Abstract
Investigations of the origin and evolution of the Milky Way disc have long relied on chemical and kinematic identifications of its components to reconstruct our Galactic past. Difficulties ...in determining precise stellar ages have restricted most studies to small samples, normally confined to the solar neighbourhood. Here, we break this impasse with the help of asteroseismic inference and perform a chronology of the evolution of the disc throughout the age of the Galaxy. We chemically dissect the Milky Way disc population using a sample of red giant stars spanning out to 2 kpc in the solar annulus observed by the Kepler satellite, with the added dimension of asteroseismic ages. Our results reveal a clear difference in age between the low- and high-α populations, which also show distinct velocity dispersions in the V and W components. We find no tight correlation between age and metallicity nor α/Fe for the high-α disc stars. Our results indicate that this component formed over a period of more than 2 Gyr with a wide range of M/H and α/Fe independent of time. Our findings show that the kinematic properties of young α-rich stars are consistent with the rest of the high-α population and different from the low-α stars of similar age, rendering support to their origin being old stars that went through a mass transfer or stellar merger event, making them appear younger, instead of migration of truly young stars formed close to the Galactic bar.
Context. In recent years the global seismic scaling relations for the frequency of maximum power, νmax ∝ g / √Teff $\nu_{\mathrm max} \propto g/\sqrt{T_{\mathrm eff}}$νmax∝g/Teff, and for the large ...frequency separation, Δν ∝ √ρ¯ ${{\mathrm \Delta}}\nu \propto \sqrt{\bar\rho}$Δν∝ρ¯ , have drawn attention in various fields of astrophysics. This is because these relations can be used to estimate parameters, such as the mass and radius of stars that show solar-like oscillations. With the exquisite photometry of Kepler, the uncertainties in the seismic observables are small enough to estimate masses and radii with a precision of only a few per cent. Even though this seems to work quite well for main-sequence stars, there is empirical evidence, mainly from studies of eclipsing binary systems, that the seismic scaling relations systematically overestimate the mass and radius of red giants by about 15% and 5%, respectively. Various model-based corrections of the Δν-scaling reduce the problem but do not solve it. Aims. Our goal is to define revised seismic scaling relations that account for the known systematic mass and radius discrepancies in a completely model-independent way. Methods. We use probabilistic methods to analyse the seismic data and to derive non-linear scaling relations based on a sample of six red giant branch (RGB) stars that are members of eclipsing binary systems and about 60 red giants on the RGB as well as in the core-helium burning red clump (RC) in the two open clusters NGC 6791 and NGC 6819. Results. We re-examine the global oscillation parameters of the giants in the binary systems in order to determine their seismic fundamental parameters and we find them to agree with the dynamic parameters from the literature if we adopt non-linear scalings. We note that a curvature and glitch corrected Δνcor should be preferred over a local or average value of Δν. We then compare the observed seismic parameters of the cluster giants to those scaled from independent measurements and find the same non-linear behaviour as for the eclipsing binaries. Our final proposed scaling relations are based on both samples and cover a broad range of evolutionary stages from RGB to RC stars: g / √Teff = (νmax / νmax,⊙)1.0075±0.0021 $g/\sqrt{T_{\mathrm eff}} = (\nu_{\mathrm max}/\nu_{\mathrm max,\odot})^{1.0075\pm0.0021}$g/Teff=(νmax/νmax,⊙)1.0075±0.0021 and √ρ¯ = (Δνcor / Δνcor,⊙)η − (0.0085 ± 0.0025) log2(Δνcor / Δνcor,⊙)−1 $\sqrt{\bar\rho} = ({{\mathrm \Delta}}\nu_{\mathrm cor}/{{\mathrm \Delta}}\nu_{\mathrm cor,\odot})\eta - (0.0085\pm0.0025) \log^2 ({{\mathrm \Delta}}\nu_{\mathrm cor}/{{\mathrm \Delta}}\nu_{\mathrm cor,\odot})^{-1}$ρ¯=(Δνcor/Δνcor,⊙)η−(0.0085±0.0025)log2(Δνcor/Δνcor,⊙)−1, where g, Teff, and ρ¯ $\bar\rho$ρ¯ are in solar units, νmax,⊙ = 3140 ± 5 μHz and Δνcor,⊙ = 135.08 ± 0.02 μHz, and η is equal to one in the case of RGB stars and 1.04 ± 0.01 for RC stars. Conclusions. A direct consequence of these new scaling relations is that the average mass of stars on the ascending giant branch reduces to 1.10 ± 0.03 M⊙ in NGC 6791 and 1.45 ± 0.06 M⊙ in NGC 6819, allowing us to revise the clusters’ distance modulus to 13.11 ± 0.03 and 11.91 ± 0.03 mag, respectively. We also find strong evidence that both clusters are significantly older than concluded from previous seismic investigations.
Kepler allows the measurement of starspot variability in a large sample of field red giants for the first time. With a new method that combines autocorrelation and wavelet decomposition, we measure ...361 rotation periods from the full set of 17 377 oscillating red giants in our sample. This represents 2.08% of the stars, consistent with the fraction of spectroscopically detected rapidly rotating giants in the field. The remaining stars do not show enough variability to allow us to measure a reliable surface rotation period. Because the stars with detected rotation periods have measured oscillations, we can infer their global properties, e.g. mass and radius, and quantitatively evaluate the predictions of standard stellar evolution models as a function of mass. Consistent with results for cluster giants when we consider only the 4881 intermediate-mass stars, M > 2.0 M⊙ from our full red giant sample, we do not find the enhanced rates of rapid rotation expected from angular momentum conservation. We therefore suggest that either enhanced angular momentum loss or radial differential rotation must be occurring in these stars. Finally, when we examine the 575 low-mass (M< 1.1 M⊙) red clump stars in our sample, which were expected to exhibit slow (non-detectable) rotation, 15% of them actually have detectable rotation. This suggests a high rate of interactions and stellar mergers on the red giant branch.
Context. The effect of metallicity on the granulation activity in stars, and hence on the convective motions in general, is still poorly understood. Available spectroscopic parameters from the ...updated APOGEE-Kepler catalog, coupled with high-precision photometric observations from NASA’s Kepler mission spanning more than four years of observation, make oscillating red giant stars in open clusters crucial testbeds. Aims. We aim to determine the role of metallicity on the stellar granulation activity by discriminating its effect from that of different stellar properties such as surface gravity, mass, and temperature. We analyze 60 known red giant stars belonging to the open clusters NGC 6791, NGC 6819, and NGC 6811, spanning a metallicity range from Fe/H ≃ − 0.09 to 0.32. The parameters describing the granulation activity of these stars and their frequency of maximum oscillation power, νmax, are studied while taking into account different masses, metallicities, and stellar evolutionary stages. We derive new scaling relations for the granulation activity, re-calibrate existing ones, and identify the best scaling relations from the available set of observations. Methods. We adopted the Bayesian code Diamonds for the analysis of the background signal in the Fourier spectra of the stars. We performed a Bayesian parameter estimation and model comparison to test the different model hypotheses proposed in this work and in the literature. Results. Metallicity causes a statistically significant change in the amplitude of the granulation activity, with a dependency stronger than that induced by both stellar mass and surface gravity. We also find that the metallicity has a significant impact on the corresponding time scales of the phenomenon. The effect of metallicity on the time scale is stronger than that of mass. Conclusions. A higher metallicity increases the amplitude of granulation and meso-granulation signals and slows down their characteristic time scales toward longer periods. The trend in amplitude is in qualitative agreement with predictions from existing 3D hydrodynamical simulations of stellar atmospheres from main sequence to red giant stars. We confirm that the granulation activity is not sensitive to changes in the stellar core and that it only depends on the atmospheric parameters of stars.
Context. The space mission Kepler provides us with long and uninterrupted photometric time series of red giants. We are now able to probe the rotational behaviour in their deep interiors using the ...observations of mixed modes. Aims. We aim to measure the rotational splittings in red giants and to derive scaling relations for rotation related to seismic and fundamental stellar parameters. Methods. We have developed a dedicated method for automated measurements of the rotational splittings in a large number of red giants. Ensemble asteroseismology, namely the examination of a large number of red giants at different stages of their evolution, allows us to derive global information on stellar evolution. Results. We have measured rotational splittings in a sample of about 300 red giants. We have also shown that these splittings are dominated by the core rotation. Under the assumption that a linear analysis can provide the rotational splitting, we observe a small increase of the core rotation of stars ascending the red giant branch. Alternatively, an important slow down is observed for red-clump stars compared to the red giant branch. We also show that, at fixed stellar radius, the specific angular momentum increases with increasing stellar mass. Conclusions. Ensemble asteroseismology indicates what has been indirectly suspected for a while: our interpretation of the observed rotational splittings leads to the conclusion that the mean core rotation significantly slows down during the red giant phase. The slow-down occurs in the last stages of the red giant branch. This spinning down explains, for instance, the long rotation periods measured in white dwarfs.
ABSTRACT With recent advances in asteroseismology it is now possible to peer into the cores of red giants, potentially providing a way to study processes such as nuclear burning and mixing through ...their imprint as sharp structural variations-glitches-in the stellar cores. Here we show how such core glitches can affect the oscillations we observe in red giants. We derive an analytical expression describing the expected frequency pattern in the presence of a glitch. This formulation also accounts for the coupling between acoustic and gravity waves. From an extensive set of canonical stellar models we find glitch-induced variation in the period spacing and inertia of non-radial modes during several phases of red giant evolution. Significant changes are seen in the appearance of mode amplitude and frequency patterns in asteroseismic diagrams such as the power spectrum and the échelle diagram. Interestingly, along the red giant branch glitch-induced variation occurs only at the luminosity bump, potentially providing a direct seismic indicator of stars in that particular evolution stage. Similarly, we find the variation at only certain post-helium-ignition evolution stages, namely, in the early phases of helium core burning and at the beginning of helium shell burning, signifying the asymptotic giant branch bump. Based on our results, we note that assuming stars to be glitch-free, while they are not, can result in an incorrect estimate of the period spacing. We further note that including diffusion and mixing beyond classical Schwarzschild could affect the characteristics of the glitches, potentially providing a way to study these physical processes.
The GALAH survey: scientific motivation De Silva, G. M.; Freeman, K. C.; Bland-Hawthorn, J. ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
05/2015, Letnik:
449, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey is a large high-resolution spectroscopic survey using the newly commissioned High Efficiency and Resolution Multi-Element Spectrograph (HERMES) on ...the Anglo-Australian Telescope. The HERMES spectrograph provides high-resolution (R ∼ 28 000) spectra in four passbands for 392 stars simultaneously over a 2 deg field of view. The goal of the survey is to unravel the formation and evolutionary history of the Milky Way, using fossil remnants of ancient star formation events which have been disrupted and are now dispersed throughout the Galaxy. Chemical tagging seeks to identify such dispersed remnants solely from their common and unique chemical signatures; these groups are unidentifiable from their spatial, photometric or kinematic properties. To carry out chemical tagging, the GALAH survey will acquire spectra for a million stars down to V ∼ 14. The HERMES spectra of FGK stars contain absorption lines from 29 elements including light proton-capture elements, α-elements, odd-Z elements, iron-peak elements and n-capture elements from the light and heavy s-process and the r-process. This paper describes the motivation and planned execution of the GALAH survey, and presents some results on the first-light performance of HERMES.
The solar analogues 16 Cyg A and B are excellent asteroseismic targets in the Kepler field of view and together with a red dwarf and a Jovian planet form an interesting system. For these more evolved ...Sun-like stars we cannot detect surface rotation with the current Kepler data but instead use the technique of asteroseimology to determine rotational properties of both 16 Cyg A and B. We find the rotation periods to be ... and ..., and the angles of inclination to be ... and ..., for A and B, respectively. Together with these results we use the published mass and age to suggest that, under the assumption of a solar-like rotation profile, 16 Cyg A could be used when calibrating gyrochronology relations. In addition, we discuss the known 16 Cyg B star-planet eccentricity and measured low obliquity which is consistent with Kozai cycling and tidal theory. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
We present a study of 33 Kepler planet-candidate host stars for which asteroseismic observations have sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio to allow extraction of individual pulsation frequencies. ...We implement a new Bayesian scheme that is flexible in its input to process individual oscillation frequencies, combinations of them, and average asteroseismic parameters, and derive robust fundamental properties for these targets. Applying this scheme to grids of evolutionary models yields stellar properties with median statistical uncertainties of 1.2 per cent (radius), 1.7 per cent (density), 3.3 per cent (mass), 4.4 per cent (distance), and 14 per cent (age), making this the exoplanet host-star sample with the most precise and uniformly determined fundamental parameters to date. We assess the systematics from changes in the solar abundances and mixing-length parameter, showing that they are smaller than the statistical errors. We also determine the stellar properties with three other fitting algorithms and explore the systematics arising from using different evolution and pulsation codes, resulting in 1 per cent in density and radius, and 2 per cent and 7 per cent in mass and age, respectively. We confirm previous findings of the initial helium abundance being a source of systematics comparable to our statistical uncertainties, and discuss future prospects for constraining this parameter by combining asteroseismology and data from space missions. Finally, we compare our derived properties with those obtained using the global average asteroseismic observables along with effective temperature and metallicity, finding excellent level of agreement. Owing to selection effects, our results show that the majority of the high signal-to-noise ratio asteroseismic Kepler host stars are older than the Sun.
We investigate different amplitude scaling relations adopted for the asteroseismology of stars that show solar-like oscillations. Amplitudes are among the most challenging asteroseismic quantities to ...handle because of the large uncertainties that arise in measuring the background level in the star's power spectrum. We present results computed by means of a Bayesian inference on a sample of 1640 stars observed with Kepler, spanning from main sequence to red giant stars, for 12 models used for amplitude predictions and exploiting recently well-calibrated effective temperatures from Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometry. We test the candidate amplitude scaling relations by means of a Bayesian model comparison. We find the model having a separate dependence upon the mass of the stars to be largely the most favoured one. The differences among models and the differences seen in their free parameters from early to late phases of stellar evolution are also highlighted.
PDF
