Abstract
Colour–magnitude diagrams (CMDs) are powerful tools that might be used to infer stellar properties in globular clusters (GCs), for example, the binary fraction and their mass ratio (q) ...distribution. In the past few years, observations have revealed that q distributions of GC main-sequence binaries are generally flat, and a distribution characterized by a strong increase towards q ≈ 1 is not typical in GCs. In numerical simulations of GC evolution with the initial binary population (IBP) described by Kroupa, synthetic CMD colour distributions exhibit a peak associated with binaries that have q ≈ 1. While the Kroupa IBP reproduces binary properties in star-forming regions, clusters and the Galactic field, the peak in the q distribution towards q ≈ 1 observed for GC simulations is not consistent with distributions derived from observations. The objective of this paper is to refine and further improve the physical formulation of pre-main-sequence eigenevolution proposed by Kroupa in order to achieve CMD colour distributions of simulated GC models similar to those observed in real GCs, and to get a similarly good agreement with binary properties for late-type binaries in the Galactic field. We present in this paper a modified Kroupa IBP, in which early-type stars follow observational distributions, and late-type stars are generated according to slightly modified pre-main-sequence eigenevolution prescriptions. Our modifications not only lead to a qualitatively good agreement with respect to long-term observations of late-type binaries in the Galactic field but also resolve the above-mentioned problem related to binary distributions in GC models.
Abstract
In order to allow a better understanding of the origin of Galactic field populations, dynamical equivalence of stellar-dynamical systems has been postulated by Kroupa and Belloni et al. to ...allow mapping of solutions of the initial conditions of embedded clusters such that they yield, after a period of dynamical processing, the Galactic field population. Dynamically equivalent systems are defined to initially and finally have the same distribution functions of periods, mass ratios and eccentricities of binary stars. Here, we search for dynamically equivalent clusters using the mocca code. The simulations confirm that dynamically equivalent solutions indeed exist. The result is that the solution space is next to identical to the radius–mass relation of Marks & Kroupa, $\left( r_{\rm h}/{\rm pc} \right)= 0.1^{+0.07}_{-0.04}{\, } \left( M_{\rm ecl}/{\rm M}_{\odot } \right)^{0.13\pm 0.04}$. This relation is in good agreement with the oIMF. This is achieved by applying a similar procedurebserved density of molecular cloud clumps. According to the solutions, the time-scale to reach dynamical equivalence is about 0.5 Myr which is, interestingly, consistent with the lifetime of ultra-compact H ii regions and the time-scale needed for gas expulsion to be active in observed very young clusters as based on their dynamical modelling.
Aims. 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. Methods. 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 Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. The abundance determination is based on the equivalent widths of selected atomic lines of the refractory elements and on the spectral synthesis of C2, 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. Results. 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 alone, the abundance trends with the condensation temperature of the elements are correlated with age and anticorrelated with the surface gravity, which agrees 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 it is not only iron that 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.
We employ measurements of the Delta *a/Fe ratio derived from low-resolution (R ~ 2000) spectra of 17,277 G-type dwarfs from the SEGUE survey to separate them into likely thin- and thick-disk ...subsamples. Both subsamples exhibit strong gradients of orbital rotational velocity with metallicity, of opposite signs, --20 to --30 km s--1 dex--1 for the thin-disk and +40 to +50 km s--1 dex--1 for the thick-disk population. The rotational velocity is uncorrelated with Galactocentric distance for the thin-disk subsample and exhibits a small trend for the thick-disk subsample. The rotational velocity decreases with distance from the plane for both disk components, with similar slopes (--9.0 ? 1.0 km s--1 kpc--1). Thick-disk stars exhibit a strong trend of orbital eccentricity with metallicity (about --0.2 dex--1), while the eccentricity does not change with metallicity for the thin-disk subsample. The eccentricity is almost independent of Galactocentric radius for the thin-disk population, while a marginal gradient of the eccentricity with radius exists for the thick-disk population. Both subsamples possess similar positive gradients of eccentricity with distance from the Galactic plane. The shapes of the eccentricity distributions for the thin- and thick-disk populations are independent of distance from the plane, and include no significant numbers of stars with eccentricity above 0.6. Among several contemporary models of disk evolution that we consider, radial migration appears to have played an important role in the evolution of the thin-disk population, but possibly less so for the thick disk, relative to the gas-rich merger or disk heating scenarios. We emphasize that more physically realistic models and simulations need to be constructed in order to carry out the detailed quantitative comparisons that our new data enable.
Abstract
We present a chemodynamical study of the Triangulum–Andromeda overdensity (TriAnd) employing a sample of 31 candidate stars observed with the GRACES high-resolution (
R
= 40,000) ...spectrograph at the Gemini North (8.1 m) telescope. TriAnd is a stellar substructure found toward the outer disk of the Milky Way, located at
R
GC
∼ 18 kpc from the Sun, toward Galactic latitude
b
∼ 25°. Most stars in our sample have dynamical properties compatible with a disk stellar population. In addition, by applying an eccentricity cut, we are able to detect a stellar contamination that seems to be consistent with an accreted population. In chemical abundance space, the majority of our TriAnd candidates are similar to the outer thin-disk population, suggesting that the overdensity has an in situ origin. Finally, the found accreted halo interlopers spatially overlapping with TriAnd should explain the historical discussion of the overdensity’s nature due to its complex chemical patterns.
Context. Determining distances to individual field stars is a necessary step towards mapping Galactic structure and determining spatial variations in the chemo-dynamical properties of stellar ...populations in the Milky Way. Aims. In order to provide stellar distance estimates for various spectroscopic surveys, we have developed a code that estimates distances to stars using measured spectroscopic and photometric quantities. We employ a Bayesian approach to build the probability distribution function over stellar evolutionary models given these data, delivering estimates of model parameters (including distances) for each star individually. Our method provides several alternative distance estimates for each star in the output, along with their associated uncertainties. This facilitates the use of our method even in the absence of some measurements. Methods. The code was first tested on simulations, successfully recovering input distances to mock stars with ≲1% bias. We found the uncertainties scale with the uncertainties in the adopted spectro-photometric parameters. The method-intrinsic random distance uncertainties for typical spectroscopic survey measurements amount to around 10% for dwarf stars and 20% for giants, and are most sensitive to the quality of log g measurements. Results. The code was then validated by comparing our distance estimates to parallax measurements from the Hipparcos mission for nearby stars (<300 pc), to asteroseismic distances of CoRoT red giant stars, and to known distances of well-studied open and globular clusters. The photometric data of these reference samples cover both optical and infrared wavelengths. The spectroscopic parameters are also based on spectra taken at various wavelengths, with varying spectral coverage and resolution: the Sloan Digital Sky Survey programs SEGUE and APOGEE, as well as various ESO instruments. Conclusions. External comparisons confirm that our distances are subject to very small systematic biases with respect to the fundamental Hipparcos scale (+ 0.4% for dwarfs, and + 1.6% for giants). The typical random distance scatter is 18% for dwarfs, and 26% for giants. For the CoRoT-APOGEE sample, which spans Galactocentric distances of 4−14 kpc, the typical random distance scatter is ≃15% both for the nearby and farther data. Our distances are systematically larger than the CoRoT distances by about + 9%, which can mostly be attributed to the different choice of priors. The comparison to known distances of star clusters from SEGUE and APOGEE has led to significant systematic differences for many cluster stars, but with opposite signs and substantial scatter. Finally, we tested our distances against those previously determined for a high-quality sample of giant stars from the RAVE survey, again finding a small systematic trend of + 5% and an rms scatter of 30%. Efforts are underway to provide our code to the community by running it on a public server.
We measure the Milky Way's rotation curve over the Galactocentric range 4 kpc lap R lap 14 kpc from the first year of data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment. We ...determine the local value of the circular velocity to be V sub(c)(R sub(0)) = 218+ or -6kms super(-1) and find that the rotation curve is approximately flat with a local derivative between -3.0kms super(-1) kpc super(-1) and 0.4kms super(-1) kpc super(-1). We investigate various systematic uncertainties and find that these are limited to offsets at the percent level, ~2kms super(-1) in V sub(c). Marginalizing over all the systematics that we consider, we find that V sub(c)(R sub(0)) < 235kms super(-1) at >99 % confidence. We find an offset between the Sun's rotational velocity and the local circular velocity of 26 + or - 3kms super(-1), which is larger than the locally measured solar motion of 12kms super(-1). Combining our results with other data, we find that the Milky Way's dark-halo mass within the virial radius is ~8 x 10 super(11) M sub(middot in circle).
This is the second in a series of papers associated with cataclysmic variables (CVs) and related objects, formed in a suite of simulations for globular cluster evolution performed with the mocca ...Monte Carlo code. We study the properties of our simulated CV populations throughout the entire cluster evolution. We find that dynamics extends the range of binary CV progenitor properties, causing CV formation from binary progenitors that would otherwise not become CVs. The CV formation rate in our simulations can be separated into two regimes: an initial burst (...1 Gyr) connected with the formation of the most massive white dwarfs, followed by a nearly constant formation rate. This result holds for all models regardless of the adopted initial conditions, even when most CVs form dynamically. Given the cluster age-dependence of CV properties, we argue that direct comparisons to observed Galactic field CVs could be misleading, since cluster CVs can be up to four times older than their field counterparts. Our results also illustrate that, due mainly to unstable mass transfer, some CVs that form in our simulations are destroyed before the present day. Finally, some field CVs might have originated from globular clusters, as found in our simulations, although the fraction of such escapers should be small relative to the entire Galactic field CV population. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
As large-scale stellar surveys have become available over the past decade, the ability to detect and characterize substructures in the Galaxy has increased dramatically. These surveys have revealed ...the Triangulum-Andromeda (TriAnd) region to be rich with substructures in the distance range 20-30 kpc, and the relation of these features to each other, if any, remains unclear. An exploration using Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) photometry reveals not only the faint sequence in M giants detected by Rocha-Pinto et al. spanning the range 100degrees < l < 160degrees and -50degrees < b < -15degrees, but, in addition, a second, brighter and more densely populated sequence. These sequences are likely associated with the distinct main sequences (MSs) discovered (and labeled TriAnd1 and TriAnd2) by Martin et al. in an optical survey in the direction of M31, where TriAnd2 is the optical counterpart of the fainter red giant branch (RGB)/asymptotic giant branch sequence of Rocha-Pinto et al. Here, the age, distance, and metallicity ranges for TriAnd1 and TriAnd2 are estimated by simultaneously fitting isochrones to the 2MASS RGB tracks and the optical MS/MS turn-off features. The two populations are clearly distinct in age and distance: the brighter sequence (TriAnd1) is younger (6-10 Gyr) and closer (distance of ~15-21 kpc), whereas the fainter sequence (TriAnd2) is older (10-12 Gyr) and at an estimated distance of ~24-32 kpc. A comparison with simulations demonstrates that the differences and similarities between TriAnd1 and TriAnd2 can simultaneously be explained if they represent debris originating from the disruption of the same dwarf galaxy, but torn off during two distinct pericentric passages.
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