Elemental abundances of low-mass stars in nearby young associations: AB Doradus, Carina Near, and Ursa Major

We present stellar parameters and abundances of 11 elements (Li, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni, and Zn) of 13 F6-K2 main-sequence stars in the young groups AB Doradus, Carina Near, and Ursa Major. The exoplanet-host star \iota Horologii is also analysed. The three young associations have lithium abundance consistent with their age. All other elements show solar abundances. The three groups are characterised by a small scatter in all abundances, with mean [Fe/H] values of 0.10 (\sigma=0.03), 0.08 (\sigma=0.05), and 0.01 (\sigma=0.03) dex for AB Doradus, Carina Near, and Ursa Major, respectively. The distribution of elemental abundances appears congruent with the chemical pattern of the Galactic thin disc in the solar vicinity, as found for other young groups. This means that the metallicity distribution of nearby young stars, targets of direct-imaging planet-search surveys, is different from that of old, field solar-type stars, i.e. the typical targets of radial velocity surveys. The young planet-host star \iota Horologii shows a lithium abundance lower than that found for the young association members. It is found to have a slightly super-solar iron abundance ([Fe/H]=0.16+-0.09), while all [X/Fe] ratios are similar to the solar values. Its elemental abundances are close to those of the Hyades cluster derived from the literature, which seems to reinforce the idea of a possible common origin with the primordial cluster.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Detection of delta Scuti-like pulsation in H254, a pre-main sequence F-type star in IC 348

We present time series observations of intermediate mass PMS stars belonging to the young star cluster IC 348. The new data reveal that a young member of the cluster, H254, undergoes periodic light variations with delta Scuti-like characteristics. This occurrence provides an unambiguous evidence confirming the prediction that intermediate-mass pre-main sequence (PMS) stars should experience this transient instability during their approach to the main-sequence. On the basis of the measured frequency f=7.406 c/d, we are able to constrain the intrinsic stellar parameters of H254 by means of linear, non adiabatic, radial pulsation models. The range of the resulting luminosity and effective temperature permitted by the models is narrower than the observational values. In particular, the pulsation analysis allows to derive an independent estimate of the distance to IC 348 of about 320 pc. Further observations could either confirm the monoperiodic nature of H254 or reveal the presence of other frequencies.Comment: 7 pages, including 7 postscript figures, accepted for publication on A&

X-Shooter spectroscopy of young stellar objects: V - Slow winds in T Tauri stars

Disks around T Tauri stars are known to lose mass, as best shown by the profiles of forbidden emission lines of low ionization species. At least two separate kinematic components have been identified, one characterised by velocity shifts of tens to hundreds km/s (HVC) and one with much lower velocity of few km/s (LVC). The HVC are convincingly associated to the emission of jets, but the origin of the LVC is still unknown. In this paper we analyze the forbidden line spectrum of a sample of 44 mostly low mass young stars in Lupus and $\sigma$-Ori observed with the X-Shooter ESO spectrometer. We detect forbidden line emission of [OI], [OII], [SII], [NI], and [NII], and characterize the line profiles as LVC, blue-shifted HVC and red-shifted HVC. We focus our study on the LVC. We show that there is a good correlation between line luminosity and both L$_{star}$ and the accretion luminosity (or the mass-accretion rate) over a large interval of values (L$_{star}$ $\sim 10^{-2} - 1$ L$_\odot$; L$_{acc}$ $\sim 10^{-5} - 10^{-1}$ L$_\odot$; $\dot M_{acc}$ $\sim 10^{-11} - 10^{-7}$ M$_\odot$/yr). The lines show the presence of a slow wind ($V_{peak}10^8$ cm$^{-3}$), warm (T$\sim 5000-10000$ K), mostly neutral. We estimate the mass of the emitting gas and provide a value for the maximum volume it occupies. Both quantities increase steeply with the stellar mass, from $\sim 10^{-12}$ M$_\odot$ and $\sim 0.01$ AU$^3$ for M$_{star}$$\sim 0.1$ M$_\odot$, to $\sim 3 \times 10^{-10}$ M$_\odot$ and $\sim 1$ AU$^3$ for M$_{star}$$\sim 1$ M$_\odot$, respectively. These results provide quite stringent constraints to wind models in low mass young stars, that need to be explored further

Hunting for brown dwarf binaries and testing atmospheric models with X-Shooter

The determination of the brown dwarf binary fraction may contribute to the understanding of the substellar formation mechanisms. Unresolved brown dwarf binaries may be revealed through their peculiar spectra or the discrepancy between optical and near-infrared spectral type classification. We obtained medium-resolution spectra of 22 brown dwarfs with these characteristics using the X-Shooter spectrograph at the VLT. We aimed to identify brown dwarf binary candidates, and to test if the BT-Settl 2014 atmospheric models reproduce their observed spectra. To find binaries spanning the L-T boundary, we used spectral indices and compared the spectra of the selected candidates to single spectra and synthetic binary spectra. We used synthetic binary spectra with components of same spectral type to determine as well the sensitivity of the method to this class of binaries. We identified three candidates to be combination of L plus T brown dwarfs. We are not able to identify binaries with components of similar spectral type. In our sample, we measured minimum binary fraction of $9.1^{+9.9}_{-3.0}$. From the best fit of the BT-Settl models 2014 to the observed spectra, we derived the atmospheric parameters for the single objects. The BT-Settl models were able to reproduce the majority of the SEDs from our objects, and the variation of the equivalent width of the RbI (794.8 nm) and CsI (852.0 nm) lines with the spectral type. Nonetheless, these models did not reproduce the evolution of the equivalent widths of the NaI (818.3 nm and 819.5 nm) and KI (1253 nm) lines with the spectral type.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

Accretion-ejection connection in the young brown dwarf candidate ISO-Cha1 217

As the number of observed brown dwarf outflows is growing it is important to investigate how these outflows compare to the well studied jets from young stellar objects. A key point of comparison is the relationship between outflow and accretion activity and in particular the ratio between the mass outflow and accretion rates ($\dot{M}_{out}$/$\dot{M}_{acc}$). The brown dwarf candidate ISO-ChaI 217 was discovered by our group, as part of a spectro-astrometric study of brown dwarfs, to be driving an asymmetric outflow with the blue-shifted lobe having a position angle of $\sim$ 20$^{\circ}$. The aim here is to further investigate the properties of ISO-ChaI 217, the morphology and kinematics of its outflow, and to better constrain ($\dot{M}_{out}$/$\dot{M}_{acc}$). The outflow is spatially resolved in the $[SII]\lambda \lambda 6716,6731$ lines and is detected out to $\sim$ 1\farcs6 in the blue-shifted lobe and ~ 1" in the red-shifted lobe. The asymmetry between the two lobes is confirmed although the velocity asymmetry is less pronounced with respect to our previous study. Using thirteen different accretion tracers we measure log($\dot{M}_{acc}$) [M$_{sun}$/yr]= -10.6 $\pm$ 0.4. As it was not possible to measure the effect of extinction on the ISO-ChaI 217 outflow $\dot{M}_{out}$ was derived for a range of values of A$_{v}$, up to a value of A$_{v}$ = 2.5 mag estimated for the source extinction. The logarithm of the mass outflow ($\dot{M}_{out}$) was estimated in the range -11.7 to -11.1 for both jets combined. Thus $\dot{M}_{out}$/$\dot{M}_{acc}$ [\Msun/yr] lies below the maximum value predicted by magneto-centrifugal jet launching models. Finally, both model fitting of the Balmer decrements and spectro-astrometric analysis of the H$\alpha$ line show that the bulk of the H I emission comes from the accretion flow.Comment: accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic

X-Shooter spectroscopy of young stellar objects: II. Impact of chromospheric emission on accretion rate estimates

Context. The lack of knowledge of photospheric parameters and the level of chromospheric activity in young low-mass pre-main sequence stars introduces uncertainties when measuring mass accretion rates in accreting (Class II) Young Stellar Objects. A detailed investigation of the effect of chromospheric emission on the estimates of mass accretion rate in young low-mass stars is still missing. This can be undertaken using samples of young diskless (Class III) K and M-type stars. Aims. Our goal is to measure the chromospheric activity of Class III pre main sequence stars to determine its effect on the estimates of accretion luminosity (Lacc) and mass accretion rate (Macc) in young stellar objects with disks. Methods. Using VLT/X-Shooter spectra we have analyzed a sample of 24 non-accreting young stellar objects of spectral type between K5 and M9.5. We identify the main emission lines normally used as tracers of accretion in Class II objects, and we determine their fluxes in order to estimate the contribution of the chromospheric activity to the line luminosity. Results. We have used the relationships between line luminosity and accretion luminosity derived in the literature for Class II objects to evaluate the impact of chromospheric activity on the accretion rate measurements. We find that the typical chromospheric activity would bias the derived accretion luminosity by Lacc,noise< 10-3Lsun, with a strong dependence with the Teff of the objects. The noise on Macc depends on stellar mass and age, and the typical values of log(Macc,noise) range between -9.2 to -11.6Msun/yr. Conclusions. Values of Lacc< 10-3Lsun obtained in accreting low-mass pre main sequence stars through line luminosity should be treated with caution as the line emission may be dominated by the contribution of chromospheric activity.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

X-Shooter spectroscopy of young stellar objects: IV -- Accretion in low-mass stars and sub-stellar objects in Lupus

We present X-Shooter/VLT observations of a sample of 36 accreting low-mass stellar and sub-stellar objects (YSOs) in the Lupus star forming region, spanning a range in mass from ~0.03 to ~1.2Msun, but mostly with 0.1Msun < Mstar < 0.5Msun. Our aim is twofold: firstly, analyse the relationship between excess-continuum and line emission accretion diagnostics, and, secondly, to investigate the accretion properties in terms of the physical properties of the central object. The accretion luminosity (Lacc), and from it the accretion rate (Macc), is derived by modelling the excess emission, from the UV to the near-IR, as the continuum emission of a slab of hydrogen. The flux and luminosity (Ll) of a large number of emission lines of H, He, CaII, etc., observed simultaneously in the range from ~330nm to 2500nm, were computed. The luminosity of all the lines is well correlated with Lacc. We provide empirical relationships between Lacc and the luminosity of 39 emission lines, which have a lower dispersion as compared to previous relationships in the literature. Our measurements extend the Pab and Brg relationships to Lacc values about two orders of magnitude lower than those reported in previous studies. We confirm that different methodologies to measure Lacc and Macc yield significantly different results: Ha line profile modelling may underestimate Macc by 0.6 to 0.8dex with respect to Macc derived from continuum-excess measures. Such differences may explain the likely spurious bi-modal relationships between Macc and other YSOs properties reported in the literature. We derive Macc in the range 2e-12 -- 4e-8 Msun/yr and conclude that Macc is proportional to Mstar^1.8(+/-0.2), with a dispersion lower by a factor of about 2 than in previous studies. A number of properties indicate that the physical conditions of the accreting gas are similar over more than 5 orders of magnitude in Macc

X-Shooter spectroscopy of young stellar objects III. Photospheric and chromospheric properties of Class III objects

We analyzed X-Shooter/VLT spectra of 24 ClassIII sources from three nearby star-forming regions (sigmaOrionis, LupusIII, and TWHya). We determined the effective temperature, surface gravity, rotational velocity, and radial velocity by comparing the observed spectra with synthetic BT-Settl model spectra. We investigated in detail the emission lines emerging from the stellar chromospheres and combined these data with archival X-ray data to allow for a comparison between chromospheric and coronal emissions. Both X-ray and Halpha luminosity as measured in terms of the bolometric luminosity are independent of the effective temperature for early-M stars but decline toward the end of the spectral M sequence. For the saturated early-M stars the average emission level is almost one dex higher for X-rays than for Halpha: log(L_x/L_bol) = -2.85 +- 0.36 vs. log(L_Halpha/L_bol) = -3.72 +- 0.21. When all chromospheric emission lines (including the Balmer series up to H11, CaII HK, the CaII infrared triplet, and several HeI lines) are summed up the coronal flux still dominates that of the chromosphere, typically by a factor 2-5. Flux-flux relations between activity diagnostics that probe different atmospheric layers (from the lower chromosphere to the corona) separate our sample of active pre-main sequence stars from the bulk of field M dwarfs studied in the literature. Flux ratios between individual optical emission lines show a smooth dependence on the effective temperature. The Balmer decrements can roughly be reproduced by an NLTE radiative transfer model devised for another young star of similar age. Future, more complete chromospheric model grids can be tested against this data set.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

CSL-1: a chance projection effect or serendipitous discovery of a gravitational lens induced by a cosmic string?

CSL-1 (Capodimonte--Sternberg--Lens Candidate, No.1) is an extragalactic double source detected in the OAC-DF (Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte - Deep Field). It can be interpreted either as the chance alignment of two identical galaxies at z=0.46 or as the first case of gravitational lensing by a cosmic string. Extensive modeling shows in fact that cosmic strings are the only type of lens which (at least at low angular resolution) can produce undistorted double images of a background source. We propose an experimentum crucis to disentangle between these two possible explanations. If the lensing by a cosmic string should be confirmed, it would provide the first measurements of energy scale of symmetry breaking and of the energy scale of Grand Unified Theory (GUT).Comment: Accepted for publication in the Mon. Not. Royal Astron. Societ

A Sensitivity Analysis for Quality Measures of Quantitative Association Rules

There exist several fitness function proposals based on a combination of weighted objectives to optimize the discovery of association rules. Nevertheless, some differences in the measures used to assess the quality of association rules could be obtained according to the values of such weights. Therefore, in such proposals it is very important the user’s decision in order to specify the weights or coefficients of the optimized objectives. Thus, this work presents an analysis on the sensitivity of several quality measures when the weights included in the fitness function of the existing QARGA algorithm are modified. Finally, a comparative analysis of the results obtained according to the weights setup is provided.MICYT TIN2011-28956-C02-00Junta de Andalucía P11-TIC-752