Quantitative spectroscopic J-band study of red supergiants in Perseus OB-1
Abstract
We demonstrate how the metallicities of red supergiant (RSG) stars can be measured from quantitative spectroscopy down to resolutions of ≈3000 in the J-band. We have obtained high resolution spectra on a sample of the RSG population of h and χ Persei, a double cluster in the solar neighborhood. We show that careful application of the MARCS model atmospheres returns measurements of Z consistent with solar metallicity. Using two grids of synthetic spectra–one in pure LTE and one with non-LTE (NLTE) calculations for the most important diagnostic lines–we measure Z = +0.04 ± 0.10 (LTE) and Z = –0.04 ± 0.08 (NLTE) for the sample of eleven RSGs in the cluster. We degrade the spectral resolution of our observations and find that those values remain consistent down to resolutions of less than λ/δλ of 3000. Using measurements of effective temperatures we compare our results with stellar evolution theory and find good agreement. We construct a synthetic cluster spectrum and find that analyzing this composite spectrum with single-star RSG models returns an accurate metallicity. We conclude that the RSGs make ideal targets in the near infrared for measuring the metallicities of star forming galaxies out to 7-10 Mpc and up tomore »
- Authors:
-
- Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai'i, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
- Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF (United Kingdom)
- Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA (United Kingdom)
- Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier, Université Montpellier 2, CNRS, F-34095 Montpellier (France)
- Publication Date:
- OSTI Identifier:
- 22356673
- Resource Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal Name:
- Astrophysical Journal
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 788; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ABUNDANCE; ATMOSPHERES; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; GALAXIES; LTE; METALLICITY; RESOLUTION; SPECTRA; SPECTROSCOPY; STAR CLUSTERS; STAR EVOLUTION; STARS; VISIBLE RADIATION
Citation Formats
Gazak, J. Zachary, Kudritzki, Rolf, Davies, Ben, Bergemann, Maria, and Plez, Bertrand. Quantitative spectroscopic J-band study of red supergiants in Perseus OB-1. United States: N. p., 2014.
Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/788/1/58.
Gazak, J. Zachary, Kudritzki, Rolf, Davies, Ben, Bergemann, Maria, & Plez, Bertrand. Quantitative spectroscopic J-band study of red supergiants in Perseus OB-1. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/788/1/58
Gazak, J. Zachary, Kudritzki, Rolf, Davies, Ben, Bergemann, Maria, and Plez, Bertrand. 2014.
"Quantitative spectroscopic J-band study of red supergiants in Perseus OB-1". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/788/1/58.
@article{osti_22356673,
title = {Quantitative spectroscopic J-band study of red supergiants in Perseus OB-1},
author = {Gazak, J. Zachary and Kudritzki, Rolf and Davies, Ben and Bergemann, Maria and Plez, Bertrand},
abstractNote = {We demonstrate how the metallicities of red supergiant (RSG) stars can be measured from quantitative spectroscopy down to resolutions of ≈3000 in the J-band. We have obtained high resolution spectra on a sample of the RSG population of h and χ Persei, a double cluster in the solar neighborhood. We show that careful application of the MARCS model atmospheres returns measurements of Z consistent with solar metallicity. Using two grids of synthetic spectra–one in pure LTE and one with non-LTE (NLTE) calculations for the most important diagnostic lines–we measure Z = +0.04 ± 0.10 (LTE) and Z = –0.04 ± 0.08 (NLTE) for the sample of eleven RSGs in the cluster. We degrade the spectral resolution of our observations and find that those values remain consistent down to resolutions of less than λ/δλ of 3000. Using measurements of effective temperatures we compare our results with stellar evolution theory and find good agreement. We construct a synthetic cluster spectrum and find that analyzing this composite spectrum with single-star RSG models returns an accurate metallicity. We conclude that the RSGs make ideal targets in the near infrared for measuring the metallicities of star forming galaxies out to 7-10 Mpc and up to 10 times farther by observing the integrated light of unresolved super star clusters.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/788/1/58},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22356673},
journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 1,
volume = 788,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jun 10 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Tue Jun 10 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}