Hercules and Wolf 630 stellar streams and galactic bar kinematics

We have identified the four most significant features in the UV velocity distribution of solarneighborhood stars: H1, H2 in the Hercules stream and W1, W2 in the Wolf 630 stream. We have formulated the problemof determining several characteristics of the centralGalactic bar independently from each of the identified features by assuming that the Hercules and Wolf 630 streams are of a bar-induced dynamical nature. The problem has been solved by constructing 2: 1 resonant orbits in the rotating bar frame for each star in these streams. Analysis of the resonant orbits found has shown that the bar pattern speed is 45–55 km s^?1 kpc^?1, while the bar angle lies within the range 40°?60°. The results obtained are consistent with the view that the Hercules andWolf 630 streams could be formed by a long-term influence of the Galactic bar leading to a characteristic bimodal splitting of the UV velocity plane.     

Dependence of kinematics on the age of stars in the solar neighborhood

The variations of kinematic parameters with age are considered for a sample of 15 402 thin-disk O-F stars with accurate ??, ??, ??, and ?? > 3 mas from the Hipparcos catalogue and radial velocities from the PCRV catalogue. The ages have been calculated from the positions of the stars on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram relative to the isochrones from the Padova database by taking into account the extinction from the previously constructed 3D analytical model and extinction coefficient R _V from the 3D map of its variations. Smooth, mutually reconciled variations of the velocity dispersions ??(U), ??(V), ??(W), solar motion components U _??, V _??, W _??, Ogorodnikov-Milne model parameters, Oort constants, and vertex deviation l _xy consistent with all of the extraneous results for which the stellar ages were determined have been found. The velocity dispersion variations are well fitted by power laws the deviations from which are explained by the influence of predominantly radial stellar streams: Sirius, Hyades, ?? Cet/Wolf 630, and Hercules. The accuracy of determining the solar motion relative to the local standard of rest is shown to be fundamentally limited due to these variations of stellar kinematics. The deviations of our results from those of Dehnen and Binney (1998), the Geneva-Copenhagen survey of dwarfs, and the Besan con model of the Galaxy are explained by the use of PCRV radial velocities with corrected systematic errors.     

Hipparcos and the age of the Galactic disc

We use the Hipparcos colour–magnitude diagram of field stars with Tycho colours to make a new minimum age estimate for the Galactic disc. The method is based on fits to the red envelope of subgiants in the Hipparcos colour–magnitude diagram with synthetic isochrones covering the range of disc metal abundance. The colours and luminosities of the isochrones as a function of abundance are checked using new techniques involving 'red-clump' stars in the giant branch region and on the main sequence using G and K dwarfs. We derive a minimum disc age of 8 Gyr, in good agreement with other methods.     

Evolution of the number of accreting white dwarfs with shell nuclear burning and the SNe Ia rate

We analyze the time evolution of the number of accreting white dwarfs with surface shell hydrogen burning in semidetached and detached binaries. We consider the case where continuous star formation with a constant rate takes place in a stellar system over 10¹⁰ Gyr and the case of a starburst in which the same mass of stars is formed over 10⁹ Gyr. The evolution of the number of white dwarfs is compared with the evolution of the rate of events that are usually considered as SNe Ia and/or accretion-induced collapses, i.e., the accumulation of a Chandrasekhar mass by white dwarfs or the merger of white dwarf pairs with a total mass greater than or equal to the Chandrasekhar one. In stellar systems with a starburst, the supersoft X-ray sources observed at t = 10¹⁰ yr are most likely not the progenitors of SNe Ia. The same is true for a significant fraction of the sources in systems with a constant star formation rate. In both cases, the merger of white dwarfs is the dominant mechanism of SNe Ia. In symbiotic binaries, accreting CO dwarfs do not accumulate enough mass for an SNe Ia explosion, while ONeMg dwarfs finish their evolution by an accretion-induce collapse with the formation of a neutron star.     

The red giant branch in the Tycho-2 catalogue

Based on multicolor photometry from the 2MASS and Tycho-2 catalogues, we have produced a sample of 38 368 branch red giants that has less than 1% of admixtures and is complete within 500 pc of the Sun. The sample includes 30 671 K giants, 7544Mgiants, 49 C giants, and 104 suspected supergiants or S stars. The photometric distances have been calculated for K, M, and C stars with an accuracy of 40%. Tycho-2 proper motions and PCRV radial velocities are used to analyze the stellar kinematics. The decrease in the stellar distribution density with distance from the Galactic equator approximated by the barometric law, contrary to the Besanconmodel of the Galaxy, and the kinematic parameters calculated using the Ogorodnikov-Milne model characterize the overwhelming majority of the selected K and M giants as disk stars with ages of more than 3 Gyr. A small number of K and M giants are extremely young or, conversely, thick-disk ones. The latter show a nonuniform distribution in the phase space of coordinates and velocities, arguing against isothermality and full relaxation of the disk and for the theory of dynamical streams or superclusters. The spatial distribution and kinematics of the selected C stars force us to consider them as asymptotic branch giants with masses of more than 2M _⊙ and ages of less than 2 Gyr probably associated with the Gould Belt. The offset of the Sun above the Galactic equator has been found from the distribution of stars to be 13 ± 2 pc, which coincides with the previously obtained value for the clump red giants.     

Star formation history in the central region of the barred galaxy NGC 7177

Using the method of two-dimensional spectroscopy, we have investigated the kinematics and distribution of the gas and stars at the center of the early-type spiral galaxy NGC 7177 with a mediumscale bar as well as the change in the mean age of the stellar population along the radius. A classical picture of radial gas inflow to the galactic center along the shock fronts delineated by dust concentration at the leading edges of the bar has been revealed. The gas inflow is observed down to a radius R = 1″.5−2″, where the gas flows at the inner Lindblad resonance concentrate in an azimuthally highly inhomogeneous nuclear star formation ring. The bar in NGC 7177 is shown to be thick in z coordinate—basically, it has already turned into a pseudo-bulge as a result of secular dynamical evolution. The mean stellar age inside the star formation ring, in the galactic nucleus, is old, ∼10 Gyr.Outside, at a distance R = 6″−8″ from the nucleus, the mean age of the stellar population is ∼2 Gyr. If we agree that the bar in NGC 7177 is old, then, obviously, the star formation ring has migrated radially inward in the last 1–2 Gyr, in accordance with the predictions of some dynamical models.     

Using the reduced proper motions of Tycho-2 stars with <Emphasis Type="Italic">B-V</Emphasis> from 0.75 to 1.25: Monte Carlo simulations

The stellar composition of the Tycho-2 Catalogue in the range B-V = 0_· ^m 75–1_· ^m 25 has been reproduced through Monte Carlo simulations. For young and old stars of the red giant clump (RGC), the red giant branch, subgiants, red dwarfs, and thick-disk giants, we have specified the distributions in coordinates, velocities, B-V, and M _V as a function of B-V and calculated their reduced proper motions, photometric distances from the (B-V)-M _V calibration, and photoastrometric distances from the reduced proper motion-M _V calibration. Our simulations have shown the following: (1) a sample of thin-disk giants within 500 pc with an admixture of less than 10% of other stars can be produced; (2) a sample of dwarfs within 100 pc almost without any admixture of other stars can be produced; (3) the Local Spiral Arm affects the RGC composition of any magnitude-limited catalog in favor of giants younger than 2 Gyr; (4) the samples produced using reduced proper motions can be used for kinematic studies, provided that the biases of the quantities being determined are simulated and taken into account; (5) the photometric distances correlate with the photoastrometric ones because of the correlation between the proper motion and magnitude; (6) the photometric distances are closer to the true ones for the red giant branch and red dwarfs as the categories of stars with a clear (B-V)-M _V relation, while the photoastrometric distances are closer to the true ones for the RGC, subgiants, and thick-disk giants; (7) the calculated distances differ systematically from the true ones, but they can be used to analyze the three-dimensional distribution of stars. Our simulations confirm the validity of our previous selection of RGC stars from Tycho-2.     

Magnetic field evolution in OBA stars

The applications of the spectral analysis methods discovered by Kirchhoff for the investigation of stellar magnetic fields are considered. The statistical properties of the mean magnetic fields for OBA stars have been investigated by analyzing data from two catalogs of magnetic fields. It is shown that the mean effective magnetic field ℬ of a star can be used as a statistically significant characteristic of its magnetic field. The magnetic field distribution functions F(ℬ) have been constructed for B-type and chemically peculiar (CP) stars, which exhibit a power-law dependence on ℬ. A sharp decrease in F(ℬ) in the range of weak magnetic fields has been found. The statistical properties of the magnetic fluxes for main-sequence stars, white dwarfs, and neutron stars are analyzed.     

Globular Clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud: An Impact from GAIA Photometry

The goal of this work is to assess the expected scientific output from the photometric studies of globular clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud with ESA's astrometric space mission GAIA. For this purpose we simulate GAIA photometry of individual stars in synthetic cluster populations, covering a large range of cluster ages and metallicities. We find that accurate effective temperatures (Δ T _eff<10%) can be obtained from GAIA photometry down to V ∼ 18 for stars in populations within the studied metallicity range ([M/H] = -0.4 ... -1.7). GAIA will also provide photometric metallicities (Δ [M/H] ≲ 0.3 dex) for the cluster giants brighter than V ∼ 17.5. The knowledge of the effective temperature sand metallicities will allow to obtain accurate ages of stellar populations younger than about 1 Gyr using the usual procedure of main sequence turn-off point fitting. Ages of older stellar populations (≳ 1 Gyr) may be constrained from the isochrone fits to the giant branches in the observed CMDs. We conclude that GAIA will provide excellent opportunities for studying star formation histories far beyond the Milky Way, providing means for better understanding of stellar and galactic evolution in different astrophysical environments. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Comparison of the four catalogues by pairs,the Hipparcos,new Hipparcos,EOC‐2 and IL,by using μδ for the common 1120 stars

We present comparison results of our Independent Latitude (IL) catalogue of μ_δ determinations for 1120 bright stars with the Hipparcos, new Hipparcos and Earth Orientation Catalogue (EOC‐2) values. Also, we took into consideration the EOC3 and EOC4 (recent versions of EOC catalogues). Our μ_δ values are based on zenith telescope observations from seven Independent Latitude (IL) observatories. The IL measures are spanning a time baseline of up to 90 years which is the key advantage to the accurate determination of μ_δ. The short interval of the Hipparcos satellite observations is a disadvantage for a good accuracy of stellar proper motion, especially in the case of double and multiple stars. For this reason many astrometric catalogues have appeared after the publication of the Hipparcos including our IL catalogue. These catalogues are an appropriate combination of the Hipparcos satellite and ground‐based data which yields more accurate stellar coordinates and/or their proper motions. Among various types of ground‐based observations the latitude and universal time variations obtained from several million observations of stars reduced to the Hipparcos reference system were used for this purpose. These observations were obtained during almost the entire last century and were originally used to determine the Earth Orientation Parameters. It is also possible to use these data in the inverse task of checking the accuracy of stellar coordinates and/or their proper motions listed in the Hipparcos Catalogue. Such latitude and universal time variations data are the basis of the EOC and IL catalogues. In this paper, we computed the differences in μ_δ values between pairs of catalogues and analyzed the results to characterize the μ_δ errors for the four catalogues with a special focus on our IL catalogue. The standard errors of μ_δ for IL stars observed over more than 20 years are mostly smaller than or equal to the Hipparcos errors, and close to the accuracy level of the EOC‐2 (EOC‐3, EOC‐4) and the new Hipparcos. The resulting investigations of errors of differences of μ_δ, show that all four catalogues have relatively small random and systematic errors which are close to each other meaning that the corresponding μ_δ values have a high accuracy. Our sample also contains detected double and multiple stars for which the effects of the orbital and proper motions are difficult to separate. The differences of μ_δ values for these stars generally exceed those obtained for single stars. Also, these discrepancies could be attributed to effect of possible, still unrecognized, astrometric binaries. These investigations about the proper motions and double stars are in line with the activity of the IAU Working Group on Astrometry by Small Ground‐Based Telescopes. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Study of the galaxy DDO 68: New evidence for its youth

DDO 68 (UGC 5340) is the second most metal-poor star-forming galaxy (12 + log(O/H) = 7.14). Its peculiar optical morphology and its HI distribution and kinematics are indicative of a merger origin. We use the u, g, r, and i photometry based on the SDSS images of DDO 68 to estimate its stellar population ages. The Hα images of DDO 68 were used to select several representative regions without nebular emission. The derived colors were analyzed by comparison with the PEGASE2 evolutionary tracks for various star formation (SF) scenarios, including the two extreme cases: (i) an instantaneous starburst and (ii) continuous SF with a constant rate. The (u − g) and (g − r) colors for all of the selected regions are consistent with the scenario of several “instantaneous” SF episodes with ages between ∼0.05 and ∼1 Gyr. The total mass of the visible stars in DDO 68 was estimated by comparing the colors and fluxes of the observed stellar subsystems with PEGASE2 models to be ∼2.4 × 10⁷ M _⊙. This accounts for ∼6% of the total baryonic mass of the galaxy. All of the available data are consistent with the fact that DDO 68 is a very rare candidate for young galaxies. The bulk of its stars were formed during the recent (with the first encounter ∼1 Gyr ago) merger of two very gas-rich disks. DDO 68 is closest in its properties to cosmologically young low-mass galaxies. This article was submitted by the authors in English.     

Models of α Centauri A and B with and without seismic constraints: time dependence of the mixing-length parameter

The α Centauri (α Cen) binary system is a well-known stellar system with very accurate observational constraints on the structure of its component stars. In addition to the classical non-seismic constraints, there are also seismic constraints for the interior models of α Cen A and B. These two types of constraint give very different values for the age of the system. While we obtain 8.9 Gyr for the age of the system from the non-seismic constraints, the seismic constraints imply that the age is about 5.6–5.9 Gyr. There may be observational or theoretical reasons for this discrepancy, which can be found by careful consideration of similar stars. The α Cen binary system, with its solar-type components, is also suitable for testing the stellar mass dependence of the mixing-length parameter for convection derived from the binaries of Hyades. The values of the mixing-length parameter for α Cen A and B are 2.10 and 1.90 for the non-seismic constraints. If we prioritize the seismic constraints, we obtain 1.64 and 1.91 for α Cen A and B, respectively. By taking into account these two contrasting cases for stellar mass dependence of the mixing-length parameter, we derive two expressions for its time dependence, which are also compatible with the mass dependence of the mixing-length parameter derived from the Hyades stars. For assessment, these expressions should be tested in other stellar systems and clusters.     

White dwarfs: Recent developments

Summary. During the last decade white dwarfs have become important as tools in many areas beyond traditional stellar physics: from the age determination of the stars in the solar neighborhood to the dating of open clusters and the distance determination of globular clusters. They are primary candidates for the MACHO microlensing events, possibly for a stellar component of the dark halo, and for the supernova Ia progenitors. The recent developments in these areas are reviewed, but some highlights from more “mature” areas such as stellar parameters, mass distributions, magnetic, and pulsating white dwarfs are also summarized briefly. Received 5 October 2001 / Published online 11 January 2002     

An Estimation of the Galactic Escape Velocity From High-Velocity Metal-Poor Stars

A large number of high-velocity stars was included in the Hipparcos Input Catalogue for the purpose of determining the galactic escape velocity in the solar vicinity. However, the `fastest' stars known, listed by Carney et al. (1994, CLLA) were not included because they are too faint. In the intersection between the CLLA list and the Hipparcos Catalogue (770 common stars), the metal-deficient stars with the most reliable parallaxes (fracσ_ππ)_HIP ≤ 0.15) are used for recalibrating CLLA absolute magnitudes and photometric parallaxes, using metallicities and VandenBerg et al. (1998) isochrones. In this way, about twenty non-Hipparcos stars get improved parallaxes and are added to our primary sample of Hipparcos high-velocity stars, for a better determination of the escape velocity from the Galaxy. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Galactic evolution of 7LI: observational clues for models

Different stellar sources may have contributed to the ⁷Li enrichmentof the Galaxy: type-II supernovae, novae, and AGB stars. In the latter case, the interplay between the Hot Bottom Burning (HBB) process (via the Cameron-Fowler mechanism) and a very high mass-loss rate before the evolution off the AGB (the so-called ‘superwind’ phase), can lead to a significant production of ⁷Li from low- and intermediate-mass AGB stars (Travaglio et al., 2001). We have now undertaken an observational campaign aimed at constraining our stellar and Galactic models, with a twofold goal: (i) to assemble a compilation of high-resolution spectra of Galactic, unevolved (i.e. dwarfs), warm(spectral type F) stars, in a selected metallicity range (-1.0 ≤>[Fe/H] ≤ -0.3), using the ESO 1.5m telescope and the FEROS spectrograph; (ii) to carry out a Li survey among a sample of selected AGB stars, to investigate the possible correlation between⁷Li abundance (when detected) and mass-loss rate. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Galactic winds from primeval galaxies

Ultra-high resolution hydrodynamic simulations using 1024³ grid points are performed of early supernova burst in a forming galaxy, with properties similar to those inferred for Lyman α emitters (LAEs) and Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs). We show that, at the earliest stages of less than 300 Myr, continual supernova explosions produce multitudinous hot bubbles and cooled H(I) shells in-between. The H(I) shells radiate intense Lyman α (Lyα) emission like LAEs. We found that the bubbly structures produced are quite similar to the observed features in the Lyα surface brightness distribution of the extended LAEs. After 1 Gyr, the galaxies are dominated by stellar continuum radiation and then resemble the LBGs. At this point, the abundance of heavy elements appears to be solar. After 13 Gyr, these galaxies resemble present-day ellipticals.     

The SFR and IMF of the galactic disk

There is a long term dynamical heating of stellar populations with age observed in the age – velocity dispersion – relation (AVR). This effect allows a determination of the star formation history SFR(t) from local kinematical data of main sequence stars. Using a self-consistent disk model for the vertical structure of the disk, we find from the kinematics of the stars in the solar neighbourhood that the SFR shows a moderate star burst about 10 Gyr ago followed by a continuous decline to the present day value consistent with the observed number of OB stars. The gravitational potential of the gas component and of the Dark Matter Halo is included and the effect of chemical enrichment, finite lifetime of the stars and mass loss of the stellar component are taken into account. The scale heights for main sequence stars together with the SFR is then used to determine constistently the IMF from the observed local luminosity function. The main new result is that the power law break in the present day mass function (PDMF) around 1 M _⊙ is entirely due to evolutionary effects of the disk and does not appear in the IMF. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The distribution of ejected brown dwarfs in clusters

We examine the spatial distribution of brown dwarfs produced by the decay of small‐N stellar systems as expected from the embryo ejection scenario. We model a cluster of several hundred stars grouped into ‘cores’ of a few stars/brown dwarfs. These cores decay, preferentially ejecting their lowest‐mass members. Brown dwarfs are found to have a wider spatial distribution than stars, however once the effects of limited survey areas and unresolved binaries are taken into account it can be difficult to distinguish between clusters with many or no ejections. A large difference between the distributions probably indicates that ejections have occurred, however similar distributions sometimes arise even with ejections. Thus the spatial distribution of brown dwarfs is not necessarily a good discriminator between ejection and non‐ejection scenarios. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Stellar subsystems of different ages in spiral and irregular galaxies

Based on archival Hubble Space Telescope images, we have performed stellar photometry for eight edge-on spiral and irregular galaxies. We have identified stars of three ages in the derived Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams and constructed their number density distribution perpendicularly to the plane of the galactic disk. The sizes of the stellar subsystems of young (up to 100 Myr), middle (0.1–1.0 Gyr), and old (up to 12 Gyr) ages have been determined. A relationship between the age of a subsystem and its size has been found in all of the galaxies studied. Our results can be explained by the model of galactic thick-disk formation through thin-disk expansion. In this case, the middle-age stellar subsystem is a transitional stage from the thin disk to the thick one.