Aims. We address the origin and evolutionary status of hot subdwarf stars by studying the optical spectral properties of 58 subdwarf O (sdO) stars. Combining them with the results of our previously ...studied subdwarf B (sdB) stars, we aim at investigating possible evolutionary links. Methods. We analyse high-resolution ( 18\,000$--> R > 18\,000), high- quality optical spectra of sdO stars obtained with the ESO VLT UVES echelle spectrograph in the course of the ESO Supernova Ia Progenitor Survey (SPY). Effective temperatures, surface gravities, and photospheric helium abundances are determined simultaneously by fitting the profiles of hydrogen and helium lines using dedicated synthetic spectra calculated from an extensive grid of NLTE model atmospheres. Results. We find spectroscopic or photometric evidence for cool companions to eight sdO stars, as well as a binary consisting of two sdO stars. A clear correlation between helium abundances and the presence of carbon and/or nitrogen lines is found: below solar helium abundance, no sdO star shows C or N lines. In contrast, C and/or N lines are present in the spectra of all sdO stars with supersolar helium abundance. We thus use the solar helium abundance to divide our sample into helium- deficient and helium-enriched sdO stars. While helium-deficient sdO stars are scattered in a wide range of the {T_{\rm eff}}-log( g)-diagram, most of the helium-enriched sdO stars cluster in a narrow region at temperatures between 40 000 and 50 000 K and gravities between \log g=5.5 and 6.0. Conclusions. An evolutionary link between sdB stars and sdO stars appears plausible only for the helium-deficient sdO stars. They probably have evolved away from the extreme horizontal branch; i.e., they are the likely successors to sdB stars. In contrast, the atmospheric properties of helium-enriched sdO stars cannot be explained with canonical single-star evolutionary models. Alternative scenarios for both single-star (late hot flasher) and binary evolution (white-dwarf merger; post-RGB evolution) fail to reproduce the observed properties of helium-enriched sdO stars in detail. While we regard the post-RGB scenario as inappropriate, the white-dwarf merger and the late hot-flasher scenarios remain viable to explain the origin of helium-enriched sdO stars.
We report the discovery of an unbound hyper-velocity star, US 708, in the Milky Way halo, with a heliocentric radial velocity of $+708\pm15$ ${\rm km \, s^{-1}}$. A quantitative NLTE model atmosphere ...analysis of optical spectra obtained with LRIS at the Keck I telescope shows that US 708 is an extremely helium-rich (NHe/$N_{\rm H}=10$) subluminous O type star with Teff = $44\,500$ K, $\log g=5.23$ at a distance of 19 kpc. Its Galactic rest frame velocity is at least 751 ${\rm km \, s^{-1}}$, much higher than the local Galactic escape velocity indicating that the star is unbound to the Galaxy. It has been suggested that such hyper-velocity stars can be formed by the tidal disruption of a binary through interaction with the super-massive black hole (SMBH) at the Galactic centre (GC). Numerical kinematical experiments are carried out to reconstruct the path from the GC. US 708 needs about 32 Myrs to travel from the GC to its present position, less than its evolutionary lifetime. Its predicted proper motion $\mu_\alpha \cos{\delta} = -2.3$ ${\rm mas\,yr^{-1}}$ and $\mu_\delta = -2.4$ ${\rm mas\,yr^{-1}}$ should be measurable by future space missions. We conjecture that US 708 is formed by the merger of two helium white dwarfs in a close binary induced by the interaction with the SMBH in the GC and then escaped.
Hypervelocity stars (HVS) move so fast that they are not bound to the Galaxy. When they were first discovered in 2005, dynamical ejection from the supermassive black hole (SMBH) in the Galactic ...centre (GC) was suggested as their origin. The two dozen HVSs known today are young massive B stars, mostly of 3–4 solar masses. Recently, 20 HVS candidates of low mass were discovered in the Segue G and K dwarf sample, but none of them originates from the GC. We embarked on a kinematic analysis of the Segue HVS candidate sample using the full 6D phase space information based on new proper motion measurements. Their orbital properties can then be derived by tracing back their trajectories in different mass models of our Galaxy. We present the results for 14 candidate HVSs for which proper motion measurements were possible. Significantly lower proper motions than found in the previous study were derived. Considering three different Galactic mass models, we found that all stars are bound to the Galaxy. We confirm that the stars do not originate from the GC. The distribution of their proper motions and radial velocities is consistent with predictions for runaway stars ejected from the Galactic disk by the binary supernova mechanism. However, their kinematics are also consistent with old disk membership. Moreover, most stars have rather low metallicities and strong α-element enrichment, as is typical for thick disk and halo stars, whereas the metallicity of the three most metal-rich stars might indicate that they are runaway stars from the thin disk. One star shows halo kinematics.
Aims.We test the hypothesis that the pulsations in sdB stars are correlated with the surface abundances of iron-group elements. Any correlation might explain why, when given two spectroscopically ...similar stars, one will pulsate while the other will not. Methods.We have obtained high-resolution ultraviolet spectra two pulsating and three non-pulsating sdB stars using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph onboard the Hubble Space Telescope. We determined abundances for 25 elements including the iron group and even heavier elements such as tin and lead using LTE curve-of-growth and spectrum synthesis techniques. Results.We find no clear correlation between pulsations and metal abundances, and we comment on the resulting implications, including whether it is possible to determine the difference between a pulsating and a non-pulsating sdB spectroscopically. In addition to the main goal of our observations, we have also investigated the effect of supersolar metallicity on fundamental parameter determination, possible trends with iron abundance, and the hypothesis that weak winds may be selectively removing elements from the stellar envelopes. These effects provide challenges to stellar atmosphere modelling and diffusion models for sdB stars.
Context. Young, massive stars have been found in the distant Galactic halo. Dynamical ejection from the Galactic disc has been suggested as the origin of these "run-away stars". The so-called ...hyper-velocity stars have been found to travel so fast that they are unbound to the Galaxy. Only a supermassive black hole (SMBH) appears to be able to accelerate the stars to such high velocities, which suggests that the Galactic centre is their place of origin. Aims. We revisit the run-away B star HD 271791 to determine its nature and origin. Methods. High-resolution optical echelle spectra are analysed using LTE model atmospheres. Based on proper-motion measurements, the 3D kinematic of the star is investigated by means of numerical experiments. Results. HD 271791 is found to be a massive (11 M_{\odot}), rapidly-rotating B-type star. Its chemical composition is found to be consistent with that of the sun. Its Galactic rest-frame velocity exceeds the Galactic escape velocity. Conclusions. According to its space velocity, HD 271791 qualifies as a hyper-velocity star. Its kinematic constrains the place of birth to the outer Galactic disc and rules out the Galactic centre. HD 271791 is also too young (<30 Myr) to have originated in the Galactic centre. This challenges the SMBH paradigm for the origin of hyper-velocity stars.
We present the kinematics of a sample of 398 DA white dwarfs from the SPY project (ESO SN Ia Progenitor surveY) and discuss kinematic criteria for distinguishing of thin-disk, thick-disk, and halo ...populations. This is the largest homogeneous sample of white dwarfs for which 3D space motions have been determined. Since the percentage of old stars among white dwarfs is higher than among main-sequence stars, they are presumably valuable tools in studies of old populations, such as the halo and the thick disk. Studies of white-dwarf kinematics can help to determine the fraction of the total mass of our Galaxy contained in the form of thick-disk and halo white dwarfs, an issue which is still under discussion. Radial velocities and spectroscopic distances obtained by the SPY project were combined with our measurements of proper motions to derive 3D space motions. Galactic orbits and further kinematic parameters were computed. We calculated individual errors of kinematic parameters by means of a Monte Carlo error propagation code. Our kinematic criteria for assigning population membership were deduced from a sample of F and G stars taken from the literature, for which chemical criteria can be used to distinguish between a thin-disk, a thick-disk and a halo star. Our kinematic population classification scheme is based on the position in the $U-V$-velocity diagram, the position in the Jz-eccentricity diagram, and the Galactic orbit. We combined this with age information and found seven halo and 23 thick-disk white dwarfs in this brightness limited sample. Another four rather cool white dwarfs probably also belong to the thick disk. Correspondingly 2% of the white dwarfs belong to the halo and 7% to the thick disk. The mass contribution of the thick-disk white dwarfs is found to be substantial, but is insufficient to account for the missing dark matter.
The recently discovered subdwarf B (sdB) pulsator KIC 11 558 725 is one of the 16 pulsating sdB stars detected in the Kepler field. It features a rich g-mode frequency spectrum, with a few ...low-amplitude p-modes at short periods. This makes it a promising target for a seismic study aiming to constrain the internal structure of this star, and of sdB stars ingeneral. We have obtained ground-based spectroscopic radial-velocity measurements of KIC 11 558 725 based on low-resolution spectra in the Balmer-line region, spanning the 2010 and 2011 observing seasons. From these data we have discovered that KIC 11 558 725 is a binary with period P = 10.05 d, and that the radial-velocity amplitude of the sdB star is 58 km s-1. Consequently the companion of the sdB star has a minimum mass of 0.63 M⊙, and is therefore most likely an unseen white dwarf. We analyse the near-continuous 2010–2011 Kepler light curve to reveal the orbital Doppler-beaming effect, giving rise to light variations at the 238 ppm level, which is consistent with the observed spectroscopic orbital radial-velocity amplitude of the subdwarf. We use the strongest 70 pulsation frequencies in the Kepler light curve of the subdwarf as clocks to derive a third consistent measurement of the orbital radial-velocity amplitude, from the orbital light-travel delay. The orbital radius asdBsini = 11.5 R⊙ gives rise to a light-travel time delay of 53.6 s, which causes aliasing and lowers the amplitudes of the shortest pulsation frequencies, unless the effect is corrected for. We use our high signal-to-noise average spectra to study the atmospheric parameters of the sdB star, deriving Teff = 27 910 K andlog g = 5.41 dex, and find that carbon, nitrogen and oxygen are underabundant relative to the solar mixture. Furthermore, we analyse the Kepler light curve for its pulsational content and extract more than 160 significant frequencies.We investigate the pulsation frequencies for expected period spacings and rotational splittings. We find period-spacing sequences of spherical-harmonic degrees ℓ = 1 and ℓ = 2, and we associate a large fraction of the g-modes in KIC 11 558 725 with these sequences. From frequency splittings we conclude that the subdwarf is rotating subsynchronously with respect to the orbit.
We present the analysis of a high-resolution, high-quality sample of optical spectra for 76 subdwarf B (sdB) stars from the ESO Supernova Ia Progenitor Survey (SPY, Napiwotzki et al. 2001). Effective ...temperature, surface gravity, and photospheric helium abundance are determined simultaneously by fitting the profiles of hydrogen and helium lines using synthetic spectra calculated from LTE and NLTE model atmospheres. We perform a detailed comparison of our measurements with theoretical calculations, both for single star evolution and for binary population synthesis models of close binary evolution. The luminosity evolution given by the standard EHB evolutionary tracks from Dorman et al. (1993) shows an overall agreement in shape with our observations, although a constant offset in luminosity exists. The various simulation sets for binary formation channels of sdB stars calculated by Han et al. (2003) are compared individually to our data for testing our current understanding of sdB formation processes and the physical effects involved. The best-matching sets manage to reproduce the observed sdB distribution in the temperature-gravity-plane well. However, they do not match the observed cumulative luminosity function, indicating that theoretical improvement is necessary. We also investigate composite-spectrum objects showing clear signatures of a cool companion with optical and infrared photometry. These stars have cool main sequence companions of spectral types F to K. Typical helium abundances of composite and non-composite sdB stars do not differ.
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