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Analysis of the Na, Mg, Al, and Si Abundances in the Atmospheres of Red Giants of Different Spectral Subgroups
We analyze the Na, Mg, Al, and Si abundances in the atmospheres of morethan 40 stars, includingred giants of different spectral subgroups(normal red giants, mild and classical barium stars) and severalsupergiants. All these elements exhibit abundance excesses, with theoverabundance increasing with the star’s luminosity. Thedependence of the overabundances for each of these elements on theluminosity (or log g) is the same for all the spectral subgroups,testifying to a common origin: they are all products of hydrogen burningin the NeNa and MgAl cycles that have been dredged up from the stellarinteriors to the outer atmospheric layers by convection that graduallydevelops during the star’s evolution from the main sequence to thered-giant stage. The sodium abundances derived for several stars arelower than for other stars with similar atmospheric parameters. The agesand kinematic characteristics of these two groups of stars suggest thatthey probably belong to different stellar generations.
| Astrometric orbits of SB^9 stars
Hipparcos Intermediate Astrometric Data (IAD) have been used to deriveastrometric orbital elements for spectroscopic binaries from the newlyreleased Ninth Catalogue of Spectroscopic Binary Orbits(SB^9). This endeavour is justified by the fact that (i) theastrometric orbital motion is often difficult to detect without theprior knowledge of the spectroscopic orbital elements, and (ii) suchknowledge was not available at the time of the construction of theHipparcos Catalogue for the spectroscopic binaries which were recentlyadded to the SB^9 catalogue. Among the 1374 binaries fromSB^9 which have an HIP entry (excluding binaries with visualcompanions, or DMSA/C in the Double and Multiple Stars Annex), 282 havedetectable orbital astrometric motion (at the 5% significance level).Among those, only 70 have astrometric orbital elements that are reliablydetermined (according to specific statistical tests), and for the firsttime for 20 systems. This represents a 8.5% increase of the number ofastrometric systems with known orbital elements (The Double and MultipleSystems Annex contains 235 of those DMSA/O systems). The detection ofthe astrometric orbital motion when the Hipparcos IAD are supplementedby the spectroscopic orbital elements is close to 100% for binaries withonly one visible component, provided that the period is in the 50-1000 drange and the parallax is >5 mas. This result is an interestingtestbed to guide the choice of algorithms and statistical tests to beused in the search for astrometric binaries during the forthcoming ESAGaia mission. Finally, orbital inclinations provided by the presentanalysis have been used to derive several astrophysical quantities. Forinstance, 29 among the 70 systems with reliable astrometric orbitalelements involve main sequence stars for which the companion mass couldbe derived. Some interesting conclusions may be drawn from this new setof stellar masses, like the enigmatic nature of the companion to theHyades F dwarf HIP 20935. This system has a mass ratio of 0.98 but thecompanion remains elusive.
| Analysis of Atmospheric Abundances in Classical Barium Stars
We present our analysis of elemental abundances in the atmospheres of 16classical barium stars derived from high-resolution spectra and modelatmospheres. Comparison of the results with analogous data for moderatebarium stars and normal red giants shows that the abundance patterns forelements before the iron peak are the same for all three groups of redgiants, testifying to a similar origin. For binary systems, we confirmthe influence of the orbital period and, hence, the componentseparation, on the overabundance of s-process elements. The amount ofenrichment in s-process elements is also influenced by mass,metallicity, and evolutionary phase. Any of these parameters can beimportant in individual objects.
| The Geneva-Copenhagen survey of the Solar neighbourhood. Ages, metallicities, and kinematic properties of 14 000 F and G dwarfs
We present and discuss new determinations of metallicity, rotation, age,kinematics, and Galactic orbits for a complete, magnitude-limited, andkinematically unbiased sample of 16 682 nearby F and G dwarf stars. Our63 000 new, accurate radial-velocity observations for nearly 13 500stars allow identification of most of the binary stars in the sampleand, together with published uvbyβ photometry, Hipparcosparallaxes, Tycho-2 proper motions, and a few earlier radial velocities,complete the kinematic information for 14 139 stars. These high-qualityvelocity data are supplemented by effective temperatures andmetallicities newly derived from recent and/or revised calibrations. Theremaining stars either lack Hipparcos data or have fast rotation. Amajor effort has been devoted to the determination of new isochrone agesfor all stars for which this is possible. Particular attention has beengiven to a realistic treatment of statistical biases and errorestimates, as standard techniques tend to underestimate these effectsand introduce spurious features in the age distributions. Our ages agreewell with those by Edvardsson et al. (\cite{edv93}), despite severalastrophysical and computational improvements since then. We demonstrate,however, how strong observational and theoretical biases cause thedistribution of the observed ages to be very different from that of thetrue age distribution of the sample. Among the many basic relations ofthe Galactic disk that can be reinvestigated from the data presentedhere, we revisit the metallicity distribution of the G dwarfs and theage-metallicity, age-velocity, and metallicity-velocity relations of theSolar neighbourhood. Our first results confirm the lack of metal-poor Gdwarfs relative to closed-box model predictions (the ``G dwarfproblem''), the existence of radial metallicity gradients in the disk,the small change in mean metallicity of the thin disk since itsformation and the substantial scatter in metallicity at all ages, andthe continuing kinematic heating of the thin disk with an efficiencyconsistent with that expected for a combination of spiral arms and giantmolecular clouds. Distinct features in the distribution of the Vcomponent of the space motion are extended in age and metallicity,corresponding to the effects of stochastic spiral waves rather thanclassical moving groups, and may complicate the identification ofthick-disk stars from kinematic criteria. More advanced analyses of thisrich material will require careful simulations of the selection criteriafor the sample and the distribution of observational errors.Based on observations made with the Danish 1.5-m telescope at ESO, LaSilla, Chile, and with the Swiss 1-m telescope at Observatoire deHaute-Provence, France.Complete Tables 1 and 2 are only available in electronic form at the CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/418/989
| Studies of Classical Barium Stars
Using atmosphere models based on high-resolution spectra, we havederived the abundances of chemical elements in the atmospheres of sevenclassical barium stars and compared them with the elemental abundancesof moderate barium stars and normal red giants. The behavior of elementsup to the iron peak is the same in all three groups of giants, providingevidence that they have a common origin. The dependence of the anomalousabundances of s-process elements on stellar mass and metallicity isqualitatively similar for all three groups, probably indicating that asubstantial role is played by the evolutionary phase of the stars. Weconclude that the barium-star phenomenon and the overabundances ofs-process elements in barium stars cannot be explained as a consequenceof binarity alone. The extent to which the s-process elements areoverabundant is affected by the mass, metallicity, and evolutionaryphase of the given star, and any of these parameters may prove to beimportant in a specific object.
| Chemical compositions of four barium stars
We obtain abundances of alpha , iron peak and neutron capture(n-capture) process elements in four Ba stars HD 26886, HD 27271, HD50082 and HD 98839 based on high resolution, high signal-to-noisespectra. We find that all of these Ba stars are disk stars. Their alphaand iron peak elements are similar to the solar abundances. Then-capture process elements are overabundant relative to the Sun. Inparticular, the second peak slow neutron capture process (s-process)elements, Ba and La, are higher than the first peak s-process elements,Y and Zr. Analyzing the abundances of four sample stars, theheavy-element abundances of the strong Ba star HD 50082 are higher thanthose of other three mild Ba stars. The stellar mass of the strong Bastar HD 50082 is 1.32 Msun (+0.28, -0.22 Msun),which is consistent with the average mass of strong Ba stars (1.5Msun). For mild Ba star HD 27271, we derive 1.90Msun (+0.25, -0.20 Msun), consistent with theaverage mass of mild Ba stars (1.9 Msun, with 0.6Msun white dwarf companion). For mild Ba star HD 26886, thederived 2.78 Msun (+0.75, -0.78 Msun) isconsistent with the average 2.3 Msun of mild Ba stars with0.67 Msun companion white dwarfs within the errors. Mass ofmild Ba star HD 98839 is high to 3.62 Msun, which inspiresmore thoughts on the formation of Ba star phenomenon. Using our angularmomentum conservation theoretical model of wind accretion of Ba binarysystems, we obtain the theoretical heavy-element abundances of Ba starsthat best fit our data. The results show that the observed abundances ofthe typical strong Ba star HD 50082 and the typical mild Ba star HD27271 are consistent with the theoretical results very well. Thissuggests that their heavy-element abundances were caused by accretingthe ejecta of AGB stars, the progenitors of the present white dwarfcompanions, through stellar wind. However, wind accretion scenariocannot explain the observed abundance pattern of the mild Ba star HD26886 with shorter orbital period (P= 1263.2 d). The mild Ba star HD98839 with high mass (up to 3.62 Msun) and very long orbitalperiod (P> 11 000 d) may be either a star with the heavy elementsenriched by itself or a ``true Ba" star. Table 3 and Tables\ref{tab5}(1) to \ref{tab5}(4) are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| Carbon-rich giants in the HR diagram and their luminosity function
The luminosity function (LF) of nearly 300 Galactic carbon giants isderived. Adding BaII giants and various related objects, about 370objects are located in the RGB and AGB portions of the theoretical HRdiagram. As intermediate steps, (1) bolometric corrections arecalibrated against selected intrinsic color indices; (2) the diagram ofphotometric coefficients 1/2 vs. astrometric trueparallaxes varpi are interpreted in terms of ranges of photosphericradii for every photometric group; (3) coefficients CR andCL for bias-free evaluation of mean photospheric radii andmean luminosities are computed. The LF of Galactic carbon giantsexhibits two maxima corresponding to the HC-stars of the thick disk andto the CV-stars of the old thin disk respectively. It is discussed andcompared to those of carbon stars in the Magellanic Clouds and Galacticbulge. The HC-part is similar to the LF of the Galactic bulge,reinforcing the idea that the Bulge and the thick disk are part of thesame dynamical component. The CV-part looks similar to the LF of theLarge Magellanic Cloud (LMC), but the former is wider due to thesubstantial errors on HIPPARCOS parallaxes. The obtained meanluminosities increase with increasing radii and decreasing effectivetemperatures, along the HC-CV sequence of photometric groups, except forHC0, the earliest one. This trend illustrates the RGB- and AGB-tracks oflow- and intermediate-mass stars for a range in metallicities. From acomparison with theoretical tracks in the HR diagram, the initial massesMi range from about 0.8 to 4.0 Msun for carbongiants, with possibly larger masses for a few extreme objects. A largerange of metallicities is likely, from metal-poor HC-stars classified asCH stars on the grounds of their spectra (a spheroidal component), tonear-solar compositions of many CV-stars. Technetium-rich carbon giantsare brighter than the lower limit Mbol =~ -3.6+/- 0.4 andcentered at =~-4.7+0.6-0.9 at about =~(2935+/-200) K or CV3-CV4 in our classification. Much like the resultsof Van Eck et al. (\cite{vaneck98}) for S stars, this confirms theTDU-model of those TP-AGB stars. This is not the case of the HC-stars inthe thick disk, with >~ 3400 K and>~ -3.4. The faint HC1 and HC2-stars( =~ -1.1+0.7-1.0) arefound slightly brighter than the BaII giants ( =~-0.3+/-1.3) on average. Most RCB variables and HdC stars range fromMbol =~ -1 to -4 against -0.2 to -2.4 for those of the threepopulation II Cepheids in the sample. The former stars show the largestluminosities ( <~ -4 at the highest effectivetemperatures (6500-7500 K), close to the Mbol =~ -5 value forthe hot LMC RCB-stars (W Men and HV 5637). A full discussion of theresults is postponed to a companion paper on pulsation modes andpulsation masses of carbon-rich long period variables (LPVs; Paper IV,present issue). This research has made use of the Simbad databaseoperated at CDS, Strasbourg, France. Partially based on data from theESA HIPPARCOS astrometry satellite. Table 2 is only available inelectronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/390/967
| The tidal effects on the lithium abundance of binary systems with giant component
We analyse the behavior of lithium abundance as a function of effectivetemperature, projected rotational velocity, orbital period andeccentricity for a sample of 68 binary systems with giant component andorbital period ranging from about 10 to 6400 days. For these binarysystems the Li abundances show a gradual decrease with temperature,paralleling the well established result for single giants. We have alsoobserved a dependence of lithium content on rotation. Binary systemswith moderate to high rotation present also moderate to high Li content.This study shows also that synchronized binary systems with giantcomponent seem to retain more of their original lithium than theunsynchronized systems. For orbital periods lower than 100 to 250 days,typically the period of synchronization for this kind of binary systems,lithium depleted stars seems to be unusual. The suggestion is made thatthere is an ``inhibited zone" in which synchronized binary systems withgiant component having lithium abundance lower than a threshold levelshould be unusual. Based on observations collected at ESO, La Silla.
| Nucleosynthesis and Mixing on the Asymptotic Giant Branch. III. Predicted and Observed s-Process Abundances
We present the results of s-process nucleosynthesis calculations forasymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars of different metallicities anddifferent initial stellar masses (1.5 and 3 Msolar), and wepresent comparisons of them with observational constraints fromhigh-resolution spectroscopy of evolved stars over a wide metallicityrange. The computations were based on previously published stellarevolutionary models that account for the third dredge-up phenomenonoccurring late on the AGB. Neutron production is driven by the13C(α,n)16O reaction during the interpulseperiods in a tiny layer in radiative equilibrium at the top of the He-and C-rich shell. The neutron source 13C is manufacturedlocally by proton captures on the abundant 12C; a few protonsare assumed to penetrate from the convective envelope into the radiativelayer at any third dredge-up episode, when a chemical discontinuity isestablished between the convective envelope and the He- and C-richzones. A weaker neutron release is also guaranteed by the marginalactivation of the reaction 22Ne(α,n)25Mgduring the convective thermal pulses. Owing to the lack of a consistentmodel for 13C formation, the abundance of 13Cburnt per cycle is allowed to vary as a free parameter over a wideinterval (a factor of 50). The s-enriched material is subsequently mixedwith the envelope by the third dredge-up, and the envelope compositionis computed after each thermal pulse. We follow the changes in thephotospheric abundance of the Ba-peak elements (heavy s [hs]) and thatof the Zr-peak ones (light s [ls]), whose logarithmic ratio [hs/ls] hasoften been adopted as an indicator of the s-process efficiency (e.g., ofthe neutron exposure). Our model predictions for this parameter show acomplex trend versus metallicity. Especially noteworthy is theprediction that the flow along the s-path at low metallicities drainsthe Zr and Ba peaks and builds an excess at the doubly magic208Pb, which is at the termination of the s-path. We thendiscuss the effects on the models of variations in the crucialparameters of the 13C pocket, finding that they are notcritical for interpreting the results. The theoretical predictions arecompared with published abundances of s-elements for AGB giants ofclasses MS, S, SC, post-AGB supergiants, and for various classes ofbinary stars, which supposedly derive their composition by mass transferfrom an AGB companion. This is done for objects belonging both to theGalactic disk and to the halo. The observations in general confirm thecomplex dependence of neutron captures on metallicity. They suggest thata moderate spread exists in the abundance of 13C that isburnt in different stars. Although additional observations are needed,it seems that a good understanding has been achieved of s-processoperation in AGB stars. Finally, the detailed abundance distributionincluding the light elements (CNO) of a few s-enriched stars atdifferent metallicities are examined and satisfactorily reproduced bymodel envelope compositions.
| On the Wilson-Bappu relationship in the Mg II k line
An investigation is carried out on the Wilson-Bappu effect in the Mg Iik line at 2796.34 Å. The work is based on a selection of 230 starsobserved by both the IUE and HIPPARCOS satellites, covering a wide rangeof spectral types (F to M) and absolute visual magnitudes (-5.4<=MV <=9.0). A semi-automatic procedure is used to measurethe line widths, which applies also in the presence of strong centralabsorption reversal. The Wilson-Bappu relationship here provided isconsidered to represent an improvement over previous recent results forthe considerably larger data sample used, as well as for a properconsideration of the measurement errors. No evidence has been found fora possible dependence of the WB effect on stellar metallicity andeffective temperature.
| The effective temperatures of carbon-rich stars
We evaluate effective temperatures of 390 carbon-rich stars. Theinterstellar extinction on their lines of sights was determined andcircumstellar contributions derived. The intrinsic (dereddened) spectralenergy distributions (SEDs) are classified into 14 photometric groups(HCi, CVj and SCV with i=0,5 and j=1,7). The newscale of effective temperatures proposed here is calibrated on the 54angular diameters (measured on 52 stars) available at present from lunaroccultations and interferometry. The brightness distribution on stellardiscs and its influence on diameter evaluations are discussed. Theeffective temperatures directly deduced from those diameters correlatewith the classification into photometric groups, despite the large errorbars on diameters. The main parameter of our photometric classificationis thus effective temperature. Our photometric < k right >1/2 coefficients are shown to be angular diameters on arelative scale for a given photometric group, (more precisely for agiven effective temperature). The angular diameters are consistent withthe photometric data previously shown to be consistent with the trueparallaxes from HIPPARCOS observations (Knapik, et al. \cite{knapik98},Sect. 6). Provisional effective temperatures, as constrained by asuccessful comparison of dereddened SEDs from observations to modelatmosphere predictions, are in good agreement with the values directlycalculated from the observed angular diameters and with those deducedfrom five selected intrinsic color indices. These three approaches wereused to calibrate a reference angular diameter Phi 0 and theassociated coefficient CT_eff. The effective temperatureproposed for each star is the arithmetic mean of two estimates, one(``bolometric'') from a reference integrated flux F0, theother (``spectral'') from calibrated color indices which arerepresentative of SED shapes. Effective temperatures for about 390carbon stars are provided on this new homogeneous scale, together withvalues for some stars classified with oxygen-type SEDs with a total of438 SEDs (410 stars) studied. Apparent bolometric magnitudes are given.Objects with strong infrared excesses and optically thick circumstellardust shells are discussed separately. The new effective temperaturescale is shown to be compatible and (statistically) consistent with thesample of direct values from the observed angular diameters. Theeffective temperatures are confirmed to be higher than the mean colortemperatures (from 140 to 440 K). They are in good agreement with thepublished estimates from the infrared flux method forTeff>= 3170 K, while an increasing discrepancy is observedtoward lower temperatures. As an illustration of the efficiency of thephotometric classification and effective temperature scale, the C/Oratios and the Merrill-Sanford (M-S) band intensities are investigated.It is shown that the maximum value, mean value and dispersion of C/Oincrease along the photometric CV-sequence, i.e. with decreasingeffective temperature. The M-S bands of SiC2 are shown tohave a transition from ``none'' to ``strong'' at Teff =~(2800+/- 150right ) K. Simultaneously, with decreasing effectivetemperature, the mean C/O ratio increases from 1.04 to 1.36, thetransition in SiC2 strength occurring while 1.07<= C/O<= 1.18. This research has made use of the Simbad database operatedat CDS, Strasbourg, France. Table 10 is only available in electronicform at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5)}or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/369/178
| Ultraviolet Emission Lines in BA and Non-BA Giants
With the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Goddard High ResolutionSpectrograph we have observed four barium and three weak barium stars inthe ultraviolet spectral region, together with two nonpeculiar giantstandard stars. An additional suspected Ba star was observed with HSTand the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. In the H-R diagram, threeof the observed Ba stars lie on the same evolutionary tracks as theHyades giants. Using International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) spectra ofpreviously studied giants together with our HST spectra, we investigatewhether the chromospheric and transition layer emission-line spectra ofthe Ba stars are different from those of nonpeculiar giants and fromthose of giants with peculiar carbon and/or nitrogen abundances. Exceptfor the Ba star HD 46407 and the suspected Ba star HD 65699, the Ba starand mild Ba star emission-line fluxes are, for a given effectivetemperature and for a given luminosity, lower than those for thenonpeculiar giants observed with IUE. In comparison with theHST-observed standard stars, the C IV λ1550-to-C II λ1335line flux ratios are smaller, but not necessarily so in comparison withall IUE-observed nonpeculiar giants. However, the C IV-to-C II line fluxratios for the Ba stars decrease with increasing carbon abundances. Thisshows that the energy balance in the lower transition layer isinfluenced by the carbon abundance. The temperature gradient appears tobe smaller in the C II line-emitting region. There does not seem to be adifference in chromospheric electron densities for the Ba and non-Bastars, though this result is rather uncertain. Based on observationswith the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space TelescopeScience Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universitiesfor Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.
| Do All BA II Stars Have White Dwarf Companions?
With the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Goddard High ResolutionSpectrograph (GHRS) we have observed four barium stars, three mildbarium stars, and one weak G-band star in the ultraviolet spectralregion. One barium star was observed with HST and the Space TelescopeImaging Spectrograph (STIS). The aim was to check the hypothesis thatall these peculiar stars have white dwarf (WD) companions, which attheir asymptotic giant branch phase transferred mass with peculiarelement abundances to the present barium and CH peculiar stars. Assumingthat the ultraviolet continua of the cool giants, including the bariumstars, are generated in their chromospheres and that the relationsbetween the continua and the emission lines created in the chromospheresand transition layers are similar in field giants and barium stars, wefound that, indeed, most of our target barium and weak barium starsappear to have excess flux in the UV when compared to standard giantstars. For most of the stars the excess flux can be attributed to WDcompanions with temperatures between 10,000 and 12,000 K, if the WD massis about 0.6 Msolar. Cooling times for the WDs were derivedfrom their effective temperatures and model calculations by M. Wood. Thecalculated cooling times are longer than the lifetimes of the bariumstars on the giant branch. For our target stars the mass transfertherefore happened while they were still on the main sequence. For twoof the mild barium stars and one or perhaps two barium stars the derivedcooling times for the WD companions come out to be longer than the totalevolutionary times of the barium stars as calculated by Schaller et al.If our derivations are correct (the error bars are rather large) theneither evolutionary models with larger convective overshoot have to beused for the barium stars or the cooling times of the white dwarfs haveto be revised downward. Possibly an additional (as yet unknown) coolingmechanism has to be considered? The weak G-band star HD 165634, whichhas a carbon underabundance of about a factor of 10, also appears tohave a WD companion. We discuss the implications of this very low carbonabundance. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble SpaceTelescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which isoperated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy.Incorporated, under NASA contract NAS5-26555.
| Re-processing the Hipparcos Transit Data and Intermediate Astrometric Data of spectroscopic binaries. I. Ba, CH and Tc-poor S stars
Only 235 entries were processed as astrometric binaries with orbits inthe Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogue (\cite{Hipparcos}). However, theIntermediate Astrometric Data (IAD) and Transit Data (TD) made availableby ESA make it possible to re-process the stars that turned out to bespectroscopic binaries after the completion of the Catalogue. This paperillustrates how TD and IAD may be used in conjunction with the orbitalparameters of spectroscopic binaries to derive astrometric parameters.The five astrometric and four orbital parameters (not already known fromthe spectroscopic orbit) are derived by minimizing an objective function(chi 2) with an algorithm of global optimization. This codehas been applied to 81 systems for which spectroscopic orbits becameavailable recently and that belong to various families ofchemically-peculiar red giants (namely, dwarf barium stars, strong andmild barium stars, CH stars, and Tc-poor S stars). Among these 81systems, 23 yield reliable astrometric orbits. These 23 systems make itpossible to evaluate on real data the so-called ``cosmic error''described by Wielen et al. (1997), namely the fact that an unrecognizedorbital motion introduces a systematic error on the proper motion.Comparison of the proper motion from the Hipparcos catalogue with thatre-derived in the present work indicates that the former are indeed faroff the present value for binaries with periods in the range 3 to ~ 8years. Hipparcos parallaxes of unrecognized spectroscopic binaries turnout to be reliable, except for systems with periods close to 1 year, asexpected. Finally, we show that, even when a complete orbital revolutionwas observed by Hipparcos, the inclination is unfortunately seldomprecise. Based on observations from the Hipparcos astrometric satelliteoperated by the European Space Agency (ESA 1997).
| The heavy-element abundances of AGB stars and the angular momentum conservation model of wind accretion for barium stars
Adopting new s-process nucleosynthesis scenario and branch s-processpath, we calculate the heavy-element abundances of solar metallicity3Msun thermal pulse asymptotic giant branch (hereafterTP-AGB) stars, and then discuss the correlation between heavy-elementabundances and C/O ratio. 13C(alpha ,n)16Oreaction is the major neutron source, which is released in radiativecondition during the interpulse period, hence gives rise to an efficients-processing that depends on the 13C profile in the13C pocket. A second small neutron burst from 22Nesource marginally operates during convective pulses over previouslys-processed material diluted with fresh Fe seed and H-burning ashes. Thecalculated heavy-element abundances and C/O ratio on the surfaces of AGBstars are compared with the observations of MS, S and C (N-type) stars.The observations are characterized by a spread in neutron exposures:0.5-2.5 times of the corresponding exposures reached in the three zonesof the 13C pocket showed by Fig. 1 of Gallino et al. (1998).The evolutionary sequence from M to S to C stars is explained naturallyby the calculated heavy-element abundances and C/O ratio. Then theheavy-element abundances on the surfaces of TP-AGB stars are used tocalculate the heavy-element overabundances of barium stars, which aregenerally believed to belong to binary systems and their heavy-elementoverabundances are produced by the accreting material from thecompanions (the former TP-AGB stars and the present white dwarfs). Toachieve this, firstly, the change equations of binary orbital elementsare recalculated by taking the angular momentum conservation in place ofthe tangential momentum conservation, and the change of delta r/r termis considered; then the heavy-element overabundances of barium stars arecalculated, in a self-consistent manner, through wind accretion duringsuccessive pulsed mass ejection, followed by mixing. The calculatedrelationships of heavy-element abundances to orbital periods P of bariumstars can fit the observations within the error ranges. Moreover, thecalculated abundances of nuclei of different atomic charge Z,corresponding to different neutron exposures of TP-AGB stars, can fitthe observational heavy-element abundances of 14 barium stars in theerror ranges. Our results suggest that the barium stars with longerorbital period P>1600 d may form through accreting part of the ejectafrom the intrinsic AGB stars through stellar wind, and the massaccretion rate is in the range of 0.1-0.5 times of Bondi-Hoyle'saccretion rate. Those with shorter orbital period P<600 d may beformed through other scenarios: dynamically stable late case C masstransfer or common envelope ejection.
| A re-analysis of the heavy-element abundance of barium stars.
Not Available
| Catalogs of temperatures and [Fe/H] averages for evolved G and K stars
A catalog of mean values of [Fe/H] for evolved G and K stars isdescribed. The zero point for the catalog entries has been establishedby using differential analyses. Literature sources for those entries areincluded in the catalog. The mean values are given with rms errors andnumbers of degrees of freedom, and a simple example of the use of thesestatistical data is given. For a number of the stars with entries in thecatalog, temperatures have been determined. A separate catalogcontaining those data is briefly described. Catalog only available atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Dust extinction and intrinsic SEDs of carbon-rich stars. II. The hot carbon stars
The present work is an extension of a recent study by Knapik &Bergeat (\cite{knapik}, henceforth called Paper I) of the spectralenergy distributions (SEDs) of about 300 cool carbon-rich variables andof the interstellar extinction observed on their line of sights. Themethods were originally developed for Semi-Regular (SR) and Irregular(L)-variables. Shortly, this is a kind of a pair method making usesimultaneously of the whole SED from UV to IR. Our approach is appliedhere to the galactic carbon-rich giants with bluer SEDs, namely the hotcarbon (HC) stars, including many ``constant'' stars and a minority ofvariables: AC Her a RV Tau star, the R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars andothers. Some HdC (i.e. carbon-rich hydrogen deficient stars) and Ba IIstars are also considered. The total number of studied HC stars amountsto about 140. With few exceptions, the colour excesses for interstellarextinction are found in good agreement with the field values from mapspublished in the literature, taking into account the approximatedistances to our stars from HIPPARCOS data (\cite{esa}, henceforthcalled ESA) or binarity. We propose a classification scheme with sixphotometric groups (or boxes: HC0 to HC5) from the bluest to the reddestSEDs. Oxygen-rich SEDs earlier than HC0, are attributed to the hotteststars (AC Her, most RCB-variables and a few others). Previous findingsare confirmed of a junction between oxygen-rich and carbon-rich SEDs atspectral type G. The latest (HC5) group is immediately close to theearliest one in Paper I, namely CV1. The sequence of groups then goesregularly from HC0 to CV6. Substantial infrared excesses with respect toour solutions are found in HD 100764 a HC1 carbon star, AC Her a G0g RVTau star, and the RCB stars classified in either HC or oxygen-groups.The colour excesses at maximum light can usually be attributed tointerstellar reddening, with neutral circumstellar (CS) reddening (largegrains) or no CS extinction at all on the line of sight (non sphericalgeometry) as possible explanations. The latter model (disc or patchydistribution through successive puffs) is favoured. Two RCB variablesfor which we exploit SEDs on a rising branch (V CrA) or minimum light(RS Tel), show CS laws, respectively a selective extinction compatiblewith small grains and an extinction partly neutral indicative of largegrains on the line of sight. This research has made use of the Simbaddatabase operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France.}\fnmsep\thanks{Partiallybased on data from the ESA HIPPARCOS astrometrysatellite}\fnmsep\thanks{Tables~3 and 4 are only available in electronicform at the CDS via anonymous ftp 130.79.128.5
| High-resolution bispectrum speckle interferometry and two-dimensional radiative transfer modeling of the Red Rectangle
We present the first diffraction-limited K-band image of the RedRectangle with 76 mas resolution, an H-band image with 75 masresolution, and an RG 715 filter image ( ~ 800 nm wavelength) with 78mas resolution (corresponding to 25 AU for a distance of 330 pc). The Hand K images were reconstructed from 6 m telescope speckle data and theRG 715 image from 2.2 m telescope data using the speckle maskingbispectrum method. At all wavelengths the images show a compact, highlysymmetric bipolar nebula, suggesting a toroidal density distribution ofthe circumstellar material. No direct light from the central binary canbe seen as it is obscured by a dust disk or circumbinary torus. Ourfirst high-resolution H - K color image of the nebula shows a broad redplateau of H - K ~= 2^m in the bright inner regions. The optical andnear-infrared images and the available photometric continuumobservations in a wide range of ultraviolet to centimeter wavelengthsenabled us to model the Red Rectangle in detail using a two-dimensionalradiative transfer code. Our model matches both the high-resolutionimages and the spectral energy distribution of this object very well,making the following picture much more certain. The central close binarysystem with a total luminosity of 3000 L_Sun is embedded in a verydense, compact circumbinary torus which has an average number density ~= 5 x 10^12 cm^ - 3, an outer radius of the dense innerregion of R ~= 30 AU (91 mas), and a rho~r^ - 2 density distribution.The full opening angle of the bipolar outflow cavities in our model is70^o. By comparing the observed and theoretical images, we derived aninclination angle of the torus to the line of sight of 7^o +/- 1^o.Theradiative transfer calculations show that the dust properties in the RedRectangle are spatially inhomogeneous. Our modeling confirms that theidea of large grains in the long-lived disk around the Red Rectangle(Jura et al., 1997) is quantitatively consistent with the observations.The best model fit has been found for very large, on average at leastmillimeter-sized particles in the compact massive torus, although it isclear that a size distribution of dust grains must exist in reality.Assuming a dust-to-gas ratio rho_d/rho_g of 0.005, the dense torus massis 0.25 M_Sun. The model gives a lower limit of 0.0018 M_Sun for themass of the large particles with an average radius of 2 mm, whichproduce a gray extinction of A ~= 28^m towards the center. A muchsmaller mass of submicron-sized dust grains is presumably located in thepolar outflow cavities, their conical surface layers, and in the outerlow-density parts of the torus (where rho~r^ - 4, in the region of 30 AU<~ r <~ 2000 AU corresponding to 0.''09-6'') containinglow-density material.
| New CORAVEL spectroscopic-binary orbits of giant barium stars. II
This paper complements the set of spectroscopic orbits for giant bariumstars given in \cite[Udry et al. (1998)]{udry98} and provides data for20 binaries (18 orbits + 2 minimum-period determinations). Based onobservations obtained at the Haute-Provence Observatory (France) and atthe European Southern Observatory (ESO, La Silla, Chile).
| A CORAVEL radial-velocity monitoring of giant BA and S stars: Spectroscopic orbits and intrinsic variations. I.
With the aim of deriving the binary frequency among Ba and S stars, 56new spectroscopic orbits (46 and 10, respectively) have been derived forthese chemically-peculiar red giants monitored with the \coravel\spectrometers. These orbits are presented in this paper (38 orbits) andin a companion paper \cite[(Udry et al. 1998,]{Udry} Paper II; 18orbits). The results for 12 additional long-period binary stars (6 and6, respectively), for which only minimum periods (generally exceeding 10y) can be derived, are also presented here (10) and in Paper II (2). Theglobal analysis of this material, with a few supplementary orbits fromthe literature, is presented in \cite[Jorissen et al.(1998).]{Jorissen98} For the subsample of Mira S, SC and (Tc-poor) Cstars showing intrinsic radial-velocity variations due to atmosphericphenomena, orbital solutions (when available) have been retained if thevelocity and photometric periods are different (3 stars). However, it isemphasized that these orbit determinations are still tentative. Threestars have been found with radial-velocity variations synchronous withthe light variations. Pseudo-orbital solutions have been derived forthose stars. In the case of RZ Peg, a line-doubling phenomenon isobserved near maximum light, and probably reflects the shock wavepropagating through the photosphere. Based on observations obtained atthe Haute-Provence Observatory (France) and at the European SouthernObservatory (ESO, La Silla, Chile).
| BVRI photometry of the extrinsic S star HR 1105
BVRI photometry of the extrinsic S star HR 1105 shows a stable periodiclight variability with a period of 24.76 days superimposed upon longterm changes presumably related to the orbital period. The variationsare in phase for all four magnitudes with the amplitude of thisvariability being about the same for B and V, but smaller for R and evensmaller for I. As the primary is a M3 III star, these brightness changesare mostly likely due to the pulsation of the primary star. Table 1 isonly available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Insights into the formation of barium and Tc-poor S stars from an extended sample of orbital elements
The set of orbital elements available for chemically-peculiar red giant(PRG) stars has been considerably enlarged thanks to a decade-longCORAVEL radial-velocity monitoring of about 70 barium stars and 50 Sstars. When account is made for the detection biases, the observedbinary frequency among strong barium stars, mild barium stars andTc-poor S stars (respectively 35/37, 34/40 and 24/28) is compatible withthe hypothesis that they are all members of binary systems. Thesimilarity between the orbital-period, eccentricity and mass-functiondistributions of Tc-poor S stars and barium stars confirms that Tc-poorS stars are the cooler analogs of barium stars. A comparative analysisof the orbital elements of the various families of PRG stars, and of asample of chemically-normal, binary giants in open clusters, revealsseveral interesting features. The eccentricity - period diagram of PRGstars clearly bears the signature of dissipative processes associatedwith mass transfer, since the maximum eccentricity observed at a givenorbital period is much smaller than in the comparison sample of normalgiants. be held The mass function distribution is compatible with theunseen companion being a white dwarf (WD). This lends support to thescenario of formation of the PRG star by accretion of heavy-element-richmatter transferred from the former asymptotic giant branch progenitor ofthe current WD. Assuming that the WD companion has a mass in the range0.60+/-0.04 Msb ȯ, the masses of mild and strong barium starsamount to 1.9+/-0.2 and 1.5+/-0.2 Msb ȯ, respectively. Mild bariumstars are not restricted to long-period systems, contrarily to what isexpected if the smaller accretion efficiency in wider systems were thedominant factor controlling the pollution level of the PRG star. Theseresults suggest that the difference between mild and strong barium starsis mainly one of galactic population rather than of orbital separation,in agreement with their respective kinematical properties. There areindications that metallicity may be the parameter blurring the period -Ba-anomaly correlation: at a given orbital period, increasing levels ofheavy-element overabundances are found in mild barium stars, strongbarium stars, and Pop.II CH stars, corresponding to a sequence ofincreasingly older, i.e., more metal-deficient, populations. PRG starsthus seem to be produced more efficiently in low-metallicitypopulations. Conversely, normal giants in barium-like binary systems mayexist in more metal-rich populations. HD 160538 (DR Dra) may be such anexample, and its very existence indicates at least that binarity is nota sufficient condition to produce a PRG star. This paper is dedicated tothe memory of Antoine Duquennoy, who contributed many among theobservations used in this study
| S-process element overabundances of BA stars through wind accretion.
Not Available
| A catalogue of [Fe/H] determinations: 1996 edition
A fifth Edition of the Catalogue of [Fe/H] determinations is presentedherewith. It contains 5946 determinations for 3247 stars, including 751stars in 84 associations, clusters or galaxies. The literature iscomplete up to December 1995. The 700 bibliographical referencescorrespond to [Fe/H] determinations obtained from high resolutionspectroscopic observations and detailed analyses, most of them carriedout with the help of model-atmospheres. The Catalogue is made up ofthree formatted files: File 1: field stars, File 2: stars in galacticassociations and clusters, and stars in SMC, LMC, M33, File 3: numberedlist of bibliographical references The three files are only available inelectronic form at the Centre de Donnees Stellaires in Strasbourg, viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5), or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Barium stars, galactic populations and evolution.
In this paper HIPPARCOS astrometric and kinematical data together withradial velocities from other sources are used to calibrate bothluminosity and kinematics parameters of Ba stars and to classify them.We confirm the results of our previous paper (where we used data fromthe HIPPARCOS Input Catalogue), and show that Ba stars are aninhomogeneous group. Five distinct classes have been found i.e. somehalo stars and four groups belonging to disk population: roughlysuper-giants, two groups of giants (one on the giant branch, the otherat the clump location) and dwarfs, with a few subgiants mixed with them.The confirmed or suspected duplicity, the variability and the range ofknown orbital periods found in each group give coherent resultssupporting the scenario for Ba stars that are not too highly massivebinary stars in any evolutionary stages but that all were previouslyenriched with Ba from a more evolved companion. The presence in thesample of a certain number of ``false'' Ba stars is confirmed. Theestimates of age and mass are compatible with models for stars with astrong Ba anomaly. The mild Ba stars with an estimated mass higher than3Msun_ may be either stars Ba enriched by themselves or``true'' Ba stars, which imposes new constraints on models.
| The barium stars in the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram.
We present absolute magnitudes for a sample of 52 barium stars observedby the HIPPARCOS satellite, and their location in the HR diagram. Ourplot (Fig. 1) is restricted to stars with parallax accuracies betterthan 22%. The luminosity classes range from Ib supergiants down to Vdwarfs on the main sequence, as expected from spectral classificaiton.Discrepancies are however notes. No gap is observed in the regionextending from the main sequence to the giant branch, excatly as shownby Perryman et al. (1995A&A...304...69P) for normal stars. This isalso true for class II bright giants. A clump is however obvious atG8-K0 IIIb and M_V_~0. 85 which correspond to the one noted as (B-V)~1.0and M_Hp_~1.0 by Perryman et al. It appears that barium stars on themain sequence are earlier than G4, upward evolution being noticeable forlater types. They are also distributed in the subgiant zone followingthe locus of normal stars, i.e. increasing brightness for later types. Afew stars in our sample are also classified as CH stars: four of themare definitely main sequence class V-dwarfs, one is a class IVb faintsubgiant while two possible CH-stars are class III-giants. These resultsare consistent with the currently-admitted model of surface pollution ofa normal star through mass transfer in a binary system whose primary hasbecome a white dwarf (WD). HIPPARCOS data show perturbations of theastrometric solution which can be attributed to proved (or possible)binarity for 21 stars our of 121, and 8 of them were already quoted inthe CCDM catalogue (not necessarily with a WD component). This lowproportion can be explained by the 5-11 magnitudes differences predictedbetween the two components and/or low angular separation with periodsclose to one year.
| Interstellar extinction and the intrinsic spectral distribution of variable carbon stars.
We present a new method of evaluation of the extinction by interstellardust on cool carbon variables. These late-type stars show no markedrelationship between spectral classification (the R, N- and C-types) andphotometric colour indices. The pair method is thus ruled out, at leastin the form currently in use for early-type or intermediate stars. Ourmethod makes use of the whole spectral energy distributions from UV toIR. A sample of 60 unreddened carbon variables is delineated and newcolour-colour diagrams are proposed where the reddening vector is nearlyperpendicular to their narrow intrinsic locus. Six photometric groups(or boxes : CV1 to 6) are derived among unreddened stars. They show acontinuous range of spectral energy distributions from "bluer" to"redder", and mean colour indices are obtained. A pair method isdescribed where each presumably reddened star is compared to these meanunreddened stars, a given extinction law being assumed. As anillustration, the results are shown for a sample of 133 well-documentedstars. The mean extinction law usually adopted for the diffuseinterstellar medium (R_V_=~3.1) is shown to provide good fits. Thethreshold for reddening detection turns to be E(B-V)=~0.02-0.03A goodcorrelation is observed when the derived colour excesses are compared tovalues from maps in the literature. The mean rate of visual extinctionamounts to =~1.25+/-1.1 , ranging from 0.37 nearl=~240° (intercloud) to 2.1 (cloud + intercloud) in two structurescorrelated with Gould's belt.
| Absolute magnitudes and kinematics of barium stars.
The absolute magnitude of barium stars has been obtained fromkinematical data using a new algorithm based on the maximum-likelihoodprinciple. The method allows to separate a sample into groupscharacterized by different mean absolute magnitudes, kinematics andz-scale heights. It also takes into account, simultaneously, thecensorship in the sample and the errors on the observables. The methodhas been applied to a sample of 318 barium stars. Four groups have beendetected. Three of them show a kinematical behaviour corresponding todisk population stars. The fourth group contains stars with halokinematics. The luminosities of the disk population groups spread alarge range. The intrinsically brightest one (M_v_=-1.5mag,σ_M_=0.5mag) seems to be an inhomogeneous group containing bariumbinaries as well as AGB single stars. The most numerous group (about 150stars) has a mean absolute magnitude corresponding to stars in the redgiant branch (M_v_=0.9mag, σ_M_=0.8mag). The third group containsbarium dwarfs, the obtained mean absolute magnitude is characteristic ofstars on the main sequence or on the subgiant branch (M_v_=3.3mag,σ_M_=0.5mag). The obtained mean luminosities as well as thekinematical results are compatible with an evolutionary link betweenbarium dwarfs and classical barium giants. The highly luminous group isnot linked with these last two groups. More high-resolutionspectroscopic data will be necessary in order to better discriminatebetween barium and non-barium stars.
| A Catalogue of Correlations Between Eclipsing Binaries and Other Categories of Double Stars
Among the 9110 stars in The Bright Star Catalogue, there are 225eclipsing or ellipsoidal variables. A search has been made for these incatalogues of spectroscopic binaries, visual double or multiple stars,speckle interferometry, occulation binaries, and galatic clusters. Themajority of the photometric binaries are also members of groups ofhigher multiplicity. The variables are in systems ranging from one to 91stars, five on the average. 199 are either spectroscopic binaries (SB)or stars with variable radial velocity, with orbital periods known for160. Photometric periods are lacking for 48 while SB periods areavailable for 23 of these. Observers with photoelectric equipment areencouraged to plan observations to test if the SB periods are consistentwith photometric data. Observers are likewise encouraged to examinethose stars for which the photometric and SB periods appear to beinconsistent. Parallaxes are available for 86 of the stars, 41 of themindicating distances nearer than 50 parsecs.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Κύων Μέγας |
| Right ascension: | 06h32m46.90s |
| Declination: | -11°09'59.0" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 6.24 |
| Distance: | 121.212 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -17.1 |
| Proper motion Dec: | 8.5 |
| B-T magnitude: | 7.692 |
| V-T magnitude: | 6.382 |
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INHABITED SKY
