scholarly journals Molecular Opacities in Cool Dwarf Stars

1994 ◽  
Vol 146 ◽  
pp. 61-70
Author(s):  
James Liebert

The term dwarf stars identifies objects of small radius in the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) Diagram, but encompasses more than one phase of stellar evolution. The M dwarfs (type dM) populate the main sequence at the low mass end; these are the coolest core hydrogen-burning stars. They belong generally to the Galactic disk, or Population I, have relatively small space motions with respect to the Sun, and have similar metallicities to the Sun (although perhaps only within a factor of several). In particular, this means that the abundance of oxygen is always greater than that of carbon. The M subdwarfs (sdM) are the Population II counterparts, showing low metallicities and high space motions. Because they have smaller radii, they define a main sequence at lower luminosity than the M dwarfs for a given temperature. Hence the term subdwarf.

2006 ◽  
pp. 17-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Ninkovic ◽  
V. Trajkovska

The present authors analyze samples consisting of Hipparcos stars. Based on the corresponding HR diagrams they estimate masses of Main-Sequence stars from their visual magnitudes. They find that already beyond the heliocentric radius of 10 pc the effects of observational selection against K and M dwarfs become rather strong. For this reason the authors are inclined to think that the results concerning this heliocentric sphere appear as realistic, i. e. the fraction of low-mass stars (under half solar mass) is about 50% and, as a consequence, the mean star mass should be about 0.6 solar masses and Agekyan's factor about 1.2. That stars with masses higher than 5 M? are very rare is confirmed also from the data concerning more remote stars. It seems that white dwarfs near the Sun are not too frequent so that their presence cannot affect the main results of the present work significantly.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Pelisoli ◽  
S. O. Kepler ◽  
Detlev Koester

AbstractEvolved stars with a helium core can be formed by non-conservative mass exchange interaction with a companion or by strong mass loss. Their masses are smaller than 0.5 M⊙. In the database of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), there are several thousand stars which were classified by the pipeline as dwarf O, B and A stars. Considering the lifetimes of these classes on the main sequence, and their distance modulus at the SDSS bright saturation, if these were common main sequence stars, there would be a considerable population of young stars very far from the galactic disk. Their spectra are dominated by Balmer lines which suggest effective temperatures around 8 000-10 000 K. Several thousand have significant proper motions, indicative of distances smaller than 1 kpc. Many show surface gravity in intermediate values between main sequence and white dwarf, 4.75 < log g < 6.5, hence they have been called sdA stars. Their physical nature and evolutionary history remains a puzzle. We propose they are not H-core main sequence stars, but helium core stars and the outcomes of binary evolution. We report the discovery of two new extremely-low mass white dwarfs among the sdAs to support this statement.


2019 ◽  
Vol 490 (4) ◽  
pp. 5088-5102 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Mugrauer

ABSTRACT A new survey is presented, which explores the second data release of the ESA-Gaia mission, in order to search for stellar companions of exoplanet host stars, located at distances closer than about 500 pc around the Sun. In total, 176 binaries, 27 hierarchical triples, and one hierarchical quadruple system are detected among more than 1300 exoplanet host stars, whose multiplicity is investigated, yielding a multiplicity rate of the exoplanet host stars of at least about 15  per cent. The detected companions and the exoplanet host stars are equidistant and share a common proper motion, as it is expected for gravitationally bound stellar systems, proven with their accurate Gaia astrometry. The companions exhibit masses in the range between about 0.078 and 1.4 M⊙ with a peak in their mass distribution between 0.15 and $0.3\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$. The companions are separated from the exoplanet host stars by about 20 up to 9100 au, but are found most frequently within a projected separation of 1000 au. While most of the detected companions are early M dwarfs, eight white dwarf companions of exoplanet host stars are also identified in this survey, whose true nature is revealed with their photometric properties. Hence, these degenerated companions and the exoplanet host stars form evolved stellar systems with exoplanets, which have survived (physically but also dynamically) the post-main-sequence evolution of their former primary star.


2000 ◽  
Vol 198 ◽  
pp. 540-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Chiappini ◽  
Francesca Matteucci

In this work we present the predictions of a modified version of the ‘two-infall model’ (Chiappini et al. 1997 - CMG) for the evolution of 3He, 4He and D in the solar vicinity, as well as their distributions along the Galactic disk. In particular, we show that when allowing for extra-mixing process in low mass stars (M < 2.5 M⊙), as predicted by Charbonnel and do Nascimento (1998), a long standing problem in chemical evolution is solved, namely: the overproduction of 3He by the chemical evolution models as compared to the observed values in the sun and in the interstellar medium. Moreover, we show that chemical evolution models can constrain the primordial value of the deuterium abundance and that a value of (D/H)p < 3 × 10—5 is suggested by the present model. Finally, adopting the primordial 4He abundance suggested by Viegas et al. (1999), we obtain a value for ΔY/ΔZ ≃ 2 and a better agreement with the solar 4He abundance.


1998 ◽  
Vol 164 ◽  
pp. 325-326
Author(s):  
J. C. Guirado ◽  
J. E. Reynolds ◽  
J.-F. Lestrade ◽  
R. A. Preston ◽  
D. L. Jauncey ◽  
...  

AbstractFrom the combination of VLBI phase-referenced observations and Hipparcos satellite data, we have found evidence of a low-mass object orbiting the late-type star AB Doradus. The mass of the new object is near the hydrogen burning limit and will constitute a precise point for calibrating the low end of the main sequence. This represents the first detection of a low-mass stellar companion using the VLBI technique, which could become an important tool in future searches for planets and brown dwarfs orbiting other stars.


1992 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 643-645
Author(s):  
G. Fontaine ◽  
F. Wesemael

AbstractIt is generally believed that the immediate progenitors of most white dwarfs are nuclei of planetary nebulae, themselves the products of intermediate- and low-mass main sequence evolution. Stars that begin their lifes with masses less than about 7-8 M⊙ (i.e., the vast majority of them) are expected to become white dwarfs. Among those which have already had the time to become white dwarfs since the formation of the Galaxy, a majority have burnt hydrogen and helium in their interiors. Consequently, most of the mass of a typical white dwarf is contained in a core made of the products of helium burning, mostly carbon and oxygen. The exact proportions of C and 0 are unknown because of uncertainties in the nuclear rates of helium burning.


In most discussions of the formation of the Solar System, the early Sun is assumed to have possessed the bulk of the angular momentum of the system, and a closely surrounding disc of gas was spun out, which, through magnetic coupling, acquired a progressively larger proportion of the total angular momentum. There are difficulties with this model in accounting for the inclined axis of the Sun, the magnitude of the magnetic coupling required, and the nucleogenetic variations recently observed in the Solar System. Another possibility exists, namely that of a slowly contracting disc of interstellar material, leading to the formation of both a central star and a protoplanetary disc. In this model one can better account for the tilt of the Sun’s axis and the lack of mixing necessary to account for the nucleogenetic evidence. The low angular momentum of the Sun and of other low mass stars is then seen as resulting from a slow build-up as a degenerate dwarf, acquiring orbital material at a low specific angular momentum. When the internal temperature reaches the threshold for hydrogen burning, the star expands to the Main Sequence and is now a slow rotator. More massive stars would spin quickly because they had to acquire orbiting material after the expansion, and therefore at a high specific angular momentum. A process of gradual inward spiralling may also allow materials derived from different sources to accumulate into solid bodies, and be placed on a great variety of orbits in the outer reaches of the system, setting up the cometary cloud of uneven nucleogenetic composition.


2020 ◽  
Vol 495 (2) ◽  
pp. 1531-1548
Author(s):  
Edward Gillen ◽  
Lynne A Hillenbrand ◽  
John Stauffer ◽  
Suzanne Aigrain ◽  
Luisa Rebull ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present Mon-735, a detached double-lined eclipsing binary (EB) member of the ∼3 Myr old NGC 2264 star-forming region, detected by Spitzer. We simultaneously model the Spitzer light curves, follow-up Keck/HIRES radial velocities, and the system’s spectral energy distribution to determine self-consistent masses, radii, and effective temperatures for both stars. We find that Mon-735 comprises two pre-main-sequence M dwarfs with component masses of M = 0.2918 ± 0.0099 and 0.2661 ± 0.0095 M⊙, radii of R = 0.762 ± 0.022 and 0.748 ± 0.023 R⊙, and effective temperatures of Teff = 3260 ± 73 and 3213 ± 73 K. The two stars travel on circular orbits around their common centre of mass in P = 1.9751388 ± 0.0000050 d. We compare our results for Mon-735, along with another EB in NGC 2264 (CoRoT 223992193), to the predictions of five stellar evolution models. These suggest that the lower mass EB system Mon-735 is older than CoRoT 223992193 in the mass–radius diagram (MRD) and, to a lesser extent, in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram (HRD). The MRD ages of Mon-735 and CoRoT 223992193 are ∼7–9 and 4–6 Myr, respectively, with the two components in each EB system possessing consistent ages.


1980 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
pp. 329-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Ergma ◽  
T. Tutukov

A simple analytical method has been used to investigate thermonuclear flashes in a degenerate envelope of an accreting neutron star. The heating source is the compression of envelope and the cooling is due to the radiative cooling of the envelope. The role of hydrogen burning is discussed. A possible evolutionary scenario for formation of preburster binaries consisting of a neutron star and a low mass main sequence star is proposed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 618 ◽  
pp. A44 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Bramich

Context. Astrometric microlensing can be used to make precise measurements of the masses of lens stars that are independent of their assumed internal physics. Such direct mass measurements, obtained purely by observing the gravitational effects of the stars on external objects, are crucial for validating theoretical stellar models. Specifically, astrometric microlensing provides a channel to direct mass measurements of single stars for which so few measurements exist. Microlensing events that also exhibit a detectable photometric signature provide even stronger lens mass constraints. Aims. I use the astrometric solutions and photometric measurements of ~1.7 billion stars provided by Gaia Data Release 2 (GDR2) to predict microlensing events during the nominal Gaia mission and beyond. This will enable astronomers to observe the entirety of each event, including the peak, with appropriate observing resources. The data collected will allow precise lens mass measurements for white dwarfs and low-mass main sequence stars (K and M dwarfs) helping to constrain stellar evolutionary models. Methods. I search for source-lens pairs in GDR2 that could potentially lead to microlensing events between 25th July 2014 and 25th July 2026. I estimate the lens masses using GDR2 photometry and parallaxes, and appropriate model stellar isochrones. Combined with the source and lens parallax measurements from GDR2, this allows the Einstein ring radius to be computed for each source-lens pair. By considering the source and lens paths on the sky, I calculate the microlensing signals that are to be expected. Results. I present a list of 76 predicted microlensing events. Nine and five astrometric events will be caused by the white dwarf stars LAWD 37 and Stein 2051 B, respectively. A further nine events will exhibit detectable photometric and astrometric signatures. Of the remaining events, ten will exhibit astrometric signals with peak amplitudes above 0.5 mas, while the rest are low-amplitude astrometric events with peak amplitudes between 0.131 and 0.5 mas. Five and two events will reach their peaks during 2018 and 2019, respectively. Five of the photometric events have the potential to evolve into high-magnification events, which may also probe for planetary companions to the lenses.


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