scholarly journals The AMBRE project: searching for the closest solar siblings

2018 ◽  
Vol 619 ◽  
pp. A130 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Adibekyan ◽  
P. de Laverny ◽  
A. Recio-Blanco ◽  
S. G. Sousa ◽  
E. Delgado-Mena ◽  
...  

Context. Finding solar siblings, that is, stars that formed in the same cluster as the Sun, will yield information about the conditions at the Sun’s birthplace. Finding possible solar siblings is difficult since they are spread widely throughout the Galaxy. Aims. We search for solar sibling candidates in AMBRE, the very large spectra database of solar vicinity stars. Methods. Since the ages and chemical abundances of solar siblings are very similar to those of the Sun, we carried out a chemistry- and age-based search for solar sibling candidates. We used high-resolution spectra to derive precise stellar parameters and chemical abundances of the stars. We used these spectroscopic parameters together with Gaia DR2 astrometric data to derive stellar isochronal ages. Gaia data were also used to study the kinematics of the sibling candidates. Results. From about 17 000 stars that are characterized within the AMBRE project, we first selected 55 stars whose metallicities are closest to the solar value (−0.1 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ 0.1 dex). For these stars we derived precise chemical abundances of several iron-peak, α- and neutron-capture elements, based on which we selected 12 solar sibling candidates with average abundances and metallicities between −0.03 and 0.03 dex. Our further selection left us with four candidates with stellar ages that are compatible with the solar age within observational uncertainties. For the two of the hottest candidates, we derived the carbon isotopic ratios, which are compatible with the solar value. HD 186302 is the most precisely characterized and probably the most probable candidate of our four best candidates. Conclusions. Very precise chemical characterization and age estimation is necessary to identify solar siblings. We propose that in addition to typical chemical tagging, the study of isotopic ratios can give further important information about the relation of sibling candidates with the Sun. Ideally, asteroseismic age determinations of the candidates could solve the problem of imprecise isochronal ages.

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (S283) ◽  
pp. 486-487
Author(s):  
Thaise S. Rodrigues ◽  
Walter J. Maciel

AbstractCentral stars of planetary nebulae (CSPN) have a relatively large mass interval, so that it is expected that these stars also have different ages, typically above 1 Gyr. Apart from the properties of the CSPN themselves, the problem of age determination is also important in the context of the chemical evolution of the Galaxy, for instance in the understanding of the time variation of chemical abundance gradients. In this work, we estimated the ages of a sample of CSPN on the basis of some correlations between their kinematic properties and the expected ages. According to these correlations, the observed dispersions in the U, V, W velocities are uniquely defined by the stellar ages. The adopted correlations were derived from the recent Geneva-Copenhagen survey of galactic stars. Preliminary results suggest the most CSPN in the galactic disk have ages under 3 Gyr. These results are also compared with some recent age distributions based on independent correlations involving the nebular chemical abundances.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (S334) ◽  
pp. 376-377
Author(s):  
Marcelo Tucci Maia

AbstractSolar twins are a special group of stars that have spectra and stellar parameters very close to the Sun. Also having mass around 1 solar mass and roughly solar chemical composition, these stars follow a similar evolutionary path to the Sun, from the zero age main sequence to the end of their lives. Additional to that, the similarity between themselves permit us to obtain high-precision differential abundance and thus, very precise atmospheric parameters that allows a reliable estimation of their ages using the traditional isochronal method. Taking advantage of this very restrict group of stars we can better understand the effects of nucleosynthesis of chemical elements throughout the Galaxy and with this, finding constrains for its evolution.


2018 ◽  
Vol 618 ◽  
pp. A65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergi Blanco-Cuaresma ◽  
Didier Fraix-Burnet

Context. The chemical tagging technique is a promising approach to reconstructing the history of the Galaxy by only using stellar chemical abundances. Multiple studies have undertaken this analysis and they have raised several challenges. Aims. Using a sample of open cluster stars, we wish to address two issues: minimize chemical abundance differences whose origin is linked to the evolutionary stage of the stars and not their original composition and evaluate a phylogenetic approach to group stars based on their chemical composition. Methods. We derived differential chemical abundances for 207 stars, belonging to 34 open clusters, using the Sun as reference star (classical approach) and a dwarf plus a giant star from the open cluster M 67 as reference (new approach). These abundances were then used to perform two phylogenetic analyses: cladistics (maximum parsimony) and neighbor joining, together with a partitioning unsupervised classification analysis with k-means. The resulting groupings were finally confronted to the true open cluster memberships of the stars. Results. We successfully reconstruct most of the original open clusters when carefully selecting a subset of the abundances derived differentially with respect to M 67. We find a set of eight chemical elements that yield the best result and discuss the possible reasons for these elements to be good tracers of the history of the Galaxy. Conclusions. Our study shows that unraveling the history of the Galaxy by only using stellar chemical abundances is greatly improved provided that i) we perform a differential spectroscopic analysis with respect to an open cluster instead of the Sun, ii) select the chemical elements that are good tracers of the history of the Galaxy, and iii) use tools that are adapted to detect evolutionary tracks such as phylogenetic approaches.


2019 ◽  
Vol 624 ◽  
pp. A78 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Delgado Mena ◽  
A. Moya ◽  
V. Adibekyan ◽  
M. Tsantaki ◽  
J. I. González Hernández ◽  
...  

Aims. The purpose of this work is to evaluate how several elements produced by different nucleosynthesis processes behave with stellar age and provide empirical relations to derive stellar ages from chemical abundances. Methods. We derived different sets of ages using Padova and Yonsei–Yale isochrones and HIPPARCOS and Gaia parallaxes for a sample of more than 1000 FGK dwarf stars for which he have high-resolution (R ~ 115 000) and high-quality spectra from the HARPS-GTO program. We analyzed the temporal evolution of different abundance ratios to find the best chemical clocks. We applied multivariable linear regressions to our sample of stars with a small uncertainty on age to obtain empirical relations of age as a function of stellar parameters and different chemical clocks. Results. We find that [α/Fe] ratio (average of Mg, Si, and Ti), [O/Fe] and [Zn/Fe] are good age proxies with a lower dispersion than the age-metallicity dispersion. Several abundance ratios present a significant correlation with age for chemically separated thin disk stars (i.e., low-α) but in the case of the chemically defined thick disk stars (i.e., high-α) only the elements Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti II show a clear correlation with age. We find that the thick disk stars are more enriched in light-s elements than thin disk stars of similar age. The maximum enrichment of s-process elements in the thin disk occurs in the youngest stars which in turn have solar metallicity. The slopes of the [X/Fe]-age relations are quite constant for O, Mg, Si, Ti, Zn, Sr, and Eu regardless of the metallicity. However, this is not the case for Al, Ca, Cu and most of the s-process elements, which display very different trends depending on the metallicity. This demonstrates the limitations of using simple linear relations based on certain abundance ratios to obtain ages for stars of different metallicities. Finally, we show that by using 3D relations with a chemical clock and two stellar parameters (either Teff, [Fe/H] or stellar mass) we can explain up to 89% of age variance in a star. A similar result is obtained when using 2D relations with a chemical clock and one stellar parameter, explaining up to a 87% of the variance. Conclusions. The complete understanding of how the chemical elements were produced and evolved in the Galaxy requires the knowledge of stellar ages and precise chemical abundances. We show how the temporal evolution of some chemical species change with metallicity, with remarkable variations at super-solar metallicities, which will help to better constrain the yields of different nucleosynthesis processes along the history of the Galaxy.


2000 ◽  
Vol 198 ◽  
pp. 525-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Tosi

The predictions of Galactic chemical evolution models for D and 3He are described in connection with those on the other Galactic quantities for which observational constraints are available.Models in agreement with the largest set of data predict deuterium depletions from the Big Bang to the present epoch smaller than a factor of 3 and do not allow for D/H primordial abundances larger than ∼ 4 × 10—5. Models predicting higher D consumption do not reproduce other observed features of our Galaxy.If both the primordial D and 3He are low, models assuming that 90% of low-mass stars experience an extra-mixing during the red giant phase reproduce all the 3He observed abundances. The same percentage allows to fit also the observed carbon isotopic ratios, thus supporting the self-consistency of the extra-mixing mechanism.


1966 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 93-97
Author(s):  
Richard Woolley

It is now possible to determine proper motions of high-velocity objects in such a way as to obtain with some accuracy the velocity vector relevant to the Sun. If a potential field of the Galaxy is assumed, one can compute an actual orbit. A determination of the velocity of the globular clusterωCentauri has recently been completed at Greenwich, and it is found that the orbit is strongly retrograde in the Galaxy. Similar calculations may be made, though with less certainty, in the case of RR Lyrae variable stars.


2020 ◽  
Vol 501 (2) ◽  
pp. 1591-1602
Author(s):  
T Parsotan ◽  
R K Cochrane ◽  
C C Hayward ◽  
D Anglés-Alcázar ◽  
R Feldmann ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The galaxy size–stellar mass and central surface density–stellar mass relationships are fundamental observational constraints on galaxy formation models. However, inferring the physical size of a galaxy from observed stellar emission is non-trivial due to various observational effects, such as the mass-to-light ratio variations that can be caused by non-uniform stellar ages, metallicities, and dust attenuation. Consequently, forward-modelling light-based sizes from simulations is desirable. In this work, we use the skirt  dust radiative transfer code to generate synthetic observations of massive galaxies ($M_{*}\sim 10^{11}\, \rm {M_{\odot }}$ at z = 2, hosted by haloes of mass $M_{\rm {halo}}\sim 10^{12.5}\, \rm {M_{\odot }}$) from high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations that form part of the Feedback In Realistic Environments project. The simulations used in this paper include explicit stellar feedback but no active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback. From each mock observation, we infer the effective radius (Re), as well as the stellar mass surface density within this radius and within $1\, \rm {kpc}$ (Σe and Σ1, respectively). We first investigate how well the intrinsic half-mass radius and stellar mass surface density can be inferred from observables. The majority of predicted sizes and surface densities are within a factor of 2 of the intrinsic values. We then compare our predictions to the observed size–mass relationship and the Σ1−M⋆ and Σe−M⋆ relationships. At z ≳ 2, the simulated massive galaxies are in general agreement with observational scaling relations. At z ≲ 2, they evolve to become too compact but still star forming, in the stellar mass and redshift regime where many of them should be quenched. Our results suggest that some additional source of feedback, such as AGN-driven outflows, is necessary in order to decrease the central densities of the simulated massive galaxies to bring them into agreement with observations at z ≲ 2.


2018 ◽  
Vol 615 ◽  
pp. L5 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Irrgang ◽  
S. Kreuzer ◽  
U. Heber ◽  
W. Brown

Context. Hypervelocity stars (HVSs) travel so fast that they may leave the Galaxy. The tidal disruption of a binary system by the supermassive black hole in the Galactic center is widely assumed to be their ejection mechanism. Aims. To test the hypothesis of an origin in the Galactic center using kinematic investigations, the current space velocities of the HVSs need to be determined. With the advent of Gaia’s second data release, accurate radial velocities from spectroscopy are complemented by proper motion measurements of unprecedented quality. Based on a new spectroscopic analysis method, we provide revised distances and stellar ages, both of which are crucial to unravel the nature of the HVSs. Methods. We reanalyzed low-resolution optical spectra of 14 HVSs from the MMT HVS survey using a new grid of synthetic spectra, which account for deviations from local thermodynamic equilibrium, to derive effective temperatures, surface gravities, radial velocities, and projected rotational velocities. Stellar masses, radii, and ages were then determined by comparison with stellar evolutionary models that account for rotation. Finally, these results were combined with photometric measurements to obtain spectroscopic distances. Results. The resulting atmospheric parameters are consistent with those of main sequence stars with masses in the range 2.5–5.0 M⊙. The majority of the stars rotate at fast speeds, providing further evidence for their main sequence nature. Stellar ages range from 90 to 400 Myr and distances (with typical 1σ-uncertainties of about 10–15%) from 30 to 100 kpc. Except for one object (B 711), which we reclassify as A-type star, all stars are of spectral type B. Conclusions. The spectroscopic distances and stellar ages derived here are key ingredients for upcoming kinematic studies of HVSs based on Gaia proper motions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 627 ◽  
pp. A173 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Valentini ◽  
C. Chiappini ◽  
D. Bossini ◽  
A. Miglio ◽  
G. R. Davies ◽  
...  

Context. Very metal-poor halo stars are the best candidates for being among the oldest objects in our Galaxy. Samples of halo stars with age determination and detailed chemical composition measurements provide key information for constraining the nature of the first stellar generations and the nucleosynthesis in the metal-poor regime. Aims. Age estimates are very uncertain and are available for only a small number of metal-poor stars. We present the first results of a pilot programme aimed at deriving precise masses, ages, and chemical abundances for metal-poor halo giants using asteroseismology and high-resolution spectroscopy. Methods. We obtained high-resolution UVES spectra for four metal-poor RAVE stars observed by the K2 satellite. Seismic data obtained from K2 light curves helped improve spectroscopic temperatures, metallicities, and individual chemical abundances. Mass and ages were derived using the code PARAM, investigating the effects of different assumptions (e.g. mass loss and [α/Fe]-enhancement). Orbits were computed using Gaia DR2 data. Results. The stars are found to be normal metal-poor halo stars (i.e. non C-enhanced), and an abundance pattern typical of old stars (i.e. α and Eu-enhanced), and have masses in the 0.80−1.0 M⊙ range. The inferred model-dependent stellar ages are found to range from 7.4 Gyr to 13.0 Gyr with uncertainties of ∼30%−35%. We also provide revised masses and ages for metal-poor stars with Kepler seismic data from the APOGEE survey and a set of M4 stars. Conclusions. The present work shows that the combination of asteroseismology and high-resolution spectroscopy provides precise ages in the metal-poor regime. Most of the stars analysed in the present work (covering the metallicity range of [Fe/H] ∼ −0.8 to −2 dex) are very old >9 Gyr (14 out of 19 stars), and all of the stars are older than >5 Gyr (within the 68 percentile confidence level).


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