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The eccentricity-mass distribution of exoplanets: signatures of different formation mechanisms?
We examine the distributions of eccentricity and host star metallicityof exoplanets as a function of their mass. Planets with M sin i ⪆ 4MJ have an eccentricity distribution consistent with that ofbinary stars, while planets with M sin i ⪉ 4 MJ are lesseccentric than binary stars and more massive planets. In addition, hoststar metallicities decrease with planet mass. The statisticalsignificance of both of these trends is only marginal with the presentsample of exoplanets. To account for these trends, we hypothesize thatthere are two populations of gaseous planets: the low-mass populationforms by gas accretion onto a rock-ice core in a circumstellar disk andis more abundant at high metallicities, and the high-mass populationforms directly by fragmentation of a pre-stellar cloud. Planets of thefirst population form in initially circular orbits and grow theireccentricities later, and may have a mass upper limit from the totalmass of the disk that can be accreted by the core. The second populationmay have a mass lower limit resulting from opacity-limitedfragmentation. This would roughly divide the two populations in mass,although they would likely overlap over some mass range. If most objectsin the second population form before the pre-stellar cloud becomeshighly opaque, they would have to be initially located in orbits largerthan ~30 AU, and would need to migrate to the much smaller orbits inwhich they are observed. The higher mean orbital eccentricity of thesecond population might be caused by the larger required intervals ofradial migration, and the brown dwarf desert might be due to theinability of high-mass brown dwarfs to migrate inwards sufficiently inradius.
| Pulkovo compilation of radial velocities for 35495 stars in a common system.
Not Available
| How Dry is the Brown Dwarf Desert? Quantifying the Relative Number of Planets, Brown Dwarfs, and Stellar Companions around Nearby Sun-like Stars
Sun-like stars have stellar, brown dwarf, and planetary companions. Tohelp constrain their formation and migration scenarios, we analyze theclose companions (orbital period <5 yr) of nearby Sun-like stars. Byusing the same sample to extract the relative numbers of stellar, browndwarf, and planetary companions, we verify the existence of a very drybrown dwarf desert and describe it quantitatively. With decreasing mass,the companion mass function drops by almost 2 orders of magnitude from 1Msolar stellar companions to the brown dwarf desert and thenrises by more than an order of magnitude from brown dwarfs toJupiter-mass planets. The slopes of the planetary and stellar companionmass functions are of opposite sign and are incompatible at the 3σ level, thus yielding a brown dwarf desert. The minimum number ofcompanions per unit interval in log mass (the driest part of the desert)is at M=31+25-18MJ. Approximately 16%of Sun-like stars have close (P<5 yr) companions more massive thanJupiter: 11%+/-3% are stellar, <1% are brown dwarf, and 5%+/-2% aregiant planets. The steep decline in the number of companions in thebrown dwarf regime, compared to the initial mass function of individualstars and free-floating brown dwarfs, suggests either a differentspectrum of gravitational fragmentation in the formation environment orpost-formation migratory processes disinclined to leave brown dwarfs inclose orbits.
| Astrometric orbits of SB^9 stars
Hipparcos Intermediate Astrometric Data (IAD) have been used to deriveastrometric orbital elements for spectroscopic binaries from the newlyreleased Ninth Catalogue of Spectroscopic Binary Orbits(SB^9). This endeavour is justified by the fact that (i) theastrometric orbital motion is often difficult to detect without theprior knowledge of the spectroscopic orbital elements, and (ii) suchknowledge was not available at the time of the construction of theHipparcos Catalogue for the spectroscopic binaries which were recentlyadded to the SB^9 catalogue. Among the 1374 binaries fromSB^9 which have an HIP entry (excluding binaries with visualcompanions, or DMSA/C in the Double and Multiple Stars Annex), 282 havedetectable orbital astrometric motion (at the 5% significance level).Among those, only 70 have astrometric orbital elements that are reliablydetermined (according to specific statistical tests), and for the firsttime for 20 systems. This represents a 8.5% increase of the number ofastrometric systems with known orbital elements (The Double and MultipleSystems Annex contains 235 of those DMSA/O systems). The detection ofthe astrometric orbital motion when the Hipparcos IAD are supplementedby the spectroscopic orbital elements is close to 100% for binaries withonly one visible component, provided that the period is in the 50-1000 drange and the parallax is >5 mas. This result is an interestingtestbed to guide the choice of algorithms and statistical tests to beused in the search for astrometric binaries during the forthcoming ESAGaia mission. Finally, orbital inclinations provided by the presentanalysis have been used to derive several astrophysical quantities. Forinstance, 29 among the 70 systems with reliable astrometric orbitalelements involve main sequence stars for which the companion mass couldbe derived. Some interesting conclusions may be drawn from this new setof stellar masses, like the enigmatic nature of the companion to theHyades F dwarf HIP 20935. This system has a mass ratio of 0.98 but thecompanion remains elusive.
| SB9: The ninth catalogue of spectroscopic binary orbits
The Ninth Catalogue of Spectroscopic Binary Orbits(http://sb9.astro.ulb.ac.be) continues the series of compilations ofspectroscopic orbits carried out over the past 35 years by Batten andcollaborators. As of 2004 May 1st, the new Catalogue holds orbits for2386 systems. Some essential differences between this catalogue and itspredecessors are outlined and three straightforward applications arepresented: (1) completeness assessment: period distribution of SB1s andSB2s; (2) shortest periods across the H-R diagram; (3)period-eccentricity relation.
| Statistical properties of solar-type close binaries
Two Coravel radial velocity surveys dedicated to F7-K field dwarfs andto open clusters are merged in order to investigate the statisticalproperties of binaries with periods up to 10 years. Thanks to theaccurate trigonometric parallaxes provided by Hipparcos, an unbiasedsample of spectroscopic binaries (SB) is selected. After correction forthe uncertainties of the measurements, the following results areobtained: 1. The distribution of mass ratios exhibits a peak forequal-mass binaries (twins), which is higher for short-period binariesthan for long-period binaries. 2. Apart from the twins, the distributionof mass ratios exhibits a broad peak from 0.2 to 0.6. 3. The orbitaleccentricities of twins are slightly smaller than those of otherbinaries. 4. An excess of SB is observed with periods shorter than about50 days in comparison with the Duquennoy and Mayor log-normaldistribution of periods. These features suggest that close binary starsare generated by two different processes. A possible difference couldcome from the accretion onto the binary, for instance from a commonenvelope or from a circumbinary disk. Alternatively, twins could comefrom dynamic evolution of multiple systems. It is not clear whether theformation models are already sufficiently elaborated to reproduce ourstatistics.
| Meeting the Cool Neighbors. VIII. A Preliminary 20 Parsec Census from the NLTT Catalogue
Continuing our census of late-type dwarfs in the solar neighborhood, wepresent BVRI photometry and optical spectroscopy of 800 mid-type Mdwarfs drawn from the NLTT proper-motion catalog. The targets are takenboth from our own cross-referencing of the NLTT Catalogue and the 2MASSSecond Incremental Data Release, and from the revised NLTT compiledrecently by Salim & Gould. All are identified as nearby-starcandidates based on their location in the(mr,mr-Ks) diagram. Three hundred starsdiscussed here have previous astrometric, photometric, or spectroscopicobservations. We present new BVRI photometry for 101 stars, togetherwith low-resolution spectroscopy of a further 400 dwarfs. In total, wefind that 241 stars are within 20 pc of the Sun, while a further 70 liewithin 1 σ of our distance limit. Combining the present resultswith previous analyses, we have quantitative observations for 1910 ofthe 1913 candidates in our NLTT nearby-star samples. Eight hundredfifteen of those stars have distance estimates of 20 pc or less,including 312 additions to the local census. With our NLTT follow-upobservations essentially complete, we have searched the literature for Kand early-type M dwarfs within the sampling volume covered by the 2MASSsecond release. Comparing the resultant 20 pc census against predictednumbers, derived from the 8 pc luminosity function, shows an overalldeficit of ~20% for stellar systems and ~35% for individual stars.Almost all are likely to be fainter than MJ=7, and at leasthalf are probably as yet undiscovered companions of known nearby stars.Our results suggest that there are relatively few missing systems at thelowest luminosities, MJ>8.5. We discuss possible means ofidentifying the missing stars.
| The Mass Ratio Distribution in Main-Sequence Spectroscopic Binaries Measured by Infrared Spectroscopy
We report infrared spectroscopic observations of a large well-definedsample of main-sequence, single-lined spectroscopic binaries to detectthe secondaries and derive the mass ratio distribution of short-periodbinaries. The sample consists of 51 Galactic disk spectroscopic binariesfound in the Carney and Latham high proper motion survey, with primarymasses in the range 0.6-0.85 Msolar. Our infraredobservations detect the secondaries in 32 systems, two of which havemass ratios, q=M2/M1, as low as ~0.20. Togetherwith 11 systems previously identified as double-lined binaries byvisible light spectroscopy, we have a complete sample of 62 binaries, ofwhich 43 are double lined. The mass ratio distribution is approximatelyconstant over the range q=1.0-0.3. The distribution appears to rise atlower q values, but the uncertainties are sufficiently large that wecannot rule out a distribution that remains constant. The massdistribution derived for the secondaries in our sample and that of theextrasolar planets apparently represent two distinct populations.
| Contributions to the Nearby Stars (NStars) Project: Spectroscopy of Stars Earlier than M0 within 40 Parsecs: The Northern Sample. I.
We have embarked on a project, under the aegis of the Nearby Stars(NStars)/Space Interferometry Mission Preparatory Science Program, toobtain spectra, spectral types, and, where feasible, basic physicalparameters for the 3600 dwarf and giant stars earlier than M0 within 40pc of the Sun. In this paper, we report on the results of this projectfor the first 664 stars in the northern hemisphere. These resultsinclude precise, homogeneous spectral types, basic physical parameters(including the effective temperature, surface gravity, and overallmetallicity [M/H]), and measures of the chromospheric activity of ourprogram stars. Observed and derived data presented in this paper arealso available on the project's Web site.
| New measurement of the 6Li/7Li isotopic ratio in the extra-solar planet host star HD 82943 and line blending in the Li 6708 Å region
The presence of possible blends in the spectral region of the Liresonance line at 6708 Å in solar-type metal-rich stars isinvestigated using high resolution and high signal-to-noisespectroscopic observations. Our analysis does not confirm theidentification of a weak absorption feature at 6708.025 Å with thelow excitation Ti I line proposed by Reddy et al. (2002). Our spectrumsynthesis suggests that the unidentified absorption is most probablyproduced by a high excitation Si I line originally proposed byMüller et al. (1975). Reanalysis of the6Li/7Li isotopic ratio in HD 82943 was performedby taking the Si I line into account and using new VLT/UVES spectra ofHD 82943 with a signal-to-noise ratio close to 1000. We confirm thepresence of 6Li in the star's atmosphere while the updatedvalue for the isotopic ratio is f(6Li) = 0.05+/-0.02.Based on observations collected at the La Silla Observatory, ESO(Chile), with the FEROS spectrograph at the 1.52-m ESO telescope, withthe VLT/UT2 Kueyen telescope (Paranal Observatory, ESO, Chile) using theUVES spectrograph (Observing run 67.C-0206, in service mode), with theTNG and William Herschel Telescopes, both operated at the island of LaPalma by the Isaac Newton Group in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque delos Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.
| The Wilson-Bappu effect: A tool to determine stellar distances
Wilson & Bappu (\cite{orig}) have shown the existence of aremarkable correlation between the width of the emission in the core ofthe K line of Ca II and the absolute visual magnitude of late-typestars.Here we present a new calibration of the Wilson-Bappu effect based on asample of 119 nearby stars. We use, for the first time, widthmeasurements based on high resolution and high signal to noise ratio CCDspectra and absolute visual magnitudes from the Hipparcos database.Our primary goal is to investigate the possibility of using theWilson-Bappu effect to determine accurate distances to single stars andgroups.The result of our calibration fitting of the Wilson-Bappu relationshipis MV=33.2-18.0 log W0, and the determinationseems free of systematic effects. The root mean square error of thefitting is 0.6 mag. This error is mostly accounted for by measurementerrors and intrinsic variability of W0, but in addition apossible dependence on the metallicity is found, which becomes clearlynoticeable for metallicities below [Fe/H] ~ -0.4. This detection ispossible because in our sample [Fe/H] ranges from -1.5 to 0.4.The Wilson-Bappu effect can be used confidently for all metallicitiesnot lower than ~ -0.4, including the LMC. While it does not provideaccurate distances to single stars, it is a useful tool to determineaccurate distances to clusters and aggregates, where a sufficient numberof stars can be observed.We apply the Wilson-Bappu effect to published data of the open cluster M67; the retrieved distance modulus is of 9.65 mag, in very goodagreement with the best distance estimations for this cluster, based onmain sequence fitting.Observations collected at ESO, La Silla.
| Improved Astrometry and Photometry for the Luyten Catalog. II. Faint Stars and the Revised Catalog
We complete construction of a catalog containing improved astrometry andnew optical/infrared photometry for the vast majority of NLTT starslying in the overlap of regions covered by POSS I and by the secondincremental Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) release, approximately 44%of the sky. The epoch 2000 positions are typically accurate to 130 mas,the proper motions to 5.5 mas yr-1, and the V-J colors to0.25 mag. Relative proper motions of binary components are measured to 3mas yr-1. The false-identification rate is ~1% for11<~V<~18 and substantially less at brighter magnitudes. Theseimprovements permit the construction of a reduced proper-motion diagramthat, for the first time, allows one to classify NLTT stars intomain-sequence (MS) stars, subdwarfs (SDs), and white dwarfs (WDs). We inturn use this diagram to analyze the properties of both our catalog andthe NLTT catalog on which it is based. In sharp contrast to popularbelief, we find that NLTT incompleteness in the plane is almostcompletely concentrated in MS stars, and that SDs and WDs are detectedalmost uniformly over the sky δ>-33deg. Our catalogwill therefore provide a powerful tool to probe these populationsstatistically, as well as to reliably identify individual SDs and WDs.
| Multiplicity among solar-type stars. III. Statistical properties of the F7-K binaries with periods up to 10 years
Two CORAVEL radial velocity surveys - one among stars in the solarneighbourhood, the other in the Pleiades and in Praesepe - are merged toderive the statistical properties of main-sequence binaries withspectral types F7 to K and with periods up to 10 years. A sample of 89spectroscopic orbits was finally obtained. Among them, 52 relate to afree-of-bias selection of 405 stars (240 field stars and 165 clusterstars). The statistics corrected for selection effects yield thefollowing results: (1) No discrepancy is found between the binariesamong field stars and the binaries in open cluster. The distributions ofmass ratios, of periods, the period-eccentricity diagram and the binaryfrequencies are all within the same error intervals. (2) Thedistribution of mass ratios presents two maxima: a broad peak from q ~0.2 to q ~ 0.7, and a sharp peak for q > 0.8 (twins). Both arepresent among the early-type as well as among the late-type part of thesample, indicating a scale-free formation process. The peak for q >0.8 gradually decreases when long-period binaries are considered.Whatever their periods, the twins have eccentricities significantlylower than the other binaries, confirming a difference in the formationprocesses. Twins could be generated by in situ formation followed byaccretion from a gaseous envelope, whereas binaries with intermediatemass ratios could be formed at wide separations, but they are madecloser by migration led by interactions with a circumbinary disk. (3)The frequency of binaries with P<10 years is about 14%. (4) About0.3% of binaries are expected to appear as false positives in a planetsearch. Therefore, the frequency of planetary systems among stars ispresently 7+4-2%. The extension of thedistribution of mass ratios in the planetary range would result in avery sharp and very high peak, well separated from the binary stars withlow mass ratios. Based on photoelectric radial-velocity measurementscollected at Haute-Provence observatory and on observations made withthe ESA Hipparcos astrometry satellite.
| A Survey of Proper-Motion Stars. XVI. Orbital Solutions for 171 Single-lined Spectroscopic Binaries
We report 25,563 radial velocity measurements for 1359 single-linedstars in the Carney-Latham sample of 1464 stars selected for high propermotion. For 171 of these, we present spectroscopic orbital solutions. Wefind no obvious difference between the binary characteristics in thehalo and the disk populations. The observed frequency is the same, andthe period distributions are consistent with the hypothesis that the twosets of binaries were drawn from the same parent population. Thissuggests that metallicity in general, and radiative opacities inparticular, have little influence over the fragmentation process thatleads to short-period binaries. All the binaries with periods shorterthan 10 days have nearly circular orbits, while the binaries withperiods longer than 20 days exhibit a wide range of eccentricities and amedian value of 0.37. For the metal-poor high-velocity halo binaries inour sample, the transition from circular to eccentric orbits appears tooccur at about 20 days, supporting the conclusion that tidalcircularization on the main sequence is important for the oldestbinaries in the Galaxy. Some of the results presented here usedobservations made with the Multiple Mirror Telescope, a joint facilityof the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Arizona.
| Revised Coordinates and Proper Motions of the Stars in the Luyten Half-Second Catalog
We present refined coordinates and proper-motion data for the highproper-motion (HPM) stars in the Luyten Half-Second (LHS) catalog. Thepositional uncertainty in the original Luyten catalog is typicallygreater than 10" and is often greater than 30". We have used the digitalscans of the POSS I and POSS II plates to derive more accurate positionsand proper motions of the objects. Out of the 4470 candidates in the LHScatalog, 4323 objects were manually reidentified in the POSS I and POSSII scans. A small fraction of the stars were not found because of thelack of finder charts and digitized POSS II scans. The uncertainties inthe revised positions are typically ~2" but can be as high as ~8" in afew cases, which is a large improvement over the original data.Cross-correlation with the Tycho-2 and Hipparcos catalogs yielded 819candidates (with mR<~12). For these brighter sources, theposition and proper-motion data were replaced with the more accurateTycho-2/Hipparcos data. In total, we have revised proper-motionmeasurements and coordinates for 4040 stars and revised coordinates for4330 stars. The electronic version of the paper5 contains the updated information on all 4470stars in the LHS catalog.
| Planet Host Stars: Mass, Age and Kinematics
We determine the mass, age and kinematics of 51 extra-solar planet hoststars. The results are then used to search for signs of connection ofthe data with metallicity and to investigate the population nature. Wefind that the increase in mean metallicity with stellar mass is similarto that in normal field stars, so it seems unsuitable to use thisrelation as a constraint on the theory of planet formation. The age andkinematic distributions seem to favour the metallicity of extra-solarplanet host stars being initial. Although the kinematic data of thesestars indicate their origin from two populations -- the thin and thethick disks, kinematics may not help in the maintenance of the planetaround the host. Stars with planets, brown dwarfs or stellar companionsare sorted into three groups and re-investigated separately for theirformation mechanism. The main results indicate that stars withM2 < 25 MJ have [Fe/H] > -0.1 and a wideperiod range, but there are no other differences. Thus, there does notseem to be any physically distinguishable characteristics among thethree star groups.
| Analysis of the Hipparcos Observations of the Extrasolar Planets and the Brown Dwarf Candidates
We analyzed the Hipparcos astrometric observations of 47 stars that werediscovered to harbor giant planets and 14 stars with brown dwarfsecondary candidates. The Hipparcos measurements were used together withthe corresponding stellar radial velocity data to derive an astrometricorbit for each system. To find out the significance of the derivedastrometric orbits, we applied a ``permutation'' technique by which weanalyzed the permuted Hipparcos data to get false orbits. The sizedistribution of these false orbits indicated the range of possiblyrandom, false orbits that could be derived from the true data. Thesetests could not find any astrometric orbit of the planet candidates withsignificance higher than 99%, suggesting that most if not all orbits arenot real. Instead, we used the Hipparcos data to set upper limits on themasses of the planet candidates. The lowest derived upper limit is thatof 47 UMa-0.014 Msolar, which confirms the planetary natureof its unseen companion. For 13 other planet candidates, the upperlimits exclude the stellar nature of their companions, although browndwarf secondaries are still an option. These negate the idea that all ormost of the extrasolar planets are disguised stellar secondaries. Of the14 brown dwarf candidates, our analysis reproduced the results ofHalbwachs et al., who derived significant astrometric orbits for sixsystems that imply secondaries with stellar masses. We show that anotherstar, HD 164427, which was discovered only very recently, also has asecondary with stellar mass. Our findings support Halbwachs et al.'sconclusion about the possible existence of the ``brown dwarf desert''that separates the planets and the stellar secondaries.
| A Spectrophotometric Technique for Detecting Companions of Low-Mass M Dwarfs
The most common stars in the Galaxy are the main-sequence M dwarfs, yetcurrent techniques are not optimized for detecting companions around thelowest mass M dwarfs, those with spectral designations ranging from M6to M10. Described in this paper is a search for companions around suchstars using a newly designed differential spectrophotometric technique.This novel method combines the strengths of the photometric andspectroscopic techniques, while it minimizes their inherent limitations.The scientific goal of this project is to search for short-periodsystems containing brown dwarfs and giant planets. The detection of orplacing limits on such systems will help discriminate among competingtheories of planetary formation.
| Screening the Hipparcos-based astrometric orbits of sub-stellar objects
The combination of Hipparcos astrometric data with the spectroscopicdata of putative extrasolar planets seems to indicate that a significantfraction of these low-mass companions could be brown or M dwarfs (Han etal. \cite{Han-2001:a}). We show that this is due to the adoptedreduction procedure, and consequently that the Hipparcos data do notreject the planetary mass hypothesis in all but one cases. Additionalcompanions, undetected so far, might also explain the large astrometricresiduals of some of these stars. Based on observations from theHipparcos astrometric satellite operated by the European Space Agency(ESA 1997).
| Catalogue of Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (CADARS) - Third edition - Comments and statistics
The Catalogue, available at the Centre de Données Stellaires deStrasbourg, consists of 13 573 records concerning the results obtainedfrom different methods for 7778 stars, reported in the literature. Thefollowing data are listed for each star: identifications, apparentmagnitude, spectral type, apparent diameter in arcsec, absolute radiusin solar units, method of determination, reference, remarks. Commentsand statistics obtained from CADARS are given. The Catalogue isavailable in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcar?J/A+A/367/521
| Planets without stars : the probable abundance, nature, and significance of ISPs.
Not Available
| Kinematics of Hipparcos Visual Binaries. I. Stars with Orbital Solutions
A sample consisting of 570 binary systems is compiled from severalsources of visual binary stars with well-known orbital elements.High-precision trigonometric parallaxes (mean relative error about 5%)and proper motions (mean relative error about 3%) are extracted from theHipparcos Catalogue or from the reprocessed Hipparcos data. However, 13%of the sample stars lack radial velocity measurements. Computed galacticvelocity components and other kinematic parameters are used to dividethe sample stars into kinematic age groups. The majority (89%) of thesample stars, with known radial velocities, are the thin disk stars,9.5% binaries have thick disk kinematics and only 1.4% are halo stars.85% of thin disk binaries are young or medium age stars and almost 15%are old thin disk stars. There is an urgent need to increase the numberof the identified halo binary stars with known orbits and substantiallyimprove the situation with their radial velocity data.
| The Vienna-KPNO search for Doppler-imaging candidate stars. I. A catalog of stellar-activity indicators for 1058 late-type Hipparcos stars
We present the results from a spectroscopic Ca ii H&K survey of 1058late-type stars selected from a color-limited subsample of the Hipparcoscatalog. Out of these 1058 stars, 371 stars were found to showsignificant H&K emission, most of them previously unknown; 23% withstrong emission, 36% with moderate emission, and 41% with weak emission.These spectra are used to determine absolute H&K emission-linefluxes, radial velocities, and equivalent widths of theluminosity-sensitive Sr ii line at 4077 Ä. Red-wavelengthspectroscopic and Strömgren y photometric follow-up observations ofthe 371 stars with H&K emission are used to additionally determinethe absolute Hα -core flux, the lithium abundance from the Li i6708 Å equivalent width, the rotational velocity vsin i, theradial velocity, and the light variations and its periodicity. Thelatter is interpreted as the stellar rotation period due to aninhomogeneous surface brightness distribution. 156 stars were found withphotometric periods between 0.29 and 64 days, 11 additional systemsshowed quasi-periodic variations possibly in excess of ~50 days. Further54 stars had variations but no unique period was found, and four starswere essentially constant. Altogether, 170 new variable stars werediscovered. Additionally, we found 17 new SB1 (plus 16 new candidates)and 19 new SB2 systems, as well as one definite and two possible new SB3systems. Finally, we present a list of 21 stars that we think are mostsuitable candidates for a detailed study with the Doppler-imagingtechnique. Tables A1--A3 are only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Exploring the brown dwarf desert with Hipparcos
The orbital elements of 11 spectroscopic binaries with brown dwarfcandidates (M2 sin i between 0.01 and 0.08 Msun)are combined with the Hipparcos observations in order to deriveastrometric orbits. Estimations of the masses of the secondarycomponents are thus calculated. It appears that 5 secondary masses aremore than 2 sigmaM2 above the limit of 0.08Msun, and are therefore not brown dwarfs. 2 other stars arestill discarded at the 1 sigmaM2 level, 1 browndwarf is accepted with a low confidence, and we are finally left with 3viable candidates which must be studied by other means. A statisticalapproach is developed, based on the relation between the semi-major axesof the photocentric orbit, a_0, their errors, sigma a_0, andthe frequency distribution of the mass ratios, q. It is investigatedwhether the set of values of a_0 and sigma a_0 obtained forthe sample is compatible with different frequency distributions of q. Itis concluded that a minimum actually exists for M2 betweenabout 0.01 and 0.1 Msun for companions of solar-type stars.This feature could correspond to the transition between giant planetsand stellar companions. Due to the relatively large frequency of singlebrown dwarfs found recently in open clusters, it is concluded that thedistribution of the masses of the secondary components in binary systemsdoes not correspond to the IMF, at least for masses below thehydrogen-ignition limit. Based on photoelectric radial-velocitymeasurements collected at Haute-Provence observatory and on observationsmade with the ESA Hipparcos astrometry satellite.
| On the Nature of Low-Mass Companions to Solar-like Stars
Low-mass companions (mass <70 Jupiter masses) to solar-like stars arecompared statistically to stellar-mass secondaries in binaries ofsimilar primary spectral types and orbital scales, based largely on thesurvey of Duquennoy & Mayor. To within the limits imposed byobservational constraints, the orbital properties of these low-masscompanions (LMCs) are statistically indistinguishable from those ofbinary systems. In both populations, orbital periods (P), semimajor axes(a), angular momenta (L), and binding energies (U) are all distributedapproximately as f(x)~x-1 for x=P,a,L,U. In both populations,eccentricities are broadly distributed approximately asf(e)~e-0.5, with no significant correlation with otherorbital elements, apart from a marked circularization of close orbits.The distribution of LMC masses is approximately a power law with indexbetween -1 and -2 there is ambiguous evidence in the data for a massspectrum bimodality about approximately 10 Jupiter masses. In bothpopulations the joint distributions of mass with all orbital propertiesare largely scattergrams, with no statistically significantcorrelations. The overall statistical properties of LMCs are suggestiveof a common formation mechanism with binary star systems. The similarform of the distributions of all orbital dynamic quantities in bothpopulations may result from postformation dissipative orbital decay.
| Probing the {Na} BT I D and {K} BT I lambda 7699 resonance lines sensitivity to background opacity in late-type stars
We have measured the equivalent width WK of the K i resonanceline at 7699 Angstroms for a large sample of low activity late-typestars observed with high spectral resolution and we have verified thatthe relation WK vs. Teff is monotonicallydecreasing, for both dwarf and giant stars. This behaviour is differentfrom that of the Na I D lines for stars of the same type, which showedthat the relation WNa vs. Teff has a maximum forTeff ~ 4000 K, which is better defined for giants than fordwarfs (Tripicchio et al. 1997). The fit of the observed K I equivalentwidths by means of a NLTE spectral line synthesis using conventionalbackground opacity shows that, for dwarf stars, the adopted modelsoverestimate the observed WK for temperatures <~ 4000 K.This result is similar to that discussed for the Na I D lines in ourprevious paper. On the other hand, for giant stars with Teff<~ 3800 K these models in general underestimate WK. Thediscrepancies between observed and computed WK andWNa for cool stars are much stronger than the variations dueto uncertainties in either atmospheric model or line parameters, likeeffective temperature and surface gravity, or Van der Waals broadening.For M dwarf stars, the most convincing explanation for the disagreementis the lack of atomic and molecular line opacity in the adopted models.In fact, a NLTE spectral synthesis including an additional backgroundopacity reproduces with a good level of accuracy the equivalent widths,as well as the general shape of the profiles for both the Na I D and K Ilines, in a subsample of early-M dwarfs. Based on observations collectedat the European Southern Observatory (ESO), La Silla, Chile, and at theMcDonald Observatory, Mt. Locke, Texas, USA
| The mass distribution of extrasolar planet candidates and low-mass secondaries.
Not Available
| Speckle Interferometry of New and Problem HIPPARCOS Binaries
The ESA Hipparcos satellite made measurements of over 12,000 doublestars and discovered 3406 new systems. In addition to these, 4706entries in the Hipparcos Catalogue correspond to double star solutionsthat did not provide the classical parameters of separation and positionangle (rho,theta) but were the so-called problem stars, flagged ``G,''``O,'' ``V,'' or ``X'' (field H59 of the main catalog). An additionalsubset of 6981 entries were treated as single objects but classified byHipparcos as ``suspected nonsingle'' (flag ``S'' in field H61), thusyielding a total of 11,687 ``problem stars.'' Of the many ground-basedtechniques for the study of double stars, probably the one with thegreatest potential for exploration of these new and problem Hipparcosbinaries is speckle interferometry. Results are presented from aninspection of 848 new and problem Hipparcos binaries, using botharchival and new speckle observations obtained with the USNO and CHARAspeckle cameras.
| Habitable Moons
Not Available
| MEETING ASTROPHYSICS:Enhanced: Protostars and Planets
Not Available
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Υδροχόος |
| Right ascension: | 23h01m51.55s |
| Declination: | -03°50'55.4" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 7.489 |
| Distance: | 16.938 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | 397.5 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -208.2 |
| B-T magnitude: | 8.687 |
| V-T magnitude: | 7.588 |
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