scholarly journals SPInS, a pipeline for massive stellar parameter inference

2020 ◽  
Vol 642 ◽  
pp. A88
Author(s):  
Y. Lebreton ◽  
D. R. Reese

Context. Stellar parameters are required in a variety of contexts, ranging from the characterisation of exoplanets to Galactic archaeology. Among them, the age of stars cannot be directly measured, while the mass and radius can be measured in some particular cases (e.g. binary systems, interferometry). More generally, stellar ages, masses, and radii have to be inferred from stellar evolution models by appropriate techniques. Aims. We have designed a Python tool named SPInS. It takes a set of photometric, spectroscopic, interferometric, and/or asteroseismic observational constraints and, relying on a stellar model grid, provides the age, mass, and radius of a star, among others, as well as error bars and correlations. We make the tool available to the community via a dedicated website. Methods. SPInS uses a Bayesian approach to find the probability distribution function of stellar parameters from a set of classical constraints. At the heart of the code is a Markov chain Monte Carlo solver coupled with interpolation within a pre-computed stellar model grid. Priors can be considered, such as the initial mass function or stellar formation rate. SPInS can characterise single stars or coeval stars, such as members of binary systems or of stellar clusters. Results. We first illustrate the capabilities of SPInS by studying stars that are spread over the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. We then validate the tool by inferring the ages and masses of stars in several catalogues and by comparing them with literature results. We show that in addition to the age and mass, SPInS can efficiently provide derived quantities, such as the radius, surface gravity, and seismic indices. We demonstrate that SPInS can age-date and characterise coeval stars that share a common age and chemical composition. Conclusions. The SPInS tool will be very helpful in preparing and interpreting the results of large-scale surveys, such as the wealth of data expected or already provided by space missions, such as Gaia, Kepler, TESS, and PLATO.

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (S237) ◽  
pp. 358-362
Author(s):  
M. K. Ryan Joung ◽  
Mordecai-Mark Mac Low

AbstractWe report on a study of interstellar turbulence driven by both correlated and isolated supernova explosions. We use three-dimensional hydrodynamic models of a vertically stratified interstellar medium run with the adaptive mesh refinement code Flash at a maximum resolution of 2 pc, with a grid size of 0.5 × 0.5 × 10 kpc. Cold dense clouds form even in the absence of self-gravity due to the collective action of thermal instability and supersonic turbulence. Studying these clouds, we show that it can be misleading to predict physical properties such as the star formation rate or the stellar initial mass function using numerical simulations that do not include self-gravity of the gas. Even if all the gas in turbulently Jeans unstable regions in our simulation is assumed to collapse and form stars in local freefall times, the resulting total collapse rate is significantly lower than the value consistent with the input supernova rate. The amount of mass available for collapse depends on scale, suggesting a simple translation from the density PDF to the stellar IMF may be questionable. Even though the supernova-driven turbulence does produce compressed clouds, it also opposes global collapse. The net effect of supernova-driven turbulence is to inhibit star formation globally by decreasing the amount of mass unstable to gravitational collapse.


2019 ◽  
Vol 492 (2) ◽  
pp. 1706-1712
Author(s):  
Anton Vikaeus ◽  
Erik Zackrisson ◽  
Christian Binggeli

ABSTRACT The upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will allow observations of high-redshift galaxies at fainter detection levels than ever before, and JWST surveys targeting gravitationally lensed fields are expected to bring z ≳ 6 objects with very low star formation rate (SFR) within reach of spectroscopic studies. As galaxies at lower and lower star formation activity are brought into view, many of the standard methods used in the analysis of integrated galaxy spectra are at some point bound to break down, due to violation of the assumptions of a well-sampled stellar initial mass function (IMF) and a slowly varying SFR. We argue that galaxies with SFR ∼ 0.1 M⊙ yr−1 are likely to turn up at the spectroscopic detection limit of JWST in lensed fields, and investigate to what extent star formation sampling may affect the spectral analysis of such objects. We use the slug spectral synthesis code to demonstrate that such effects are likely to have significant impacts on spectral diagnostics of, for example, the Balmer emission lines. These effects are found to stem primarily from SFRs varying rapidly on short (∼Myr) time-scales due to star formation in finite units (star clusters), whereas the effects of an undersampled IMF is deemed insignificant in comparison. In contrast, the ratio between the He ii- and H i-ionizing flux is found to be sensitive to IMF-sampling as well as ICMF-sampling (sampling of the initial cluster mass function), which may affect interpretations of galaxies containing Population III stars or other sources of hard ionizing radiation.


1999 ◽  
Vol 190 ◽  
pp. 237-238
Author(s):  
Joel Wm. Parker ◽  
Jesse K. Hill ◽  
Robert Cornett ◽  
Joan Hollis ◽  
Emily Zamkoff ◽  
...  

We present an analysis of wide-field, far-ultraviolet images of the LMC and SMC obtained by the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. The photometric catalog of over 37,000 stars allows us to make large-scale, statistical studies of massive star formation in OB associations and in the field population. Our results show that: (1) the most probable slope for the initial mass function (IMF) of field stars is Γ = −1.80, slightly steeper than the Salpeter slope; and (2) there doesn't seem to be a single, unique IMF slope for stars in OB associations, with a range of values from Γ = −1.0 to −2.0. We also analyze the stellar vs. diffuse UV flux, and the population of OB star candidates in the field.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (S314) ◽  
pp. 54-57
Author(s):  
Kimberly M. Aller ◽  
Michael C. Liu ◽  
Eugene A. Magnier

AbstractYoung moving groups (YMGs) are coeval, comoving groups of stars which have migrated from their birthsites after formation. In the substellar regime, YMG members are key benchmarks to empirically define brown dwarf evolution with age and to study the lowest mass end of the initial mass function. We have combined Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) proper motions with optical+IR photometry from PS1, 2MASS and WISE to perform a large-scale (≈30,000 deg2) systematic search for substellar members down to ≈10 MJup. We have obtained near-IR spectroscopy of a large sample of ultracool candidate YMG members to assess their youth via gravity-sensitive absorption features. We have identified several new intermediate-gravity candidate members of the AB Dor Moving Group, potentially greatly expanding the substellar membership. These new candidate members bridge the gap between the known low-mass stellar and planetary-mass members and yield valuable insight into the spectral characteristics of young brown dwarfs.


1987 ◽  
Vol 117 ◽  
pp. 413-413
Author(s):  
Richard B. Larson

Current data on the luminosity function of nearby stars allow the possibility that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is double-peaked and that the star formation rate (SFR) has decreased substantially with time. It is then possible to account for all of the unseen mass in the solar vicinity as stellar remnants. A model for the solar neighborhood has been constructed in which the IMF is bimodal, the SFR is constant for the low-mass mode and strongly decreasing for the high-mass mode, and the mass in remnants is equal to the column density of unseen matter; this model is found to be consistent with all of the available constraints on the evolution and stellar content of the solar neighborhood. In particular, the observed chemical evolution is satisfactorily reproduced without infall. The total SFR in the model decreases roughly with the 1.4 power of the gas content, which is more plausible than the nearly constant SFR required by models with a monotonic IMF.


2005 ◽  
Vol 130 (4) ◽  
pp. 1719-1732 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Leistra ◽  
A. S. Cotera ◽  
J. Liebert ◽  
M. Burton

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S266) ◽  
pp. 100-105
Author(s):  
J. Maíz Apellániz

AbstractI analyze the stochastic effects introduced by sampling the stellar initial mass function (SIMF) in the derivation of the individual masses and the cluster mass function (CMF) from broad-band visible/near-infrared unresolved photometry. The classical method of using unweighted U BV photometry to simultaneously establish ages and extinctions of stellar clusters is found to be unreliable for clusters older than ≈30 Myr, even for relatively large cluster masses. On the other hand, augmenting the filter set to include longer-wavelength filters and using weights for each filter increases the range of masses and ages that can be measured accurately with unresolved photometry. Nevertheless, a relatively large range of masses and ages is found to be dominated by SIMF sampling effects that render the observed masses useless, even when using U BV RI JHK photometry.


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