High Resolution Spectroscopy As a Tool for Luminosity Calibration
AbstractRecent results are reviewed for two methods of luminosity calibration based on high-resolution spectroscopy. The first relies onTeff/loggdeterminations from model-atmosphere analyses based on high-resolution spectra. This method is physically well founded but operationally demanding, and requires advance knowledge of stellar mass. The second, W-B, stems from the empirical relationship between luminosity and the width of chromospheric emission lines first established by Wilson and Bappu. Its physical basis is only partially understood, however, and the calibration depends on stellar metallicity and on the choice of lines.BothTeff/loggand W-B easily distinguish cool dwarfs from cool giants. Generally reasonable agreement is found between distances derived from Hipparcos parallaxes and those inferred from the loggvalues derived for nearby dwarfs with relatively well-known Hipparcos parallaxes, σ(π)/π < 0.2. Constraining Hipparcos parallaxes star-by-star is not possible at present. Improvements are suggested for both approaches.