empiricalmethods to translate our earlier line-broadening results intoVrot sin i for all the RGB and RHB stars they studied.Binning the RGB stars by luminosity, we find that most metal-poor fieldRGB stars show no detectable sign, on average, of rotation, which is notsurprising given the stars' large radii. However, the most luminousstars, with MV <= -1.5, do show net rotation, with meanvalues of 2-4 km s-1, depending on the algorithm employed,and also show signs of radial velocity jitter and mass loss. This"rotation" may in fact prove to be due to other line-broadening effects,such as shock waves or pulsation.Based on observations obtained at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope(CFHT) which is operated by the National Research Council of Canada, theInstitut National des Sciences de l'Univers of the Centre National de laRecherche Scientifique de France, and the University of Hawaii.
| Vertical distribution of Galactic disk stars. IV. AMR and AVR from clump giants
We present the parameters of 891 stars, mostly clump giants, includingatmospheric parameters, distances, absolute magnitudes, spatialvelocities, galactic orbits and ages. One part of this sample consistsof local giants, within 100 pc, with atmospheric parameters eitherestimated from our spectroscopic observations at high resolution andhigh signal-to-noise ratio, or retrieved from the literature. The otherpart of the sample includes 523 distant stars, spanning distances up to1 kpc in the direction of the North Galactic Pole, for which we haveestimated atmospheric parameters from high resolution but lowsignal-to-noise Echelle spectra. This new sample is kinematicallyunbiased, with well-defined boundaries in magnitude and colours. Werevisit the basic properties of the Galactic thin disk as traced byclump giants. We find the metallicity distribution to be different fromthat of dwarfs, with fewer metal-rich stars. We find evidence for avertical metallicity gradient of -0.31 dex kpc-1 and for atransition at ~4-5 Gyr in both the metallicity and velocities. Theage-metallicity relation (AMR), which exhibits a very low dispersion,increases smoothly from 10 to 4 Gyr, with a steeper increase for youngerstars. The age-velocity relation (AVR) is characterized by thesaturation of the V and W dispersions at 5 Gyr, and continuous heatingin U.
| Line Broadening in Field Metal-Poor Red Giant and Red Horizontal Branch Stars
We report 349 radial velocities for 45 metal-poor field red giant branch(RGB) and red horizontal branch (RHB) stars, with time coverage rangingfrom 1 to 21 years. We have identified one new spectroscopic binary, HD4306, and one possible such system, HD 184711. We also provide 57 radialvelocities for 11 of the 91 stars reported in our previous work. All butone of the 11 stars had been found to have variable radial velocities.New velocities for the long-period spectroscopic binaries BD-1 2582 andHD 108317 have extended the time coverage to 21.7 and 12.5 years,respectively, but in neither case have we yet completed a full orbitalperiod. As was found in the previous study, radial velocity "jitter" ispresent in many of the most luminous stars. Excluding stars showingspectroscopic binary orbital motion, all 7 of the red giants withestimated MV values more luminous than -2.0 display jitter,as well as 3 of the 14 stars with -2.0 < MV <= -1.4. Wehave also measured the line broadening in all the new spectra, usingsynthetic spectra as templates. Comparison with results fromhigh-resolution and higher signal-to-noise (S/N) spectra employed byother workers shows good agreement down to line-broadening levels of 3km s-1, well below our instrumental resolution of 8.5 kms-1. As the previous work demonstrated, the majority of themost luminous red giants show significant line broadening, as do many ofthe red horizontal branch stars, and we briefly discuss possible causes.The line broadening appears related to velocity jitter, in that bothappear primarily among the highest luminosity red giants.
| Strömgren Photometry of Galactic Globular Clusters. I. New Calibrations of the Metallicity Index
We present a new calibration of the Strömgren metallicity indexm1 using red giant (RG) stars in four globular clusters (GCs:M92, M13, NGC 1851, 47 Tuc) with metallicity ranging from -2.2 to -0.7,marginally affected by reddening [E(B-V)<=0.04] and with accurate(u,v,b,y) photometry. The main difference between the newmetallicity-index-color (MIC) relations and similar relations availablein the literature is that we have adopted the u-y and v-y colors insteadof b-y. These colors present a stronger sensitivity to effectivetemperature, and the MIC relations show a linear slope. The differencebetween photometric estimates and spectroscopic measurements for RGs inM71, NGC 288, NGC 362, NGC 6397, and NGC 6752 is 0.04+/-0.03 dex(σ=0.11 dex). We also apply the new MIC relations to 85 field RGswith metallicity ranging from -2.4 to -0.5 and accurate reddeningestimates. We find that the difference between photometric estimates andspectroscopic measurements is -0.14+/-0.01 dex (σ=0.17 dex). Wealso provide two sets of MIC relations based on evolutionary models thathave been transformed into the observational plane by adopting eithersemiempirical or theoretical color-temperature relations. We apply thesemiempirical relations to the nine GCs and find that the differencebetween photometric and spectroscopic metallicities is 0.04+/-0.03 dex(σ=0.10 dex). A similar agreement is found for the sample of fieldRGs, with a difference of -0.09+/-0.03 dex (with σ=0.19 dex). Thedifference between metallicity estimates based on theoretical relationsand spectroscopic measurements is -0.11+/-0.03 dex (σ=0.14 dex)for the nine GCs and -0.24+/-0.03 dex (σ=0.15 dex) for the fieldRGs. Current evidence indicates that new MIC relations providemetallicities with an intrinsic accuracy better than 0.2 dex.Based in part on observations collected with the 1.54 m Danish Telescopeoperated at ESO (La Silla, Chile) and with the Nordic Optical Telescope(NOT) operated at La Palma (Spain).
| Carbon and Strontium Abundances of Metal-poor Stars
We present carbon and strontium abundances for 100 metal-poor starsmeasured from R~7000 spectra obtained with the Echellette Spectrographand Imager at the Keck Observatory. Using spectral synthesis of theG-band region, we have derived carbon abundances for stars ranging from[Fe/H]=-1.3 to [Fe/H]=-3.8. The formal errors are ~0.2 dex in [C/Fe].The strontium abundance in these stars was measured using spectralsynthesis of the resonance line at 4215 Å. Using these twoabundance measurements along with the barium abundances from ourprevious study of these stars, we show that it is possible to identifyneutron-capture-rich stars with our spectra. We find, as in otherstudies, a large scatter in [C/Fe] below [Fe/H]=-2. Of the stars with[Fe/H]<-2, 9%+/-4% can be classified as carbon-rich metal-poor stars.The Sr and Ba abundances show that three of the carbon-rich stars areneutron-capture-rich, while two have normal barium and strontium. Thisfraction of carbon enhanced stars is consistent with other studies thatinclude this metallicity range.The data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory,which is operated as a scientific partnership among the CaliforniaInstitute of Technology, the University of California, and the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration. The observatory was made possibleby the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.
| Halo Star Streams in the Solar Neighborhood
We have assembled a sample of halo stars in the solar neighborhood tolook for halo substructure in velocity and angular momentum space. Oursample (231 stars) includes red giants, RR Lyrae variable stars, and redhorizontal branch stars within 2.5 kpc of the Sun with [Fe/H] less than-1.0. It was chosen to include stars with accurate distances, spacevelocities, and metallicities, as well as well-quantified errors. Withour data set, we confirm the existence of the streams found by Helmi andcoworkers, which we refer to as the H99 streams. These streams have adouble-peaked velocity distribution in the z-direction (out of theGalactic plane). We use the results of modeling of the H99 streams byHelmi and collaborators to test how one might use vz velocityinformation and radial velocity information to detect kinematicsubstructure in the halo. We find that detecting the H99 streams withradial velocities alone would require a large sample (e.g.,approximately 150 stars within 2 kpc of the Sun and within 20° ofthe Galactic poles). In addition, we use the velocity distribution ofthe H99 streams to estimate their age. From our model of the progenitorof the H99 streams, we determine that it was accreted between 6 and 9Gyr ago. The H99 streams have [α/Fe] abundances similar to otherhalo stars in the solar neighborhood, suggesting that the gas thatformed these stars were enriched mostly by Type II supernovae. We havealso discovered in angular momentum space two other possiblesubstructures, which we refer to as the retrograde and progradeoutliers. The retrograde outliers are likely to be halo substructure,but the prograde outliers are most likely part of the smooth halo. Theretrograde outliers have significant structure in the vφdirection and show a range of [α/Fe], with two having low[α/Fe] for their [Fe/H]. The fraction of substructure stars in oursample is between 5% and 7%. The methods presented in this paper can beused to exploit the kinematic information present in future largedatabases like RAVE, SDSS-II/SEGUE, and Gaia.
| Medium-resolution Isaac Newton Telescope library of empirical spectra - II. The stellar atmospheric parameters
We present a homogeneous set of stellar atmospheric parameters(Teff, logg, [Fe/H]) for MILES, a new spectral stellarlibrary covering the range λλ 3525-7500Å at2.3Å (FWHM) spectral resolution. The library consists of 985 starsspanning a large range in atmospheric parameters, from super-metal-rich,cool stars to hot, metal-poor stars. The spectral resolution, spectraltype coverage and number of stars represent a substantial improvementover previous libraries used in population synthesis models. Theatmospheric parameters that we present here are the result of aprevious, extensive compilation from the literature. In order toconstruct a homogeneous data set of atmospheric parameters we have takenthe sample of stars of Soubiran, Katz & Cayrel, which has very welldetermined fundamental parameters, as the standard reference system forour field stars, and have calibrated and bootstrapped the data fromother papers against it. The atmospheric parameters for our clusterstars have also been revised and updated according to recent metallicityscales, colour-temperature relations and improved set of isochrones.
| Pulkovo compilation of radial velocities for 35495 stars in a common system.
Not Available
| A catalog of rotational and radial velocities for evolved stars. IV. Metal-poor stars^
Aims.The present paper describes the first results of an observationalprogram intended to refine and extend the existing v sin i measurementsof metal-poor stars, with an emphasis on field evolved stars.Methods: .The survey was carried out with the FEROS and CORALIEspectrometers. For the v sin i measurements, obtained from spectralsynthesis, we estimate an uncertainty of about 2.0 km s-1. Results: .Precise rotational velocities v sin i are presented for alarge sample of 100 metal-poor stars, most of them evolving off themain-sequence. For the large majority of the stars composing the presentsample, rotational velocities have been measured for the first time.
| Medium-resolution Isaac Newton Telescope library of empirical spectra
A new stellar library developed for stellar population synthesismodelling is presented. The library consists of 985 stars spanning alarge range in atmospheric parameters. The spectra were obtained at the2.5-m Isaac Newton Telescope and cover the range λλ3525-7500 Å at 2.3 Å (full width at half-maximum) spectralresolution. The spectral resolution, spectral-type coverage,flux-calibration accuracy and number of stars represent a substantialimprovement over previous libraries used in population-synthesis models.
| 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.
| 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.
| 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.
| Abundances of Extremely Metal-poor Star Candidates
We present chemical abundances for 110 stars identified inobjective-prism surveys as candidates for being very metal-poor. Theabundances are derived from high-S/N, intermediate-resolution spectraobtained with the Keck Observatory Echellette Spectrograph and Imager(ESI). An additional 25 stars with well-determined abundances rangingfrom [Fe/H]=-1.5 to -3.2 were observed and the results used to helpcalibrate our analysis and determine the accuracy of our abundancedeterminations. Abundances for the program stars were measured for Fe,Mg, Ca, Ti, Cr, and Ba with an accuracy of approximately 0.3 dex.Fifty-three of the stars in our sample have [Fe/H]<=-2, 22 have[Fe/H]<=-2.5, and 13 have [Fe/H]<=-2.9. Surprisingly,approximately one-third of the sample is relatively metal-rich, with[Fe/H]>-1.5. In addition to identifying a number of extremelymetal-poor stars, this study also shows that moderate-resolution spectraobtained with the Keck ESI yield relatively accurate abundances forstars as faint as V=14 with modest exposure time (~20 minutes). Thiscapability will prove useful if the so-far elusive stars at [Fe/H]<-4turn out to be mostly fainter than V=15.The data presented herein were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory,which is operated as a scientific partnership among the CaliforniaInstitute of Technology, the University of California, and the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possibleby the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.
| 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.
| 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.
| Empirically Constrained Color-Temperature Relations. II. uvby
A new grid of theoretical color indices for the Strömgren uvbyphotometric system has been derived from MARCS model atmospheres and SSGsynthetic spectra for cool dwarf and giant stars having-3.0<=[Fe/H]<=+0.5 and 3000<=Teff<=8000 K. Atwarmer temperatures (i.e., 8000-2.0. To overcome thisproblem, the theoretical indices at intermediate and high metallicitieshave been corrected using a set of color calibrations based on fieldstars having well-determined distances from Hipparcos, accurateTeff estimates from the infrared flux method, andspectroscopic [Fe/H] values. In contrast with Paper I, star clustersplayed only a minor role in this analysis in that they provided asupplementary constraint on the color corrections for cool dwarf starswith Teff<=5500 K. They were mainly used to test thecolor-Teff relations and, encouragingly, isochrones thatemploy the transformations derived in this study are able to reproducethe observed CMDs (involving u-v, v-b, and b-y colors) for a number ofopen and globular clusters (including M67, the Hyades, and 47 Tuc)rather well. Moreover, our interpretations of such data are verysimilar, if not identical, with those given in Paper I from aconsideration of BV(RI)C observations for the sameclusters-which provides a compelling argument in support of thecolor-Teff relations that are reported in both studies. Inthe present investigation, we have also analyzed the observedStrömgren photometry for the classic Population II subdwarfs,compared our ``final'' (b-y)-Teff relationship with thosederived empirically in a number of recent studies and examined in somedetail the dependence of the m1 index on [Fe/H].Based, in part, on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope,operated jointly on the island of La Palma by Denmark, Finland, Iceland,Norway, and Sweden, in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de losMuchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias.Based, in part, on observations obtained with the Danish 1.54 mtelescope at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile.
| 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.
| Sodium Abundances in Stellar Atmospheres with Differing Metallicities
The non-LTE sodium abundances of 100 stars with metallicities-3<[Fe/H]<0.3 are determined using high-dispersion spectra withhigh signal-to-noise ratios. The sodium abundances [Na/Fe] obtained areclose to the solar abundance and display a smaller scatter than valuespublished previously. Giants (logg<3.8) with [Fe/H]<-1 do notdisplay overabundances of sodium, and their sodium abundances do notshow an anticorrelation with the oxygen abundance, in contrast toglobular-cluster giants. They likewise do not show sodium-abundancevariations with motion along the giant branch. No appreciable decreasein the sodium abundance was detected for dwarfs (logg>3.8) withmetallicities -2<[Fe/H]<-1. The observed relation between [Na/Fe]and [Fe/H] is in satisfactory agreement with the theoreticalcomputations of Samland, which take into account the metallicitydependence of the sodium yield and a number of other factors affectingthe distribution of elements in the Galaxy during the course of itsevolution.
| 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
| Abundances of Cu and Zn in metal-poor stars: Clues for Galaxy evolution
We present new observations of copper and zinc abundances in 90metal-poor stars, belonging to the metallicity range -3<[Fe/H]<-0.5. The present study is based on high resolutionspectroscopic measurements collected at the Haute Provence Observatoire(R= 42 000, S/N>100). The trend of Cu and Zn abundances as a functionof the metallicity [Fe/H] is discussed and compared to that of otherheavy elements beyond iron. We also estimate spatial velocities andgalactic orbital parameters for our target stars in order to disentanglethe population of disk stars from that of halo stars using kinematiccriteria. In the absence of a firm a priori knowledge of thenucleosynthesis mechanisms controlling Cu and Zn production, and of therelative stellar sites, we derive constraints on these last from thetrend of the observed ratios [Cu/Fe] and [Zn/Fe] throughout the historyof the Galaxy, as well as from a few well established properties ofbasic nucleosynthesis processes in stars. We thus confirm that theproduction of Cu and Zn requires a number of different sources (neutroncaptures in massive stars, s-processing in low and intermediate massstars, explosive nucleosynthesis in various supernova types). We alsoattempt a ranking of the relative roles played by different productionmechanisms, and verify these hints through a simple estimate of thegalactic enrichment in Cu and Zn. In agreement with suggestionspresented earlier, we find evidence that type Ia Supernovae must play arelevant role, especially for the production of Cu. Based on the spectracollected with the 1.93-m telescope of Haute Provence Observatory.
| 12C/13C in Metal-poor Field Halo Giants
We have estimated 12C/13C in 15 metal-poor(-2.4<=[Fe/H]<=-1.0) field halo giant stars from spectra of the13CO v=3-1 and v=2-0 band heads and surrounding12CO and 13CO R-branch lines. Our isotope ratiosare consistent with previous measurements for stars in our sample with12C/13C determined either from the infraredfirst-overtone bands of CO or from optical G-band spectra of CH and redsystem bands of CN. We have also compiled carbon isotope ratios from theliterature for a much larger sample of field and cluster red giantbranch (RGB) stars spanning a wide range of metallicities(-2.4<=[Fe/H]<=solar). Combining these data, we confirm thedecline of the isotope ratio as stars evolve up the RGB and we haveidentified a trend toward higher levels of mixing in more metal-poorstars. Standard RGB first dredge-up models do not predict the carbonisotope ratios that we observe in the more evolved (higher luminosity)metal-poor stars, but more recent models that account for other mixingmechanisms can explain these data; even for very metal-poor stars suchas those that we have observed in the Galactic halo.
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Osservazione e dati astrometrici
| Costellazione: | Acquario |
| Ascensione retta: | 21h29m28.21s |
| Declinazione: | -03°30'55.4" |
| Magnitudine apparente: | 8.305 |
| Distanza: | 10000000 parsec |
| Moto proprio RA: | -3 |
| Moto proprio Dec: | -47.9 |
| B-T magnitude: | 9.388 |
| V-T magnitude: | 8.395 |
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