arXiv subjects

G. F. Porto de Mello

Publications and source records attributed to G. F. Porto de Mello.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2005

Astrobiologically Interesting Stars within 10 parsecs of the Sun

The existence of life based on carbon chemistry and water oceans relies upon planetary properties, chiefly climate stability, and stellar properties, such as mass, age, metallicity and Galactic orbits. The latter can be well constrained with present knowledge. We present a detailed, up-to-date compilation of the atmospheric parameters, chemical composition, multiplicity and degree of chromospheric activity for the astrobiologically interesting solar-type stars within 10 parsecs of the Sun. We determine their state of evolution, masses, ages and space velocities, and produce an optimized list of candidates that merit serious scientific consideration by the future space-based interferometry probes aimed at directly detecting Earth-sized extrasolar planets and seeking spectroscopic infrared biomarkers as evidence of photosynthetic life. The initially selected stars number 33 solar-type within the population of 182 stars (excluding late M-dwarfs) closer than 10 pc. A comprehensive and detailed data compilation for these objects is still essentially lacking: a considerable amount of recent data has so far gone unexplored in this context. We present 13 objects as the nearest "biostars", after eliminating multiple stars, young, chromospherically active, hard X-ray emitting stars, and low metallicity objects. Three of these "biostars", HD 1581, 109358 and 115617, closely reproduce most of the solar properties and are considered as premier targets. We show that approximately 7% of the nearby stars are optimally interesting targets for exobiology.

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arXiv2005

A Link Between the Semi-Major Axis of Extrasolar Gas Giant Planets and Stellar Metallicity

The fact that most extrasolar planets found to date are orbiting metal-rich stars lends credence to the core accretion mechanism of gas giant planet formation over its competitor, the disc instability mechanism. However, the core accretion mechanism is not refined to the point of explaining orbital parameters such as their unexpected semi-major axes and eccentricities. We propose a model, which correlates the metallicity of the host star with the original semi-major axis of its most massive planet, prior to migration, considering that the core accretion scenario governs giant gas planet formation. The model predicts that the optimum regions for planetary formation shift inward as stellar metallicity decreases, providing an explanation for the observed absence of long period planets in metal-poor stars. We compare our predictions with the available data on extrasolar planets for stars with masses similar to the mass of the Sun. A fitting procedure produces an estimate of what we define as the Zero Age Planetary Orbit (ZAPO) curve as a function of the metallicity of the star. The model also hints that the lack of planets circling metal-poor stars may be partly caused by an enhanced destruction probability during the migration process, since the planets lie initially closer to the central stars.

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arXiv2005

Abundances of Mn, Co and Eu in a sample of 20 F-G disk stars: the influence of hyperfine structure splitting

We present Mn, Co and Eu abundances for a sample of 20 disk F and G dwarfs and subgiants with metallicities in the range -0.8 <= [Fe/H] <= +0.3. We investigate the influence of hyperfine structure (HFS) on the derived abundances of Mn and Co by using HFS data from different sources in the literature, as well as calculated HFS from interaction factors A and B. Eu abundances were obtained from spectral synthesis of one Eu II line that takes into account HFS from a series of recent laboratory measurements. For the lines analyzed in this study, we find that for manganese, the differences between abundances obtained with different HFSs are no larger than 0.10 dex. Our cobalt abundances are even less sensitive to the choice of HFS than Mn, presenting a 0.07 dex maximum difference between determinations with different HFSs. However, the cobalt HFS data from different sources are significantly different. Our abundance results for Mn offer an independent confirmation of the results from Prochaska & McWilliam (2000), who favour type Ia supernovae as the main nucleosynthesis site of Mn production, in contrast to trends of Mn versus metallicity previously reported in the literature. For Co, we obtain [Co/Fe] ~ 0.0 in the range -0.3 < [Fe/H] < +0.3 and [Co/Fe] rising to a level of +0.2 when [Fe/H] decreases from -0.3 to -0.8, in disagreement with recent results in the literature. The observed discrepancies may be attributed to the lack of HFS in the works we used for comparison. Our results for Eu are in accordance with low-mass type II supernovae being the main site of the r-process nucleosynthesis.

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arXiv2005

The age of the Galactic thin disk from Th/Eu nucleocosmochronology III. Extended sample

The first determination of the age of the Galactic thin disk from Th/Eu nucleocosmochronology was accomplished by us in Papers I and II. The present work aimed at reducing the age uncertainty by expanding the stellar sample with the inclusion of seven new objects - an increase by 37%. A set of [Th/Eu] abundance ratios was determined from spectral synthesis and merged with the results from Paper I. Abundances for the new, extended sample were analyzed with the aid of a Galactic disk chemical evolution (GDCE) model developed by us is Paper II. The result was averaged with an estimate obtained in Paper II from a conjunction of literature data and our GDCE model, providing our final, adopted disk age T_G = (8.8 +/- 1.7) Gyr with a reduction of 0.1 Gyr (6%) in the uncertainty. This value is compatible with the most up-to-date white dwarf age determinations (<~ 10 Gyr). Considering that the halo is currently presumed to be (13.5 +/- 0.7) Gyr old, our result prompts groups developing Galactic formation models to include an hiatus of (4.7 +/- 1.8) Gyr between the formation of halo and disk.

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arXiv2005

The age of the Galactic thin disk from Th/Eu nucleocosmochronology I. Determination of [Th/Eu] abundance ratios

The purpose of this work is to resume investigation of Galactic thin disk dating using nucleocosmochronology with Th/Eu stellar abundance ratios, a theme absent from the literature since 1990. A stellar sample of 20 disk dwarfs/subgiants of F5 to G8 spectral types with -0.8 <= [Fe/H] <= +0.3 was selected. In stars with such spectral types and luminosity classes, spectral synthesis techniques must be employed if we wish to achieve acceptably accurate results. A homogeneous, self-consistent set of atmospheric parameters was determined. Effective temperatures were determined from photometric calibrations and H-alpha profile fitting; surface gravities were obtained from Teff, stellar masses and luminosities; microturbulence velocities and metallicities were obtained from detailed, differential spectroscopic analysis, relative to the Sun, using equivalent widths of Fe I and Fe II lines. Chemical abundances of the elements that contaminate the Th and Eu spectral regions (Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Ce, Nd, and Sm) were determined through spectroscopic analysis. Abundance uncertainties were thoroughly scrutinised, their average value - (0.10 +/- 0.02) dex - being found to be satisfactorily low. Eu and Th abundances were determined by spectral synthesis of one Eu II line (4129.72 A) and one Th II line (4019.13 A), taking into account the detailed hyperfine structures of contaminating Co lines, as well as the hyperfine structure and isotope shift of the Eu line. Comparison of our abundances with literature data shows that our results exhibit a similar behaviour, but a considerably lower scatter (36% lower for Eu, and 61% lower for Th). The [Th/Eu] abundance ratios thus obtained were used, in the second paper of this series, to determine the age of the Galactic disk.

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arXiv1999

Copper and Barium Abundances in the Ursa Major Moving Group

We present Cu and Ba abundances for 7 G-K dwarf stars, members of the solar-metallicity, 0.3 Gyr old Ursa Major Moving Group. All analyzed member stars show [Ba/Fe] excesses of +0.3-plus, associated with [Cu/Fe] deficiencies of up to -0.23 dex. The present results suggest that there is an anti-correlation between the abundances of Cu and the heavy elements produced by the main component of the neutron capture s-process. Other possible anomalies are Na and C deficiencies with respect to normal solar-metallicity stars. The new data do not confirm the recent claim that the group member HR6094 is a Ba dwarf star.

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