Study of the nearest open clusters and the associated moving clusters by numerical simulations

In our previous papers, we showed that at the final phases of the dynamical evolution of an open cluster, an extended population of stars elongated along its Galactic orbit, the stellar tail of the cluster, is formed. The tail stars that escaped from the cluster at different times move in a common orbit with low relative velocities. Experiencing a weak interaction with Galactic field stars, these objects, the relics of open clusters, can exist for a fairly long time. In this paper, we investigate the structures of such stellar tails in the nearest open clusters: Hyades, Pleiades, Praesepe, Alpha Persei, Coma, IC 2391, and IC 2602. To this end, we performed several numerical simulations of the dynamical evolution of these clusters in the tidal field of the Galaxy. Our computations of the dynamical evolution were based on known cluster age estimates and real Galactic orbits. The initial conditions were chosen in such a way that the parameters of the simulated clusters corresponded to their observed parameters. As a result, we obtained models of the stellar tails for the nearest open clusters and estimated such parameters of the tails as their sizes, densities, locations relative to the solar neighborhood, and others.     

Formation of galactic subsystems in light of the magnesium abundance in field stars: The halo

Data from our compiled catalog of spectroscopically determined magnesium abundances in dwarfs and subgiants with accurate parallaxes are used to select Galactic halo stars according to kinematic criteria and to identify presumably accreted stars among them. Accreted stars are shown to constitute the majority in the Galactic halo. They came into the Galaxy from disrupted dwarf satellite galaxies. We analyze the relations between the relative magnesium abundances, metallicities, and Galactic orbital elements for protodisk and accreted halo stars. We show that the relative magnesium abundances in protodisk halo stars are virtually independent of metallicity and lie within a fairly narrow range, while presumably accreted stars demonstrate a large spread in relative magnesium abundances up to negative [Mg/Fe]. This behavior of protodisk halo stars suggests that the interstellar matter in the early Galaxy mixed well at the halo formation phase. The mean metallicity of magnesium-poor ([Mg/Fe] < 0.2 dex) accreted stars has been found to be displaced toward the negative values when passing from stars with low azimuthal velocities (|Θ| < 50 km s^?1) to those with high ones at Δ[Fe/H] ≈ ?0.5 dex. The mean apogalactic radii and inclinations of the orbits also increase with increasing absolute value of |Θ|, while their eccentricities decrease. As a result, negative radial and vertical gradients in relative magnesium abundances are observed in the accreted halo in the absence of correlations between the [Mg/Fe] ratios and other orbital elements, while these correlations are found at a high significance level for genetically related Galactic stars. Based on the above properties of accreted stars and our additional arguments, we surmise that as the masses of dwarf galaxies decrease, the maximum SN II masses and, hence, the yield of α-elements in them also decrease. In this case, the relation between the [Mg/Fe] ratios and the inclinations and sizes of the orbits of accreted stars is in complete agreement with numerical simulations of dynamical processes during the interaction of galaxies. Thus, the behavior of the magnesium abundance in accreted stars suggests that the satellite galaxies are disrupted and lose their stars en masse only after dynamical friction reduces significantly the sizes of their orbits and drags them into the Galactic plane. Less massive satellite galaxies are disrupted even before their orbits change appreciably under tidal forces.     

Kinematics of the Galactic halo from horizontal branch stars in the Hamburg/ESO survey

Large samples of field horizontal branch (FHB) stars make excellent tracers of the Galactic halo; by studying their kinematics, one can infer important physical properties of our Galaxy. Here we present the results of a medium-resolution spectroscopic survey of 530 FHB stars selected from the Hamburg/ESO survey. The stars have a mean distance of ∼7 kpc and thus probe the inner parts of the Milky Way halo. We measure radial velocities from the spectra in order to test the model of Sommer-Larsen et al., who suggested that the velocity ellipsoid of the halo changes from radially dominated orbits to tangentially dominated orbits as one proceeds from the inner to the outer halo. We find that the present data are unable to discriminate between this model and a more simple isothermal ellipsoid; we suggest that additional observations towards the Galactic Centre might help to differentiate them.     

银河系铝元素丰度研究

恒星的Al元素丰度可以为探索星团和星系的化学演化提供重要线索.通过系统分析银河系薄盘、厚盘、核球、银晕以及M4、M5等球状星团中恒星的[Al/Fe]随恒星金属丰度[Fe/H]的变化趋势,得出银河系薄盘、厚盘和核球恒星的[Al/Fe]随着[Fe/H]的增加而缓慢下降,而球状星团M4和M5恒星的[Al/Fe]随[Fe/H]增加没有下降趋势,这暗示Ia超新星对M4和M5恒星元素丰度的贡献比较小.详细研究了银河系恒星[Al/Fe]与[Mg/Fe]、[Na/Fe]的相关性,结果表明银河系场星的[Al/Fe]与[Mg/Fe]正相关,但在球状星团M4和M5恒星中未见此相关性;银河系盘星及M4和M5等球状星团恒星的[Al/Fe]与[Na/Fe]都存在正相关.     

Globular Clusters: Absolute Proper Motions and Galactic Orbits

We cross-match objects from several different astronomical catalogs to determine the absolute proper motions of stars within the 30-arcmin radius fields of 115 Milky-Way globular clusters with the accuracy of 1–2 mas yr^?1. The proper motions are based on positional data recovered from the USNO-B1, 2MASS, URAT1, ALLWISE, UCAC5, and Gaia DR1 surveys with up to ten positions spanning an epoch difference of up to about 65 years, and reduced to Gaia DR1 TGAS frame using UCAC5 as the reference catalog. Cluster members are photometrically identified by selecting horizontal- and red-giant branch stars on color–magnitude diagrams, and the mean absolute proper motions of the clusters with a typical formal error of about 0.4 mas yr^?1 are computed by averaging the proper motions of selected members. The inferred absolute proper motions of clusters are combined with available radial-velocity data and heliocentric distance estimates to compute the cluster orbits in terms of the Galactic potential models based on Miyamoto and Nagai disk, Hernquist spheroid, and modified isothermal dark-matter halo (axisymmetric model without a bar) and the same model + rotating Ferre’s bar (non-axisymmetric). Five distant clusters have higher-than-escape velocities, most likely due to large errors of computed transversal velocities, whereas the computed orbits of all other clusters remain bound to the Galaxy. Unlike previously published results, we find the bar to affect substantially the orbits of most of the clusters, even those at large Galactocentric distances, bringing appreciable chaotization, especially in the portions of the orbits close to the Galactic center, and stretching out the orbits of some of the thick-disk clusters.     

Stars of extragalactic origin in the solar neighborhood

For 77 main-sequence F–G stars in the solar neighborhood with published iron, magnesium, and europium abundances determined from high-dispersion spectra and with the ages estimated from theoretical isochrones, we calculated the spatial velocities using Hipparcos data and the Galactic orbital elements. A comparison with the orbital elements of the globular clusters that are known to have been accreted by our Galaxy in the past reveals stars of extragalactic origin. We show that the abundance ratios of r-and α-elements in all the accreted stars differ sharply from those in the stars that are genetically associated with the Galaxy. According to current theoretical models, europium is produced mainly in low-mass type-II supernovae (SNe II), while magnesium is synthesized in large quantities in high-mass SN II progenitors. Since all the old accreted stars of our sample exhibit a significant Eu overabundance relative to Mg, we conclude that the maximum masses of the SN II progenitors outside the Galaxy were much lower than those inside it. On the other hand, only a small number of young accreted stars exhibit low negative ratios [Eu/Mg]<0. This can be explained by the delay of primordial star formation and the explosions of high-mass SNe II in a relatively small part of extragalactic space. We provide evidence that the interstellar medium was weakly mixed at the early evolutionary stages of the Galaxy formed from a single protogalactic cloud, and that the maximum mass of the SN II progenitors increased in it with time simultaneously with the increase in mean metallicity.     

白矮星演化与宇宙纪年学

近几年白矮星研究在理论与观测方面都取得了很大进展，这推动了白矮星宇宙纪年学的应用和发展。白矮星宇宙纪年学，即利用白矮星的演化结果计算白矮星理论光度函数，并通过与现测光度函数的对比来确定天体年龄。简要描述了白矮星的基本性质，回顾了白矮星演化研究的历史和基本方法；介绍了白矮星宇宙纪年学研究的基本原理及其在银盘、球状星团、疏散星团以及银晕年龄确定方面的应用现状。白矮星宇宙纪年学是一个很新的研究领域，但它已经在确定天体年龄方面显示出很大的潜力。最后讨论了目前研究中存在的问题，并提出今后需要进一步研究的几项工作。     

Diffuse matter and cosmogony of stellar systems in researches by G.A. Shajn

The main topic of long-term researches by G.A. Shajn is the nature of diffuse matter, its distribution in the Galaxy and extragalactic systems, interaction with the interstellar medium and hot stars,and the formation of emission and reflection nebulae and stars. Based on the analysis of experimental data, mainly photographic observations of nebulae in the Milky Way and extragalactic systems, he made conclusions and suggested well-founded hypotheses on a wide range of considered problems, including those related to cosmogony. The structure of nebulae, and their masses and sizes give reasons behind the conclusion that most of them are formed not in the process of ejection of matter from the stars, but rather they are objects which are born and evolve, and quite often are comprised of giant conglomerates of gas, dust and stars. The distribution of OB-type stars and nebulae in spiral branches points to their genetic relation and the fundamental role of the interstellar medium as the source of their formation. The structural features of nebulae are determined by the action of magnetohydrodynamic forces. Magnetic fields in a galaxy control the motion of diffuse gas-dust matter and ensure the maintenance of its spiral structure. These ideas continue being developed in modern directions of astrophysics.     

Galactic orbits of Hipparcos stars: Classification of stars

The Galactic orbits of 27 440 stars of all classes with accurate coordinates and parallaxes of more than 3 mas from the Hipparcos catalogue, proper motions from the Tycho-2 catalogue, and radial velocities from the Pulkovo Compilation of Radial Velocities (PCRV) are analyzed. The sample obtained is much more representative than the Geneva-Copenhagen survey and other studies of Galactic orbits in the solar neighborhood. An estimation of the influence of systematic errors in the velocities on orbital parameters shows that the errors of the proper motions due to the duplicity of stars are tangible only in the statistics of orbital parameters for very small samples, while the errors of the radial velocities are noticeable in the statistics of orbital parameters for halo stars. Therefore, previous studies of halo orbits may be erroneous. The distribution of stars in selection-free regions of the multidimensional space of orbital parameters, dereddened colors, and absolute magnitudes is considered. Owing to the large number of stars and the high accuracy of PCRV radial velocities, nonuniformities of this distribution (apart from the well-known dynamical streams) have been found. Stars with their peri- and apogalacticons in the disk, perigalacticons in the bulge and apogalacticons in the disk, perigalacticons in the bulge and apogalacticons in the halo, and perigalacticons in the disk and apogalacticons in the halo have been identified. Thus, the bulge and the halo are inhomogeneous structures, each consisting of at least two populations. The radius of the bulge has been determined: 2 kpc.     

The environment of formation as a second parameter for globular cluster classification

We perform an evolutionary multivariate analysis of a sample of 54 Galactic globular clusters with high-quality colour–magnitude diagrams and well-determined ages. The four parameters adopted for the analysis are: metallicity, age, maximum temperature on the horizontal branch and absolute V magnitude. Our cladistic analysis breaks the sample into three novel groups. An a posteriori kinematical analysis puts groups 1 and 2 in the halo, and group 3 in the thick disc. The halo and disc clusters separately follow a luminosity–metallicity relation of much weaker slope than galaxies. This property is used to propose a new criterion for distinguishing halo and disc clusters. A comparison of the distinct properties of the two halo groups with those of Galactic halo field stars indicates that the clusters of group 1 originated in the inner halo, while those of group 2 formed in the outer halo of the Galaxy. The inner halo clusters were presumably initially the most massive one, which allowed the formation of more strongly helium-enriched second generation stars, thus explaining the presence of Cepheids and of very hot horizontal-branch stars exclusively in this group. We thus conclude that the 'second parameter' is linked to the environment in which globular clusters form, the inner halo favouring the formation of the most massive clusters which subsequently become more strongly self-enriched than their counterparts of the galactic outer halo and disc.     

The chemical evolution of the galactic disc from the kinematics and metallicities of proper motion stars

Members of the Galaxy components are identified according to stellar ages, metallicities and galactic orbits. The local thin disk is found to have a maximum age of 11 billion years and a small abundance scatter partially controlled by the radial gradient of abundances. Metal-rich and old metal-poor stars belong to inner galactic populations and SMRs represent the ultimate star generation in the bulge. The thick disk forms a smooth transition between the halo and thin disk.     

The Evolution of the Interstellar Medium over Cosmic Time

C23 UV spectroscopy of the PG1159-type star NGC7094 C26 Variations of the radio synchrotron spectral index in the interstellar medium of M33 C38 Angular Momentum Evolution of Young Brown Dwarfs and Low Mass Stars C48 The radio halo of the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253 C95 Signatures of early metal enrichment in Damped-Lyman Alpha systems C113 CO 4 → 3 and [CI] 1 → 0 in the centers of NGC4945 and Circinus C115 Ratio of atomic and molecular gas and gravitational stabilty in the disk of M51 C130 The Interstellar Mediumat Early Cosmic Times: Molecular Gas in Distant Quasar Host Galaxies C188 Probing the interstellar medium in distant galaxies with SPICA/ESI C191 The evolution of spectral energy distributions of galaxies over cosmic times C197 Observations of 60Fe in the Galaxy with INTEGRAL/SPI C204 Evolution of Interstellar Clouds in a hot Gas Environment C205 The effect of clouds in a galactic wind on the evolution of gas-rich dwarf galaxies C206 Energy and element deposit into the interstellar medium during the lives of massive stars C209 The distribution and kinematics of massive stars in the inner Galaxy mapped with SPI/INTEGRAL 26Al 1.8 MeV line observations C213 PDR modelling of the Galactic FIR line emission C239 Towards a complete picture of the molecular ISM in local Luminous Infrared Galaxies: first results from the JCMT/IRAM line survey C242 The Search for the Very High-redshift Tail of Submillimeter Galaxies     

Dynamics for galactic archaeology

Our Galaxy is a complex machine in which several processes operate simultaneously: metal-poor gas is accreted, is chemically enriched by dying stars, and then drifts inwards, surrendering its angular momentum to stars; new stars are formed on nearly circular orbits in the equatorial plane and then diffuse through orbit space to eccentric and inclined orbits; the central stellar bar surrenders angular momentum to the surrounding disc and dark halo while acquiring angular momentum from inspiralling gas; the outer parts of the disc are constantly disturbed by satellite objects, both luminous and dark, as they sweep through pericentre. We review the conceptual tools required to bring these complex happenings into focus. Our first concern must be the construction of equilibrium models of the Galaxy, for upon these hang our hopes of determining the Galaxy’s mean gravitational field, which is required for every subsequent step. Ideally our equilibrium model should be formulated so that the secular evolution of the system can be modelled with perturbation theory. Such theory can be used to understand how stars diffuse through orbit space from either the thin gas disc in which we presume disc stars formed, or the debris of an accreted object, the presumed origin of many halo stars. Coupling this understanding to the still very uncertain predictions of the theory of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis, we can finally extract a complete model of the chemodynamic evolution of our reasonably generic Galaxy. We discuss the relation of such a model to cosmological simulations of galaxy formation, which provide general guidance but cannot be relied on for quantitative detail.     

Formation of the Galactic Stellar Halo: Origin of the Metallicity-Eccentricity Relation

Motivated by the recently improved knowledge on the kinematic and chemical properties of the Galactic metal-poor stars, we present the numerical simulation for the formation of the Galactic stellar halo to interpret the observational results. As a model for the Galaxy contraction, we adopt the currently standard theory of galaxy formation based on the hierarchical assembly of the cold dark matter fluctuations. We find, for the simulated stars with &sqbl0;Fe&solm0;H&sqbr0;相似文献   

On the possibility of observing the Shapiro effect for pulsars in globular clusters

For pulsars in globular clusters, we suggest using observations of the relativistic time delay of their radiation in the gravitational field of a massive body (the Shapiro effect) located close to the line of sight to detect and identify invisible compact objects and to study the distribution of both visible and dark matter in globular clusters and different components of the Galaxy. We have derived the dependences of the event probability on the Galactic latitude and longitude of sources for two models of the mass distribution in the Galaxy: the “classical” Bahcall—Soneira model and the more recent Dehnen—Binney model. Using three globular clusters (M15, 47 Tuc, Terzan 5) as an example, we show that the ratios of the probability of the events due to the passages of massive Galactic objects close to the line of sight to the parameter f ² for pulsars in the globular clusters 47 Tuc and M 15 are comparable to those for close passages of massive objects in the clusters themselves and are considerably higher than those for the cluster Terzan 5. We have estimated the rates of such events. We have determined the number of objects near the line of sight toward the pulsar that can produce a modulation of its pulse arrival times characteristic of the effect under consideration; the population of brown dwarfs in the Galactic disk, whose concentration is comparable to that of the disk stars, has been taken into account for the first time.     

Kinematics of hypervelocity stars in the triaxial halo of the Milky Way

Hypervelocity stars (HVSs) ejected by the massive black hole at the Galactic Centre have unique kinematic properties compared to other halo stars. Their trajectories will deviate from being exactly radial because of the asymmetry of the Milky Way potential produced by the flattened disc and the triaxial dark matter halo, causing a change of angular momentum that can be much larger than the initial small value at injection. We study the kinematics of HVSs and propose an estimator of dark halo triaxiality that is determined only by instantaneous position and velocity vectors of HVSs at large Galactocentric distances ( r ≳ 50 kpc). We show that, in the case of a substantially triaxial halo, the distribution of deflection angles (the angle between the stellar position and velocity vector) for HVSs on bound orbits is spread uniformly over the range 10°–180°. Future astrometric and deep wide-field surveys should measure the positions and velocities of a significant number of HVSs, and provide useful constraints on the shape of the Galactic dark matter halo.     

Galactic PeV neutrinos

The IceCube experiment has detected two neutrinos with energies between 1 and 10 PeV. They might have originated from Galactic or extragalactic sources of cosmic rays. In the present work we consider hadronic interactions of the diffuse very high energy cosmic rays with the interstellar matter within our Galaxy to explain the PeV neutrino events detected in IceCube. We also expect PeV gamma ray events along with the PeV neutrino events if the observed PeV neutrinos were produced within our Galaxy in hadronic interactions. PeV gamma rays are unlikely to reach us from sources outside our Galaxy due to pair production with cosmic background radiation fields. We suggest that in future with simultaneous detections of PeV gamma rays and neutrinos it would be possible to distinguish between Galactic and extragalactic origins of very high energy neutrinos.     

Where are the halo stars?

In the usual and most widespread textbook picture of the Milky Way Galaxy, disk stars like the Sun are referred to as Population I, the spheroidal or halo component in turn as Population II. The latter is thought of as the pressure-supported, metal-poor relic of the early Galaxy, with renewed interest in recent years in the search for dark matter via microlensing. Modelling the putative massive compact halo objects however, faces the problem that the stellar halo is generally considered to consist of only a few billion solar masses. Here we present observational evidence that even this low budget may be a factor ten too high. If so, this immediately implies that the classical population II of halo stars is fairly irrelevant, not only in the dark matter context, but, in particular, in models of the formation and evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy.     

Star-formation modes in the solar neighborhood

We perform a study into the spatial and kinematical distribution of young open clusters in the solar neighborhood, distinguishing between Gould Belt and local Galactic disk members. We use a previous estimate of the structural parameters of both systems obtained from a sample of O to B6 stars from Hipparcos. The two star-forming regions that dominate and give the Gould Belt its characteristic inclined shape show a striking difference in their content of star clusters: while Ori OB1 is richly populated by open clusters, not a single one can be found within the boundaries of Sco OB2. This is mirrored in velocity space, translating again into an abundance of clusters in the region of the kinematic space populated by the members of Ori OB1, and a marginal number of them associated with Sco OB2. We interpret all these differences by characterizing the Orion region as a cluster complex typically surrounded by a stellar halo, and the Sco-Cen region as an OB association in the outskirts of the complex. The different contents of star clusters, the different heights above the Galactic plane and the different residual velocities of Ori OB1 and Sco OB2 can be explained in terms of their relative position with respect to the density maximum of the Local Arm in the solar neighborhood. The origin of this feature could have been the interaction of a density wave with the local interstellar medium close to the Galactic co-rotation radius.     

Open clusters and the galactic disk

It is textbook knowledge that open clusters are conspicuous members of the thin disk of our Galaxy, but their role as contributors to the stellar population of the disk was regarded as minor. Starting from a homogenous stellar sky survey, the ASCC‐2.5, we revisited the population of open clusters in the solar neighbourhood from scratch. In the course of this enterprise we detected 130 formerly unknown open clusters, constructed volume‐ and magnitude‐limited samples of clusters, re‐determined distances, motions, sizes, ages, luminosities and masses of 650 open clusters. We derived the present‐day luminosity and mass functions of open clusters (not the stellar mass function in open clusters), the cluster initial mass function CIMF and the formation rate of open clusters. We find that open clusters contributed around 40 percent to the stellar content of the disk during the history of our Galaxy. Hence, open clusters are important building blocks of the Galactic disk (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)