- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/607/A44
- Title:
- FLAMES observations of NGC6535
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/607/A44
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- To understand globular clusters (GCs) we need to comprehend how their formation process was able to produce their abundance distribution of light elements. In particular, we need to figure out which stars imprinted the peculiar chemical signature of GCs. One of the best way is to study the light-element anti-correlations in a large sample of GCs, analysed homogeneously. As part of our spectroscopic survey of GCs with FLAMES, we present here the results of our study of about 30 red giant member stars in the low-mass, low-metallicity Milky Way cluster NGC 6535. We measured its metallicity (finding [Fe/H]=-1.95, rms=0.04dex in our homogeneous scale) and other elements, in particular we concentrate here on O and Na abundances. These elements define the normal Na-O anti-correlation of classical GCs, making NGC 6535 perhaps the lowest mass cluster with confirmed presence of multiple populations. We updated the census of Galactic and extragalactic GCs for which a statement on the presence or absence of multiple populations can be made on the basis of high-resolution spectroscopy preferentially, or photometry and low-resolution spectroscopy otherwise, discussing the importance of mass and age of the clusters.
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- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/805/65
- Title:
- FLAMES observations of NGC 5128's globular clusters
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/805/65
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a study of the dynamical properties of 125 compact stellar systems (CSSs) in the nearby giant elliptical galaxy NGC 5128, using high-resolution spectra (R~26000) obtained with Very Large Telescope/FLAMES. Our results provide evidence for a new type of star cluster, based on the CSS dynamical mass scaling relations. All radial velocity (v_r_) and line-of-sight velocity dispersion ({sigma}_los_) measurements are performed with the penalized pixel fitting (ppxf) technique, which provided {sigma}_ppxf_ estimates for 115 targets. The {sigma}_ppxf_ estimates are corrected to the 2D projected half-light radii, {sigma}_1/2_, as well as the cluster cores, {sigma}_0_, accounting for observational/aperture effects and are combined with structural parameters, from high spatial resolution imaging, in order to derive total dynamical masses (M_dyn_) for 112 members of NGC5128's star cluster system. In total, 89 CSSs have dynamical masses measured for the first time along with the corresponding dynamical mass-to-light ratios ({sigma}_1/2_). We find two distinct sequences in the {gamma}^dyn^_V_-M_dyn_ plane, which are well approximated by power laws of the forms {gamma}^dyn^_V_{propto}M_dyn_^0.33+/-0.04^ and {gamma}^dyn^_V_{propto}M_dyn_^0.79+/-0.04^. The shallower sequence corresponds to the very bright tail of the globular cluster luminosity function (GCLF), while the steeper relation appears to be populated by a distinct group of objects that require significant dark gravitating components such as central massive black holes and/or exotically concentrated dark matter distributions. This result would suggest that the formation and evolution of these CSSs are markedly different from the "classical" globular clusters in NGC 5128 and the Local Group, despite the fact that these clusters have luminosities similar to the GCLF turnover magnitude. We include a thorough discussion of myriad factors potentially influencing our measurements.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/561/A87
- Title:
- FLAMES observations of Terzan 8
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/561/A87
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Massive globular clusters (GCs) contain at least two generations of stars with slightly different ages and clearly distinct light elements abundances. The Na-O anticorrelation is the best studied chemical signature of multiple stellar generations. Low-mass clusters appear instead to be usually chemically homogeneous. We are investigating low-mass GCs to understand what is the lower mass limit where multiple populations can form, mainly using the Na and O abundance distribution. We used VLT/FLAMES spectra of giants in the low-mass, metal-poor GC Terzan 8, belonging to the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy, to determine abundances of Fe, O, Na, alpha-, Fe-peak, and neutron-capture elements in six stars observed with UVES and 14 observed with GIRAFFE. The average metallicity is [Fe/H]=-2.27+/-0.03 (rms=0.08), based on the six high-resolution UVES spectra. Only one star, observed with GIRAFFE, shows an enhanced abundance of Na and we tentatively assign it to the second generation. In this cluster, at variance with what happens in more massive GCs, the second generation seems to represent at most a small minority fraction. We discuss the implications of our findings, comparing Terzan 8 with the other Sgr dSph GCs, to GCs and field stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, Fornax, and in other dwarfs galaxies.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/881/79
- Title:
- Flamingos-2 near-infrared photometry in NGC 2244
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/881/79
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- As part of the ongoing effort to characterize the low-mass (sub)stellar population in a sample of massive young clusters, we have targeted the ~2Myr old cluster NGC2244. The distance to NGC2244 from Gaia DR2 parallaxes is 1.59kpc, with errors of 1% (statistical) and 11% (systematic). We used the Flamingos-2 near-infrared camera at the Gemini-South telescope for deep multi- band imaging of the central portion of the cluster (~2.4pc^2^). We determined membership in a statistical manner, through a comparison of the cluster's color-magnitude diagram to that of a control field. Masses and extinctions of the candidate members are then calculated with the help of evolutionary models, leading to the first initial mass function (IMF) of the cluster extending into the substellar regime, with the 90% completeness limit around 0.02M{sun}. The IMF is well represented by a broken power law (dN/dM{prop}M-{alpha}) with a break at ~0.4M{sun}. The slope on the high- mass side (0.4-7M{sun}) is {alpha}=2.12{+/-}0.08, close to the standard Salpeter slope. In the low-mass range (0.02-0.4M{sun}), we find a slope {alpha}=1.03{+/-}0.02, which is at the high end of the typical values obtained in nearby star-forming regions ({alpha}=0.5-1.0), but still in agreement within the uncertainties. Our results reveal no clear evidence for variations in the formation efficiency of brown dwarfs (BDs) and very low-mass stars due to the presence of OB stars, or for a change in stellar densities. Our finding rules out photoevaporation and fragmentation of infalling filaments as substantial pathways for BD formation.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/241/29
- Title:
- Flare catalog through LC data of Kepler DR25
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/241/29
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a flare catalog of the Kepler mission using the long-cadence data of Data Release 25. This catalog comprises 3420 flare stars and 162262 flare events. A comparison shows that the flare catalogs of previous studies are seriously polluted by various false-positive signals and artifacts. The incidence of flare stars rises with decreasing temperature, which accords with the theoretical analysis. The flare frequency distributions (FFDs) from F-type stars to M-type stars obey a power-law relation with {alpha}~2, indicating that they have the same mechanism on generating flares. The remarkable incidence and the deviation of FFDs on A-type flare stars imply that they generate flares in a different way. The activity-rotation relation is consistent with previous studies at low temperature bands, whereas it becomes dispersive with increasing temperature. Combined with the Gyrochronology, we find that the mixing of stars of two different dynamos gives rise to the dispersion. We thereby propose a scenario on understanding the activity-rotation relation across the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Based on the scenario and the correspondence of dynamo with regard to activity and rotation, we suggest a new expression on the activity-rotation relation, in which the segmentation is on the basis of the dynamo rather than the rotation period. The rotation distribution of flare stars shows that about 70% of flare stars rotate faster than 10 days and the rate approaches 95% at 30 days. Based on the incidence and the rotation distribution of flare stars, we estimate that a superflare with energy ~10^34^erg occurs on the Sun at least once in 5500yr.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/814/35
- Title:
- Flare events in M dwarf of M37
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/814/35
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Based on one-month long MMT time-series observations of the open cluster M37, we monitored light variations of nearly 2500 red dwarfs and successfully identified 420 flare events from 312 cluster M dwarf stars. For each flare light curve, we derived observational and physical parameters, such as flare shape, peak amplitude, duration, energy, and peak luminosity. We show that cool stars produce serendipitous flares energetic enough to be observed in the r-band, and their temporal and peak characteristics are almost the same as those in traditional U-band observations. We also found many large-amplitude flares with inferred {Delta}u>6mag in the cluster sample which had been rarely reported in previous ground-based observations. Following the ergodic hypothesis, we investigate in detail statistical properties of flare parameters over a range of energy (E_r_~=10^31^-10^34^erg). As expected, there are no statistical differences in the distributions of flare timescales, energies, and frequencies among stars of the same age and mass group. We note that our sample tend to have longer rise and decay timescales compared to those seen in field flare stars of the same spectral type and be more energetic. Flare frequency distributions follow power-law distributions with slopes {beta}~0.62-1.21 for all flare stars and {beta}~0.52-0.97 for stars with membership information (P_mem_>=0.2). These are in general agreement with previous works on flare statistics of young open clusters and nearby field stars. Our results give further support to the classical age-activity relations.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/159/60
- Title:
- 8695 flares from 1228 stars in TESS sectors 1 & 2
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/159/60
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We perform a study of stellar flares for the 24809 stars observed with 2 minute cadence during the first two months of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. Flares may erode exoplanets' atmospheres and impact their habitability, but might also trigger the genesis of life around small stars. TESS provides a new sample of bright dwarf stars in our galactic neighborhood, collecting data for thousands of M dwarfs that might host habitable exoplanets. Here, we use an automated search for flares accompanied by visual inspection. Then, our public allesfitter code robustly selects the appropriate model for potentially complex flares via Bayesian evidence. We identify 1228 flaring stars, 673 of which are M dwarfs. Among 8695 flares in total, the largest superflare increased the stellar brightness by a factor of 16.1. Bolometric flare energies range from 10^31.0^ to 10^36.9^erg, with a median of 10^33.1^erg. Furthermore, we study the flare rate and energy as a function of stellar type and rotation period. We solidify past findings that fast rotating M dwarfs are the most likely to flare and that their flare amplitude is independent of the rotation period. Finally, we link our results to criteria for prebiotic chemistry, atmospheric loss through coronal mass ejections, and ozone sterilization. Four of our flaring M dwarfs host exoplanet candidates alerted on by TESS, for which we discuss how these effects can impact life. With upcoming TESS data releases, our flare analysis can be expanded to almost all bright small stars, aiding in defining criteria for exoplanet habitability.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/645/A42
- Title:
- Flares in 5 open clusters
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/645/A42
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Magnetic fields are a key component in the main sequence evolution of low mass stars. Flares, energetic eruptions on the surfaces of stars, are an unmistakable manifestation of magnetically driven emission. The occurrence rates and energy distributions of flares trace stellar characteristics such as mass and age. But before flares can be used to constrain stellar properties, the flaring-age-mass relation requires proper calibration. This work sets out to quantify flaring activity of independently age-dated main sequence stars for a broad range of spectral types using optical light curves obtained by the Kepler satellite. Drawing from the complete K2 archive, we searched 3435 80 day long light curves of 2111 open cluster members for flares using the open-source software packages K2SC to remove instrumental and astrophysical variability from K2 light curves, and AltaiPony to search and characterize the flare candidates. We confirmed a total of 3844 flares on high probability open cluster members with ages from zero age main sequence (Pleiades) to 3.6Gyr (M67). We extended the mass range probed in the first study of this series to span from Sun-like stars to mid-M dwarfs. We added the Hyades (690Myr) to the sample as a comparison cluster to Praesepe (750Myr), the 2.6Gyr old Ruprecht 147, and several hundred light curves from the late K2 Campaigns in the remaining clusters. We found that the flare energy distribution was similar in the entire parameter space, following a power law relation with an exponent between 1.84 and 2.39. We confirmed that flaring rates declined with age, and declined faster for higher mass stars. Our results are in good agreement with most previous statistical flare studies. We found evidence that a rapid decline in flaring activity occurred in M1-M2 dwarfs around Hyades/Praesepe age, when these stars spun down to rotation periods of about 10 d, while higher mass stars had already transitioned to lower flaring rates, and lower mass stars still resided in the saturated activity regime. We conclude that some discrepancies between our results and flare studies that used rotation periods for their age estimates could be explained by sample selection bias toward more active stars, but others may hint at limitations of using rotation as an age indicator without additional constraints from stellar activity.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/140/483
- Title:
- Flares of UV Cet type stars
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/140/483
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- In this study, a new method is presented to classify flares derived from the photoelectric photometry of UV Ceti type stars. This method is based on statistical analyses using an independent samples t-test. The data used in analyses were obtained from four flare stars observed between 2004 and 2007. The total number of flares obtained in the observations of AD Leo, EV Lac, EQ Peg, and V1054 Oph is 321 in the standard Johnson U band. As a result flares can be separated into two types, slow and fast, depending on the ratio of flare decay time to flare rise time. The ratio is below 3.5 for all slow flares, while it is above 3.5 for all fast flares. Also, according to the independent samples t-test, there is a difference of about 157 s between equivalent durations of slow and fast flares. In addition, there are significant differences between amplitudes and rise times of slow and fast flares.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/447/2714
- Title:
- Flare stars across the H-R diagram
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/447/2714
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- From Kepler data, we show that the incidence of flares on stars drops by only a factor of 4 from K-M dwarfs to A-F stars. Allowing for visibility effects, this implies that the true relative number of flare stars does not change very much from cool dwarfs to hot A stars. The idea that flares on A stars can be attributed to a cool companion has to be rejected because it leads to flare amplitudes two orders of magnitude smaller than actually observed. We confirm that spots on flare stars are generally larger than those on non-flare stars and that flare stars rotate significantly faster than non-flare stars. Analysis of 209 flare stars observed in Kepler short-cadence mode allows accurate measurements of flare shapes and duration. We find that about one-third of the flares have a bump or slope discontinuity on the decaying branch and that flares of long duration are to be found in stars with low surface gravities. Flare energies are strongly correlated with stellar luminosity and radius. The correlation with radius leads to a rough estimate of several tens of gauss for the typical magnetic field associated with a flare. The correlation with stellar luminosity can be understood if the typical flare loop length-scales approximately as the stellar radius. We examined the flare frequency as a function of orbital phase in three eclipsing binaries in which a large number of flares are visible. There appears to be no correlation of flaring with orbital phase, which weakens the hypothesis that flares in close binaries could be a result of reconnection of field lines connecting the two stars.