8,978 research outputs found
K Giants in Baade's Window. II. The Abundance Distribution
This is the second in a series of papers in which we analyze spectra of over
400 K and M giants in Baade's Window, including most of the stars with proper
motions measured by Spaenhauer et al. [AJ, 103, 297 (1992)]. In our first
paper, we measured line--strength indices of Fe, Mg, CN and H and
calibrated them on the system of Faber et al. [ApJS, 57, 711 (1985)]. Here, we
use the index to derive an abundance distribution in
[Fe/H] for 322 stars with effective temperatures between 3900 K and 5160 K.
Our derived values of [Fe/H] agree well with those measured from
high--resolution echelle spectra (e.g., McWilliam \& Rich [ApJS, 91, 749
(1994)]) for the small number of stars in common. We find a mean abundance
for our sample of Baade's Window
K giants. More than half the sample lie in the range \feh\ .
We estimate line--of--sight distances for individual stars in our sample and
confirm that, in Baade's Window, most K giants with are foreground
disk stars, but the great majority (more than 80\%) with belong to the
bulge.
We also compare the metallicities derived from the CN and Mg indices to
those from iron. Most of the metal--rich stars in our sample appear to be
CN--weak, in contrast to the situation in metal--rich globular clusters and
elliptical galaxies. The metal--poor half of our sample ([Fe/H] ) shows
evidence for a mild Mg overenhancement ([Mg/Fe] ); but this is not
seen in the more metal--rich stars ([Fe/H] 0). The K giants in Baade's
Window therefore share some, but not all, of the characteristics of stars in
elliptical galaxies as inferred from their integrated light.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal, tentatively
scheduled for July, 1996. LaTex source which generates 40 pages of text (no
figures or tables). Complete (text + 15 figs + 5 tables) preprint in gzip/tar
format is also available at
ftp://bessel.mps.ohio-state.edu/pub/terndrup/kg2.tar.gz (227 kbyte
New High Proper Motion Stars from the Digitized Sky Survey. II. Northern Stars with 0.5<mu<2.0 arcsec/yr at High Galactic Latitudes
In a continuation of our systematic search for high proper motion stars in
the Digitized Sky Survey, we have completed the analysis of northern sky fields
at galactic latitudes above 25 degrees. With the help of our SUPERBLINK
software, a powerful automated blink comparator developed by us, we have
identified 1146 stars in the magnitude range 8<r<20 with proper motions
0.500<mu<2.000 arcsec/yr. These include 1080 stars previously listed in
Luyten's proper motion catalogs (LHS, NLTT), 9 stars not previously listed in
the Luyten catalogs but reported elsewhere in the literature (including 1
previously reported by our team), and 57 new objects reported here for the
first time. This paper includes a list of positions, proper motions,
magnitudes, and finder charts for all the new high proper motion stars.
Combined with our previous study of low galactic latitude fields (see Paper I),
our survey now covers over 98% of the northern sky. We conclude that the Luyten
catalogs were 90% complete in the northern sky for stars with 0.5<mu<2.0
arcsec/yr down to magnitude r=19. We discuss the incompleteness of the old
Luyten proper motion survey, and estimate completeness limits for our new
survey.Comment: To appear in The Astronomical Journa
The Terzan 5 puzzle: discovery of a third, metal-poor component
We report on the discovery of 3 metal-poor giant stars in Terzan 5, a complex
stellar system in the the Galactic bulge, known to have two populations at
[Fe/H]=-0.25 and +0.3. For these 3 stars we present new echelle spectra
obtained with NIRSPEC at Keck II, which confirm their radial velocity
membership and provide average [Fe/H]=-0.79 dex iron abundance and
[alpha/Fe]=+0.36 dex enhancement. This new population extends the metallicity
range of Terzan~5 0.5 dex more metal poor, and it has properties consistent
with having formed from a gas polluted by core collapse supernovae.Comment: Accepted for publication on ApJ Lette
Cool White Dwarfs Revisited -- New Spectroscopy and Photometry
In this paper we present new and improved data on 38 cool white dwarfs
identified by Oppenheimer et al. 2001 (OHDHS) as candidate dark halo objects.
Using the high-res spectra obtained with LRIS, we measure radial velocities for
13 WDs that show an H alpha line. We show that the knowledge of RVs decreases
the UV-plane velocities by only 6%. The radial velocity sample has a W-velocity
dispersion of sig_W = 59 km/s--in between the values associated with the thick
disk and the stellar halo. We also see indications for the presence of two
populations by analyzing the velocities in the UV plane. In addition, we
present CCD photometry for half of the sample, and with it recalibrate the
photographic photometry of the remaining WDs. Using the new photometry in
standard bands, and by applying the appropriate color-magnitude relations for H
and He atmospheres, we obtain new distance estimates. New distances of the WDs
that were not originally selected as halo candidates yield 13 new candidates.
On average, new distances produce velocities in the UV plane that are larger by
10%, with already fast objects gaining more. Using the new data, while applying
the same UV-velocity cut (94 km/s) as in OHDHS, we find a density of cool WDs
of 1.7e-4 pc^-3, confirming the value of OHDHS. In addition, we derive the
density as a function of the UV-velocity cutoff. The density (corrected for
losses due to higher UV cuts) starts to flatten out at 150 km/s (0.4e-4 pc^-3),
and is minimized (thus minimizing a possible non-halo contamination) at 190
km/s (0.3e-4 pc^-3). These densities are in a rough agreement with the
estimates for the stellar halo WDs, corresponding to a factor of 1.9 and 1.4
higher values.Comment: Accepted to ApJ. New version contains some additional data. Results
unchange
Deep near-IR observations of the Globular Cluster M4: Hunting for Brown Dwarfs
We present an analysis of deep HST/WFC3 near-IR (NIR) imaging data of the
globular cluster M4. The best-photometry NIR colour-magnitude diagram (CMD)
clearly shows the main sequence extending towards the expected end of the
Hydrogen-burning limit and going beyond this point towards fainter sources. The
white dwarf sequence can be identified. As such, this is the deepest NIR CMD of
a globular cluster to date. Archival HST optical data were used for
proper-motion cleaning of the CMD and for distinguishing the white dwarfs (WDs)
from brown dwarf (BD) candidates. Detection limits in the NIR are around F110W
approx 26.5 mag and F160W approx27 mag, and in the optical around F775W approx
28 mag. Comparing our observed CMDs with theoretical models, we conclude that
we have reached beyond the H-burning limit in our NIR CMD and are probably just
above or around this limit in our optical-NIR CMDs. Thus, any faint NIR sources
that have no optical counterpart are potential BD candidates, since the optical
data are not deep enough to detect them. We visually inspected the positions of
NIR sources which are fainter than the H-burning limit in F110W and for which
the optical photometry did not return a counterpart. We found in total five
sources for which we did not get an optical measurement. For four of these five
sources, a faint optical counterpart could be visually identified, and an upper
optical magnitude was estimated. Based on these upper optical magnitude limits,
we conclude that one source is likely a WD, one source could either be a WD or
BD candidate, and the remaining two sources agree with being BD candidates. For
only one source no optical counterpart could be detected, which makes this
source a good BD candidate. We conclude that we found in total four good BD
candidates.Comment: ApJ accepted, 28 pages including 16 figure
Variable stars in Terzan 5: additional evidence of multi-age and multi-iron stellar populations
Terzan 5 is a complex stellar system in the Galactic bulge, harboring stellar
populations with very different iron content ({\Delta}[Fe/H] ~1 dex) and with
ages differing by several Gyrs. Here we present an investigation of its
variable stars. We report on the discovery and characterization of three RR
Lyrae stars. For these newly discovered RR Lyrae and for six Miras of known
periods we provide radial velocity and chemical abundances from spectra
acquired with X-SHOOTER at the VLT. We find that the three RR Lyrae and the
three short period Miras (P<300 d) have radial velocity consistent with being
Terzan 5 members. They have sub-solar iron abundances and enhanced
[{\alpha}/Fe], well matching the age and abundance patterns of the 12 Gyr
metal-poor stellar populations of Terzan 5. Only one, out of the three long
period (P>300 d) Miras analyzed in this study, has a radial velocity consistent
with being Terzan 5 member. Its super-solar iron abundance and solar-scaled
[{\alpha}/Fe] nicely match the chemical properties of the metal rich stellar
population of Terzan 5 and its derived mass nicely agrees with being several
Gyrs younger than the short period Miras. This young variable is an additional
proof of the surprising young sub-population discovered in Terzan 5.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, in press on the Ap
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