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An absolutely calibrated Teff scale from the infrared flux method. Dwarfs and subgiants
Various effective temperature scales have been proposed over the years.Despite much work and the high internal precision usually achieved,systematic differences of order 100 K (or more) among various scales arestill present. We present an investigation based on the infrared fluxmethod aimed at assessing the source of such discrepancies and pin downtheir origin. We break the impasse among different scales by using alarge set of solar twins, stars which are spectroscopically andphotometrically identical to the Sun, to set the absolute zero point ofthe effective temperature scale to within few degrees. Our newlycalibrated, accurate and precise temperature scale applies to dwarfs andsubgiants, from super-solar metallicities to the most metal-poor starscurrently known. At solar metallicities our results validatespectroscopic effective temperature scales, whereas for [Fe/H]? -2.5our temperatures are roughly 100 K hotter than those determined frommodel fits to the Balmer lines and 200 K hotter than those obtained fromthe excitation equilibrium of Fe lines. Empirical bolometric correctionsand useful relations linking photometric indices to effectivetemperatures and angular diameters have been derived. Our results takefull advantage of the high accuracy reached in absolute calibration inrecent years and are further validated by interferometric angulardiameters and space based spectrophotometry over a wide range ofeffective temperatures and metallicities.Table 8 is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymousftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/512/A54
| 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
| 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 Velocity Distribution of Nearby Stars from Hipparcos Data. I. The Significance of the Moving Groups
We present a three-dimensional reconstruction of the velocitydistribution of nearby stars (lsim100 pc) using a maximum likelihooddensity estimation technique applied to the two-dimensional tangentialvelocities of stars. The underlying distribution is modeled as a mixtureof Gaussian components. The algorithm reconstructs the error-deconvolveddistribution function, even when the individual stars have unique errorand missing-data properties. We apply this technique to the tangentialvelocity measurements from a kinematically unbiased sample of 11,865main-sequence stars observed by the Hipparcos satellite. We explorevarious methods for validating the complexity of the resulting velocitydistribution function, including criteria based on Bayesian modelselection and how accurately our reconstruction predicts the radialvelocities of a sample of stars from the Geneva-Copenhagen Survey (GCS).Using this very conservative external validation test based on the GCS,we find that there is little evidence for structure in the distributionfunction beyond the moving groups established prior to the Hipparcosmission. This is in sharp contrast with internal tests performed hereand in previous analyses, which point consistently to maximal structurein the velocity distribution. We quantify the information content of theradial velocity measurements and find that the mean amount of newinformation gained from a radial velocity measurement of a single staris significant. This argues for complementary radial velocity surveys toupcoming astrometric surveys.
| The Geneva-Copenhagen survey of the solar neighbourhood. III. Improved distances, ages, and kinematics
Context: Ages, chemical compositions, velocity vectors, and Galacticorbits for stars in the solar neighbourhood are fundamental test datafor models of Galactic evolution. The Geneva-Copenhagen Survey of theSolar Neighbourhood (Nordström et al. 2004; GCS), amagnitude-complete, kinematically unbiased sample of 16 682 nearby F andG dwarfs, is the largest available sample with complete data for starswith ages spanning that of the disk. Aims: We aim to improve theaccuracy of the GCS data by implementing the recent revision of theHipparcos parallaxes. Methods: The new parallaxes yield improvedastrometric distances for 12 506 stars in the GCS. We also use theparallaxes to verify the distance calibration for uvby? photometryby Holmberg et al. (2007, A&A, 475, 519; GCS II). We add newselection criteria to exclude evolved cool stars giving unreliableresults and derive distances for 3580 stars with large parallax errorsor not observed by Hipparcos. We also check the GCS II scales of T_effand [Fe/H] and find no need for change. Results: Introducing thenew distances, we recompute MV for 16 086 stars, and U, V, W,and Galactic orbital parameters for the 13 520 stars that also haveradial-velocity measurements. We also recompute stellar ages from thePadova stellar evolution models used in GCS I-II, using the new valuesof M_V, and compare them with ages from the Yale-Yonsei andVictoria-Regina models. Finally, we compare the observed age-velocityrelation in W with three simulated disk heating scenarios to show thepotential of the data. Conclusions: With these revisions, thebasic data for the GCS stars should now be as reliable as is possiblewith existing techniques. Further improvement must await consolidationof the T_eff scale from angular diameters and fluxes, and the Gaiatrigonometric parallaxes. We discuss the conditions for improvingcomputed stellar ages from new input data, and for distinguishingdifferent disk heating scenarios from data sets of the size andprecision of the GCS.Full 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/501/941
| Beryllium abundances and star formation in the halo and in the thick disk
Context: Beryllium is a pure product of cosmic ray spallation. Thisimplies a relatively simple evolution in time of the beryllium abundanceand suggests its use as a time-like observable. Aims: Our goal is toderive abundances of Be in a sample of 90 stars, the largest sample ofhalo and thick disk stars analyzed to date. We study the evolution of Bein the early Galaxy and its dependence on kinematic and orbitalparameters, and investigate its use as a cosmochronometer. Abundances ofBe, Fe, and α-elements of 73 stars are employed to study theformation of the halo and the thick disk of the Galaxy. Methods:Beryllium abundances are determined from high-resolution, highsignal-to-noise UVES spectra with spectrum synthesis. Atmosphericparameters and abundances of α-elements are adopted from theliterature. Lithium abundances are used to eliminate mixed stars fromthe sample. The properties of halo and thick disk stars are investigatedin diagrams of log(Be/H) vs. [ α/H] , log(Be/H) vs. [Fe/H], and [α/Fe] vs. log(Be/H) and with orbital and kinematic parameters. Results: We present our observational results in various diagrams. (i)In a log(Be/H) vs. [Fe/H] diagram we find a marginal statisticaldetection of a real scatter, above what is expected from measurementerrors, with a larger scatter among halo stars. The detection of thescatter is further supported by the existence of pairs of stars withidentical atmospheric parameters and different Be abundances; (ii) in alog(Be/H) vs. [ α/Fe] diagram, the halo stars separate into twocomponents; one is consistent with predictions of evolutionary models,while the other has too high α and Be abundances and is chemicallyindistinguishable from thick disk stars. This suggests that the halo isnot a single uniform population where a clear age-metallicity relationcan be defined; (iii) In diagrams of R_min vs. [ α/Fe] andlog(Be/H), the thick disk stars show a possible decrease in [α/Fe] with R_min, whereas no dependence of Be with R_min is seen.This anticorrelation suggests that the star formation rate was lower inthe outer regions of the thick disk, pointing towards an inside-outformation. The lack of correlation for Be indicates that it isinsensitive to the local conditions of star formation.Based on observations made with ESO VLT, at Paranal Observatory, underprograms 076.B-0133 and 077.B-0507, and on data obtained from theESO/ST-ECF Science Archive Facility and the UVES Paranal ObservatoryProject 266.D-5655.Tables 1-3, 6 and Appendices A-C are only available in electronic format http://www.aanda.org
| Apex diagrams for the stellar population of the solar neighborhood
We have studied some kinematic features of the coronas of near-solarstellar streams, based on Hipparcos observations. Apex diagrams forkinematic streams, open clusters, and field stars are plotted. In ouranalysis, we used the apex-diagram (AD) method we developed earlier. Wefind that the Eggen streams and Arcturus stream have similar properties,providing evidence for kinematic inhomogeneity of their coronas and theexistence of stellar groups such as those detected in the corona of theUrsa Major stream.
| Beryllium abundances in metal-poor stars
We have determined beryllium (Be) abundances for 25 metal-poor starsbased on the high-resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio spectra fromthe Very Large Telescope/Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrographdata base. Our results confirm that Be abundances increase with Fe,supporting the global enrichment of Be in the Galaxy. Oxygen abundancesbased on the [OI] forbidden line imply a linear relation with a slopeclose to one for the Be versus O trend, which indicates that Be isprobably produced in a primary process. Some strong evidence is foundfor the intrinsic dispersion of Be abundances at a given metallicity.The deviation of HD 132475 and HD 126681 from the general Be versus Feand Be versus O trends favours the predictions of the superbubble model.However, the possibility that such dispersion originates from theinhomogeneous enrichment in Fe and O of the protogalactic gas cannot beexcluded.Based on observations made with the European Southern Observatorytelescopes obtained from the ESO/ST-ECF Science Archive Facility.E-mail: tan@bao.ac.cn
| Chemical Inhomogeneities in the Milky Way Stellar Halo
We have compiled a sample of 699 stars from the recent literature withdetailed chemical abundance information (spanning –4.2lsim [Fe/H]lsim+0.3), and we compute their space velocities and Galactic orbitalparameters. We identify members of the inner and outer stellar halopopulations in our sample based only on their kinematic properties andthen compare the abundance ratios of these populations as a function of[Fe/H]. In the metallicity range where the two populations overlap(–2.5lsim [Fe/H] lsim–1.5), the mean [Mg/Fe] of the outerhalo is lower than the inner halo by –0.1 dex. For [Ni/Fe] and[Ba/Fe], the star-to-star abundance scatter of the inner halo isconsistently smaller than in the outer halo. The [Na/Fe], [Y/Fe],[Ca/Fe], and [Ti/Fe] ratios of both populations show similar means andlevels of scatter. Our inner halo population is chemically homogeneous,suggesting that a significant fraction of the Milky Way stellar halooriginated from a well-mixed interstellar medium. In contrast, our outerhalo population is chemically diverse, suggesting that anothersignificant fraction of the Milky Way stellar halo formed in remoteregions where chemical enrichment was dominated by local supernovaevents. We find no abundance trends with maximum radial distance fromthe Galactic center or maximum vertical distance from the Galactic disk.We also find no common kinematic signature for groups of metal-poorstars with peculiar abundance patters, such as the α-poor stars orstars showing unique neutron-capture enrichment patterns. Several starsand dwarf spheroidal systems with unique abundance patterns spend themajority of their time in the distant regions of the Milky Way stellarhalo, suggesting that the true outer halo of the Galaxy may have littleresemblance to the local stellar halo.
| 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.
| 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).
| 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.
| 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.
| Chemical abundances of 32 mildly metal-poor stars
Context: .The formation scenario of the Galactic thick disk is anunresolved problem. Chemical abundances in long-lived dwarf stars of thethin and thick disks provide information of the Galactic diskformation.Aims.We present photospheric abundances of the O, Na, Mg, Al,Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Ni, and Ba elements for 32 mildly metal-poorstars with [Fe/H] -0.7. According to their kinematics, age, and [α/Fe] , sample stars are identified to thin disk, thick disk, andhalo population memberships. Element abundances for sample stars arediscussed as a function of metallicity.Methods.High resolution and highsignal-to-noise ratio spectra were obtained with the CoudéEchelle Spectrograph mounted on the 2.16 m telescope at the NationalAstronomical Observatories (Xinglong, China). Effective temperatureswere estimated from colour indices, and surface gravities from Hipparcosparallaxes. Stellar abundances were determined from a differential LTEanalysis. The kinematics parameters were calculated from the parallax,proper motion, and radial velocity. Stellar ages were determined fromtheoretical stellar evolution tracks.Results.The average age of thethick disk stars is older than the thin disk stars. Our elementabundance results extend and confirm previous works. The oxygen andother α-elements (Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti) abundances of thin and thickdisk stars show distinct trends at [Fe/H]≤-0.60. The [Al/Fe]behaviour is exactly as an α-element, although the separation for[Na/Fe] of thin and thick disk stars is not clear. The elements V, Cr,and Ni follow Fe very closely, and there is no offset between thin andthick disk stars, but the Sc and Mn abundance trends of the thin andthick disk stars are different, and [Ba/Fe] of thin disk and thick diskstars shows different behaviour.
| The lithium content of the Galactic Halo stars
Thanks to the accurate determination of the baryon density of theuniverse by the recent cosmic microwave background experiments, updatedpredictions of the standard model of Big Bang nucleosynthesis now yieldthe initial abundance of the primordial light elements withunprecedented precision. In the case of ^7Li, the CMB+SBBN value issignificantly higher than the generally reported abundances for Pop IIstars along the so-called Spite plateau. In view of the crucialimportance of this disagreement, which has cosmological, galactic andstellar implications, we decided to tackle the most critical issues ofthe problem by revisiting a large sample of literature Li data in halostars that we assembled following some strict selection criteria on thequality of the original analyses. In the first part of the paper wefocus on the systematic uncertainties affecting the determination of theLi abundances, one of our main goal being to look for the "highestobservational accuracy achievable" for one of the largest sets of Liabundances ever assembled. We explore in great detail the temperaturescale issue with a special emphasis on reddening. We derive four sets ofeffective temperatures by applying the same colour {T}_eff calibrationbut making four different assumptions about reddening and determine theLTE lithium values for each of them. We compute the NLTE corrections andapply them to the LTE lithium abundances. We then focus on our "best"(i.e. most consistent) set of temperatures in order to discuss theinferred mean Li value and dispersion in several {T}_eff and metallicityintervals. The resulting mean Li values along the plateau for [Fe/H]≤ 1.5 are A(Li)_NLTE = 2.214±0.093 and 2.224±0.075when the lowest effective temperature considered is taken equal to 5700K and 6000 K respectively. This is a factor of 2.48 to 2.81 (dependingon the adopted SBBN model and on the effective temperature range chosento delimit the plateau) lower than the CMB+SBBN determination. We findno evidence of intrinsic dispersion. Assuming the correctness of theCMB+SBBN prediction, we are then left with the conclusion that the Liabundance along the plateau is not the pristine one, but that halo starshave undergone surface depletion during their evolution. In the secondpart of the paper we further dissect our sample in search of newconstraints on Li depletion in halo stars. By means of the Hipparcosparallaxes, we derive the evolutionary status of each of our samplestars, and re-discuss our derived Li abundances. A very surprisingresult emerges for the first time from this examination. Namely, themean Li value as well as the dispersion appear to be lower (althoughfully compatible within the errors) for the dwarfs than for the turnoffand subgiant stars. For our most homogeneous dwarfs-only sample with[Fe/H] ≤ 1.5, the mean Li abundances are A(L)_NLTE = 2.177±0.071 and 2.215±0.074 when the lowest effective temperatureconsidered is taken equal to 5700 K and 6000 K respectively. This is afactor of 2.52 to 3.06 (depending on the selected range in {T}_eff forthe plateau and on the SBBN predictions we compare to) lower than theCMB+SBBN primordial value. Instead, for the post-main sequence stars thecorresponding values are 2.260±0.1 and 2.235±0.077, whichcorrespond to a depletion factor of 2.28 to 2.52. These results,together with the finding that all the stars with Li abnormalities(strong deficiency or high content) lie on or originate from the hotside of the plateau, lead us to suggest that the most massive of thehalo stars have had a slightly different Li history than their lessmassive contemporaries. In turn, this puts strong new constraints on thepossible depletion mechanisms and reinforces Li as a stellartomographer.
| Sulphur abundance in Galactic stars
We investigate sulphur abundance in 74 Galactic stars by using highresolution spectra obtained at ESO VLT and NTT telescopes. For the firsttime the abundances are derived, where possible, from three opticalmultiplets: Mult. 1, 6, and 8. By combining our own measurements withdata in the literature we assemble a sample of 253 stars in themetallicity range -3.2 [Fe/H] +0.5. Two important features,which could hardly be detected in smaller samples, are obvious from thislarge sample: 1) a sizeable scatter in [S/Fe] ratios around [Fe/H]-1; 2) at low metallicities we observe stars with [S/Fe] 0.4, aswell as stars with higher [S/Fe] ratios. The latter do not seem to bekinematically different from the former ones. Whether the latter findingstems from a distinct population of metal-poor stars or simply from anincreased scatter in sulphur abundances remains an open question.
| Abundance trends in kinematical groups of the Milky Way's disk
We have compiled a large catalogue of metallicities and abundance ratiosfrom the literature in order to investigate abundance trends of severalalpha and iron peak elements in the thin disk and the thick disk of theGalaxy. The catalogue includes 743 stars with abundances of Fe, O, Mg,Ca, Ti, Si, Na, Ni and Al in the metallicity range -1.30 < [Fe/H]< +0.50. We have checked that systematic differences betweenabundances measured in the different studies were lower than randomerrors before combining them. Accurate distances and proper motions fromHipparcos and radial velocities from several sources have been retreivedfor 639 stars and their velocities (U, V, W) and galactic orbits havebeen computed. Ages of 322 stars have been estimated with a Bayesianmethod of isochrone fitting. Two samples kinematically representative ofthe thin and thick disks have been selected, taking into account theHercules stream which is intermediate in kinematics, but with a probabledynamical origin. Our results show that the two disks are chemicallywell separated, they overlap greatly in metallicity and both showparallel decreasing alpha elements with increasing metallicity, in theinterval -0.80 < [Fe/H] < -0.30. The Mg enhancement with respectto Fe of the thick disk is measured to be 0.14 dex. An even largerenhancement is observed for Al. The thick disk is clearly older than thethin disk with tentative evidence of an AMR over 2-3 Gyr and a hiatus instar formation before the formation of the thin disk. We do not observea vertical gradient in the metallicity of the thick disk. The Herculesstream has properties similar to that of the thin disk, with a widerrange of metallicity. Metal-rich stars assigned to the thick disk andsuper-metal-rich stars assigned to the thin disk appear as outliers inall their properties.
| Abundance correlations in mildly metal-poor stars. II. Light elements (C to Ca)
Accurate relative abundances have been obtained for carbon, oxygen,sodium, aluminium, silicon, and calcium in a sample of mildly metal-poorstars. This analysis complements a previous study carried out by Jehinet al. ([CITE], A&A, 341, 241), which provided the basis for theEASE scenario. This scenario postulates that field metal-poor stars wereborn in self-enriched proto-globular cluster clouds. By furtherinvestigating the correlations between the different α-elementabundances, we propose a modified scenario for the formation ofintermediate metallicity stars, in which the stars exhibiting lower thanaverage α/Fe abundance ratios would form in low mass clouds,unable to sustain the formation of very massive stars (M 30~M_ȯ). Moreover, the carbon-to-iron ratio is found to decrease asone climbs the so-called Population IIb branch, i.e. when the s-elementabundance increases. In the framework of the EASE scenario, we interpretthis anticorrelation between the carbon and the s-element abundances asa signature of a hot bottom burning process in the metal-poor AGB starswhich expelled the matter subsequently accreted by our Population IIbstars.Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile (ESO Programmes 56.E-0384, 57.E-0400 and 59.E-0257).
| Heavy elements and chemical enrichment in globular clusters
High resolution (R 40 000) and high S/N spectra have been acquiredwith UVES on the VLT-Kueyen (Paranal Observatory, ESO Chile) for severalmain sequence turnoff stars (V 17 mag) and subgiants at the baseof the Red Giant Branch (V 16 mag) in three globular clusters (NGC6397, NGC 6752 and 47 Tuc/NGC 104) at different metallicities(respectively [Fe/H] ≃ -2.0; -1.5; -0.7). Spectra for a sample of25 field halo subdwarves have also been taken with equal resolution, buthigher S/N. These data have been used to determine the abundances ofseveral neutron-capture elements in these three clusters: strontium,yttrium, barium and europium. This is the first abundance determinationof these heavy elements for such unevolved stars in these three globularclusters. These values, together with the [Ba/Eu] and [Sr/Ba] abundanceratios, have been used to test the self-enrichment scenario. Acomparison is done with field halo stars and other well known Galacticglobular clusters in which heavy elements have already been measured inthe past, at least in bright giants (V 11-12 mag). Our resultsshow clearly that globular clusters have been uniformly enriched by r-and s-process syntheses, and that most of them seem to follow exactlythe same abundance patterns as field halo stars, which discards the``classical'' self-enrichment scenario for the origin of metallicitiesand heavy elements in globular clusters.Based on data collected at the European Southern Observatory with theVLT-UT2, Paranal, Chile (ESO-LP 165.L-0263).
| 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.
| Cu and Zn in the early Galaxy
We present Cu and Zn abundances for 38 FGK stars, mostly dwarfs,spanning a metallicity range between solar and [Fe/H] = -3. Theabundances were obtained using Kurucz's local thermal equilibrium (LTE)model atmospheres and the near-UV lines of Cu I 3273.95 Å and Zn I3302.58 Å observed at high spectral resolution. The trend of[Cu/Fe] versus [Fe/H] is almost solar for [Fe/H] > -1 and thendecreases to a plateau <[Cu/Fe]> = -0.98 at [Fe/H] < -2.5,whereas the [Zn/Fe] trend is essentially solar for [Fe/H] > -2 andthen slightly increases at lower metallicities to an average value of<[Zn/Fe]> = +0.18. We compare our results with previous work onthese elements, and briefly discuss them in terms of nucleosynthesisprocesses. Predictions of halo chemical evolution fairly reproduce thetrends, especially the [Cu/Fe] plateau at very low metallicities, but toa lesser extent the higher [Zn/Fe] ratios at low metallicities,indicating possibly missing yields.
| Galactic evolution of nitrogen
We present detailed spectroscopic analysis of nitrogen abundances in 31unevolved metal-poor stars analysed by spectral synthesis of the near-UVNH band at 3360 Å observed at high resolution with varioustelescopes. We found that [N/Fe] scales with that of iron in themetallicity range -3.1 <[Fe/H]<0 with the slope 0.01±0.02.Furthermore, we derive uniform and accurate (N/O) ratios using oxygenabundances from near-UV OH lines obtained in our previous studies. Wefind that a primary component of nitrogen is required to explain theobservations. The NH lines are discovered in the VLT/UVES spectra of thevery metal-poor subdwarfs G64-12 and LP815-43 indicating that thesestars are N rich. The results are compared with theoretical models andobservations of extragalactic H II regions and Damped Lyα systems.This is the first direct comparison of the (N/O) ratios in these objectswith those in Galactic stars.
| 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.
| The Geneva-Copenhagen survey of the Solar neighbourhood. Ages, metallicities, and kinematic properties of 14 000 F and G dwarfs
We present and discuss new determinations of metallicity, rotation, age,kinematics, and Galactic orbits for a complete, magnitude-limited, andkinematically unbiased sample of 16 682 nearby F and G dwarf stars. Our63 000 new, accurate radial-velocity observations for nearly 13 500stars allow identification of most of the binary stars in the sampleand, together with published uvbyβ photometry, Hipparcosparallaxes, Tycho-2 proper motions, and a few earlier radial velocities,complete the kinematic information for 14 139 stars. These high-qualityvelocity data are supplemented by effective temperatures andmetallicities newly derived from recent and/or revised calibrations. Theremaining stars either lack Hipparcos data or have fast rotation. Amajor effort has been devoted to the determination of new isochrone agesfor all stars for which this is possible. Particular attention has beengiven to a realistic treatment of statistical biases and errorestimates, as standard techniques tend to underestimate these effectsand introduce spurious features in the age distributions. Our ages agreewell with those by Edvardsson et al. (\cite{edv93}), despite severalastrophysical and computational improvements since then. We demonstrate,however, how strong observational and theoretical biases cause thedistribution of the observed ages to be very different from that of thetrue age distribution of the sample. Among the many basic relations ofthe Galactic disk that can be reinvestigated from the data presentedhere, we revisit the metallicity distribution of the G dwarfs and theage-metallicity, age-velocity, and metallicity-velocity relations of theSolar neighbourhood. Our first results confirm the lack of metal-poor Gdwarfs relative to closed-box model predictions (the ``G dwarfproblem''), the existence of radial metallicity gradients in the disk,the small change in mean metallicity of the thin disk since itsformation and the substantial scatter in metallicity at all ages, andthe continuing kinematic heating of the thin disk with an efficiencyconsistent with that expected for a combination of spiral arms and giantmolecular clouds. Distinct features in the distribution of the Vcomponent of the space motion are extended in age and metallicity,corresponding to the effects of stochastic spiral waves rather thanclassical moving groups, and may complicate the identification ofthick-disk stars from kinematic criteria. More advanced analyses of thisrich material will require careful simulations of the selection criteriafor the sample and the distribution of observational errors.Based on observations made with the Danish 1.5-m telescope at ESO, LaSilla, Chile, and with the Swiss 1-m telescope at Observatoire deHaute-Provence, France.Complete Tables 1 and 2 are only available in electronic form at the CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/418/989
| 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.
| 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.
| High-Precision Near-Infrared Photometry of a Large Sample of Bright Stars Visible from the Northern Hemisphere
We present the results of 8 yr of infrared photometric monitoring of alarge sample of stars visible from Teide Observatory (Tenerife, CanaryIslands). The final archive is made up of 10,949 photometric measuresthrough a standard InSb single-channel photometer system, principally inJHK, although some stars have measures in L'. The core of this list ofstars is the standard-star list developed for the Carlos SánchezTelescope. A total of 298 stars have been observed on at least twooccasions on a system carefully linked to the zero point defined byVega. We present high-precision photometry for these stars. The medianuncertainty in magnitude for stars with a minimum of four observationsand thus reliable statistics ranges from 0.0038 mag in J to 0.0033 magin K. Many of these stars are faint enough to be observable with arraydetectors (42 are K>8) and thus to permit a linkage of the bright andfaint infrared photometric systems. We also present photometry of anadditional 25 stars for which the original measures are no longeravailable, plus photometry in L' and/or M of 36 stars from the mainlist. We calculate the mean infrared colors of main-sequence stars fromA0 V to K5 V and show that the locus of the H-K color is linearlycorrelated with J-H. The rms dispersion in the correlation between J-Hand H-K is 0.0073 mag. We use the relationship to interpolate colors forall subclasses from A0 V to K5 V. We find that K and M main-sequence andgiant stars can be separated on the color-color diagram withhigh-precision near-infrared photometry and thus that photometry canallow us to identify potential mistakes in luminosity classclassification.
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