707 research outputs found
The Hercules-Lyra Association revisited New age estimation and multiplicity study
The Her-Lyr assoc., a nearby young MG, contains a few tens of ZAMS stars of
SpT F to M. The existence and the properties of the Her-Lyr assoc. are
controversial and discussed in the literature. The present work reassesses
properties and the member list of Her-Lyr assoc., based on kinematics and age.
Many objects form multiple systems or have low-mass companions and so we need
to account for multiplicity. We use our own new imaging obs. and archival data
to identify multiple systems. The colors and magnitudes of kinematic candidates
are compared to isochrones. We derive further information on the age based on
Li depletion, rotation, and coronal and chromospheric activity. A set of
canonical members is identified to infer mean properties. Membership criteria
are derived from the mean properties and used to discard non-members. The
candidates selected from the literature belong to 35 stellar systems, 42.9% of
which are multiple. Four multiple systems are confirmed in this work by common
proper motion. An orbital solution is presented for the binary system HH Leo B
and C. Indeed, a group of candidates displays signatures of youth. 7 canonical
members are identified. The distribution of EWLi of canonical Her-Lyr members
is spread widely and is similar to that of the Pleiades and the UMa group.
Gyrochronology gives an age of 257+-46 Myr which is in between the ages of the
Pleiades and the Ursa Major group. The measures of chromospheric and coronal
activity support the young age. Four membership criteria are presented based on
kinematics, EWLi, chromospheric activity, and gyro. age. In total, 11 stars are
identified as certain members including co-moving objects plus additional 23
possible members while 14 candidates are doubtful or can be rejected. A
comparison to the mass function, however, indicates the presence of a large
number of additional unidentified low-mass members.Comment: 19 pages 16 figure
SPOTS: The Search for Planets Orbiting Two Stars: II. First constraints on the frequency of sub-stellar companions on wide circumbinary orbits
A large number of direct imaging surveys for exoplanets have been performed
in recent years, yielding the first directly imaged planets and providing
constraints on the prevalence and distribution of wide planetary systems.
However, like most of the radial velocity ones, these surveys generally focus
on single stars, hence binaries and higher-order multiples have not been
studied to the same level of scrutiny. This motivated the SPOTS (Search for
Planets Orbiting Two Stars) survey, which is an ongoing direct imaging study of
a large sample of close binaries, started with VLT/NACO and now continuing with
VLT/SPHERE. To complement this survey, we have identified the close binary
targets in 24 published direct imaging surveys. Here we present our statistical
analysis of this combined body of data. We analysed a sample of 117 tight
binary systems, using a combined Monte Carlo and Bayesian approach to derive
the expected values of the frequency of companions, for different values of the
companion's semi-major axis. Our analysis suggest that the frequency of
sub-stellar companions in wide orbit is moderately low (13% with a
best value of 6% at 95% confidence level) and not significantly different
between single stars and tight binaries. One implication of this result is that
the very high frequency of circumbinary planets in wide orbits around
post-common envelope binaries, implied by eclipse timing (up to 90% according
to Zorotovic & Schreiber 2013), can not be uniquely due to planets formed
before the common-envelope phase (first generation planets), supporting instead
the second generation planet formation or a non-Keplerian origin of the timing
variations.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figure
Missing Dark Matter in the Local Universe
A sample of 11 thousand galaxies with radial velocities V_ LG < 3500 km/s is
used to study the features of the local distribution of luminous (stellar) and
dark matter within a sphere of radius of around 50 Mpc around us. The average
density of matter in this volume, Omega_m,loc=0.08+-0.02, turns out to be much
lower than the global cosmic density Omega_m,glob=0.28+-0.03. We discuss three
possible explanations of this paradox: 1) galaxy groups and clusters are
surrounded by extended dark halos, the major part of the mass of which is
located outside their virial radii; 2) the considered local volume of the
Universe is not representative, being situated inside a giant void; and 3) the
bulk of matter in the Universe is not related to clusters and groups, but is
rather distributed between them in the form of massive dark clumps. Some
arguments in favor of the latter assumption are presented. Besides the two
well-known inconsistencies of modern cosmological models with the observational
data: the problem of missing satellites of normal galaxies and the problem of
missing baryons, there arises another one - the issue of missing dark matter.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 1 table (accepted
Merging stellar-mass binary black holes
The LIGO and Virgo detectors have recently directly observed gravitational
waves from several mergers of pairs of stellar-mass black holes, as well as
from one merging pair of neutron stars. These observations raise the hope that
compact object mergers could be used as a probe of stellar and binary
evolution, and perhaps of stellar dynamics. This colloquium-style article
summarizes the existing observations, describes theoretical predictions for
formation channels of merging stellar-mass black-hole binaries along with their
rates and observable properties, and presents some of the prospects for
gravitational-wave astronomy.Comment: Colloquium-style article solicited by Reviews of Modern Physics;
comments appreciate
A Universal Stellar Initial Mass Function? A Critical Look at Variations
Few topics in astronomy initiate such vigorous discussion as whether or not
the initial mass function (IMF) of stars is universal, or instead sensitive to
the initial conditions of star formation. The distinction is of critical
importance: the IMF influences most of the observable properties of stellar
populations and galaxies, and detecting variations in the IMF could provide
deep insights into the process by which stars form. In this review, we take a
critical look at the case for IMF variations, with a view towards whether other
explanations are sufficient given the evidence. Studies of the field, local
young clusters and associations, and old globular clusters suggest that the
vast majority were drawn from a "universal" IMF: a power-law of Salpeter index
() above a few solar masses, and a log normal or shallower
power-law () between a few tenths and a few solar masses
(ignoring the effects of unresolved binaries). The shape and universality of
the IMF at the stellar-substellar boundary is still under investigation and
uncertainties remain large, but most observations are consistent with a IMF
that declines () well below the hydrogen burning limit.
Observations of resolved stellar populations and the integrated properties of
most galaxies are also consistent with a "universal IMF", suggesting no gross
variations in the IMF over much of cosmic time. There are indications of
"non-standard" IMFs in specific local and extragalactic environments, which
clearly warrant further study. Nonetheless, there is no clear evidence that the
IMF varies strongly and systematically as a function of initial conditions
after the first few generations of stars.Comment: 49 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Annual Reviews of Astronomy and
Astrophysics (2010, volume 48
Constraining the primordial initial mass function with stellar archaeology
We present a new near-field cosmological probe of the initial mass function
(IMF) of the first stars. Specifically, we constrain the lower-mass limit of
the Population III (Pop III) IMF with the total number of stars in large,
unbiased surveys of the Milky Way. We model the early star formation history in
a Milky Way-like halo with a semi-analytic approach, based on Monte-Carlo
sampling of dark matter merger trees, combined with a treatment of the most
important feedback mechanisms. Assuming a logarithmically flat Pop III IMF and
varying its low mass limit, we derive the number of expected survivors of these
first stars, using them to estimate the probability to detect any such Pop III
fossil in stellar archaeological surveys. Following our analysis, the most
promising region to find possible Pop III survivors is the stellar halo of the
Milky Way, which is the best target for future surveys. We find that if no
genuine Pop III survivor is detected in a sample size of () halo stars with well-controlled selection effects, then we can
exclude the hypothesis that the primordial IMF extended down below at a confidence level of 68% (99%). With the sample size of the
Hamburg/ESO survey, we can tentatively exclude Pop III stars with masses below
with a confidence level of 95%, although this is subject to
significant uncertainties. To fully harness the potential of our approach,
future large surveys are needed that employ uniform, unbiased selection
strategies for high-resolution spectroscopic follow-up.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, published in MNRA
On the ALMA observability of nascent massive multiple systems formed by gravitational instability
This is the final version. Available from Oxford University Press via the DOI in this record.Massive young stellar object (MYSOs) form during the collapse of high-mass pre-stellar cores, where infalling molecular material is accreted through a centrifugally-balanced accretion disc that is subject to efficient gravitational instabilities. In the resulting fragmented accretion disc of the MYSO, gaseous clumps and low-mass stellar companions can form, which will influence the future evolution of massive protostars in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. We perform dust continuum radiative transfer calculations and compute synthetic images of disc structures modelled by the gravito-radiation-hydrodynamics simulation of a forming MYSO, in order to investigate the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observability of circumstellar gaseous clumps and forming multiple systems. Both spiral arms and gaseous clumps located at ~a few 100 au from the protostar can be resolved by interferometric ALMA Cycle 7 C43-8 and C43-10 observations at band 6 (1.2 mm), using a maximal 0.015" beam angular resolution and at least 10-30 min exposure time for sources at distances of 1-2 kpc. Our study shows that substructures are observable regardless of their viewing geometry or can be inferred in the case of an edge-viewed disc. The observation probability of the clumps increases with the gradually increasing efficiency of gravitational instability at work as the disc evolves. As a consequence, large discs around MYSOs close to the zero-age-main-sequence line exhibit more substructures than at the end of the gravitational collapse. Our results motivate further observational campaigns devoted to the close surroundings of the massive protostars S255IR-NIRS3 and NGC 6334I-MM1, whose recent outbursts are a probable signature of disc fragmentation and accretion variability.European Research Council (ERC)Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)Russian Science FoundationSwiss National Science Foundatio
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