118624022
Metallicity and Kinematic Distributions of Red Horizontal-branch Stars from the SDSS Survey
On the basis of a recently derived color-metallicity relation and stellar parameters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 spectroscopic survey, a large sample of red horizontal-branch (RHB) candidates have been selected to serve as standard candles. The metallicity and kinematic distributions of these stars indicate that they mainly originate from the thick-disk and the halo populations. The typical thick disk is characterized by the first group peaking at [Fe/H] ~ –0.6, V rot ~ 170 km s–1 with a vertical scale height around |Z| ~ 1.2 kpc, while stars with [Fe/H] 0 km s–1 (Halo I) shows a sign of metallicity gradient in the [Fe/H] versus |Z| diagram, while the other with V rot 10 kpc based on the star distribution in the R versus |Z| diagram.
16273589
Chemical composition of 90 F and G disk dwarfs
High resolution, high S/N spectra have been obtained for a sample of 90 F and G main-sequence disk stars covering the metallicity range 1:0 < (Fe/H) < +0:1, and have been analysed in a parallel way to the work of Edvardsson et al. (1993a) in order to re-inspect their re- sults and to reveal new information on the chemical evo- lution of the Galactic disk. Compared to Edvardsson et al. the present study in- cludes several improvements. Eective temperatures are based on the Alonso et al. (1996) calibration of color in- dices by the infrared flux method and surface gravities are calculated from Hipparcos parallaxes, which also allow more accurate ages to be calculated from a comparison of MV and Te with isochrones. In addition, more reli- able kinematical parameters are derived from Hipparcos distances and proper motions in combination with accu- rate radial velocities. Finally, a larger spectral coverage, 5600 8800 A, makes it possible to improve the abundance accuracy by studying more lines and to discuss several el- ements not included in the work of Edvardsson et al. The present paper provides the data and discusses some general results of the abundance survey. A group of stars in the metallicity range of 1:0 < (Fe/H) < 0:6 having a small mean Galactocentric distance in the stellar orbits, Rm < 7 kpc, are shown to be older than the other disk stars and probably belong to the thick disk. Excluding these stars, a slight decreasing trend of (Fe/H) with increasing Rm and age is found, but a large scatter in (Fe/H) (up to 0.5 dex) is present at a given age andRm. Abundance ratios with respect to Fe show, on the other hand, no signicant scatter at a given (Fe/H). The derived
119216745
Chemical composition of giants from two moving groups
We present the stellar parameters of 19 K-type giants and their abundances for 13 chemical elements (Al, Ba, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Sc, Si, Ti and V), selected from two moving groups, covering the metallicity range of −0.6 < [Fe/H] < 0.2, based on high-resolution spectra. Most of the elemental abundances show similar trends as in previous studies, except for Al, Na and Ba, which are seriously affected by evolution. The abundance ratios of [Na/Mg] increase smoothly with higher [Mg/H], and those of [Al/Mg] decrease slightly with increasing [Mg/H]. The abundance ratios of [Mg/Ba] show a distinction between these two moving groups, which is mainly induced by chemical evolution and also partly by kinematic effects. The inhomogeneous metallicity of each star from the moving groups demonstrates that these stars had different chemical origins before they were kinematically aggregated. This favours a dynamical resonant theory.
119292768
THE KINEMATICS AND CHEMISTRY OF RED HORIZONTAL BRANCH STARS IN THE SAGITTARIUS STREAMS
We have selected 556 red horizontal branch stars along the streams of the Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf galaxy from Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7 spectroscopic data using a theoretical model. The metallicity and ?-element distributions are investigated for stars in the Sgr streams and for Galactic stars at the same locations. We find that the Sgr stars have two peaks in the metallicity distribution while the Galactic stars have a more prominent metal-poor peak. Meanwhile, [?/Fe] ratios of the Sgr stars are lower than those of the Galactic stars. Among the Sgr stars, we find a difference in the metallicity distribution between the leading and trailing arms of the Sgr tidal tails. The metallicity and [?/Fe] distribution of the leading arm is similar to that of the Galaxy. The trailing arm is composed mainly of a metal-rich component and [?/Fe] is obviously lower than that of the Galactic stars. The metallicity gradient is ?(1.8 ? 0.3)? 10?3?dex?deg?1 in the first wrap of the trailing arm and ?(1.5 ? 0.4)? 10?3?dex?deg?1 in the first wrap of the leading arm. No significant gradient exists along the second wraps of the leading or trailing arms. It seems that the Sgr dwarf galaxy initially lost the metal-poor component in the second wrap (older) arms due to the tidal force of our Galaxy and then the metal-rich component is disrupted in the first wrap (younger) arms. Finally, we found that the velocity dispersion of the trailing arm from 88? < ?? < 112? is ? = 9.808 ? 1.0?km?s?1, which is consistent with previous work in the literature.
56306739
Abundances of neutron-capture elements in G 24-25 - A halo-population CH subgiant
Aims. The differences between the neutron-capture element abundances of halo stars are important to our understanding of the nucleosynthesis of elements heavier than the iron group. We present a detailed abundance analysis of carbon and twelve neutron-capture elements from Sr up to Pb for a peculiar halo star G 24-25 with [Fe/H] = −1.4 in order to probe its origin. Methods. The equivalent widths of unblended lines are measured from high resolution NOT/FIES spectra and used to derive abundances based on Kurucz model atmospheres. In the case of CH, Pr, Eu, Gd, and Pb lines, the abundances are derived by fitting synthetic profiles to the observed spectra. Abundance analyses are performed both relative to the Sun and to a normal halo star G 16-20 that has similar stellar parameters as G 24-25. Results. We find that G 24-25 is a halo subgiant star with an unseen component. It has large overabundances of carbon and heavy s-process elements and mild overabundances of Eu and light s-process elements. This abundance distribution is consistent with that of a typical CH giant. The abundance pattern can be explained by mass transfer from a former asymptotic giant branch component, which is now a white dwarf.
55427109
THE CHROMOSPHERIC ACTIVITY, AGE, METALLICITY, AND SPACE MOTIONS OF 36 WIDE BINARIES
We present the chromospheric activity (CA) levels, metallicities, and full space motions for 41 F, G, K, and M dwarf stars in 36 wide binary systems. Thirty-one of the binaries contain a white dwarf (WD) component. In such binaries, the total age can be estimated by adding the cooling age of the WD to an estimate of the progenitor's main-sequence lifetime. To better understand how CA correlates to stellar age, 14 cluster member stars were also observed. Our observations demonstrate for the first time that, in general, CA decays with age from 50 Myr to at least 8 Gyr for stars with 1.0 {<=} V - I {<=} 2.4. However, little change occurs in the CA level for stars with V - I < 1.0 between 1 Gyr and 5 Gyr, consistent with the results of Pace et al. Our sample also exhibits a negative correlation between the stellar age and metallicity, a positive correlation between the stellar age and W space velocity component, and the W velocity dispersion increases with age. Finally, the population membership of these wide binaries is examined based upon their U, V, W kinematics, metallicity, and CA. We conclude that wide binaries are similar tomore » field and cluster stars in these respects. More importantly, they span a much more continuous range in age and metallicity than is afforded by nearby clusters.« less
119187489
ABSORPTION-LINE PROBES OF THE PREVALENCE AND PROPERTIES OF OUTFLOWS IN PRESENT-DAY STAR-FORMING GALAXIES
We analyze star-forming galaxies drawn from SDSS DR7 to show how the interstellar medium (ISM) Nai λλ5890, 5896 (Na D) absorption lines depend on galaxy physical properties, and to look for evidence of galactic winds. We combine the spectra of galaxies with similar geometry/physical parameters to create composite spectra with signalto-noise ∼300. The stellar continuum is modeled using stellar population synthesis models, and the continuumnormalized spectrum is fit with two Nai absorption components. We find that (1) ISM Na D absorption lines with equivalent widths EW > 0.8 A are only prevalent in disk galaxies with specific properties—large extinction (AV ), high star formation rates (SFR), high SFR per unit area (ΣSFR), or high stellar mass (M∗); (2) the ISM Na D absorption lines can be separated into two components: a quiescent disk-like component at the galaxy systemic velocity and an outflow component; (3) the disk-like component is much stronger in the edge-on systems, and the outflow component covers a wide angle but is stronger within 60 ◦ of the disk rotation axis; (4) the EW and covering factor of the disk component correlate strongly with dust attenuation, highlighting the importance that dust shielding may play in the survival of Nai; (5) the EW of the outflow component depends primarily on ΣSFR and secondarily on AV ; and (6) the outflow velocity varies from ∼120 to 160 km s −1 but shows little hint of a correlation with galaxy physical properties over the modest dynamic range that our sample probes (1.2 dex in log ΣSFR and 1 dex in log M∗).
118466086
Autocorrelations of stellar light and mass at z∼ 0 and ∼1: from SDSS to DEEP2
We present measurements of projected autocorrelation functions wp(rp) for the stellar mass of galaxies and for their light in the U, B and V bands, using data from the third data release of the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey and the final data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We investigate the clustering bias of stellar mass and light by comparing these to projected autocorrelations of dark matter estimated from the Millennium Simulations (MS) at z = 1 and 0.07, the median redshifts of our galaxy samples. All of the autocorrelation and bias functions show systematic trends with spatial scale and waveband which are impressively similar at the two redshifts. This shows that the well-established environmental dependence of stellar populations in the local Universe is already in place at z = 1. The recent MS-based galaxy formation simulation of Guo et al. (2011) reproduces the scale-dependent clustering of luminosity to an accuracy better than 30% in all bands and at both redshifts, but substantially overpredicts mass autocorrelations at separations below about 2 Mpc. Further comparison of the shapes of our stellar mass bias functions with those predicted by the model suggests that both the SDSS and DEEP2 data prefer a fluctuation amplitude of σ8 � 0.8 rather than the σ8 = 0.9 assumed by the MS.
118210434
Rod-structure classification of gravitational instantons with U(1)×U(1) isometry
Abstract The rod-structure formalism has played an important role in the study of black holes in D = 4 and 5 dimensions with R × U ( 1 ) D − 3 isometry. In this paper, we apply this formalism to the study of four-dimensional gravitational instantons with U ( 1 ) × U ( 1 ) isometry, which could serve as spatial backgrounds for five-dimensional black holes. We first introduce a stronger version of the rod structure with the rod directions appropriately normalised, and show how the regularity conditions can be read off from it. Requiring the absence of conical and orbifold singularities will in general impose periodicity conditions on the coordinates, and we illustrate this by considering known gravitational instantons in this class. Some previous results regarding certain gravitational instantons are clarified in the process. Finally, we show how the rod-structure formalism is able to provide a classification of gravitational instantons, and speculate on the existence of possible new gravitational instantons.
119299152
Spectral Classification and Redshift Measurement for the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
We describe the automated spectral classification, redshift determination, and parameter measurement pipeline in use for the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) as of the survey's ninth data release (DR9), encompassing 831,000 moderate-resolution optical spectra. We give a review of the algorithms employed, and describe the changes to the pipeline that have been implemented for BOSS relative to previous SDSS-I/II versions, including new sets of stellar, galaxy, and quasar redshift templates. For the color-selected "CMASS" sample of massive galaxies at redshift 0.4 ≲ z ≲ 0.8 targeted by BOSS for the purposes of large-scale cosmological measurements, the pipeline achieves an automated classification success rate of 98.7% and confirms 95.4% of unique CMASS targets as galaxies (with the balance being mostly M stars). Based on visual inspections of a subset of BOSS galaxies, we find that approximately 0.2% of confidently reported CMASS sample classifications and redshifts are incorrect, and about 0.4% of all CMASS spectra are objects unclassified by the current algorithm which are potentially recoverable. The BOSS pipeline confirms that ~51.5% of the quasar targets have quasar spectra, with the balance mainly consisting of stars and low signal-to-noise spectra. Statistical (as opposed to systematic) redshift errors propagated from photon noise are typically a few tens of km s–1 for both galaxies and quasars, with a significant tail to a few hundreds of km s–1 for quasars. We test the accuracy of these statistical redshift error estimates using repeat observations, finding them underestimated by a factor of 1.19-1.34 for galaxies and by a factor of two for quasars. We assess the impact of sky-subtraction quality, signal-to-noise ratio, and other factors on galaxy redshift success. Finally, we document known issues with the BOSS DR9 spectroscopic data set and describe directions of ongoing development.
119228842
A New AF gravitational instanton
Abstract It has long been conjectured that the Euclidean Schwarzschild and Euclidean Kerr instantons are the only non-trivial asymptotically flat (AF) gravitational instantons. In this Letter, we show that this conjecture is false by explicitly constructing a new two-parameter AF gravitational instanton with a U ( 1 ) × U ( 1 ) isometry group, using the inverse-scattering method. It has Euler number χ = 3 and Hirzebruch signature τ = 1 , and its global topology is C P 2 with a circle S 1 removed appropriately. Various other properties of this gravitational instanton are also discussed.