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Chemical Abundances of the Milky Way Thick Disk and Stellar Halo. I. Implications of [?/Fe] for Star Formation Histories in Their Progenitors
We present the abundance analysis of 97 nearby metal-poor (-3.3< [Fe/H] <-0.5) stars having kinematic characteristics ofthe Milky Way (MW) thick disk and inner and outer stellar halos. Thehigh-resolution, high-signal-to-noise optical spectra for the samplestars have been obtained with the High Dispersion Spectrograph mountedon the Subaru Telescope. Abundances of Fe, Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti have beenderived using a one-dimensional LTE abundance analysis code with KuruczNEWODF model atmospheres. By assigning membership of the sample stars tothe thick disk, inner halo, or outer halo components based on theirorbital parameters, we examine abundance ratios as a function of [Fe/H]and kinematics for the three subsamples in wide metallicity and orbitalparameter ranges. We show that, in the metallicity range of -1.5< [Fe/H] <=-0.5, the thick disk stars show constantly highmean [Mg/Fe] and [Si/Fe] ratios with small scatter. In contrast, theinner and the outer halo stars show lower mean values of these abundanceratios with larger scatter. The [Mg/Fe], [Si/Fe], and [Ca/Fe] for theinner and the outer halo stars also show weak decreasing trends with[Fe/H] in the range [Fe/H] >-2. These results favor thescenarios that the MW thick disk formed through rapid chemicalenrichment primarily through Type II supernovae of massive stars, whilethe stellar halo has formed at least in part via accretion of progenitorstellar systems having been chemically enriched with differenttimescales.
| Stellar population models in the UV. I. Characterisation of the New Generation Stellar Library
Context. The spectral predictions of stellar population models are notas accurate in the ultra-violet (UV) as in the optical wavelengthdomain. One of the reasons is the lack of high-quality stellarlibraries. The New Generation Stellar Library (NGSL), recently released,represents a significant step towards the improvement of this situation. Aims: To prepare NGSL for population synthesis, we determined theatmospheric parameters of its stars, we assessed the precision of thewavelength calibration and characterised its intrinsic resolution. Wealso measured the Galactic extinction for each of the NGSL stars. Methods: For our analyses we used ULySS, a full spectrum fittingpackage, fitting the NGSL spectra against the MILES interpolator. Results: We find that the wavelength calibration is precise up to 0.1px, after correcting a systematic effect in the optical range. Thespectral resolution varies from 3 Å in the UV to 10 Å in thenear-infrared (NIR), corresponding to a roughly constant reciprocalresolution R = ?/?? ? 1000 and an instrumentalvelocity dispersion ?ins ? 130 km s-1. Wederived the atmospheric parameters homogeneously. The precision for theFGK stars is 42 K, 0.24 and 0.09 dex for Teff, log g and[Fe/H], respectively. The corresponding mean errors are 29 K, 0.50 and0.48 dex for the M stars, and for the OBA stars they are 4.5 percent,0.44 and 0.18 dex. The comparison with the literature shows that ourresults are not biased.Table A1 is only available at CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/538/A143
| Two distinct halo populations in the solar neighborhood. III. Evidence from stellar ages and orbital parameters
Context. In Papers I and II of this series, we have found clearindications of the existence of two distinct populations of stars in thesolar neighborhood belonging to the metal-rich end of the halometallicity distribution function. Based on high-resolution, high S/Nspectra, it is possible to distinguish between "high-alpha" and"low-alpha" components using the [?/Fe] versus [Fe/H] diagram. Aims: Precise relative ages and orbital parameters are determined for67 halo and 16 thick-disk stars having metallicities in the range -1.4< [Fe/H] < -0.4 to better understand the context of the two halopopulations in the formation and evolution of the Galaxy. Methods: Ages are derived by comparing the positions of stars in the logTeff-log g diagram with isochrones from the Y2models interpolated to the exact [Fe/H] and [?/Fe] values of eachstar. The stellar parameters have been adopted from the precedingspectroscopic analyses, but possible systematic errors inTeff and log g are considered and corrected. With spacevelocities from Paper I as initial conditions, orbital integrations havebeen carried out using a detailed, observationally constrainedMilky Way model including a bar and spiral arms. Results: The "high-alpha" halo stars have ages 2-3 Gyr larger thanthe "low-alpha" ones, with some probability that the thick-disk starshave ages intermediate between these two halo components. The orbitalparameters show very distinct differences between the "high-alpha" and"low-alpha" halo stars. The "low-alpha" ones have rmax's to30-40 kpc, zmax's to ?18 kpc, and emax'sclumped at values greater than 0.85, while the "high-alpha" ones,rmax's to about 16 kpc, zmax's to 6-8 kpc, andemax values more or less uniformly distributed over 0.4-1.0. Conclusions: A dual in situ-plus-accretion formation scenariobest explains the existence and characteristics of these two metal-richhalo populations, but one remaining defect is that this model is notconsistent regarding the rmax's obtained for the in situ"high-alpha" component; the predicted values are too small. It appearsthat ? Cen may have contributed in asignificant way to the existence of the "low-alpha" component; recentmodels, including dynamical friction and tidal stripping, have producedresults consistent with the present mass and orbital characteristics of? Cen, while at the same time includingextremes in the orbital parameters as great as those of the "low-alpha"component.Based on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope on LaPalma, and on data from the European Southern Observatory ESO/ST-ECFScience Archive Facility (programmes 65.L-0507, 67.D-0086, 67.D-0439,68.D-0094, 68.B-0475, 69.D-0679, 70.D-0474, 71.B-0529, 72.B-0585,76.B-0133 and 77.B-0507).Tables 1 and 4 are available in electronic format http://www.aanda.org.
| Beryllium and Alpha-element Abundances in a Large Sample of Metal-poor Stars
The light elements, Li, Be, and B, provide tracers for many aspects ofastronomy including stellar structure, Galactic evolution, andcosmology. We have made observations of Be in 117 metal-poor starsranging in metallicity from [Fe/H] = -0.5 to -3.5 with KeckI/HIRES. Our spectra are high resolution (~42,000) and high signal tonoise (the median is 106 per pixel). We have determined the stellarparameters spectroscopically from lines of Fe I, Fe II, Ti I, and Ti II.The abundances of Be and O were derived by spectrum synthesistechniques, while abundances of Fe, Ti, and Mg were found from manyspectral line measurements. There is a linear relationship between[Fe/H] and A(Be) with a slope of +0.88 ± 0.03 over three ordersof magnitude in [Fe/H]. We find that Be is enhanced relative to Fe;[Be/Fe] is +0.40 near [Fe/H] ~-3.3 and drops to 0.0 near [Fe/H]~-1.7. For the relationship between A(Be) and [O/H], we find agradual change in slope from 0.69 ± 0.13 for the Be-poor/O-poorstars to 1.13 ± 0.10 for the Be-rich/O-rich stars. Inasmuch asthe relationship between [Fe/H] and [O/H] seems robustly linear (slope =+0.75 ± 0.03), we conclude that the slope change in Be versus Ois due to the Be abundance. Much of the Be would have been formed in thevicinity of Type II supernova (SN II) in the early history of the Galaxyand by Galactic cosmic-ray (GCR) spallation in the later eras. AlthoughBe is a by-product of CNO, we have used Ti and Mg abundances asalpha-element surrogates for O in part because O abundances are rathersensitive to both stellar temperature and surface gravity. We find thatA(Be) tracks [Ti/H] very well with a slope of 1.00 ± 0.04. Italso tracks [Mg/H] very well with a slope of 0.88 ± 0.03. We havekinematic information on 114 stars in our sample and they divide equallyinto dissipative and accretive stars. Almost the full range of [Fe/H]and [O/H] is covered in each group. There are distinct differences inthe relationships of A(Be) and [Fe/H] and of A(Be) and [O/H] for thedissipative and the accretive stars. It is likely that the formation ofBe in the accretive stars was primarily in the vicinity of SN II, whilethe Be in the dissipative stars was primarily formed by GCR spallation.We find that Be is not as good a cosmochronometer as Fe. We have found aspread in A(Be) that is valid at the 4? level between [O/H] =-0.5 and -1.0, which corresponds to -0.9 and-1.6 in [Fe/H].
| Statistical equilibrium of silicon in the atmospheres of nearby metal-poor stars
Aims: We discuss the statistical equilibrium of neutral andionized silicon in the atmospheres of nearby metal-poor stars. Weinvestigated the effects of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE)and determined the silicon abundances. Methods: We used highresolution, high signal-to-noise ratio spectra from the FOCESspectragraph at the DSAZ telescope. Line-formation calculations of Si iand Si ii in the atmospheres of nearby metal-poor stars are presented.All abundance results are derived from local thermodynamic equilibrium(LTE) and NLTE statistical equilibrium calculations and spectrumsynthesis methods. Results: We find that NLTE effects for Si iioptical lines are important for warm stars, and that they depend oneffective temperature. The Si abundances of thin and thick disc starsfollow distinct trends, as in the case of Mg. We find that [Si/Fe]gradually increases as [Fe/H] decreases in thin disc stars, while itremains around at ~+0.30 dex for halo and thick disc stars, the halostars showing larger scatter. Conclusions: The derived dependencebetween [Si/Fe] and [Fe/H] is inconsistent with the theoreticalpredictions of published model calculations for the chemical evolutionof the Galaxy. The nearly constant [Si/Mg] ratio with some scatter forhalo and thick disc stars suggests that the nucleosynthesis of siliconis closely coupled to that of Mg. In addition, our results do notsupport the suggestion that type Ia supernove produce significantamounts of silicon.Based on observations collected at the German-Spanish AstronomicalCenter, Calar Alto, Spain.
| A Possible Signature of Non-uniform Be-? Relationships for the Galaxy
Most of the previous studies on beryllium abundances in metal-poor starshave taken different Galactic populations as a whole when investigatingthe production and evolution of Be. In this Letter, we report on thedetection of systematic differences in [?/H]-A(Be) relationshipsbetween the low- and high-? stars which were identified byprevious works. We remind that one should be more careful ininvestigating the Galactic evolution of Be with a sample comprisingdifferent Galactic populations, because such a mixed sample may lead toinaccurate Be-Fe/Be-O relationships.Based in part on data obtained from the ESO/ST-ECF Science ArchiveFacility.
| Two distinct halo populations in the solar neighborhood. II. Evidence from stellar abundances of Mn, Cu, Zn, Y, and Ba
Context. Current models of galaxy formation predict that the Galactichalo was assembled hierarchically. By measuring abundance ratios instars it may be possible to identify substructures in the halo resultingfrom this process. Aims: A previous study of 94 dwarf stars with-1.6 < [Fe/H] < -0.4 in the solar neighborhood has revealed theexistence of two distinct halo populations with a systematic differencein [?/Fe] at a given metallicity. In continuation of that work,abundances of Mn, Cu, Zn, Y, and Ba are determined for the same sampleof stars. Methods: Equivalent widths of atomic lines are measuredfrom high resolution VLT/UVES and NOT/FIES spectra and used to deriveabundance ratios from an LTE analysis based on MARCS model atmospheres.The analysis is made relative to two thick-disk stars, HD22879 and HD 76932, such that very precisedifferential values are obtained. Results: Systematic differencesbetween the "high-?" and "low-?" halo populations are foundfor [Cu/Fe], [Zn/Fe], and [Ba/Y], whereas there is no significantdifference in the case of [Mn/Fe]. At a given metallicity, [Cu/Fe] showsa large scatter that is closely correlated with a corresponding scatterin [Na/Fe] and [Ni/Fe]. Conclusions: The metallicity trends of[Cu/Fe], [Zn/Fe], and [Ba/Y] can be explained from existingnucleosynthesis calculations if the high-? stars formed in regionswith such a high star formation rate that only massive stars and type IIsupernovae contributed to the chemical enrichment. The low-?stars, on the other hand, most likely originate from systems with aslower chemical evolution, characterized by additional enrichment fromtype Ia supernovae and low-mass AGB stars.Based on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope on LaPalma, and on data from the European Southern Observatory ESO/ST-ECFScience Archive Facility (programs 65.L-0507, 67.D-0086, 67.D-0439,68.D-0094, 68.B-0475, 69.D-0679, 70.D-0474, 71.B-0529, 72.B-0585,76.B-0133 and 77.B-0507).Tables 1, 2, and excerpt of Table 3 areavailable in electronic form at http://www.aanda.orgTables 1, 2, andfull Table 3 are also available at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/530/A15
| The Ubiquity of the Rapid Neutron-capture Process
To better characterize the abundance patterns produced by the r-process,we have derived new abundances or upper limits for the heavy elementszinc (Zn, Z= 30), yttrium (Y, Z= 39), lanthanum (La, Z= 57), europium(Eu, Z= 63), and lead (Pb, Z= 82). Our sample of 161 metal-poor starsincludes new measurements from 88 high-resolution and highsignal-to-noise spectra obtained with the Tull Spectrograph on the 2.7 mSmith Telescope at the McDonald Observatory, and other abundances areadopted from the literature. We use models of the s-process inasymptotic giant branch stars to characterize the high Pb/Eu ratiosproduced in the s-process at low metallicity, and our new observationsthen allow us to identify a sample of stars with no detectable s-processmaterial. In these stars, we find no significant increase in the Pb/Euratios with increasing metallicity. This suggests that s-processmaterial was not widely dispersed until the overall Galactic metallicitygrew considerably, perhaps even as high as [Fe/H] =-1.4, in contrastwith earlier studies that suggested a much lower mean metallicity. Weidentify a dispersion of at least 0.5 dex in [La/Eu] in metal-poor starswith [Eu/Fe] <+0.6 attributable to the r-process, suggesting thatthere is no unique "pure" r-process elemental ratio among pairs of rareearth elements. We confirm earlier detections of an anti-correlationbetween Y/Eu and Eu/Fe bookended by stars strongly enriched in ther-process (e.g., CS 22892-052) and those with deficiencies of the heavyelements (e.g., HD 122563). We can reproduce the range of Y/Eu ratiosusing simulations of high-entropy neutrino winds of core-collapsesupernovae that include charged-particle and neutron-capture componentsof r-process nucleosynthesis. The heavy element abundance patterns inmost metal-poor stars do not resemble that of CS 22892-052, but thepresence of heavy elements such as Ba in nearly all metal-poor starswithout s-process enrichment suggests that the r-process is a commonphenomenon.This paper includes data taken at The McDonald Observatory of TheUniversity of Texas at Austin.
| Observational evidence for a broken Li Spite plateau and mass-dependent Li depletion
We present NLTE Li abundances for 88 stars in the metallicity range -3.5< [Fe/H] < -1.0. The effective temperatures are based on theinfrared flux method with improved E(B-V) values obtained mostly frominterstellar Na I D lines. The Li abundances were derived through MARCSmodels and high-quality UVES+VLT, HIRES+Keck and FIES+NOT spectra, andcomplemented with reliable equivalent widths from the literature. Theless-depleted stars with [Fe/H] < -2.5 and [Fe/H] > -2.5 fall intotwo well-defined plateaus of ALi = 2.18 (? = 0.04) andALi = 2.27 (? = 0.05), respectively. We show that thetwo plateaus are flat, unlike previous claims for a steep monotonicdecrease in Li abundances with decreasing metallicities. At allmetallicities we uncover a fine-structure in the Li abundances of Spiteplateau stars, which we trace to Li depletion that depends on bothmetallicity and mass. Models including atomic diffusion and turbulentmixing seem to reproduce the observed Li depletion assuming a primordialLi abundance ALi = 2.64, which agrees well with currentpredictions (ALi = 2.72) from standard Big Bangnucleosynthesis. Adopting the Kurucz overshooting model atmospheresincreases the Li abundance by +0.08 dex to ALi = 2.72, whichperfectly agrees with BBN+WMAP.Based in part on observations obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory,the Nordic Optical Telescope on La Palma, and on data from theHIRES/Keck archive and the European Southern Observatory ESO/ST-ECFScience Archive Facility.Table 1 is only available in electronic form athttp://www.aanda.org
| The PASTEL catalogue of stellar parameters
Aims: The PASTEL catalogue is an update of the [Fe/H] catalogue,published in 1997 and 2001. It is a bibliographical compilation ofstellar atmospheric parameters providing (T_eff, log g, [Fe/H])determinations obtained from the analysis of high resolution, highsignal-to-noise spectra, carried out with model atmospheres. PASTEL alsoprovides determinations of the one parameter T_eff based on variousmethods. It is aimed in the future to provide also homogenizedatmospheric parameters and elemental abundances, radial and rotationalvelocities. A web interface has been created to query the catalogue onelaborated criteria. PASTEL is also distributed through the CDS databaseand VizieR. Methods: To make it as complete as possible, the mainjournals have been surveyed, as well as the CDS database, to findrelevant publications. The catalogue is regularly updated with newdeterminations found in the literature. Results: As of Febuary2010, PASTEL includes 30151 determinations of either T_eff or (T_eff,log g, [Fe/H]) for 16 649 different stars corresponding to 865bibliographical references. Nearly 6000 stars have a determination ofthe three parameters (T_eff, log g, [Fe/H]) with a high qualityspectroscopic metallicity.The catalogue can be queried through a dedicated web interface at http://pastel.obs.u-bordeaux1.fr/.It is also available in electronic form at the Centre de DonnéesStellaires in Strasbourg (http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR?-source=B/pastel),at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) orvia http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/515/A111
| 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.
| Two distinct halo populations in the solar neighborhood. Evidence from stellar abundance ratios and kinematics
Aims: Precise abundance ratios are determined for 94 dwarf starswith Teff K, -1.6 < [Fe/H] < -0.4, and distances D? 335 pc. Most of them have halo kinematics, but 16 thick-disk starsare included. Methods: Equivalent widths of atomic lines aremeasured from VLT/UVES and NOT/FIES spectra with resolutions R? 55000 and R ? 40 000, respectively. An LTE abundance analysis basedon MARCS models is applied to derive precise differential abundanceratios of Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, and Ni with respect to Fe. Results: The halo stars fall into two populations, clearly separated in[?/Fe], where ? refers to the average abundance of Mg, Si,Ca, and Ti. Differences in [Na/Fe] and [Ni/Fe] are also present with aremarkably clear correlation between these two abundance ratios. Conclusions: The “high-?” stars may be ancient disk orbulge stars “heated” to halo kinematics by merging satellitegalaxies or they could have formed as the first stars during thecollapse of a proto-Galactic gas cloud. The kinematics of the“low-?” stars suggest that they have been accretedfrom dwarf galaxies, and that some of them may originate from the? Cen progenitor galaxy.Based on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope on LaPalma, and on data from the European Southern Observatory ESO/ST-ECFScience Archive Facility.Tables 3 and 4 are 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/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/511/L10Figures5-8 and Tables 1-4 are only available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org
| Searching for the metal-weak thick disc in the solar neighbourhood
An abundance analysis is presented of 60 metal-poor stars drawn fromcatalogues of nearby stars provided by Arifyanto et al. and Schuster etal. In an attempt to isolate a sample of metal-weak thick disc stars, weapplied the kinematic criteria Vrot >=100kms-1,|ULSR| <= 140kms-1 (LSR -local standard of rest) and |WLSR| <= 100kms-1.14 stars satisfying these criteria and having [Fe/H] <= -1.0 areincluded in the sample of 60 stars. Eight of the 14 have [Fe/H] >=-1.3 and may be simply thick disc stars of slightly lower than average[Fe/H]. The other six have [Fe/H] from -1.3 to -2.3 and are eithermetal-weak thick disc stars or halo stars with kinematics mimickingthose of the thick disc. The sample of 60 stars is completed by eightthick disc stars, 20 stars of a hybrid nature (halo or thick disc stars)and 18 stars with kinematics distinctive of the halo.
| Speckle interferometry of metal-poor stars in the solar neighborhood. II
The results of speckle interferometric observations of 115 metal-poorstars ([m/H] < ‑1) within 250 pc from the Sun and with propermotions µ ≳ 0.2″/yr, made with the 6-m telescope of theSpecial Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences,are reported. Close companions with separations ranging from0.034″ to 1″ were observed for 12 objects—G76-21,G59-1, G63-46, G135-16, G168-42, G141-47, G142-44, G190-10, G28-43,G217-8, G130-7, and G89-14—eight of them are astrometricallyresolved for the first time. The newly resolved systems include onetriple star—G190-10. If combined with spectroscopic and visualdata, our results imply a single:binary:triple:quadruple star ratio of147:64:9:1 for a sample of 221 primary components of halo and thick-diskstars.
| Lithium abundances in metal-poor stars
Aims.Lithium abundances for 19 metal-poor stars are determined usinghigh-resolution spectroscopy. The abundances of stars on the lithiumplateau are discussed. Methods: All abundance results are derived fromNLTE statistical equilibrium calculations and spectrum synthesismethods. Results: In agreement with previous analyses it is found thatexcitation and de-excitation due to hydrogen collisions are negligiblefor the lithium line formation process, while charge transfer reactionsare an important source of thermalization. However, the resulting NLTEeffects on the determination of lithium abundances for metal-poor starsare negligible (<0.06 dex). Conclusions: .The mean lithium abundancefor stars on the lithium plateau determined from NLTE analyses is A(Li)~ 2.26, while it is 2.21 dex when charge transfer reactions areincluded. The latter result enhances the discrepancy between theobserved lithium abundances and the primordial lithium abundance asinferred by the WMAP analysis of the cosmic microwave background. Thisdiscrepancy may be explained by metal diffusion.Based on observations collected at the Germany-Spanish AstronomicalCenter, Calar Alto, Spain.
| Oxygen abundances in nearby stars. Clues to the formation and evolution of the Galactic disk
The abundances of iron and oxygen are homogeneously determined in asample of 523 nearby (d<150 pc) FGK disk and halo stars withmetallicities in the range -1.5<[Fe/H]<0.5. Iron abundances wereobtained from an LTE analysis of a large set of Fe I and Fe II lineswith reliable atomic data. Oxygen abundances were inferred from arestricted non-LTE analysis of the 777 nm O I triplet. We adopted theinfrared flux method temperature scale and surface gravities based onHipparcos trigonometric parallaxes. Within this framework, theionization balance of iron lines is not satisfied: the mean abundancesfrom the Fe I lines are systematically lower by 0.06 dex than those fromthe Fe II lines for dwarf stars of Teff>5500 K and[Fe/H]<0.0, and giant stars of all temperatures and metallicitiescovered by our sample. The discrepancy worsens for cooler and metal-richmain-sequence stars. We use the stellar kinematics to compute theprobabilities of our sample stars to be members of the thin disk, thickdisk, or halo of the Galaxy. We find that the majority of thekinematically-selected thick-disk stars show larger [O/Fe] ratioscompared to thin-disk stars while the rest show thin-disk abundances,which suggests that the latter are thin-disk members with unusual(hotter) kinematics. A close examination of this pattern for disk starswith ambiguous probabilities shows that an intermediate population withproperties between those of the thin and thick disks does not exist, atleast in the solar neighborhood. Excluding the stars with unusualkinematics, we find that thick-disk stars show slowly decreasing [O/Fe]ratios from about 0.5 to 0.4 in the -0.8<[Fe/H]<-0.3 range. Usinga simple model for the chemical evolution of the thick disk we show thatthis trend results directly from the metallicity dependence of the TypeII supernova yields. At [Fe/H]>-0.3, we find no obvious indication ofa sudden decrease (i.e., a "knee") in the [O/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] pattern ofthick-disk stars that would connect the thick and thin disk trends at ahigh metallicity. We conclude that Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) did notcontribute significantly to the chemical enrichment of the thick disk.In the -0.8<[Fe/H]<+0.3 range, thin-disk stars show decreasing[O/Fe] ratios from about 0.4 to 0.0 that require a SN Ia contribution.The implications of these results for studies of the formation andevolution of the Galactic disk are discussed.Tables 4-6 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/465/271 Partially based onobservations obtained with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, which is a jointproject of the University of Texas at Austin, the Pennsylvania StateUniversity, Stanford University, Ludwig-Maximilians-UniversitätMünchen, and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen; and datafrom the UVES Paranal Observatory Project (ESO DDT Program ID266.D-5655).
| New Distant Companions to Known Nearby Stars. II. Faint Companions of Hipparcos Stars and the Frequency of Wide Binary Systems
We perform a search for faint, common proper motion companions ofHipparcos stars using the recently published Lépine-Shara ProperMotion-North catalog of stars with proper motionμ>0.15'' yr-1. Our survey uncovers a totalof 521 systems with angular separations3''<Δθ<1500'', with 15 triplesand 1 quadruple. Our new list of wide systems with Hipparcos primariesincludes 130 systems identified here for the first time, including 44 inwhich the secondary star has V>15.0. Our census is statisticallycomplete for secondaries with angular separations20''<Δθ<300'' and apparentmagnitudes V<19.0. Overall, we find that at least 9.5% of nearby(d<100 pc) Hipparcos stars have distant stellar companions withprojected orbital separations s>1000 AU. We observe that thedistribution in orbital separations is consistent with Öpik's law,f(s)ds~s-1ds, only up to a separation s~4000 AU, beyond whichit follows a more steeply decreasing power law f(s)ds~s-ldswith l=1.6+/-0.1. We also find that the luminosity function of thesecondaries is significantly different from that of the single stars'field population, showing a relative deficiency in low-luminosity(8
| Pulkovo compilation of radial velocities for 35495 stars in a common system.
Not Available
| Potassium abundances in nearby metal-poor stars
Aims.The potassium abundances for 58 metal-poor stars are determinedusing high-resolution spectroscopy. The abundance trends in stars ofdifferent population are discussed. Methods: .All abundanceresults have been derived from NLTE statistical equilibrium calculationsand spectrum synthesis methods. Results: .The NLTE corrections aresignificant (-0.20 to -0.55 dex) and they depend on the effectivetemperatures and surface gravities. The potassium abundances of thindisk, thick disk and halo stars show distinct trends, such as in thecase of the α-elements. [K/Fe] gradually increases with a decreasein [Fe/H] for thin disk stars, [K/Fe] of thick disk stars is nearlyconstant at [K/Fe] ~ +0.30 dex; halo stars also have nearly constantvalues of [K/Fe] ~ +0.20 dex. Conclusions: .The deriveddependence between [K/Fe] and [Fe/H] is in agreement with thetheoretical prediction of published model calculations of the chemicalevolution of the Galaxy. The nearly constant [K/Mg] ratio with smallscatter suggests that the nucleosynthesis of potassium is closelycoupled to the α-elements.
| Effective temperature scale and bolometric corrections from 2MASS photometry
We present a method to determine effective temperatures, angularsemi-diameters and bolometric corrections for population I and II FGKtype stars based on V and 2MASS IR photometry. Accurate calibration isaccomplished by using a sample of solar analogues, whose averagetemperature is assumed to be equal to the solar effective temperature of5777 K. By taking into account all possible sources of error we estimateassociated uncertainties to better than 1% in effective temperature andin the range 1.0-2.5% in angular semi-diameter for unreddened stars.Comparison of our new temperatures with other determinations extractedfrom the literature indicates, in general, remarkably good agreement.These results suggest that the effective temperaure scale of FGK starsis currently established with an accuracy better than 0.5%-1%. Theapplication of the method to a sample of 10 999 dwarfs in the Hipparcoscatalogue allows us to define temperature and bolometric correction (Kband) calibrations as a function of (V-K), [m/H] and log g. Bolometriccorrections in the V and K bands as a function of T_eff, [m/H] and log gare also given. We provide effective temperatures, angularsemi-diameters, radii and bolometric corrections in the V and K bandsfor the 10 999 FGK stars in our sample with the correspondinguncertainties.
| Elemental abundance survey of the Galactic thick disc
We have performed an abundance analysis for F- and G- dwarfs of theGalactic thick-disc component. A sample of 176 nearby (d<= 150pc)thick-disc candidate stars was chosen from the Hipparcos catalogue andsubjected to a high-resolution spectroscopic analysis. Using accurateradial velocities combined with the Hipparcos astrometry, kinematics (U,V and W) and Galactic orbital parameters were computed. We estimate theprobability for a star to belong to the thin disc, the thick disc or thehalo. With a probability P>= 70 per cent taken as certain membership,we assigned 95 stars to the thick disc, 13 to the thin disc, and 20 tothe halo. The remaining 48 stars in the sample cannot be assigned withreasonable certainty to one of the three components.Abundances of C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni,Cu, Zn, Y, Ba, Ce, Nd and Eu have been obtained. The abundances for thethick-disc stars are compared with those for the thin-disc members fromReddy et al. The ratios of α-elements (O, Mg, Si, Ca and Ti) toiron for thick-disc stars show a clear enhancement compared to thin-discmembers in the range -0.3 < [Fe/H] < -1.2. There are also otherelements - Al, Sc, V, Co, and possibly Zn - which show enhanced ratiosto iron in the thick disc relative to the thin disc. The abundances ofNa, Cr, Mn, Ni and Cu (relative to Fe) are very similar for thin- andthick-disc stars. The dispersion in abundance ratios [X/Fe] at given[Fe/H] for thick-disc stars is consistent with the expected scatter dueto measurement errors, suggesting a lack of `cosmic' scatter.A few stars classified as members of the thick disc by our kinematiccriteria show thin-disc abundances. These stars, which appear older thanmost thin-disc stars, are also, on average, younger than the thick-discpopulation. They may have originated early in the thin-disc history, andbeen subsequently scattered to hotter orbits by collisions. The thickdisc may not include stars with [Fe/H] > -0.3. The observedcompositions of the thin and thick discs seem to be consistent with themodels of galaxy formation by hierarchical clustering in a Lambda colddark matter (ΛCDM) universe.
| uvby-β photometry of high-velocity and metal-poor stars. XI. Ages of halo and old disk stars
New uvby-β data are provided for 442 high-velocity and metal-poorstars; 90 of these stars have been observed previously by us, and 352are new. When combined with our previous two photometric catalogues, thedata base is now made up of 1533 high-velocity and metal-poor stars, allwith uvby-β photometry and complete kinematic data, such as propermotions and radial velocities taken from the literature. Hipparcos, plusa new photometric calibration for Mv also based on theHipparcos parallaxes, provide distances for nearly all of these stars;our previous photometric calibrations give values for E(b-y) and [Fe/H].The [Fe/H], V(rot) diagram allows us to separate these stars intodifferent Galactic stellar population groups, such as old-thin-disk,thick-disk, and halo. The X histogram, where X is our stellar-populationdiscriminator combining V(rot) and [Fe/H], and contour plots for the[Fe/H], V(rot) diagram both indicate two probable components to thethick disk. These population groups and Galactic components are studiedin the (b-y)0, Mv diagram, compared to theisochrones of Bergbusch & VandenBerg (2001, ApJ, 556, 322), toderive stellar ages. The two thick-disk groups have the meancharacteristics: ([Fe/H], V(rot), Age, σW') ≈ (-0.7dex, 120 km s-1, 12.5 Gyr, 62.0 km s-1), and≈(-0.4, 160, 10.0, 45.8). The seven most metal-poor halo groups,-2.31 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ -1.31, show a mean age of 13.0 ± 0.2(mean error) Gyr, giving a mean difference from the WMAP results for theage of the Universe of 0.7 ± 0.3 Gyr. These results for the agesand components of the thick disk and for the age of the Galactic halofield stars are discussed in terms of various models and ideas for theformation of galaxies and their stellar populations.
| A Catalog of Northern Stars with Annual Proper Motions Larger than 0.15" (LSPM-NORTH Catalog)
The LSPM catalog is a comprehensive list of 61,977 stars north of theJ2000 celestial equator that have proper motions larger than 0.15"yr-1 (local-background-stars frame). The catalog has beengenerated primarily as a result of our systematic search for high propermotion stars in the Digitized Sky Surveys using our SUPERBLINK software.At brighter magnitudes, the catalog incorporates stars and data from theTycho-2 Catalogue and also, to a lesser extent, from the All-SkyCompiled Catalogue of 2.5 million stars. The LSPM catalog considerablyexpands over the old Luyten (Luyten Half-Second [LHS] and New LuytenTwo-Tenths [NLTT]) catalogs, superseding them for northern declinations.Positions are given with an accuracy of <~100 mas at the 2000.0epoch, and absolute proper motions are given with an accuracy of ~8 masyr-1. Corrections to the local-background-stars propermotions have been calculated, and absolute proper motions in theextragalactic frame are given. Whenever available, we also give opticalBT and VT magnitudes (from Tycho-2, ASCC-2.5),photographic BJ, RF, and IN magnitudes(from USNO-B1 catalog), and infrared J, H, and Ks magnitudes(from 2MASS). We also provide an estimated V magnitude and V-J color fornearly all catalog entries, useful for initial classification of thestars. The catalog is estimated to be over 99% complete at high Galacticlatitudes (|b|>15deg) and over 90% complete at lowGalactic latitudes (|b|>15deg), down to a magnitudeV=19.0, and has a limiting magnitude V=21.0. All the northern starslisted in the LHS and NLTT catalogs have been reidentified, and theirpositions, proper motions, and magnitudes reevaluated. The catalog alsolists a large number of completely new objects, which promise to expandvery significantly the census of red dwarfs, subdwarfs, and white dwarfsin the vicinity of the Sun.Based on data mining of the Digitized Sky Surveys (DSSs), developed andoperated by the Catalogs and Surveys Branch of the Space TelescopeScience Institute (STScI), Baltimore.Developed with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), aspart of the NASA/NSF NStars program.
| 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.
| A Spectral Atlas of F and G Stars
We present an atlas of a group of bright stars in the range of spectralclasses F--G and luminosity classes I--V. The spectra were obtainedwith spectral resolution R 15,000 within spectral region4500--6620 Å. Typical spectra of stars with different metallicity[Fe/H] are included. We also show the digital version of the spectraldata in FITS format.
| A CCD imaging search for wide metal-poor binaries
We explored the regions within a radius of 25 arcsec around 473 nearby,low-metallicity G- to M-type stars using (VR)I optical filters andsmall-aperture telescopes. About 10% of the sample was searched up toangular separations of 90 arcsec. We applied photometric and astrometrictechniques to detect true physical companions to the targets. The greatmajority of the sample stars was drawn from the Carney-Latham surveys;their metallicities range from roughly solar to [Fe/H] = -3.5 dex. OurI-band photometric survey detected objects that are between 0 and 5 magfainter (completeness) than the target stars; the maximum dynamicalrange of our exploration is 9 mag. We also investigated the literature,and inspected images from the Digitized Sky Surveys to complete oursearch. By combining photometric and proper motion measurements, weretrieved 29 previously known companions, and identified 13 new propermotion companions. Near-infrared 2MASS photometry is provided for thegreat majority of them. Low-resolution optical spectroscopy (386-1000nm) was obtained for eight of the new companion stars. Thesespectroscopic data confirm them as cool, late-type, metal-depleteddwarfs, with spectral classes from esdK7 to sdM3. After comparison withlow-metallicity evolutionary models, we estimate the masses of theproper motion companion stars to be in the range 0.5-0.1Mȯ. They are moving around their primary stars atprojected separations between 32 and 57 000 AU. These orbitalsizes are very similar to those of solar-metallicity stars of the samespectral types. Our results indicate that about 15% of the metal-poorstars have stellar companions in wide orbits, which is in agreement withthe binary fraction observed among main sequence G- to M-type stars andT Tauri stars.Based on observations made with the IAC80 telescope operated on theisland of Tenerife by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias inthe Spanish Observatorio del Teide; also based on observations made withthe 2.2 m telescope of the German-Spanish Calar Alto Observatory(Almería, Spain), the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) operatedon the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the SpanishObservatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) of the Instituto deAstrofísica de Canarias; and the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo(TNG) at the ORM.The complete Table 1 is 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/419/167
| Abundances of Na, Mg and Al in nearby metal-poor stars
To determine the population membership of nearby stars we exploreabundance results obtained for the light neutron-rich elements23Na and 27 Al in a small sample of moderatelymetal-poor stars. Spectroscopic observations are limited to the solarneighbourhood so that gravities can be determined from HIPPARCOSparallaxes, and the results are confronted with those for a separatesample of more metal-poor typical halo stars. Following earlierinvestigations, the abundances of Na, Mg and Al have been derived fromNLTE statistical equilibrium calculations used as input to line profilesynthesis. Compared with LTE the abundances require systematiccorrections, with typical values of +0.05 for [Mg/Fe], -0.1 for [Na/Fe]and +0.2 for [Al/Fe] in thick disk stars where [Fe/H] -0.6. Inmore metal-poor halo stars these values reach +0.1, -0.4, and +0.5,respectively, differences that can no longer be ignored.After careful selection of a clean subsample free from suspected orknown binaries and peculiar stars, we find that [Na/Mg] and [Al/Mg], incombination with [Mg/Fe], space velocities and stellar evolutionaryages, make possible an individual discrimination between thick disk andhalo stars. At present, this evidence is limited by the small number ofstars analyzed. We identify a gap at [Al/Mg] -0.15 and [Fe/H] -1.0 that isolates stars of the thick disk from those in the halo.A similar separation occurs at [Na/Mg] -0.4. We do not confirm theage gap between thin and thick disk found by Fuhrmann. Instead we findan age boundary between halo and thick disk stars, however, with anabsolute value of 14 Gyr that must be considered as preliminary. Whilethe stellar sample is by no means complete, the resulting abundancesindicate the necessity to revise current models of chemical evolutionand/or stellar nucleosynthesis to allow for an adequate production ofneutron-rich species in early stellar generations.Based on observations collected at the German-Spanish AstronomicalCenter, Calar Alto (CAHA H01-2.2-002) and at the European SouthernObservatory, Chile (ESO 67.D-0086).
| 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.
| A Survey of Proper-Motion Stars. XVI. Orbital Solutions for 171 Single-lined Spectroscopic Binaries
We report 25,563 radial velocity measurements for 1359 single-linedstars in the Carney-Latham sample of 1464 stars selected for high propermotion. For 171 of these, we present spectroscopic orbital solutions. Wefind no obvious difference between the binary characteristics in thehalo and the disk populations. The observed frequency is the same, andthe period distributions are consistent with the hypothesis that the twosets of binaries were drawn from the same parent population. Thissuggests that metallicity in general, and radiative opacities inparticular, have little influence over the fragmentation process thatleads to short-period binaries. All the binaries with periods shorterthan 10 days have nearly circular orbits, while the binaries withperiods longer than 20 days exhibit a wide range of eccentricities and amedian value of 0.37. For the metal-poor high-velocity halo binaries inour sample, the transition from circular to eccentric orbits appears tooccur at about 20 days, supporting the conclusion that tidalcircularization on the main sequence is important for the oldestbinaries in the Galaxy. Some of the results presented here usedobservations made with the Multiple Mirror Telescope, a joint facilityof the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Arizona.
| Catalogue of [Fe/H] determinations for FGK stars: 2001 edition
The catalogue presented here is a compilation of published atmosphericparameters (Teff, log g, [Fe/H]) obtained from highresolution, high signal-to-noise spectroscopic observations. This newedition has changed compared to the five previous versions. It is nowrestricted to intermediate and low mass stars (F, G and K stars). Itcontains 6354 determinations of (Teff, log g, [Fe/H]) for3356 stars, including 909 stars in 79 stellar systems. The literature iscomplete between January 1980 and December 2000 and includes 378references. The catalogue is made up of two tables, one for field starsand one for stars in galactic associations, open and globular clustersand external galaxies. The catalogue is distributed through the CDSdatabase. Access to the catalogue with cross-identification to othersets of data is also possible with VizieR (Ochsenbein et al.\cite{och00}). The catalogue (Tables 1 and 2) is 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/373/159 and VizieRhttp://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Pegasus |
| Right ascension: | 21h43m57.12s |
| Declination: | +27°23'24.0" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 10.157 |
| Proper motion RA: | -239.5 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -159.4 |
| B-T magnitude: | 10.596 |
| V-T magnitude: | 10.194 |
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