Search for associations containing young stars (SACY). V. Is multiplicity universal? Tight multiple systems

Context: Dynamically undisrupted, young populations of stars are crucial to study the role of multiplicity in relation to star formation. Loose nearby associations provide us with a great sample of close ($<$150 pc) Pre-Main Sequence (PMS) stars across the very important age range ($\approx$5-70 Myr) to conduct such research. Aims: We characterize the short period multiplicity fraction of the SACY (Search for Associations Containing Young stars) accounting for any identifiable bias in our techniques and present the role of multiplicity fractions of the SACY sample in the context of star formation. Methods: Using the cross-correlation technique we identified double-lined spectroscopic systems (SB2), in addition to this we computed Radial Velocity (RV) values for our subsample of SACY targets using several epochs of FEROS and UVES data. These values were used to revise the membership of each association then combined with archival data to determine significant RV variations across different data epochs characteristic of multiplicity; single-lined multiple systems (SB1). Results: We identified 7 new multiple systems (SB1s: 5, SB2s: 2). We find no significant difference between the short period multiplicity fraction ($F_\mathrm{m}$) of the SACY sample and that of nearby star forming regions ($\approx$1-2 Myr) and the field ($F_\mathrm{m}\leq$10%) both as a function of age and as a function of primary mass, $M_1$, in the ranges $P$ [1:200 day] and $M_2$ [0.08 $M_{\odot}$-$M_1$]. Conclusions: Our results are consistent with the picture of universal star formation, when compared to the field and nearby star forming regions (SFRs). We comment on the implications of the relationship between increasing multiplicity fraction with primary mass, within the close companion range, in relation to star formation.Comment: 14 pages, 18 figures, published, A&A http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/20142385

Using gamma regression for photometric redshifts of survey galaxies

Machine learning techniques offer a plethora of opportunities in tackling big data within the astronomical community. We present the set of Generalized Linear Models as a fast alternative for determining photometric redshifts of galaxies, a set of tools not commonly applied within astronomy, despite being widely used in other professions. With this technique, we achieve catastrophic outlier rates of the order of ~1%, that can be achieved in a matter of seconds on large datasets of size ~1,000,000. To make these techniques easily accessible to the astronomical community, we developed a set of libraries and tools that are publicly available.Comment: Refereed Proceeding of "The Universe of Digital Sky Surveys" conference held at the INAF - Observatory of Capodimonte, Naples, on 25th-28th November 2014, to be published in the Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, edited by Longo, Napolitano, Marconi, Paolillo, Iodice, 6 pages, and 1 figur

Search for associations containing young stars (SACY) VII. New stellar and substellar candidate members in the young associations

The young associations offer us one of the best opportunities to study the properties of young stellar and substellar objects and to directly image planets thanks to their proximity ($<$200 pc) and age ($\approx$5-150 Myr). However, many previous works have been limited to identifying the brighter, more active members ($\approx$1 M$_\odot$) owing to photometric survey sensitivities limiting the detections of lower mass objects. We search the field of view of 542 previously identified members of the young associations to identify wide or extremely wide (1000-100,000 au in physical separation) companions. We combined 2MASS near-infrared photometry ($J$, $H$, $K$) with proper motion values (from UCAC4, PPMXL, NOMAD) to identify companions in the field of view of known members. We collated further photometry and spectroscopy from the literature and conducted our own high-resolution spectroscopic observations for a subsample of candidate members. This complementary information allowed us to assess the efficiency of our method. We identified 84 targets (45: 0.2-1.3 M$_\odot$, 17: 0.08-0.2 M$_\odot$, 22: $<$0.08 M$_\odot$) in our analysis, ten of which have been identified from spectroscopic analysis in previous young association works. For 33 of these 84, we were able to further assess their membership using a variety of properties (X-ray emission, UV excess, H$_\alpha$, lithium and K I equivalent widths, radial velocities, and CaH indices). We derive a success rate of 76-88% for this technique based on the consistency of these properties. Once confirmed, the targets identified in this work would significantly improve our knowledge of the lower mass end of the young associations. Additionally, these targets would make an ideal new sample for the identification and study of planets around nearby young stars.Comment: 28 pages, 24 figures, accepted in A&

Determining solar abundances using helioseismology

The recent downward revision of solar photospheric abundances of Oxygen and other heavy elements has resulted in serious discrepancies between solar models and solar structure as determined through helioseismology. In this work we investigate the possibility of determining the solar heavy-element abundance without reference to spectroscopy by using helioseismic data. Using the dimensionless sound-speed derivative in the solar convection zone, we find that the heavy element abundance, Z, of 0.0172 +/- 0.002, which is closer to the older, higher value of the abundances.Comment: To appear in Ap