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The Geneva-Copenhagen survey of the solar neighbourhood. III. Improved distances, ages, and kinematics
Context: Ages, chemical compositions, velocity vectors, and Galacticorbits for stars in the solar neighbourhood are fundamental test datafor models of Galactic evolution. The Geneva-Copenhagen Survey of theSolar Neighbourhood (Nordström et al. 2004; GCS), amagnitude-complete, kinematically unbiased sample of 16 682 nearby F andG dwarfs, is the largest available sample with complete data for starswith ages spanning that of the disk. Aims: We aim to improve theaccuracy of the GCS data by implementing the recent revision of theHipparcos parallaxes. Methods: The new parallaxes yield improvedastrometric distances for 12 506 stars in the GCS. We also use theparallaxes to verify the distance calibration for uvby? photometryby Holmberg et al. (2007, A&A, 475, 519; GCS II). We add newselection criteria to exclude evolved cool stars giving unreliableresults and derive distances for 3580 stars with large parallax errorsor not observed by Hipparcos. We also check the GCS II scales of T_effand [Fe/H] and find no need for change. Results: Introducing thenew distances, we recompute MV for 16 086 stars, and U, V, W,and Galactic orbital parameters for the 13 520 stars that also haveradial-velocity measurements. We also recompute stellar ages from thePadova stellar evolution models used in GCS I-II, using the new valuesof M_V, and compare them with ages from the Yale-Yonsei andVictoria-Regina models. Finally, we compare the observed age-velocityrelation in W with three simulated disk heating scenarios to show thepotential of the data. Conclusions: With these revisions, thebasic data for the GCS stars should now be as reliable as is possiblewith existing techniques. Further improvement must await consolidationof the T_eff scale from angular diameters and fluxes, and the Gaiatrigonometric parallaxes. We discuss the conditions for improvingcomputed stellar ages from new input data, and for distinguishingdifferent disk heating scenarios from data sets of the size andprecision of the GCS.Full Table 1 is only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/501/941
| Pulkovo compilation of radial velocities for 35495 stars in a common system.
Not Available
| Chromospheric Ca II Emission in Nearby F, G, K, and M Stars
We present chromospheric Ca II H and K activity measurements, rotationperiods, and ages for ~1200 F, G, K, and M type main-sequence stars from~18,000 archival spectra taken at Keck and Lick Observatories as a partof the California and Carnegie Planet Search Project. We have calibratedour chromospheric S-values against the Mount Wilson chromosphericactivity data. From these measurements we have calculated medianactivity levels and derived R'HK, stellar ages,and rotation periods from general parameterizations for 1228 stars,~1000 of which have no previously published S-values. We also presentprecise time series of activity measurements for these stars.Based on observations obtained at Lick Observatory, which is operated bythe University of California, and on observations obtained at the W. M.Keck Observatory, which is operated jointly by the University ofCalifornia and the California Institute of Technology. The KeckObservatory was made possible by the generous financial support of theW. M. Keck Foundation.
| 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
| Activity and kinematics of members of the TW Hydrae association
We present high-resolution echelle spectroscopy of 20 stars in 16systems catalogued as members of the TW Hydrae association, and 16 starsidentified as possible new members. We have calibrated the range ofcoronal and chromospheric activity expected for such young stars as afunction of spectral type by combining our observations with literaturedata for field and open cluster stars. We also compute space motions forTWA members and candidate members with proper motion measurements, usingtwo techniques to estimate distances to stars lacking directtrigonometric parallax measurements. The mean space motion of the fourTWA members with known parallaxes is (U, V, W: -10.0, -17.8, -4.6) kms-1. 14 of the candidates have properties inconsistent withcluster membership; the remaining two are potential new members,although further observations are required to confirm this possibility.
| A Protocometary Cloud around HR 4796A?
We report both ROSAT observations and ground-based 10.8 ?m imaging ofthe wide binary HR 4796, which consists of a main-sequence A-type starwith a large amount of circumstellar dust, HR 4796A, and, at aseparation of 7.7", a pre-main-sequence M-type companion, HR 4796B. Fromthe ROSAT data, we find that the X-ray emission is centered on HR 4796B,with L_X/L_bol ~ 3 x 10^-4. The 10.8 ?m flux, which arises from HR4796A, displays an excess over the photospheric emission of 0.08 +/-0.02 Jy, a result consistent with the previous characterization of theemission from the circumstellar dust in the wavelength range 12 ?m<= lambda <= 100 ?m as a 110 K blackbody. The Hipparcos datacan be used to argue that the three main-sequence A-type stars in theBright Star Catalogue with L_IR/L_bol > 10^-3 (HR 4796A, beta Pic,and 49 Cet) all have low luminosities for their colors. We argue thatapproximately 20% of all A-type stars pass through an early phase wherethey possess an amount of circumstellar dust comparable to that foundaround HR 4796A or beta Pic. In order to explain the result that thegrain emission can be approximated by a 110 K blackbody, we propose thatthe circumstellar grains are largely composed of ice particles with atypical radius near 100 mum, and that they sublimate rapidly when theyare closer than ~35 AU to HR 4796A. This swarm of ice particles might bea protocometary cloud.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Centaurus |
| Right ascension: | 13h10m19.47s |
| Declination: | -32°48'19.6" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 8.612 |
| Distance: | 81.766 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -47.8 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -25.1 |
| B-T magnitude: | 9.245 |
| V-T magnitude: | 8.665 |
Catalogs and designations:
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INHABITED SKY
