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Lithium abundances and rotational behavior for bright giant stars
Aims.We study the links possibly existing between the lithium content ofbright giant stars and their rotational velocity. Methods: .Weperformed a spectral analysis of 145 bright giant stars (luminosityclass II) spanning the spectral range from F3 to K5. All these starshave homogeneous rotational velocity measurements available in theliterature. Results: .For all the stars of the sample, we provideconsistent lithium abundances (A_Li), effective temperatures (T_eff),projected rotational velocity (v sin i), mean metallicity ([Fe/H]),stellar mass, and an indication of the stellar multiplicity. The gradualdecrease in lithium abundance with T_eff is confirmed for bright giantstars, and it points to a dilution factor that is at least assignificant as in giant stars. From the F to K spectral types, the A_Lispans at least three orders of magnitude, reflecting the effects ofstellar mass and evolution on dilution. Conclusions: .We find thatthe behavior of A_Li as a function of v sin i in bright giant starspresents the same trend as is observed in giants and subgiants: starswith high A_Li are moderate or fast rotators, while stars with low A_Lishow a wide range of v sin i values.
| Shapes of Spectral Line Bisectors for Cool Stars
The shape of the line bisector for the prototype spectral line Fe Iλ6253 was measured for an array of 54 stars on the cool half ofthe HR diagram. These bisectors are given in tables along with theirerrors. The classic C shape is shown by only a rather restricted rangein effective temperature and luminosity. The detailed change in bisectorshape with effective temperature and luminosity is documented moreprecisely than in previous work. The most blueward point on the bisectorchanges its height systematically with luminosity and can be used as aluminosity or gravity discriminant. The wide range of bisector shapescontains significant information about the velocity fields in theatmospheres of these stars, but extracting that information may requireextensive modeling.
| Predicting accurate stellar angular diameters by the near-infrared surface brightness technique
I report on the capabilities of the near-infrared (near-IR) surfacebrightness technique to predict reliable stellar angular diameters asaccurate as <~2 per cent using standard broad-band Johnson photometryin the colour range -0.1 <= (V-K)O<= 3.7 includingstars of A, F, G, K spectral type. This empirical approach is fast toapply and leads to estimated photometric diameters in very goodagreement with recent high-precision interferometric diametermeasurements available for non-variable dwarfs and giants, as well asfor Cepheid variables. Then I compare semi-empirical diameters predictedby model-dependent photometric and spectrophotometric (SP) methods withnear-IR surface brightness diameters adopted as empirical referencecalibrators. The overall agreement between all these methods is withinapproximately +/-5 per cent, confirming previous works. However, on thesame scale of accuracy, there is also evidence for systematic shiftspresumably as a result of an incorrect representation of the stellareffective temperature in the model-dependent results. I also comparemeasurements of spectroscopic radii with near-IR surface brightnessradii of Cepheids with known distances. Spectroscopic radii are found tobe affected by a scatter as significant as >~9 per cent, which is atleast three times greater than the formal error currently claimed by thespectroscopic technique. In contrast, pulsation radii predicted by theperiod-radius (PR) relation according to the Cepheid period result aresignificantly less dispersed, indicating a quite small scatter as aresult of the finite width of the Cepheid instability strip, as expectedfrom pulsation theory. The resulting low level of noise stronglyconfirms our previous claims that the pulsation parallaxes are the mostaccurate empirical distances presently available for Galactic andextragalactic Cepheids.
| Analysis of the Na, Mg, Al, and Si Abundances in the Atmospheres of Red Giants of Different Spectral Subgroups
We analyze the Na, Mg, Al, and Si abundances in the atmospheres of morethan 40 stars, includingred giants of different spectral subgroups(normal red giants, mild and classical barium stars) and severalsupergiants. All these elements exhibit abundance excesses, with theoverabundance increasing with the star’s luminosity. Thedependence of the overabundances for each of these elements on theluminosity (or log g) is the same for all the spectral subgroups,testifying to a common origin: they are all products of hydrogen burningin the NeNa and MgAl cycles that have been dredged up from the stellarinteriors to the outer atmospheric layers by convection that graduallydevelops during the star’s evolution from the main sequence to thered-giant stage. The sodium abundances derived for several stars arelower than for other stars with similar atmospheric parameters. The agesand kinematic characteristics of these two groups of stars suggest thatthey probably belong to different stellar generations.
| Statistical Constraints for Astrometric Binaries with Nonlinear Motion
Useful constraints on the orbits and mass ratios of astrometric binariesin the Hipparcos catalog are derived from the measured proper motiondifferences of Hipparcos and Tycho-2 (Δμ), accelerations ofproper motions (μ˙), and second derivatives of proper motions(μ̈). It is shown how, in some cases, statistical bounds can beestimated for the masses of the secondary components. Two catalogs ofastrometric binaries are generated, one of binaries with significantproper motion differences and the other of binaries with significantaccelerations of their proper motions. Mathematical relations betweenthe astrometric observables Δμ, μ˙, and μ̈ andthe orbital elements are derived in the appendices. We find a remarkabledifference between the distribution of spectral types of stars withlarge accelerations but small proper motion differences and that ofstars with large proper motion differences but insignificantaccelerations. The spectral type distribution for the former sample ofbinaries is the same as the general distribution of all stars in theHipparcos catalog, whereas the latter sample is clearly dominated bysolar-type stars, with an obvious dearth of blue stars. We point outthat the latter set includes mostly binaries with long periods (longerthan about 6 yr).
| CHARM2: An updated Catalog of High Angular Resolution Measurements
We present an update of the Catalog of High Angular ResolutionMeasurements (CHARM, Richichi & Percheron \cite{CHARM}, A&A,386, 492), which includes results available until July 2004. CHARM2 is acompilation of direct measurements by high angular resolution methods,as well as indirect estimates of stellar diameters. Its main goal is toprovide a reference list of sources which can be used for calibrationand verification observations with long-baseline optical and near-IRinterferometers. Single and binary stars are included, as are complexobjects from circumstellar shells to extragalactic sources. The presentupdate provides an increase of almost a factor of two over the previousedition. Additionally, it includes several corrections and improvements,as well as a cross-check with the valuable public release observationsof the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). A total of 8231entries for 3238 unique sources are now present in CHARM2. Thisrepresents an increase of a factor of 3.4 and 2.0, respectively, overthe contents of the previous version of CHARM.The catalog is only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/431/773
| Improved Baade-Wesselink surface brightness relations
Recent, and older accurate, data on (limb-darkened) angular diameters iscompiled for 221 stars, as well as BVRIJK[12][25] magnitudes for thoseobjects, when available. Nine stars (all M-giants or supergiants)showing excess in the [12-25] colour are excluded from the analysis asthis may indicate the presence of dust influencing the optical andnear-infrared colours as well. Based on this large sample,Baade-Wesselink surface brightness (SB) relations are presented fordwarfs, giants, supergiants and dwarfs in the optical and near-infrared.M-giants are found to follow different SB relations from non-M-giants,in particular in V versus V-R. The preferred relation for non-M-giantsis compared to the earlier relation by Fouqué and Gieren (basedon 10 stars) and Nordgren et al. (based on 57 stars). Increasing thesample size does not lead to a lower rms value. It is shown that theresiduals do not correlate with metallicity at a significant level. Thefinally adopted observed angular diameters are compared to thosepredicted by Cohen et al. for 45 stars in common, and there isreasonable overall, and good agreement when θ < 6 mas.Finally, I comment on the common practice in the literature to average,and then fix, the zero-point of the V versus V-K, V versus V-R and Kversus J-K relations, and then rederive the slopes. Such a commonzero-point at zero colour is not expected from model atmospheres for theV-R colour and depends on gravity. Relations derived in this way may bebiased.
| Cu and Zn in different stellar populations:. inferring their origin
We analyse recent high-resolution spectroscopic observations of Cu andZn for stars of different stellar populations and metallicities, usingthe best available stellar nucleosynthesis expectations. Theobservations include unevolved stars of the Galactic halo, thick-diskand thin-disk, bulge-like stars and stars of Omega Cen, globularclusters and Dwarf Spheroidal systems. Most cosmic Cu and half the Znare synthesised in massive stars during the hydrostatic He-burning andC-burning phases by the weak sr-process, which depends linearly onmetallicity. A minor primary contribution for Cu derives from explosivenucleosynthesis in SNe II. A large primary contribution to Zn (as64Zn) is ascribable to the alpha -rich freezout in nu -windsor to SNe II with large explosion energies (hypernovae). AGB stars andtype Ia supernovae do not contribute appreciably to either Cu or Zn.
| Determination of fundamental characteristics for stars of the F, G, and K spectral types. The surface gravities and metallicity parameters.
Not Available
| Analysis of Atmospheric Abundances in Classical Barium Stars
We present our analysis of elemental abundances in the atmospheres of 16classical barium stars derived from high-resolution spectra and modelatmospheres. Comparison of the results with analogous data for moderatebarium stars and normal red giants shows that the abundance patterns forelements before the iron peak are the same for all three groups of redgiants, testifying to a similar origin. For binary systems, we confirmthe influence of the orbital period and, hence, the componentseparation, on the overabundance of s-process elements. The amount ofenrichment in s-process elements is also influenced by mass,metallicity, and evolutionary phase. Any of these parameters can beimportant in individual objects.
| Synthetic Lick Indices and Detection of α-enhanced Stars. II. F, G, and K Stars in the -1.0 < [Fe/H] < +0.50 Range
We present an analysis of 402 F, G, and K solar neighborhood stars, withaccurate estimates of [Fe/H] in the range -1.0 to +0.5 dex, aimed at thedetection of α-enhanced stars and at the investigation of theirkinematical properties. The analysis is based on the comparison of 571sets of spectral indices in the Lick/IDS system, coming from fourdifferent observational data sets, with synthetic indices computed withsolar-scaled abundances and with α-element enhancement. We useselected combinations of indices to single out α-enhanced starswithout requiring previous knowledge of their main atmosphericparameters. By applying this approach to the total data set, we obtain alist of 60 bona fide α-enhanced stars and of 146 stars withsolar-scaled abundances. The properties of the detected α-enhancedand solar-scaled abundance stars with respect to their [Fe/H] values andkinematics are presented. A clear kinematic distinction betweensolar-scaled and α-enhanced stars was found, although a one-to-onecorrespondence to ``thin disk'' and ``thick disk'' components cannot besupported with the present data.
| The chemical composition of the mild barium star HD 202109
We present chemical abundances of the mild barium star HD 202109 (\zetaCyg) determined from the analysis of a spectrum obtained by using the2-m telescope at the Peak Terskol Observatory and a high-resolutionspectrometer with R=80 000, signal to noise ratio >100. We alsopresent the atmospheric parameters of the star determined using variousmethods including iron-line abundance analysis. For lineidentifications, we use whole-range synthetic spectra computed fromKurucz's database and the latest lists of spectral lines. Among thedetermined abundances of 51 elements, those of P, S, K, Cu, Zn, Ge, Rb,Sr, Nb, Mo, Ru, Rh, Pd, In, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Er, Tm, Hf, Os, Ir, Pt, Tl,and Pb were not investigated previously. Assuming that the overabundancepattern of Ba stars is due to binary accretion, the observed abundancepattern of the neutron-capture process elements in HD 202109 can beexplained by combining the AGB star nucleosynthesis and the windaccretion scenario.Based on observations obtained at the 2-m telescope of Peak Terskolobservatory near Mt. Elbrus, Northern Caucasus, Russia - InternationalCenter for Astronomical, Medical and Ecological Research (ICAMER),Ukraine & Russia.
| An Archive of IUE Low-Dispersion Spectra of the White Dwarf Stars
We have produced an archive of the ultraviolet low-dispersion spectrafor the full set of white dwarf stars observed with the InternationalUltraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite over the course of its 18 yrmission. This archive contains the spectra of 322 individual degeneratestars which have been processed to optimize the signal-to-noise for eachstar. In particular, all spectra have been corrected for residualtemporal and thermal effects and placed on the Hubble Space TelescopeFaint Object Spectrograph absolute flux scale using procedures describedby Massa & Fitzpatrick. Wherever possible, multiple observations ofindividual stars have been co-added to further enhance signal-to-noiseand have been combined into a single spectrum including the full 1150 to3150 Å wavelength region observed by IUE. The contents of thisspectral archive are described and the details of data reductionprocedures are provided, along with the url for access to the electronicfiles of the processed spectra.
| Angular Diameters of Stars from the Mark III Optical Interferometer
Observations of 85 stars were obtained at wavelengths between 451 and800 nm with the Mark III Stellar Interferometer on Mount Wilson, nearPasadena, California. Angular diameters were determined by fitting auniform-disk model to the visibility amplitude versus projected baselinelength. Half the angular diameters determined at 800 nm have formalerrors smaller than 1%. Limb-darkened angular diameters, effectivetemperatures, and surface brightnesses were determined for these stars,and relationships between these parameters are presented. Scatter inthese relationships is larger than would be expected from themeasurement uncertainties. We argue that this scatter is not due to anunderestimate of the angular diameter errors; whether it is due tophotometric errors or is intrinsic to the relationship is unresolved.The agreement with other observations of the same stars at the samewavelengths is good; the width of the difference distribution iscomparable to that estimated from the error bars, but the wings of thedistribution are larger than Gaussian. Comparison with infraredmeasurements is more problematic; in disagreement with models, coolerstars appear systematically smaller in the near-infrared than expected,warmer stars larger.
| Catalogue of averaged stellar effective magnetic fields. I. Chemically peculiar A and B type stars
This paper presents the catalogue and the method of determination ofaveraged quadratic effective magnetic fields < B_e > for 596 mainsequence and giant stars. The catalogue is based on measurements of thestellar effective (or mean longitudinal) magnetic field strengths B_e,which were compiled from the existing literature.We analysed the properties of 352 chemically peculiar A and B stars inthe catalogue, including Am, ApSi, He-weak, He-rich, HgMn, ApSrCrEu, andall ApSr type stars. We have found that the number distribution of allchemically peculiar (CP) stars vs. averaged magnetic field strength isdescribed by a decreasing exponential function. Relations of this typehold also for stars of all the analysed subclasses of chemicalpeculiarity. The exponential form of the above distribution function canbreak down below about 100 G, the latter value representingapproximately the resolution of our analysis for A type stars.Table A.1 and its references are only available in electronic form atthe 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/407/631 and Tables 3 to 9are only available in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org
| Line Absorption as a Metallicity Index for Giant Stars
The fraction of light removed from a star's spectrum by the spectrallines, the line absorption, is shown to be a precise empirical indicatorof metallicity. We measured the line absorption in 89 class III giantstars in a 42.5 Å window between 6219.0 and 6261.5 Å andthen calibrated these values against published metallicities. We showthat the line absorption can be measured precisely enough to improve themetallicity precision about fivefold over the original calibrationmetallicities, reaching a precision of 0.01 dex in favorable cases.
| Search for the General Magnetic Fields in Late-Type Giants
Surface-averaged longitudinal magnetic-field components (by analogy withthe Sun called the general magnetic field) have been measured for 15late-type giants with an accuracy of several Gauss. Statisticallysignificant fields were detected for nine of these stars. Themagnetic-field values obtained suggest the existence of general magneticfields in these giants.
| Carbon-rich giants in the HR diagram and their luminosity function
The luminosity function (LF) of nearly 300 Galactic carbon giants isderived. Adding BaII giants and various related objects, about 370objects are located in the RGB and AGB portions of the theoretical HRdiagram. As intermediate steps, (1) bolometric corrections arecalibrated against selected intrinsic color indices; (2) the diagram ofphotometric coefficients 1/2 vs. astrometric trueparallaxes varpi are interpreted in terms of ranges of photosphericradii for every photometric group; (3) coefficients CR andCL for bias-free evaluation of mean photospheric radii andmean luminosities are computed. The LF of Galactic carbon giantsexhibits two maxima corresponding to the HC-stars of the thick disk andto the CV-stars of the old thin disk respectively. It is discussed andcompared to those of carbon stars in the Magellanic Clouds and Galacticbulge. The HC-part is similar to the LF of the Galactic bulge,reinforcing the idea that the Bulge and the thick disk are part of thesame dynamical component. The CV-part looks similar to the LF of theLarge Magellanic Cloud (LMC), but the former is wider due to thesubstantial errors on HIPPARCOS parallaxes. The obtained meanluminosities increase with increasing radii and decreasing effectivetemperatures, along the HC-CV sequence of photometric groups, except forHC0, the earliest one. This trend illustrates the RGB- and AGB-tracks oflow- and intermediate-mass stars for a range in metallicities. From acomparison with theoretical tracks in the HR diagram, the initial massesMi range from about 0.8 to 4.0 Msun for carbongiants, with possibly larger masses for a few extreme objects. A largerange of metallicities is likely, from metal-poor HC-stars classified asCH stars on the grounds of their spectra (a spheroidal component), tonear-solar compositions of many CV-stars. Technetium-rich carbon giantsare brighter than the lower limit Mbol =~ -3.6+/- 0.4 andcentered at =~-4.7+0.6-0.9 at about =~(2935+/-200) K or CV3-CV4 in our classification. Much like the resultsof Van Eck et al. (\cite{vaneck98}) for S stars, this confirms theTDU-model of those TP-AGB stars. This is not the case of the HC-stars inthe thick disk, with >~ 3400 K and>~ -3.4. The faint HC1 and HC2-stars( =~ -1.1+0.7-1.0) arefound slightly brighter than the BaII giants ( =~-0.3+/-1.3) on average. Most RCB variables and HdC stars range fromMbol =~ -1 to -4 against -0.2 to -2.4 for those of the threepopulation II Cepheids in the sample. The former stars show the largestluminosities ( <~ -4 at the highest effectivetemperatures (6500-7500 K), close to the Mbol =~ -5 value forthe hot LMC RCB-stars (W Men and HV 5637). A full discussion of theresults is postponed to a companion paper on pulsation modes andpulsation masses of carbon-rich long period variables (LPVs; Paper IV,present issue). This research has made use of the Simbad databaseoperated at CDS, Strasbourg, France. Partially based on data from theESA HIPPARCOS astrometry satellite. Table 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/390/967
| Sodium enrichment of stellar atmospheres. I. Non-variable supergiants and bright giants
48 supergiants and bright giants have been observed in order toinvestigate the sodium enrichment of their atmospheres and itsconnection with stellar gravity. We present the equivalent widths of the6154 Å and 6160 Å Na I lines measured from the programspectra, the results of effective temperature determinations, the NLTEsodium abundances, and the derived relation between the sodiumoverabundance and surface gravity.
| Line-Depth Ratios: Temperature Indices for Giant Stars
Ratios of the depths of appropriately chosen spectral lines are shown tobe excellent indicators of stellar temperatures for giant stars in theG3 to K3 spectral type range. We calibrate five line-depth ratiosagainst B-V and R-I color indices and then translate these intotemperatures. Our goal is to set up line-depth ratios to (1) accuratelymonitor any temperature variations of a few degrees or less that mayoccur during magnetic cycles or oscillations and (2) rank giantsprecisely on a temperature coordinate. This is not an absolutecalibration of stellar temperatures. We show how giant spectra can bemisleading because of the complex dependences of spectral lines onmetallicity and absolute magnitude as well as temperature, and it isessential to make corrections to accommodate these complications. Thefive line-depth ratios we use yield precision for monitoring, i.e.,detecting temperature variations, of 4 K from a single exposure. Rankinggiants by temperature can be done with errors of ~25 K but could beimproved with better determinations of the metallicity andabsolute-magnitude corrections.
| Resolving Sirius-like binaries with the Hubble Space Telescope
We present initial results from a Hubble Space Telescope ultravioletimaging survey of stars known to have hot white dwarf companions whichare unresolved from the ground. The hot companions, discovered throughtheir EUV or UV emission, are hidden by the overwhelming brightnesses ofthe primary stars at visible wavelengths. Out of 17 targets observed, wehave resolved eight of them with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2,using various ultraviolet filters. Most of the implied orbital periodsfor the resolved systems are hundreds to thousands of years, but in atleast three cases (56 Persei, ζ Cygni and RE J1925-566) it shouldbe possible to detect the orbital motions within the next few years, andthey may eventually yield new dynamically determined masses for thewhite dwarf components. The 56 Persei and 14 Aurigae systems are foundto be quadruple and quintuple, respectively, including the known opticalcomponents as well as the newly resolved white dwarf companions. Themild barium star ζ Cygni, known to have an 18-year spectroscopicperiod, is marginally resolved. All of these newly resolved Sirius-typebinaries will be useful in determining gravitational redshifts andmasses of the white dwarf components.
| A Comparative Analysis of Chemical Abundances in the Atmospheres of Red Giants of Different Age Groups
We analyze previously published chemical abundances in the atmospheresof red giants. Excess abundances are observed not only for Na, but alsofor Al and Si, with the overabundances increasing with the stars’luminosity. The observed anomalies provide evidence that, in addition tothe CNO hydrogen-burning cycle, the Mg-Al and Ne-Na cycles operate inthe interiors of main-sequence stars; their products are brought to thestellar atmospheres by convection after the transition to the red-giantphase. The abundance anomalies for s-process elements, also observed inthe atmospheres of field stars, testify to the presence of a substantialnumber of neutrons. The s-process abundance anomalies are absent fromgiants of the young Hyades cluster.
| Catalogue of Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (CADARS) - Third edition - Comments and statistics
The Catalogue, available at the Centre de Données Stellaires deStrasbourg, consists of 13 573 records concerning the results obtainedfrom different methods for 7778 stars, reported in the literature. Thefollowing data are listed for each star: identifications, apparentmagnitude, spectral type, apparent diameter in arcsec, absolute radiusin solar units, method of determination, reference, remarks. Commentsand statistics obtained from CADARS are given. The Catalogue isavailable in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcar?J/A+A/367/521
| Research Note Hipparcos photometry: The least variable stars
The data known as the Hipparcos Photometry obtained with the Hipparcossatellite have been investigated to find those stars which are leastvariable. Such stars are excellent candidates to serve as standards forphotometric systems. Their spectral types suggest in which parts of theHR diagrams stars are most constant. In some cases these values stronglyindicate that previous ground based studies claiming photometricvariability are incorrect or that the level of stellar activity haschanged. Table 2 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/367/297
| The proper motions of fundamental stars. I. 1535 stars from the Basic FK5
A direct combination of the positions given in the HIPPARCOS cataloguewith astrometric ground-based catalogues having epochs later than 1939allows us to obtain new proper motions for the 1535 stars of the BasicFK5. The results are presented as the catalogue Proper Motions ofFundamental Stars (PMFS), Part I. The median precision of the propermotions is 0.5 mas/year for mu alpha cos delta and 0.7mas/year for mu delta . The non-linear motions of thephotocentres of a few hundred astrometric binaries are separated intotheir linear and elliptic motions. Since the PMFS proper motions do notinclude the information given by the proper motions from othercatalogues (HIPPARCOS, FK5, FK6, etc.) this catalogue can be used as anindependent source of the proper motions of the fundamental stars.Catalogue (Table 3) is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strastg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/365/222
| K-Band Calibration of the Red Clump Luminosity
The average near-infrared (K-band) luminosity of 238 Hipparcos red clumpgiants is derived and then used to measure the distance to the Galacticcenter. These Hipparcos red clump giants have been previously employedas I-band standard candles. The advantage of the K-band is a decreasedsensitivity to reddening and perhaps a reduced systematic dependence onmetallicity. In order to investigate the latter, and also to refer ourcalibration to a known metallicity zero point, we restrict our sample ofred clump calibrators to those with abundances derived fromhigh-resolution spectroscopic data. The mean metallicity of the sampleis [Fe/H]=-0.18 dex (σ=0.17 dex). The data are consistent with nocorrelation between MK and [Fe/H] and only weakly constrainthe slope of this relation. The luminosity function of the sample peaksat MK=-1.61+/-0.03 mag. Next, we assemble published opticaland near-infrared photometry for ~20 red clump giants in a Baade'swindow field with a mean metallicity of [Fe/H]=-0.17+/-0.09 dex, whichis nearly identical to that of the Hipparcos red clump. Assuming thatthe average (V-I)0 and (V-K)0 colors of these twored clumps are the same, the extinctions in the Baade's window field arefound to be AV=1.56, AI=0.87, andAK=0.15, in agreement with previous estimates. We derive thedistance to the Galactic center: (m-M)0=14.58+/-0.11 mag, orR=8.24+/-0.42 kpc. The uncertainty in this distance measurement isdominated by the small number of Baade's window red clump giantsexamined here.
| Do All BA II Stars Have White Dwarf Companions?
With the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Goddard High ResolutionSpectrograph (GHRS) we have observed four barium stars, three mildbarium stars, and one weak G-band star in the ultraviolet spectralregion. One barium star was observed with HST and the Space TelescopeImaging Spectrograph (STIS). The aim was to check the hypothesis thatall these peculiar stars have white dwarf (WD) companions, which attheir asymptotic giant branch phase transferred mass with peculiarelement abundances to the present barium and CH peculiar stars. Assumingthat the ultraviolet continua of the cool giants, including the bariumstars, are generated in their chromospheres and that the relationsbetween the continua and the emission lines created in the chromospheresand transition layers are similar in field giants and barium stars, wefound that, indeed, most of our target barium and weak barium starsappear to have excess flux in the UV when compared to standard giantstars. For most of the stars the excess flux can be attributed to WDcompanions with temperatures between 10,000 and 12,000 K, if the WD massis about 0.6 Msolar. Cooling times for the WDs were derivedfrom their effective temperatures and model calculations by M. Wood. Thecalculated cooling times are longer than the lifetimes of the bariumstars on the giant branch. For our target stars the mass transfertherefore happened while they were still on the main sequence. For twoof the mild barium stars and one or perhaps two barium stars the derivedcooling times for the WD companions come out to be longer than the totalevolutionary times of the barium stars as calculated by Schaller et al.If our derivations are correct (the error bars are rather large) theneither evolutionary models with larger convective overshoot have to beused for the barium stars or the cooling times of the white dwarfs haveto be revised downward. Possibly an additional (as yet unknown) coolingmechanism has to be considered? The weak G-band star HD 165634, whichhas a carbon underabundance of about a factor of 10, also appears tohave a WD companion. We discuss the implications of this very low carbonabundance. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble SpaceTelescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which isoperated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy.Incorporated, under NASA contract NAS5-26555.
| Re-processing the Hipparcos Transit Data and Intermediate Astrometric Data of spectroscopic binaries. I. Ba, CH and Tc-poor S stars
Only 235 entries were processed as astrometric binaries with orbits inthe Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogue (\cite{Hipparcos}). However, theIntermediate Astrometric Data (IAD) and Transit Data (TD) made availableby ESA make it possible to re-process the stars that turned out to bespectroscopic binaries after the completion of the Catalogue. This paperillustrates how TD and IAD may be used in conjunction with the orbitalparameters of spectroscopic binaries to derive astrometric parameters.The five astrometric and four orbital parameters (not already known fromthe spectroscopic orbit) are derived by minimizing an objective function(chi 2) with an algorithm of global optimization. This codehas been applied to 81 systems for which spectroscopic orbits becameavailable recently and that belong to various families ofchemically-peculiar red giants (namely, dwarf barium stars, strong andmild barium stars, CH stars, and Tc-poor S stars). Among these 81systems, 23 yield reliable astrometric orbits. These 23 systems make itpossible to evaluate on real data the so-called ``cosmic error''described by Wielen et al. (1997), namely the fact that an unrecognizedorbital motion introduces a systematic error on the proper motion.Comparison of the proper motion from the Hipparcos catalogue with thatre-derived in the present work indicates that the former are indeed faroff the present value for binaries with periods in the range 3 to ~ 8years. Hipparcos parallaxes of unrecognized spectroscopic binaries turnout to be reliable, except for systems with periods close to 1 year, asexpected. Finally, we show that, even when a complete orbital revolutionwas observed by Hipparcos, the inclination is unfortunately seldomprecise. Based on observations from the Hipparcos astrometric satelliteoperated by the European Space Agency (ESA 1997).
| The Vienna-KPNO search for Doppler-imaging candidate stars. I. A catalog of stellar-activity indicators for 1058 late-type Hipparcos stars
We present the results from a spectroscopic Ca ii H&K survey of 1058late-type stars selected from a color-limited subsample of the Hipparcoscatalog. Out of these 1058 stars, 371 stars were found to showsignificant H&K emission, most of them previously unknown; 23% withstrong emission, 36% with moderate emission, and 41% with weak emission.These spectra are used to determine absolute H&K emission-linefluxes, radial velocities, and equivalent widths of theluminosity-sensitive Sr ii line at 4077 Ä. Red-wavelengthspectroscopic and Strömgren y photometric follow-up observations ofthe 371 stars with H&K emission are used to additionally determinethe absolute Hα -core flux, the lithium abundance from the Li i6708 Å equivalent width, the rotational velocity vsin i, theradial velocity, and the light variations and its periodicity. Thelatter is interpreted as the stellar rotation period due to aninhomogeneous surface brightness distribution. 156 stars were found withphotometric periods between 0.29 and 64 days, 11 additional systemsshowed quasi-periodic variations possibly in excess of ~50 days. Further54 stars had variations but no unique period was found, and four starswere essentially constant. Altogether, 170 new variable stars werediscovered. Additionally, we found 17 new SB1 (plus 16 new candidates)and 19 new SB2 systems, as well as one definite and two possible new SB3systems. Finally, we present a list of 21 stars that we think are mostsuitable candidates for a detailed study with the Doppler-imagingtechnique. Tables A1--A3 are only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Evolution of X-ray activity of 1-3 Msun late-type stars in early post-main-sequence phases
We have investigated the variation of coronal X-ray emission duringearly post-main-sequence phases for a sample of 120 late-type starswithin 100 pc, and with estimated masses in the range 1-3Msun, based on Hipparcos parallaxes and recent evolutionarymodels. These stars were observed with the ROSAT/PSPC, and the dataprocessed with the Palermo-CfA pipeline, including detection andevaluation of X-ray fluxes (or upper limits) by means of a wavelettransform algorithm. We have studied the evolutionary history of X-rayluminosity and surface flux for stars in selected mass ranges, includingstars with inactive A-type progenitors on the main sequence and lowermass solar-type stars. Our stellar sample suggests a trend of increasingX-ray emission level with age for stars with masses M > 1.5Msun, and a decline for lower-mass stars. A similar behaviorholds for the average coronal temperature, which follows a power-lawcorrelation with the X-ray luminosity, independently of their mass andevolutionary state. We have also studied the relationship between X-rayluminosity and surface rotation rate for stars in the same mass ranges,and how this relationships departs from the Lx ~vrot2 law followed by main-sequence stars. Ourresults are interpreted in terms of a magnetic dynamo whose efficiencydepends on the stellar evolutionary state through the mass-dependentchanges of the stellar internal structure, including the properties ofenvelope convection and the internal rotation profile.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Cygne |
| Right ascension: | 21h12m56.20s |
| Declination: | +30°13'37.0" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 3.2 |
| Distance: | 46.253 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -1.4 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -57.1 |
| B-T magnitude: | 4.446 |
| V-T magnitude: | 3.3 |
Catalogs and designations:
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