12 research outputs found
Ages for illustrative field stars using gyrochronology: viability, limitations and errors
We here develop an improved way of using a rotating star as a clock, set it
using the Sun, and demonstrate that it keeps time well. This technique, called
gyrochronology, permits the derivation of ages for solar- and late-type main
sequence stars using only their rotation periods and colors. The technique is
clarified and developed here, and used to derive ages for illustrative groups
of nearby, late-type field stars with measured rotation periods. We first
demonstrate the reality of the interface sequence, the unifying feature of the
rotational observations of cluster and field stars that makes the technique
possible, and extends it beyond the proposal of Skumanich by specifying the
mass dependence of rotation for these stars. We delineate which stars it cannot
currently be used on. We then calibrate the age dependence using the Sun. The
errors are propagated to understand their dependence on color and period.
Representative age errors associated with the technique are estimated at ~15%
(plus possible systematic errors) for late-F, G, K, & early-M stars. Ages
derived via gyrochronology for the Mt. Wilson stars are shown to be in good
agreement with chromospheric ages for all but the bluest stars, and probably
superior. Gyro ages are then calculated for each of the active main sequence
field stars studied by Strassmeier and collaborators where other ages are not
available. These are shown to be mostly younger than 1Gyr, with a median age of
365Myr. The sample of single, late-type main sequence field stars assembled by
Pizzolato and collaborators is then assessed, and shown to have gyro ages
ranging from under 100Myr to several Gyr, and a median age of 1.2Gyr. Finally,
we demonstrate that the individual components of the three wide binaries
XiBooAB, 61CygAB, & AlphaCenAB yield substantially the same gyro ages.Comment: 58 pages, 18 color figures, accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journal; Age uncertainties slightly modified upon correcting an
algebraic error in Section
Building the cosmic distance scale: from Hipparcos to Gaia
Hipparcos, the first ever experiment of global astrometry, was launched by
ESA in 1989 and its results published in 1997 (Perryman et al., Astron.
Astrophys. 323, L49, 1997; Perryman & ESA (eds), The Hipparcos and Tycho
catalogues, ESA SP-1200, 1997). A new reduction was later performed using an
improved satellite attitude reconstruction leading to an improved accuracy for
stars brighter than 9th magnitude (van Leeuwen & Fantino, Astron. Astrophys.
439, 791, 2005; van Leeuwen, Astron. Astrophys. 474, 653, 2007).
The Hipparcos Catalogue provided an extended dataset of very accurate
astrometric data (positions, trigonometric parallaxes and proper motions),
enlarging by two orders of magnitude the quantity and quality of distance
determinations and luminosity calibrations. The availability of more than 20000
stars with a trigonometric parallax known to better than 10% opened the way to
a drastic revision of our 3-D knowledge of the solar neighbourhood and to a
renewal of the calibration of many distance indicators and age estimations. The
prospects opened by Gaia, the next ESA cornerstone, planned for launch in June
2013 (Perryman et al., Astron. Astrophys. 369, 339, 2001), are still much more
dramatic: a billion objects with systematic and quasi simultaneous astrometric,
spectrophotometric and spectroscopic observations, about 150 million stars with
expected distances to better than 10%, all over the Galaxy. All stellar
distance indicators, in very large numbers, will be directly measured,
providing a direct calibration of their luminosity and making possible detailed
studies of the impacts of various effects linked to chemical element
abundances, age or cluster membership. With the help of simulations of the data
expected from Gaia, obtained from the mission simulator developed by DPAC, we
will illustrate what Gaia can provide with some selected examples.Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures, Conference "The Fundamental Cosmic Distance
scale: State of the Art and the Gaia perspective, 3-6 May 2011, INAF,
Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Naples. Accepted for publication in
Astrophysics & Space Scienc
Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy
We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable
and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is
presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and
systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of
globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude,
with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may
have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky
Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the
second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the
HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The
relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level
and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax
measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance
modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are
studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of
low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and
Space Scienc
Uveal vs. cutaneous melanoma. Origins and causes of the differences.
International audienceMelanoma is a malignant tumour derived from melanocytes (dendritic cells originated from the neural crest and capable to produce melanin synthesis) that could be established on the skin or less frequently on the uvea. The cellular origin from both kind of melanoma seems to be the same but the melanocytes migrates to the epithelia for cutaneous melanoma, while for uveal melanoma, they migrate to mesodermic tissues. Despite the common origin, both melanomas show extreme differences in their metastatic potential, clinical response to treatments, immune response and genetic alterations. We will describe some of those differences in this review