Deriving precise parameters for cool solar-type stars Optimizing the iron line list ?;??;???
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the differences in temperature between the standard spectroscopic technique based on iron lines and the infrared flux method (IRFM) and show that the differences for the cooler stars are significantly smaller and more homogeneously distributed than in previous studies.
Abstract: Context. Temperature, surface gravity, and metallicitity are basic stellar atmospheric parameters necessary to characterize a star. There are several methods to derive these parameters and a comparison of their results often shows considerable discrepancies, even in the restricted group of solar-type FGK dwarfs.Aims. We want to check the differences in temperature between the standard spectroscopic technique based on iron lines and the infrared flux method (IRFM). We aim to improve the description of the spectroscopic temperatures especially for the cooler stars where the differences between the two methods are higher, as presented in a previous work.Methods. Our spectroscopic analysis was based on the iron excitation and ionization balance, assuming Kurucz model atmospheres in LTE. The abundance analysis was determined using the code MOOG. We optimized the line list using a cool star (HD 21749) with high resolution and high signal-to-noise spectrum, as a reference in order to check for weak, isolated lines.Results. We test the quality of the new line list by re-deriving stellar parameters for 451 stars with high resolution and signal-to-noise HARPS spectra, that were analyzed in a previous work with a larger line list. The comparison in temperatures between this work and the latest IRFM for the stars in common shows that the differences for the cooler stars are significantly smaller and more homogeneously distributed than in previous studies for stars with temperatures below 5000 K. Moreover, a comparison is presented between interferometric temperatures with our results that shows good agreement, even though the sample is small and the errors of the mean differences are large. We use the new line list to re-derive parameters for some of the cooler stars that host planets. Finally, we present the impact of the new temperatures on the [Cr i/Cr ii] and [Ti i/Ti ii] abundance ratios that previously showed systematic trends with temperature. We show that the slopes of these trends for the cooler stars become drastically smaller.
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University of Colorado Boulder1, European Space Research and Technology Centre2, University of Washington3, University of Texas at Austin4, Goddard Space Flight Center5, National Scientific and Technical Research Council6, Western Washington University7, Cornell University8, University of Maryland, College Park9, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis10, Wesleyan University11, University of St Andrews12, Tsinghua University13, Adler Planetarium14
TL;DR: In this article, a panchromatic (X-ray to mid-IR) study of the spectral energy distribution (SED) of 11 nearby planet-hosting stars is performed, based on the measurements of the Ultraviolet Spectral Characteristics of Low-mass Exoplanetary Systems (MUSCLES) survey.
Abstract: Ground- and space-based planet searches employing radial velocity techniques and transit photometry have detected thousands of planet-hosting stars in the Milky Way. With so many planets discovered, the next step toward identifying potentially habitable planets is atmospheric characterization. While the Sun-Earth system provides a good framework for understanding the atmospheric chemistry of Earth-like planets around solar-type stars, the observational and theoretical constraints on the atmospheres of rocky planets in the habitable zones (HZs) around low-mass stars (K and M dwarfs) are relatively few. The chemistry of these atmospheres is controlled by the shape and absolute flux of the stellar spectral energy distribution (SED), however, flux distributions of relatively inactive low-mass stars are poorly understood at present. To address this issue, we have executed a panchromatic (X-ray to mid-IR) study of the SEDs of 11 nearby planet-hosting stars, the Measurements of the Ultraviolet Spectral Characteristics of Low-mass Exoplanetary Systems (MUSCLES) Treasury Survey. The MUSCLES program consists visible observations from Hubble and ground-based observatories. Infrared and astrophysically inaccessible wavelengths (EUV and Lyalpha) are reconstructed using stellar model spectra to fill in gaps in the observational data. In this overview and the companion papers describing the MUSCLES survey, we show that energetic radiation (X-ray and ultraviolet) is present from magnetically active stellar atmospheres at all times for stars as late as M6. The emission line luminosities of C IV and Mg II are strongly correlated with band-integrated luminosities and we present empirical relations that can be used to estimate broadband FUV and XUV (is equivalent to X-ray + EUV) fluxes from individual stellar emission line measurements. We find that while the slope of the SED, FUV/NUV, increases by approximately two orders of magnitude form early K to late M dwarfs (approximately equal 0.01-1), the absolute FUV and XUV flux levels at their corresponding HZ distances are constant to within factors of a few, spanning the range 10-70 erg per (sq cm) s in the HZ. Despite the lack of strong stellar activity indicators in their optical spectra, several of the M dwarfs in our sample show spectacular UV flare emission in their light curves. We present an example with flare/quiescent ultraviolet flux ratios of the order of 100:1 where the transition region energy output during the flare is comparable to the total quiescent luminosity of the star E(sub flare)(UV) approximately 0.3 L(sub *) delta (t) (delta t = 1 s). Finally, we interpret enhanced L(line)/L(sub Bol) ratios for C IV and N V as tentative observational evidence for the interaction of planets with large planetary mass-to-orbital distance ratios (M(sub plan)/A(sub plan)) with the transition regions of their host stars.
353 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a catalog of uniformly determined stellar properties and abundances for 1,617 F, G, and K stars using an automated spectral synthesis modeling procedure was presented, and all stars were observed using a single image.
Abstract: We present a catalog of uniformly determined stellar properties and abundances for 1,617 F, G, and K stars using an automated spectral synthesis modeling procedure. All stars were observed using th ...
320 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a catalog of uniformly determined stellar properties and abundances for 1626 F, G, and K stars using an automated spectral synthesis modeling procedure was presented using the HIRES spectrograph at Keck Observatory.
Abstract: We present a catalog of uniformly determined stellar properties and abundances for 1626 F, G, and K stars using an automated spectral synthesis modeling procedure. All stars were observed using the HIRES spectrograph at Keck Observatory. Our procedure used a single line list to fit model spectra to observations of all stars to determine effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, projected rotational velocity, and the abundances of 15 elements (C, N, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, & Y). Sixty percent of the sample had Hipparcos parallaxes and V-band photometry which we combined with the spectroscopic results to obtain mass, radius, and luminosity. Additionally, we used the luminosity, effective temperature, metallicity and alpha-element enhancement to interpolate in the Yonsei-Yale isochrones to derive mass, radius, gravity, and age ranges for those stars. Finally, we determined new relations between effective temperature and macroturbulence for dwarfs and subgiants. Our analysis achieved precisions of 25 K in Teff , 0.01 dex in [M/H], 0.028 dex for log g and 0.5 km/s in v sin ibased on multiple observations of the same stars. The abundance results were similarly precise, between 0.01 and - 0.04 dex, though trends with respect to Teff remained for which we derived empirical corrections. The trends, though small, were much larger than our uncertainties and are shared with published abundances. We show that changing our model atmosphere grid accounts for most of the trend in [M/H] between 5000 K and 5500 K indicating a possible problem with the atmosphere models or opacities.
309 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a sample of giant transiting exoplanets detected by the Kepler telescope with orbital periods up to 400 days was used to reveal the nature of these candidates and measure a false positive rate of 54.6 +/- 6.5% for giant-planet candidates orbiting within 400 days of period.
Abstract: While giant extrasolar planets have been studied for more than two decades now, there are still some open questions as to their dominant formation and migration processes, as well as to their atmospheric evolution in different stellar environments. In this paper, we study a sample of giant transiting exoplanets detected by the Kepler telescope with orbital periods up to 400 days. We first defined a sample of 129 giant-planet candidates that we followed up with the SOPHIE spectrograph (OHP, France) in a 6-year radial velocity campaign. This allowed us to unveil the nature of these candidates and to measure a false-positive rate of 54.6 +/- 6.5% for giant-planet candidates orbiting within 400 days of period. Based on a sample of confirmed or likely planets, we then derived the occurrence rates of giant planets in different ranges of orbital periods. The overall occurrence rate of giant planets within 400 days is 4.6 +/- 0.6%. We recovered, for the first time in the Kepler data, the different populations of giant planets reported by radial velocity surveys. Comparing these rates with other yields, we find that the occurrence rate of giant planets is lower only for hot Jupiters but not for the longer-period planets. We also derive a first measurement of the occurrence rate of brown dwarfs in the brown-dwarf desert with a value of 0.29 +/- 0.17%. Finally, we discuss the physical properties of the giant planets in our sample. We confirm that giant planets receiving moderate irradiation are not inflated, but we find that they are on average smaller than predicted by formation and evolution models. In this regime of low-irradiated giant planets, we find a possible correlation between their bulk density and the iron abundance of the host star, which needs more detections to be confirmed.
264 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented a catalogue of stellar parameters for FGK and M stars with planets detected by radial velocity, transit, and astrometry programs, which can be used for statistical studies of the star-planet correlation.
Abstract: Context. Thanks to the importance that the star-planet relation has to our understanding of the planet formation process, the precise determination of stellar parameters for the ever increasing number of discovered extra-solar planets is of great relevance. Furthermore, precise stellar parameters are needed to fully characterize the planet properties. It is thus important to continue the efforts to determine, in the most uniform way possible, the parameters for stars with planets as new discoveries are announced. Aims. In this paper we present new precise atmospheric parameters for a sample of 48 stars with planets. We then take the opportunity to present a new catalogue of stellar parameters for FGK and M stars with planets detected by radial velocity, transit, and astrometry programs. Methods. Stellar atmospheric parameters and masses for the 48 stars were derived assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) and using high-resolution and high signal-to-noise spectra. The methodology used is based on the measurement of equivalent widths for a list of iron lines and making use of iron ionization and excitation equilibrium principles. For the catalogue, and whenever possible, we used parameters derived in previous works published by our team, using well-defined methodologies for the derivation of stellar atmospheric parameters. This set of parameters amounts to over 65% of all planet host stars known, including more than 90% of all stars with planets discovered through radial velocity surveys. For the remaining targets, stellar parameters were collected from the literature. Results. The stellar parameters for the 48 stars are presented and compared with previously determined literature values. For the catalogue, we compile values for the effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, and stellar mass for almost all the planet host stars listed in the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia. This data will be updated on a continuous basis. The compiled catalogue is available online. The data can be used for statistical studies of the star-planet correlation, as well as for the derivation of consistent properties for known planets.
254 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this article, a new reduction of the Hipparcos data was published, which claimed accuracies for nearly all stars brighter than magnitude Hp = 8 to be better, by up to a factor 4, than in the original catalog.
Abstract: Context. A new reduction of the astrometric data as produced by the Hipparcos mission has been published, claiming accuracies for nearly all stars brighter than magnitude Hp = 8 to be better, by up to a factor 4, than in the original catalog ue. Aims. The new Hipparcos astrometric catalogue is checked for the quality of the data and the consistency of the formal errors as well as the possible presence of error correlations. The differences with the earlier publication are explained. Methods. The internal errors are followed through the reduction proc ess, and the external errors are investigated on the basis of a comparison with radio observations of a small selection of stars, and the distribution of negative parallaxes. Error co rrelation levels are investigated and the reduction by more than a factor 10 as obtained in the new catalogue is explained. Results. The formal errors on the parallaxes for the new catalogue are confirmed. The presence of a small amount of additional noise , though unlikely, cannot be ruled out. Conclusions. The new reduction of the Hipparcos astrometric data provides an improvement by a factor 2.2 in the total weight compared to the catalogue published in 1997, and provides much improved data for a wide range of studies on stellar luminosities and local galactic kinematics.
4,203 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a large grid of stellar evolution-ary tracks, which are suitable to model star clusters and galaxies by means of population synthesis, is presented for the initial chemical compositions.
Abstract: We present a large grid of stellar evolution- ary tracks, which are suitable to modelling star clusters and galaxies by means of population synthesis. The tracks are presented for the initial chemical compositions (Z = 0:0004;Y =0 :23), (Z =0 :001;Y =0 :23), (Z =0 :004;Y = 0:24), (Z =0 :008;Y =0 :25), (Z =0 :019;Y =0 :273) (solar composition), and (Z =0 :03;Y =0 :30). They are com- puted with updated opacities and equation of state, and a moderate amount of convective overshoot. The range of initial masses goes from 0:15 M to 7 M ,a nd the evo- lutionary phases extend from the zero age main sequence (ZAMS) till either the thermally pulsing AGB regime or carbon ignition. We also present an additional set of mod- els with solar composition, computed using the classical Schwarzschild criterion for convective boundaries. From all these tracks, we derive the theoretical isochrones in the Johnson-Cousins UBVRIJHK broad-band photometric system.
2,609 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a large grid of stellar evolutionary tracks are presented for the initial chemical compositions, which are suitable to model star clusters and galaxies by means of population synthesis, with updated opacities and equation of state, and a moderate amount of convective overshoot.
Abstract: We present a large grid of stellar evolutionary tracks, which are suitable to modelling star clusters and galaxies by means of population synthesis. The tracks are presented for the initial chemical compositions [Z=0.0004, Y=0.23], [Z=0.001, Y=0.23], [Z=0.004, Y=0.24], [Z=0.008, Y=0.25], [Z=0.019, Y=0.273] (solar composition), and [Z=0.03, Y=0.30]. They are computed with updated opacities and equation of state, and a moderate amount of convective overshoot. The range of initial masses goes from 0.15 M_sun to 7 M_sun, and the evolutionary phases extend from the zero age main sequence (ZAMS) till either the thermally pulsing AGB regime or carbon ignition. We also present an additional set of models with solar composition, computed using the classical Schwarzschild's criterion for convective boundaries. From all these tracks, we derive the theoretical isochrones in the Johnson-Cousins UBVRIJHK broad-band photometric system.
2,264 citations