45 research outputs found

    A Stellar Census of the Tucana-Horologium Moving Group

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    We report the selection and spectroscopic confirmation of 129 new late-type (K3-M6) members of the Tuc-Hor moving group, a nearby (~40 pc), young (~40 Myr) population of comoving stars. We also report observations for 13/17 known Tuc-Hor members in this spectral type range, and that 62 additional candidates are likely to be unassociated field stars; the confirmation frequency for new candidates is therefore 129/191 = 67%. We have used RVs, Halpha emission, and Li6708 absorption to distinguish contaminants and bona fide members. Our expanded census of Tuc-Hor increases the known population by a factor of ~3 in total and by a factor of ~8 for members with SpT>K3, but even so, the K-M dwarf population of Tuc-Hor is still markedly incomplete. The spatial distribution of members appears to trace a 2D sheet, with a broad distribution in X and Y, but a very narrow distribution (+/-5 pc) in Z. The corresponding velocity distribution is very small, with a scatter of +/-1.1 km/s about the mean UVW velocity. We also show that the isochronal age (20--30 Myr) and the lithium depletion age (40 Myr) disagree, following a trend seen in other PMS populations. The Halpha emission follows a trend of increasing EW with later SpT, as seen for young clusters. We find that members have been depleted of lithium for spectral types of K7.0-M4.5. Finally, our purely kinematic and color-magnitude selection procedure allows us to test the efficiency and completeness for activity-based selection of young stars. We find that 60% of K-M dwarfs in Tuc-Hor do not have ROSAT counterparts and would be omitted in Xray selected samples. GALEX UV-selected samples using a previously suggested criterion for youth achieve completeness of 77% and purity of 78%. We suggest new selection criteria that yield >95% completeness for ~40 Myr populations.(Abridged)Comment: Accepted to AJ; 28 pages, 12 figures, 5 tables in emulateapj forma

    R=100,000 Spectroscopy of Photodissociation Regions: H2 Rotational Lines in the Orion Bar

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    Ground state rotational lines of H2 are good temperature probes of moderately hot (200-1000 K) gas. The low A-values of these lines result in low critical densities while ensuring that the lines are optically thin. ISO observations of H2 rotational lines in PDRs reveal large quantities of warm gas that are difficult to explain via current models, but the spatial resolution of ISO does not resolve the temperature structure of the warm gas. We present and discuss high spatial resolution observations of H2 rotational line emission from the Orion Bar.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, Proceedings of the ESO Workshop on High Resolution Infrared Spectroscop

    A Measurement of the Wind Speed on a Brown Dwarf

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