Carbon-enhanced Metal-poor Stars in SDSS/SEGUE. I. Carbon Abundance Estimation and Frequency of CEMP Stars - Archive ouverte HAL
Article Dans Une Revue The Astronomical Journal Année : 2013

Carbon-enhanced Metal-poor Stars in SDSS/SEGUE. I. Carbon Abundance Estimation and Frequency of CEMP Stars

Young Sun Lee
  • Fonction : Auteur
Timothy C. Beers
  • Fonction : Auteur
Thomas Masseron
  • Fonction : Auteur
Constance M. Rockosi
  • Fonction : Auteur
Jennifer Sobeck
  • Fonction : Auteur
Brian Yanny
  • Fonction : Auteur
Sara Lucatello
  • Fonction : Auteur
Thirupathi Sivarani
  • Fonction : Auteur
Vinicius M. Placco
  • Fonction : Auteur
Daniela Carollo
  • Fonction : Auteur

Résumé

We describe a method for the determination of stellar [C/Fe] abundance ratios using low-resolution (R = 2000) stellar spectra from the SDSS and SEGUE. By means of a star-by-star comparison with a set of SDSS/SEGUE spectra with available estimates of [C/Fe] based on published high-resolution analyses, we demonstrate that we can measure [C/Fe] from SDSS/SEGUE spectra with S/N > 15 to a precision better than 0.35 dex. Using the measured carbon-to-iron abundance ratios obtained by this technique, we derive the frequency of carbon-enhanced stars ([C/Fe] > +0.7) as a function of [Fe/H], for both the SDSS/SEGUE stars and other samples from the literature. We find that the differential frequency slowly rises from almost zero to about 14% at [Fe/H] ~ -2.4, followed by a sudden increase, by about a factor of three, to 39% from [Fe/H] ~ -2.4 to [Fe/H] ~ -3.7. We also examine how the cumulative frequency of CEMP stars varies across different luminosity classes. The giant sample exhibits a cumulative CEMP frequency of 32% for [Fe/H] < -2.5, 31% for [Fe/H] < -3.0, and 33% for [Fe/H] < -3.5. For the main-sequence turnoff stars, we obtain a lower cumulative CEMP frequency, around 10% for [Fe/H] < -2.5. The dwarf population displays a large change in the cumulative frequency for CEMP stars below [Fe/H] = -2.5, jumping from 15% for [Fe/H] < -2.5 to about 75% for [Fe/H] < -3.0. When we impose a restriction with respect to distance from the Galactic mid-plane (|Z| < 5 kpc), the frequency of the CEMP giants does not increase at low metallicity ([Fe/H] < -2.5), but rather, decreases, due to the dilution of C-rich material in stars that have undergone mixing with CNO-processed material from their interiors. The frequency of CEMP stars near the main-sequence turnoff, which are not expected to have experienced mixing, increases for [Fe/H] < -3.0. [abridged]

Dates et versions

hal-00873594 , version 1 (16-10-2013)

Identifiants

Citer

Young Sun Lee, Timothy C. Beers, Thomas Masseron, Bertrand Plez, Constance M. Rockosi, et al.. Carbon-enhanced Metal-poor Stars in SDSS/SEGUE. I. Carbon Abundance Estimation and Frequency of CEMP Stars. The Astronomical Journal, 2013, 146, pp.132. ⟨10.1088/0004-6256/146/5/132⟩. ⟨hal-00873594⟩
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