High-resolution spectroscopic study of red clump stars in the Galaxy: iron-group elements

  1. E. Puzeras1,*,
  2. G. Tautvaišienė1,
  3. J. G. Cohen2,
  4. D. F. Gray3,
  5. S. J. Adelman4,
  6. I. Ilyin5,
  7. Y. Chorniy1

Article first published online: 17 AUG 2010

DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17195.x

Issue

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Volume 408, Issue 2, pages 1225–1232, October 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

Puzeras, E., Tautvaišienė, G., Cohen, J. G., Gray, D. F., Adelman, S. J., Ilyin, I. and Chorniy, Y. (2010), High-resolution spectroscopic study of red clump stars in the Galaxy: iron-group elements. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 408: 1225–1232. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17195.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy, Vilnius University, Goštauto 12, Vilnius 01108, Lithuania

  2. 2

    Palomar Observatory, Mail Stop 249-17, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

  3. 3

    Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada

  4. 4

    Department of Physics, The Citadel, Charleston, SC 29409-0270, USA

  5. 5

    Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam, An der Sternwarte 16, Potsdam 14482, Germany

* E-mail: eduardas.puzeras@tfai.vu.lt

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 7 OCT 2010
  2. Article first published online: 17 AUG 2010
  3. Accepted 2010 June 14. Received 2010 June 14; in original form 2010 May 20

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Keywords:

  • stars: abundances;
  • stars: atmospheres;
  • stars: horizontal branch

ABSTRACT

The main atmospheric parameters and abundances of the iron-group elements (vanadium, chromium, iron, cobalt and nickel) are determined for 62 red giant ‘clump’ stars revealed in the Galactic field by the Hipparcos orbiting observatory. The stars form a homogeneous sample with the mean value of temperature Teff= 4750 ± 160 K, of surface gravity log g= 2.41 ± 0.26 and the mean value of metallicity [Fe/H]=−0.04 ± 0.15 dex. A Gaussian fit to the [Fe/H] distribution produces the mean 〈[Fe/H]〉=−0.01 and dispersion σ[Fe/H]= 0.08. The near-solar metallicity and small dispersion of σ[Fe/H] of clump stars of the Galaxy obtained in this paper confirm the theoretical model of the Hipparcos clump by Girardi & Salaris. This suggests that nearby clump stars are (in the mean) relatively young objects, reflecting mainly the near-solar metallicities developed in the local disc during the last few Gyr of its history. We find iron-group element to iron-abundance ratios in clump giants to be close to solar.

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