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Bayesian inference of stellar parameters and interstellar extinction using parallaxes and multiband photometry
Astrometric surveys provide the opportunity to measure the absolutemagnitudes of large numbers of stars, but only if the individualline-of-sight extinctions are known. Unfortunately, extinction is highlydegenerate with stellar effective temperature when estimated frombroad-band optical/infrared photometry. To address this problem, Iintroduce a Bayesian method for estimating the intrinsic parameters of astar and its line-of-sight extinction. It uses both photometry andparallaxes in a self-consistent manner in order to provide anon-parametric posterior probability distribution over the parameters.The method makes explicit use of domain knowledge by employing theHertzsprung-Russell Diagram (HRD) to constrain solutions and to ensurethat they respect stellar physics. I first demonstrate this method byusing it to estimate effective temperature and extinction from BVJHKdata for a set of artificially reddened Hipparcos stars, for whichaccurate effective temperatures have been estimated from high-resolutionspectroscopy. Using just the four colours, we see the expected strongdegeneracy (positive correlation) between the temperature andextinction. Introducing the parallax, apparent magnitude and the HRDreduces this degeneracy and improves both the precision (reduces theerror bars) and the accuracy of the parameter estimates, the latter byabout 35 per cent. The resulting accuracy is about 200 K in temperatureand 0.2 mag in extinction. I then apply the method to estimate theseparameters and absolute magnitudes for some 47 000 F, G, K Hipparcosstars which have been cross-matched with Two-Micron All-Sky Survey(2MASS). The method can easily be extended to incorporate the estimationof other parameters, in particular metallicity and surface gravity,making it particularly suitable for the analysis of the 109stars from Gaia.
| Discoveries from a Near-infrared Proper Motion Survey Using Multi-epoch Two Micron All-Sky Survey Data
We have conducted a 4030 deg2 near-infrared proper motionsurvey using multi-epoch data from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey(2MASS). We find 2778 proper motion candidates, 647 of which are notlisted in SIMBAD. After comparison to Digitized Sky Survey images, wefind that 107 of our proper motion candidates lack counterparts at B, R,and I bands and are thus 2MASS-only detections. We present results ofspectroscopic follow-up of 188 targets that include the infrared-onlysources along with selected optical-counterpart sources with faintreduced proper motions or interesting colors. We also establish a set ofnear-infrared spectroscopic standards with which to anchor near-infraredclassifications for our objects. Among the discoveries are six youngfield brown dwarfs, five "red L" dwarfs, three L-type subdwarfs, twelveM-type subdwarfs, eight "blue L" dwarfs, and several T dwarfs. Wefurther refine the definitions of these exotic classes to aid futureidentification of similar objects. We examine their kinematics and findthat both the "blue L" and "red L" dwarfs appear to be drawn from arelatively old population. This survey provides a glimpse of the kindsof research that will be possible through time-domain infrared projectssuch as the UKIDSS Large Area Survey, various VISTA surveys, and WISE,and also through z- or y-band enabled, multi-epoch surveys such asPan-STARRS and LSST.Some of the spectroscopic data presented herein were obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership amongthe California Institute of Technology, the University of California,and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatorywas made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. KeckFoundation. Other spectroscopic data were collected at the SubaruTelescope, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory ofJapan.
| Meeting the Cool Neighbors. XI. Beyond the NLTT Catalog
We have combined near-infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Surveywith ancillary optical data to identify previously unrecognizedproper-motion stars that have colors and magnitudes consistent withnearby M dwarfs. We present follow-up observations of 392 stars fromthat sample, including ~200 stars discussed here for the first time. Ourdistance estimates, based primarily on spectroscopic parallaxes, place123 stars within 20 pc of the Sun. One hundred and seventy-six starsexhibit Hα emission, and 82 stars have plausible X-raycounterparts from ROSAT observations. The distribution of chromosphericand coronal activity is broadly consistent with data for other nearbylate-type stars, with ~30 stars having activity levels comparable toPleiades M dwarfs. We have identified several M dwarfs that are probablywide ( >1000 AU) companions of F and G stars. We have recomputed the20 pc luminosity function, adding the 123 new candidates found in thepresent survey. The revised luminosity function is in closer agreementwith the 8 pc data set for stars with MJ>8 but probablyremains incomplete at the ~20% level.
| 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.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Τρόπις |
| Right ascension: | 06h56m43.59s |
| Declination: | -60°41'13.2" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 10.031 |
| Proper motion RA: | 4.4 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -224.8 |
| B-T magnitude: | 11.22 |
| V-T magnitude: | 10.13 |
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