The Subaru Telescope High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS)

The High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS) is the échelle spectrograph for an open‐use instrument of the Subaru Telescope. The current status of the instrument is reviewed. The new image slicers that significantly improve the efficiency of observations with very high resolving power have been installed in the past three years. Brief overview of recent science results is given on studies of early generations of stars and extra‐solar planets. An upgrade plan and future prospects of this instrument are discussed. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Stellar science from a blue wavelength range

From stellar spectra, a variety of physical properties of stars can be derived. In particular, the chemical composition of stellar atmospheres can be inferred from absorption line analyses. These provide key information on large scales, such as the formation of our Galaxy, down to the small‐scale nucleosynthesis processes that take place in stars and supernovae. By extending the observed wavelength range toward bluer wavelengths, we optimize such studies to also include critical absorption lines in metal‐poor stars, and allow for studies of heavy elements (Z ≥ 38) whose formation processes remain poorly constrained. In this context, spectrographs optimized for observing blue wavelength ranges are essential, since many absorption lines at redder wavelengths are too weak to be detected in metal‐poor stars. This means that some elements cannot be studied in the visual‐redder regions, and important scientific tracers and science cases are lost. The present era of large public surveys will target millions of stars. It is therefore important that the next generation of spectrographs are designed such that they cover a wide wavelength range and can observe a large number of stars simultaneously. Only then, we can gain the full information from stellar spectra, from both metal‐poor to metal‐rich ones, that will allow us to understand the aforementioned formation scenarios in greater detail. Here we describe the requirements driving the design of the forthcoming survey instrument 4MOST, a multi‐object spectrograph commissioned for the ESO VISTA 4 m‐telescope. While 4MOST is also intended for studies of active galactic nuclei, baryonic acoustic oscillations, weak lensing, cosmological constants, supernovae and other transients, we focus here on high‐density, wide‐area survey of stars and the science that can be achieved with high‐resolution stellar spectroscopy. Scientific and technical requirements that governed the design are described along with a thorough line blending analysis. For the high‐resolution spectrograph, we find that a sampling of ≥2.5 (pixels per resolving element), spectral resolution of 18000 or higher, and a wavelength range covering 393–436 nm, is the most well‐balanced solution for the instrument. A spectrograph with these characteristics will enable accurate abundance analysis (±0.1 dex) in the blue and allow us to confront the outlined scientific questions. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

High resolution spectroscopy of two young active late type stars within 20 parsecs of the Sun

We present high-resolution optical echell spectroscopy of HIP 544 and HIP 46843, two nearby solar like stars. The discovery of these young stars at such a close distance to the Sun is really a surprising phenomenon. It will help us to have a better understanding of the structure and evolutionary history of the Milky Way. The radial ve-locities (RV) of HIP 544 and HIP 46843 are measured to be -6.88±0.13km s-1 and 8.30±0.16km s-1, respectively, which are more accurate than before. The equivalent widths (EW) of the Li I 6707.8 A absorption line of HIP 544 and HIP 46843 are mea-sured to be 110±5mA and 195±5mA respectively. Based on these properties, HIP 544 is estimated to be 100-800Myr old and HIP 46843 30-100Myr old using three relatively creditable methods.     

基于SDSS-DR8及2MASS数据的疏散星团NGC 6791的基本性质研究

利用斯隆数字巡天（SDSS）第8次释放数据（DR8）的恒星光谱数据及2MASS（Two Micro All Sky Survey）近红外点源测光数据研究著名的疏散星团NGC 6791,得到该星团的视向速度与金属丰度分别为V_r=-46.4±0.2 km·s^-1和[Fe/H]=0.32±0.11dex.利用星团中红团簇巨星作为理想"标准烛光",结合2MASS近红外点源测光数据计算了该星团的绝对距离模数为（m-M）₀=13.02±0.08 mag或4.02±0.15 kpc.与其他研究者给出的结果进行了比较,金属丰度、视向速度及绝对距离模数都符合得比较好.主要结论有3点:（1）NGC 6791是个极度富金属的星团;（2）在SDSS的光谱分辨能力以内,分离出的87颗团星之间不存在明显的金属丰度差异;（3）得到的距离模数对年龄、金属丰度及尘埃消光不敏感,是一种可靠的间接测量.     

Comment on 'The case and fate of HD 75767 – neutron star or supernova?' by Fuhrmann et al.

In a recent paper Fuhrmann et al. presented radial-velocity measurements of HD 75767 and derived an orbit that was an improvement on the one published by Sanford in 1931; an orbit published in 1991 was, however, overlooked, and the actual calculation of the new elements is open to criticism. A joint solution of all the available data provides a better result than any of the three constituent sets separately; the period is determined to a precision more than 100 times better than in the recent orbit, and a very small but definite eccentricity is reliably documented for the first time. The eccentricity is probably caused (or maintained) by the visual companion. Fuhrmann et al.'s conclusion that the secondary object in the spectroscopic orbit is a white dwarf does not seem inescapable; indeed, the object appears quite likely to be a lower-main-sequence star.     

恒星黑子对恒星视星等颜色和视锂丰度的影响

发展了一种简单的双温模型用于研究黑子对活动星的视星等、颜色和视Li丰度的影响.在适当的黑子覆盖因子下,恒星黑子能产生可观的活动星的视星等(V星等约±0.2星等)、颜色(B-V颜色约-0.1星等)和Li I λ6708 (?)谱线等值宽度(约-0.2-0.3 dex)的变化.与非活动的正常恒星相比,表面被黑子覆盖的活动星有更蓝的B-V颜色,它们的Li I λ6708 (?)谱线的等值宽度也变窄.根据观测到的活动星黑子引起的光变变幅,估计视圆面黑子覆盖率的变化范围△Fs从百分之几到约0.2.视圆面黑子覆盖率不太可能超过0.3.     

Stellar X-ray Sources in the Rosette Nebula

We present optical photometric and spectroscopic studies of ROSAT X-ray stellar sources in the Rosette Nebula star-forming region. The brightest X-ray sources are either massive stars or active T Tauri stars associated with the open cluster NGC 2244, or are foreground stars. Some of the spectra of the young stars newly identified in the region are presented.     

Automated Stellar Classification for Large Surveys with EKF and RBF Neural Networks

An automated classification technique for large size stellar surveys is proposed. It uses the extended Kalman filter as a feature selector and pre-classifier of the data, and the radial basis function neural networks for the classification. Experiments with real data have shown that the correct classification rate can reach as high as 93%, which is quite satisfactory. When different system models are selected for the extended Kalman filter, the classification results are relatively stable. It is shown that for this particular case the result using extended Kalman filter is better than using principal component analysis.     

A Differential Abundance Analysis of HD219175 A and B

The abundances of the wide binary pair HD 219175 A and B are determined and compared using a line-by-line differential analysis. No evidence for difference has been found in the abundances of Fe, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu and Ba. Our results support a physical relation between the two components of HD 219175.     

Photoelectric radial velocities, Paper XVI 625 ninth-magnitude K0 stars in the six southern Clube Selected Areas

Paper XIII of this series presented radial velocities for 406 stars in certain of the Clube Selected Areas, a set of areas systematically arranged in Galactic coordinates. We now complete the survey by providing the radial velocities, mostly obtained at the European Southern Observatory (ESO), of 625 stars in the six southernmost Areas. Each star has been measured at least twice; the mean velocities have standard errors typically of 0.2–0.3 km s⁻¹. Additional observations made from Haute-Provence of many of the stars that are observable from there have helped to identify, and in some instances to characterize, the ∼70 spectroscopic binaries discovered in this programme. The final results of the programme, complementing those given in table 3 of Paper XIII, are summarized in Table 12 , which presents the mean velocities and velocity dispersions in the six southern Areas. It is noted that the difference between Paper XIII and this one as regards the provenance of the radial velocities has led to a small difference in zero-points, which is discussed in Section 3 and needs to be taken into account in any analysis of the combined data.  

  Table 12.  Synopsis of radial-velocity results – mean velocities and velocity dispersions by Area.     

11.

Spectroscopy of the roAp star α Cir — I. Velocities of Hα and metal lines     

I. K.Baldry  T. R.Bedding  M.Viskum  H.Kjeldsen  S.Frandsen 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》1998,295(1):33-42

We present radial velocity measurements of the rapidly oscillating Ap (roAp) star α Cir, obtained from dual-site observations with medium-dispersion spectrographs. The amplitude and phase of the principal pulsation mode vary significantly, depending on which line is being measured. The amplitude is observed to be as high as 1000 m s⁻¹ in some wavelength bands, despite a previous upper limit of 36 m s⁻¹. Furthermore, some lines are apparently pulsating in anti-phase with others. We suggest this indicates a high-overtone standing wave with a velocity node in the atmosphere of the star.     

12.

使用SOFM方法进行恒星光谱自动分类     

薛建桥  李启斌  赵永恒 《中国天文和天体物理学报》2000,20(4)

ＳＯＦＭ是人工神经网络的非监督学习算法,可以将数据组织到一个特征图上,而保存 大多数原始数据空间的拓扑特征．使用这种方法进行恒星光谱自动分类,分类结果与哈佛 序列十分相似．ＳＯＦＭ方法应该是进行大数量恒星光谱样本在线分类的有用方法,它能 够自动执行,因此可用于处理大数量天体光谱．     

13.

Implementation of New OPAL Tables in Eggleton''''s Stellar Evolution Code     

Xue-Fei Chen  Christopher A. Tout 《中国天文和天体物理学报》2007,7(2):245-250

Based on previous works of OPAL, we construct a series of opacity tables for various metallicities Z = 0, 0.000 01, 0.000 03, 0.000 1, 0.000 3, 0.001, 0.004, 0.01, 0.02,0.03, 0.04, 0.05, 0.06, 0.08 and 0.1. These tables can be easily used in Eggleton's stellar evolution code in place of the old tables without changing the code. The OPAL tables are used for log10 (T/K) ＞ 3.95 and Alexander's for log10 (T/K) ＜ 3.95. At log10 (T/K) - 3.95, the two groups' data fit well for all hydrogen mass fractions. Conductive opacities are included by reciprocal addition according to the formulae of Yakovlev and Urpin. A comparison of 1 and 5 M⊙ models constructed with the older OPAL tables of Iglesias and Rogers shows that the new opacities have most effect in the late stages of evolution, the extension of the blue loop during helium burning for intermediate-mass and massive stars.     

14.

WASP-10b: a 3M_J, gas-giant planet transiting a late-type K star     

D. J. Christian  N. P. Gibson  E. K. Simpson  R. A. Street  I. Skillen  D. Pollacco  A. Collier Cameron  Y. C. Joshi  F. P. Keenan  H. C. Stempels  C. A. Haswell  K. Horne  D. R. Anderson  S. Bentley  F. Bouchy  W. I. Clarkson  B. Enoch  L. Hebb  G. Hébrard  C. Hellier  J. Irwin  S. R. Kane  T. A. Lister  B. Loeillet  P. Maxted  M. Mayor  I. McDonald  C. Moutou  A. J. Norton  N. Parley  F. Pont  D. Queloz  R. Ryans  B. Smalley  A. M. S. Smith  I. Todd  S. Udry  R. G. West  P. J. Wheatley  D. M. Wilson 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2009,392(4):1585-1590

We report the discovery of WASP-10b, a new transiting extrasolar planet (ESP) discovered by the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) Consortium and confirmed using Nordic Optical Telescope FIbre-fed Echelle Spectrograph and SOPHIE radial velocity data. A 3.09-d period, 29 mmag transit depth and 2.36 h duration are derived for WASP-10b using WASP and high-precision photometric observations. Simultaneous fitting to the photometric and radial velocity data using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo procedure leads to a planet radius of  1.28 R _J   , a mass of  2.96 M _J   and eccentricity of ≈0.06. WASP-10b is one of the more massive transiting ESPs, and we compare its characteristics to the current sample of transiting ESP, where there is currently little information for masses greater than ≈  2 M _J   and non-zero eccentricities. WASP-10's host star, GSC 2752−00114 (USNO-B1.0 1214−0586164) is among the fainter stars in the WASP sample, with   V = 12.7  and a spectral type of K5. This result shows promise for future late-type dwarf star surveys.     

15.

WASP-14b: 7.3 M_J transiting planet in an eccentric orbit     

Y. C. Joshi  D. Pollacco  A. Collier Cameron  I. Skillen  E. Simpson  I. Steele  R. A. Street  H. C. Stempels  D. J. Christian  L. Hebb  F. Bouchy  N. P. Gibson  G. Hébrard  F. P. Keenan  B. Loeillet  J. Meaburn  C. Moutou  B. Smalley  I. Todd  R. G. West  D. R. Anderson  S. Bentley  B. Enoch  C. A. Haswell  C. Hellier  K. Horne  J. Irwin  T. A. Lister  I. McDonald  P. Maxted  M. Mayor  A. J. Norton  N. Parley  C. Perrier  F. Pont  D. Queloz  R. Ryans  A. M. S. Smith  S. Udry  P. J. Wheatley  D. M. Wilson 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2009,392(4):1532-1538

We report the discovery of a 7.3 M _J exoplanet WASP-14b, one of the most massive transiting exoplanets observed to date. The planet orbits the 10th-magnitude F5V star USNO-B1 11118−0262485 with a period of 2.243 752 d and orbital eccentricity   e = 0.09  . A simultaneous fit of the transit light curve and radial velocity measurements yields a planetary mass of 7.3 ± 0.5 M _J and a radius of 1.28 ± 0.08 R _J. This leads to a mean density of about 4.6 g cm⁻³ making it the densest transiting exoplanets yet found at an orbital period less than 3 d. We estimate this system to be at a distance of  160 ± 20  pc. Spectral analysis of the host star reveals a temperature of  6475 ± 100 K, log  g = 4.07  cm s⁻² and   v sin  i = 4.9 ± 1.0  km s⁻¹, and also a high lithium abundance,  log  N (Li) = 2.84 ± 0.05  . The stellar density, effective temperature and rotation rate suggest an age for the system of about 0.5–1.0 Gyr.     

16.

The bright southern Cepheid β Doradus: the radial velocity curve, distance and size     

Melinda M. Taylor  & Andrew J. Booth 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》1998,298(2):594-600

A new high-accuracy velocity curve is presented for the bright southern Cepheid β Doradus (HR 1922), and an investigation into the long-term stability of the velocity curve is made. An upper limit of 0.57 km s⁻¹ is placed on cycle-to-cycle variations. This work is compared with a similar analysis previously applied to the long-period Cepheid ℓ Carinae (HR 3884).   Using a near-infrared variant of the Barnes–Evans method, the mean radius of and distance to β Dor are found to be R  = 67.8 ± 0.7 R⊙ and d  = 349 ± 4 pc. The systematic errors in these parameters are less than 3 per cent. If these systematics can be resolved, through the development of advanced theoretical models and/or the direct measurement of angular diameters, a calibration of the cosmic distance scale to better than 1 per cent can be achieved.     

17.

High-resolution spectra of very low-mass stars     

C. G. Tinney  & I. N. Reid 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》1998,301(4):1031-1048

We present the results of high-resolution (1–0.4 Å) optical spectroscopy of a sample of very low-mass stars. These data are used to examine the kinematics of the stars at the bottom of the hydrogen-burning main sequence. No evidence is found for a significant difference between the kinematics of the stars in our sample with I  −  K  > 3.5 ( M _bol ≳ 12.8) and those of more massive M dwarfs ( M _bol ≈ 7–10). A spectral atlas at high (0.4-Å) resolution for M8–M9+ stars is provided, and the equivalent widths of Cs  I , Rb  I and Hα lines present in our spectra are examined. We analyse our data to search for the presence of rapid rotation, and find that the brown dwarf LP 944-20 is a member of the class of 'inactive, rapid rotators'. Such objects seem to be common at and below the hydrogen-burning main sequence. It seems that in low-mass/low-temperature dwarf objects either the mechanism that heats the chromosphere, or the mechanism that generates magnetic fields, is greatly suppressed.     

18.

Stellar abundance gradients in galactic discs – I. Method and spectral line gradients     

S. D. Ryder  Y. Fenner  B. K. Gibson 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2005,358(4):1337-1351

We describe the technique of absorption-line imaging of galaxy discs using the Taurus Tunable Filter on the Anglo-Australian Telescope and demonstrate its sensitivity to the behaviour of spectral features associated with Mg and Fe. Radial profiles of Mg₂ and Fe5270 line strengths are presented for a sample of eight face-on spiral galaxies spanning a range of Hubble types. Signatures of phenomena including merger-induced star formation, H  ii rings and galactic bars are also reported. This study demonstrates the capacity of tunable filters to measure Mg and Fe line strengths across the face of spiral galaxies, which can ultimately reveal clues about the star formation history and chemical evolution.     

19.

中等贫金属星高分辨率光谱分析Ⅱ.化学元素丰度     

邱红梅  赵刚  仲佳勇 《天文学报》2002,43(3):257-263

在第1篇论文的基础上，确定了样本星的恒星大气参数，得到这些星中9种元素的丰度。讨论了各种元素丰度随[Fe/H]的变化。平均的[Na/Fe]～－0．01dex，接近于太阳丰度。α元素Si和Ca具有几乎相同的丰度模式，而[Ti/Fe]弥散较大，但三者均有随[Fe/H]的减小而增加的趋势。铁峰元素V、Cr、Ni在不同丰度处有较大的弥散，[Cr/Fe]在所有样本星中均表现超丰；而[Mn/Fe]却明显过贫，且随金属丰度的增加而增加。     

20.

Radioactive Ages of Metal-Poor Halo Stars     

Ji Li  Gang Zhao National Astronomical Observatories  Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing  Department of Physics  Hebei Normal University  Shijiazhuang 《中国天文和天体物理学报》2004,4(1):75-87

The abundances of long-lived radioactive elements Th and U observed in metal-poor halo stars can be used as chronometers to determine the age of individual stars, and hence set a lower limit on the age of the Galaxy and hence of the universe. This radioactive dating requires the zero-decay productions of Th and U, which involves complicated r-process nucleosynthesis calculations. Several parametric r-process models have been used to calculate the initial abundance ratios of Th/Eu and U/Th, but, due to the sharp sensitivity of these models to nuclear physics inputs, the calculations have relatively large uncertainties which lead to large uncertainties in the age determinations. In order to reduce these uncertainties, we present a simple method to estimate the initial productions of Th and U, which only depends on the solar system abundances and the stellar abundances of stable r-process elements. From our calculations of the initial abundance ratios of Th/Eu and U/Th, we re-estimate the ages of those ver     

Spectroscopy of the roAp star α Cir — I. Velocities of Hα and metal lines

We present radial velocity measurements of the rapidly oscillating Ap (roAp) star α Cir, obtained from dual-site observations with medium-dispersion spectrographs. The amplitude and phase of the principal pulsation mode vary significantly, depending on which line is being measured. The amplitude is observed to be as high as 1000 m s⁻¹ in some wavelength bands, despite a previous upper limit of 36 m s⁻¹. Furthermore, some lines are apparently pulsating in anti-phase with others. We suggest this indicates a high-overtone standing wave with a velocity node in the atmosphere of the star.     

使用SOFM方法进行恒星光谱自动分类

ＳＯＦＭ是人工神经网络的非监督学习算法,可以将数据组织到一个特征图上,而保存 大多数原始数据空间的拓扑特征．使用这种方法进行恒星光谱自动分类,分类结果与哈佛 序列十分相似．ＳＯＦＭ方法应该是进行大数量恒星光谱样本在线分类的有用方法,它能 够自动执行,因此可用于处理大数量天体光谱．     

Implementation of New OPAL Tables in Eggleton''''s Stellar Evolution Code

Based on previous works of OPAL, we construct a series of opacity tables for various metallicities Z = 0, 0.000 01, 0.000 03, 0.000 1, 0.000 3, 0.001, 0.004, 0.01, 0.02,0.03, 0.04, 0.05, 0.06, 0.08 and 0.1. These tables can be easily used in Eggleton's stellar evolution code in place of the old tables without changing the code. The OPAL tables are used for log10 (T/K) ＞ 3.95 and Alexander's for log10 (T/K) ＜ 3.95. At log10 (T/K) - 3.95, the two groups' data fit well for all hydrogen mass fractions. Conductive opacities are included by reciprocal addition according to the formulae of Yakovlev and Urpin. A comparison of 1 and 5 M⊙ models constructed with the older OPAL tables of Iglesias and Rogers shows that the new opacities have most effect in the late stages of evolution, the extension of the blue loop during helium burning for intermediate-mass and massive stars.     

WASP-10b: a 3MJ, gas-giant planet transiting a late-type K star

We report the discovery of WASP-10b, a new transiting extrasolar planet (ESP) discovered by the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) Consortium and confirmed using Nordic Optical Telescope FIbre-fed Echelle Spectrograph and SOPHIE radial velocity data. A 3.09-d period, 29 mmag transit depth and 2.36 h duration are derived for WASP-10b using WASP and high-precision photometric observations. Simultaneous fitting to the photometric and radial velocity data using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo procedure leads to a planet radius of  1.28 R _J   , a mass of  2.96 M _J   and eccentricity of ≈0.06. WASP-10b is one of the more massive transiting ESPs, and we compare its characteristics to the current sample of transiting ESP, where there is currently little information for masses greater than ≈  2 M _J   and non-zero eccentricities. WASP-10's host star, GSC 2752−00114 (USNO-B1.0 1214−0586164) is among the fainter stars in the WASP sample, with   V = 12.7  and a spectral type of K5. This result shows promise for future late-type dwarf star surveys.     

WASP-14b: 7.3 MJ transiting planet in an eccentric orbit

We report the discovery of a 7.3 M _J exoplanet WASP-14b, one of the most massive transiting exoplanets observed to date. The planet orbits the 10th-magnitude F5V star USNO-B1 11118−0262485 with a period of 2.243 752 d and orbital eccentricity   e = 0.09  . A simultaneous fit of the transit light curve and radial velocity measurements yields a planetary mass of 7.3 ± 0.5 M _J and a radius of 1.28 ± 0.08 R _J. This leads to a mean density of about 4.6 g cm⁻³ making it the densest transiting exoplanets yet found at an orbital period less than 3 d. We estimate this system to be at a distance of  160 ± 20  pc. Spectral analysis of the host star reveals a temperature of  6475 ± 100 K, log  g = 4.07  cm s⁻² and   v sin  i = 4.9 ± 1.0  km s⁻¹, and also a high lithium abundance,  log  N (Li) = 2.84 ± 0.05  . The stellar density, effective temperature and rotation rate suggest an age for the system of about 0.5–1.0 Gyr.     

The bright southern Cepheid β Doradus: the radial velocity curve, distance and size

A new high-accuracy velocity curve is presented for the bright southern Cepheid β Doradus (HR 1922), and an investigation into the long-term stability of the velocity curve is made. An upper limit of 0.57 km s⁻¹ is placed on cycle-to-cycle variations. This work is compared with a similar analysis previously applied to the long-period Cepheid ℓ Carinae (HR 3884).   Using a near-infrared variant of the Barnes–Evans method, the mean radius of and distance to β Dor are found to be R  = 67.8 ± 0.7 R⊙ and d  = 349 ± 4 pc. The systematic errors in these parameters are less than 3 per cent. If these systematics can be resolved, through the development of advanced theoretical models and/or the direct measurement of angular diameters, a calibration of the cosmic distance scale to better than 1 per cent can be achieved.     

High-resolution spectra of very low-mass stars

We present the results of high-resolution (1–0.4 Å) optical spectroscopy of a sample of very low-mass stars. These data are used to examine the kinematics of the stars at the bottom of the hydrogen-burning main sequence. No evidence is found for a significant difference between the kinematics of the stars in our sample with I  −  K  > 3.5 ( M _bol ≳ 12.8) and those of more massive M dwarfs ( M _bol ≈ 7–10). A spectral atlas at high (0.4-Å) resolution for M8–M9+ stars is provided, and the equivalent widths of Cs  I , Rb  I and Hα lines present in our spectra are examined. We analyse our data to search for the presence of rapid rotation, and find that the brown dwarf LP 944-20 is a member of the class of 'inactive, rapid rotators'. Such objects seem to be common at and below the hydrogen-burning main sequence. It seems that in low-mass/low-temperature dwarf objects either the mechanism that heats the chromosphere, or the mechanism that generates magnetic fields, is greatly suppressed.     

Stellar abundance gradients in galactic discs – I. Method and spectral line gradients

We describe the technique of absorption-line imaging of galaxy discs using the Taurus Tunable Filter on the Anglo-Australian Telescope and demonstrate its sensitivity to the behaviour of spectral features associated with Mg and Fe. Radial profiles of Mg₂ and Fe5270 line strengths are presented for a sample of eight face-on spiral galaxies spanning a range of Hubble types. Signatures of phenomena including merger-induced star formation, H  ii rings and galactic bars are also reported. This study demonstrates the capacity of tunable filters to measure Mg and Fe line strengths across the face of spiral galaxies, which can ultimately reveal clues about the star formation history and chemical evolution.     

中等贫金属星高分辨率光谱分析Ⅱ.化学元素丰度

在第1篇论文的基础上，确定了样本星的恒星大气参数，得到这些星中9种元素的丰度。讨论了各种元素丰度随[Fe/H]的变化。平均的[Na/Fe]～－0．01dex，接近于太阳丰度。α元素Si和Ca具有几乎相同的丰度模式，而[Ti/Fe]弥散较大，但三者均有随[Fe/H]的减小而增加的趋势。铁峰元素V、Cr、Ni在不同丰度处有较大的弥散，[Cr/Fe]在所有样本星中均表现超丰；而[Mn/Fe]却明显过贫，且随金属丰度的增加而增加。     

Radioactive Ages of Metal-Poor Halo Stars

The abundances of long-lived radioactive elements Th and U observed in metal-poor halo stars can be used as chronometers to determine the age of individual stars, and hence set a lower limit on the age of the Galaxy and hence of the universe. This radioactive dating requires the zero-decay productions of Th and U, which involves complicated r-process nucleosynthesis calculations. Several parametric r-process models have been used to calculate the initial abundance ratios of Th/Eu and U/Th, but, due to the sharp sensitivity of these models to nuclear physics inputs, the calculations have relatively large uncertainties which lead to large uncertainties in the age determinations. In order to reduce these uncertainties, we present a simple method to estimate the initial productions of Th and U, which only depends on the solar system abundances and the stellar abundances of stable r-process elements. From our calculations of the initial abundance ratios of Th/Eu and U/Th, we re-estimate the ages of those ver