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Deriving temperature, mass, and age of evolved stars from high-resolution spectra. Application to field stars and the open cluster IC 4651
Aims.We test our capability of deriving stellar physical parameters ofgiant stars by analysing a sample of field stars and the well studiedopen cluster IC 4651 with different spectroscopic methods. Methods: Theuse of a technique based on line-depth ratios (LDRs) allows us todetermine with high precision the effective temperature of the stars andto compare the results with those obtained with a classical LTEabundance analysis. Results: (i) For the field stars we find that thetemperatures derived by means of the LDR method are in excellentagreement with those found by the spectral synthesis. This result isextremely encouraging because it shows that spectra can be used tofirmly derive population characteristics (e.g., mass and age) of theobserved stars. (ii) For the IC 4651 stars we use the determinedeffective temperature to derive the following results. a) The reddeningE(B-V) of the cluster is 0.12±0.02, largely independent of thecolor-temperature calibration used. b) The age of the cluster is1.2±0.2 Gyr. c) The typical mass of the analysed giant stars is2.0±0.2~Mȯ. Moreover, we find a systematicdifference of about 0.2 dex in log g between spectroscopic andevolutionary values. Conclusions: We conclude that, in spite of knownlimitations, a classical spectroscopic analysis of giant stars mayindeed result in very reliable stellar parameters. We caution that thequality of the agreement, on the other hand, depends on the details ofthe adopted spectroscopic analysis.Based on observations collected at the ESO telescopes at the Paranal andLa Silla Observatories, Chile.
| Basic physical parameters of a selected sample of evolved stars
We present the detailed spectroscopic analysis of 72 evolved stars,which were previously studied for accurate radial velocity variations.Using one Hyades giant and another well studied star as the referenceabundance, we determine the [Fe/H] for the whole sample. Thesemetallicities, together with the T_eff values and the absolute V-bandmagnitude derived from Hipparcos parallaxes, are used to estimate basicstellar parameters (ages, masses, radii, (B-V)0 and log g)using theoretical isochrones and a Bayesian estimation method. The(B-V)0 values so estimated turn out to be in excellentagreement (to within ~0.05 mag) with the observed (B-V), confirming thereliability of the T_eff-(B-V)0 relation used in theisochrones. On the other hand, the estimated log g values are typically0.2 dex lower than those derived from spectroscopy; this effect has anegligible impact on [Fe/H] determinations. The estimated diametersθ have been compared with limb darkening-corrected ones measuredwith independent methods, finding an agreement better than 0.3 maswithin the 1<θ<10 mas interval (or, alternatively, findingmean differences of just 6%). We derive the age-metallicity relation forthe solar neighborhood; for the first time to our knowledge, such arelation has been derived from observations of field giants rather thanfrom open clusters and field dwarfs and subdwarfs. The age-metallicityrelation is characterized by close-to-solar metallicities for starsyounger than ~4 Gyr, and by a large [Fe/H] spread with a trend towardslower metallicities for higher ages. In disagreement with other studies,we find that the [Fe/H] dispersion of young stars (less than 1 Gyr) iscomparable to the observational errors, indicating that stars in thesolar neighbourhood are formed from interstellar matter of quitehomogeneous chemical composition. The three giants of our sample whichhave been proposed to host planets are not metal rich; this result is atodds with those for main sequence stars. However, two of these starshave masses much larger than a solar mass so we may be sampling adifferent stellar population from most radial velocity searches forextrasolar planets. We also confirm the previous indication that theradial velocity variability tends to increase along the RGB, and inparticular with the stellar radius.
| Precise radial velocity measurements of G and K giants. Multiple systems and variability trend along the Red Giant Branch
We present the results of our radial velocity (RV) measurements of G andK giants, concentrating on the presence of multiple systems in oursample. Eighty-three giants have been observed for 2.5 years with thefiber-fed echelle spectrograph FEROS at the 1.52 m ESO telescope in LaSilla, Chile. Seventy-seven stars (93%) of the targets have beenanalyzed for RV variability using simultaneous Th-Ar calibration and across-correlation technique. We estimate the long-term precision of ourmeasurement as better than 25 m s-1. Projected rotationalvelocities have been measured for most stars of the sample. Within ourtime-base only 21 stars (or 27%) show variability below 2\sigma, whilethe others show RV variability with amplitudes up to several kms-1. The large amplitude (several km s-1) andshape (high eccentricity) of the RV variations for 11 of the programstars are consistent with stellar companions, and possibly brown dwarfcompanions for two of the program stars. In those systems for which afull orbit could be derived, the companions have minimum masses from0.6 M\sun down to 0.1 M\sun. To thesemultiple systems we add the two candidates of giant planets alreadydiscovered in the sample. This analysis shows that multiple systemscontribute substantially to the long-term RV variability of giant stars,with about 20% of the sample being composed of multiple systems despitescreening our sample for known binary stars. After removing binaries,the range of RV variability in the whole sample clearly decreases, butthe remaining stars retain a statistical trend of RV variability withluminosity: luminous cool giants with B-V≥1.2 show RV variationswith \sigma_{/lineRV} > 60 m s-1, while giants with B-V< 1.2 including those in the clump region exhibit less variability orthey are constant within our accuracy. The same trend is observed withrespect to absolute visual magnitudes: brighter stars show a largerdegree of variability and, when plotted in the RV variability vs.magnitude diagram a trend of increasing RV scatter with luminosity isseen. The amplitude of RV variability does not increase dramatically, aspredicted, for instance, by simple scaling laws. At least two luminousand cooler stars of the sample show a correlation between RV andchromospheric activity and bisector asymmetry, indicating that in thesetwo objects RV variability is likely induced by the presence of(chromospheric) surface structures.Based on observations collected at the 1.52 m-ESO telescope at the LaSilla Observatory from Oct 1999 to Feb. 2002 under ESO programs and theESO-Observatório Nacional, Brazil, agreement and in part onobservations collected on the Alfred Jensch 2 m telescope of theThüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | さそり座 |
| Right ascension: | 17h35m06.28s |
| Declination: | -38°47'58.1" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 6.764 |
| Distance: | 106.952 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -3.4 |
| Proper motion Dec: | 27.9 |
| B-T magnitude: | 8.352 |
| V-T magnitude: | 6.896 |
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