2,146 research outputs found
Homogeneous abundance analysis of dwarf, subgiant and giant FGK stars with and without giant planets
We have analyzed high-resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio optical
spectra of nearby FGK stars with and without detected giant planets in order to
homogeneously measure their photospheric parameters, mass, age, and the
abundances of volatile (C, N, and O) and refractory (Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, V, Mn,
Fe, Ni, Cu, and Ba) elements. Our sample contains 309 stars from the solar
neighborhood (up to the distance of 100 pc), out of which 140 are dwarfs, 29
are subgiants, and 140 are giants. The photospheric parameters are derived from
the equivalent widths of Fe I and Fe II lines. Masses and ages come from the
interpolation in evolutionary tracks and isochrones on the HR diagram. The
abundance determination is based on the equivalent widths of selected atomic
lines of the refractory elements and on the spectral synthesis of C_2, CN, C I,
O I, and Na I features. We apply a set of statistical methods to analyze the
abundances derived for the three subsamples. Our results show that: i) giant
stars systematically exhibit underabundance in [C/Fe] and overabundance in
[N/Fe] and [Na/Fe] in comparison with dwarfs, a result that is normally
attributed to evolution-induced mixing processes in the envelope of evolved
stars; ii) for solar analogs only, the abundance trends with the condensation
temperature of the elements are correlated with age and anticorrelated with the
surface gravity, which is in agreement with recent studies; iii) as in the case
of [Fe/H], dwarf stars with giant planets are systematically enriched in [X/H]
for all the analyzed elements, except for O and Ba (the former due to
limitations of statistics), confirming previous findings in the literature that
not only iron has an important relation with the planetary formation; and iv)
giant planet hosts are also significantly overabundant for the same metallicity
when the elements from Mg to Cu are combined together.Comment: 20 pages, 16 figures, 8 table
Chemical Evolution of the Galaxy Based on the Oscillatory Star Formation History
We model the star formation history (SFH) and the chemical evolution of the
Galactic disk by combining an infall model and a limit-cycle model of the
interstellar medium (ISM). Recent observations have shown that the SFH of the
Galactic disk violently variates or oscillates. We model the oscillatory SFH
based on the limit-cycle behavior of the fractional masses of three components
of the ISM. The observed period of the oscillation ( Gyr) is reproduced
within the natural parameter range. This means that we can interpret the
oscillatory SFH as the limit-cycle behavior of the ISM. We then test the
chemical evolution of stars and gas in the framework of the limit-cycle model,
since the oscillatory behavior of the SFH may cause an oscillatory evolution of
the metallicity. We find however that the oscillatory behavior of metallicity
is not prominent because the metallicity reflects the past integrated SFH. This
indicates that the metallicity cannot be used to distinguish an oscillatory SFH
from one without oscillations.Comment: 21 pages LaTeX, to appear in Ap
The distance to the LMC cluster NGC 1866 and the surrounding field
We use the Main Sequence stars in the LMC cluster NGC 1866 and of Red Clump
stars in the local field to obtain two independent estimates of the LMC
distance. We apply an empirical Main Sequence-fitting technique based on a
large sample of subdwarfs with accurate {\sl Hipparcos} parallaxes in order to
estimate the cluster distance modulus, and the multicolor Red Clump method to
derive distance and reddening of the LMC field. We find that the Main
Sequence-fitting and the Red Clump distance moduli are in significant
disagreement; NGC 1866 distance is equal to 0.08 (consistent with a previous estimate using the same data
and theoretical Main Sequence isochrones), while the field stars provide 0.07. This difference reflects the more general
dichotomy in the LMC distance estimates found in the literature. Various
possible causes for this disagreement are explored, with particular attention
paid to the still uncertain metallicity of the cluster and the star formation
history of the field stars.Comment: 5 pages, incl. 1 figure, uses emulateapj.sty, ApJ accepte
Self-Regulation of Star Formation in Low Metallicity Clouds
We investigate the process of self-regulated star formation via
photodissociation of hydrogen molecules in low metallicity clouds. We evaluate
the influence region's scale of a massive star in low metallicity gas clouds
whose temperatures are between 100 and 10000 Kelvin. A single O star can
photodissociate hydrogen molecules in the whole of the host cloud. If
metallicity is smaller than about 10^{-2.5} of the solar metallicity, the
depletion of coolant of the the host cloud is very serious so that the cloud
cannot cool in a free-fall time, and subsequent star formation is almost
quenched. On the contrary, if metallicity is larger than about 10^{-1.5} of the
solar metallicity, star formation regulation via photodissociation is not
efficient. The typical metallicity when this transition occurs is about 1/100
of the solar metallicity. This indicates that stars do not form efficiently
before the metallicity becomes larger than about 1/100 of the solar metallicity
and we considered that this value becomes the lower limit of the metallicity of
luminous objects such as galaxies.Comment: 14 pages, including 5 figures, To appear in ApJ, Vol. 53
The Dog on the Ship: The "Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy" as an Outlying Part of the Argo Star System
Overdensities in the distribution of low latitude, 2MASS giant stars are
revealed by systematically peeling away from sky maps the bulk of the giant
stars conforming to ``isotropic'' density laws generally accounting for known
Milky Way components. This procedure, combined with a higher resolution
treatment of the sky density of both giants and dust allows us to probe to
lower Galactic latitudes than previous 2MASS giant star studies. While the
results show the swath of excess giants previously associated with the
Monoceros ring system in the second and third Galactic quadrants at distances
of 6-20 kpc, we also find a several times larger overdensity of giants in the
same distance range concentrated in the direction of the ancient constellation
Argo. Isodensity contours of the large structure suggest that it is highly
elongated and inclined by about 3 deg to the disk, although details of the
structure -- including the actual location of highest density, overall extent,
true shape -- and its origin, remain unknown because only a fraction of it lies
outside highly dust-obscured, low latitude regions. Nevertheless, our results
suggest that the 2MASS M giant overdensity previously claimed to represent the
core of a dwarf galaxy in Canis Major (l ~ 240 deg) is an artifact of a dust
extinction window opening to the overall density rise to the more significant
Argo structure centered at larger longitude (l ~ 290 +- 10 deg, b ~ -4 +- 2
deg).Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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