arXiv subjects

J. Meléndez

Publications and source records attributed to J. Meléndez.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

TOI-1055 b: Neptunian planet characterised with HARPS, TESS, and CHEOPS

TOI-1055 is a Sun-like star known to host a transiting Neptune-sized planet on a 17.5-day orbit (TOI-1055 b). Radial velocity (RV) analyses carried out by two independent groups using nearly the same set of HARPS spectra have provided measurements of planetary masses that differ by $\sim$ 2$σ$. Our aim in this work is to solve the inconsistency in the published planetary masses by significantly extending the set of HARPS RV measurements and employing a new analysis tool that is able to account and correct for stellar activity. Our further aim was to improve the precision on measurements of the planetary radius by observing two transits of the planet with the CHEOPS space telescope. We fit a skew normal (SN) function to each cross correlation function extracted from the HARPS spectra to obtain RV measurements and hyperparameters to be used for the detrending. We evaluated the correlation changes of the hyperparameters along the RV time series using the breakpoint technique. We performed a joint photometric and RV analysis using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) scheme to simultaneously detrend the light curves and the RV time series. We firmly detected the Keplerian signal of TOI-1055 b, deriving a planetary mass of $M_b=20.4_{-2.5}^{+2.6} M_{\oplus}$ ($\sim$12%). This value is in agreement with one of the two estimates in the literature, but it is significantly more precise. Thanks to the TESS transit light curves combined with exquisite CHEOPS photometry, we also derived a planetary radius of $R_b=3.490_{-0.064}^{+0.070} R_{\oplus}$ ($\sim$1.9%). Our mass and radius measurements imply a mean density of $ρ_b=2.65_{-0.35}^{+0.37}$ g cm$^{-3}$ ($\sim$14%). We further inferred the planetary structure and found that TOI-1055 b is very likely to host a substantial gas envelope with a mass of $0.41^{+0.34}_{-0.20}$ M$_\oplus$ and a thickness of $1.05^{+0.30}_{-0.29}$ R$_\oplus$.

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arXiv2021

Chemical evolution of the Galactic bulge as traced by microlensed dwarf and subgiant stars. VIII. Carbon and oxygen

CONTEXT: [ABRIDGED]. For the Milky Way bulge, there are currently essentially no measurements of carbon in un-evolved stars, hampering our abilities to properly compare Galactic chemical evolution models to observational data for this still enigmatic stellar population. AIMS: We aim to determine carbon abundances for our sample of 91 microlensed bulge dwarf and subgiant stars. Together with new determinations for oxygen this forms the first statistically significant sample of bulge stars that have C and O abundances measured, and for which the C abundances have not been altered by the nuclear burning processes internal to the stars. METHODS: The analysis is based on high-resolution spectra for a sample of 91 dwarf and subgiant stars that were obtained during microlensing events when the brightnesses of the stars were highly magnified. Carbon abundances were determined through spectral line synthesis of five CI lines around 9100 A, and oxygen abundances using the three OI lines at about 7770 A. [ABRIDGED] RESULTS: Carbon abundances was possible to determine for 70 of the 91 stars in the sample and oxygen abundances for 88 of the 91 stars in the sample. The [C/Fe] ratio evolves essentially in lockstep with [Fe/H], centred around solar values at all [Fe/H]. The [O/Fe]-[Fe/H] trend has an appearance very similar to that observed for other alpha-elements in the bulge, [ABRIDGED]. When dividing the bulge sample into two sub-groups, one younger than 8 Gyr and one older than 8 Gyr, the stars in the two groups follow exactly the elemental abundance trends defined by the solar neighbourhood thin and thick disks, respectively. Comparisons with recent models of Galactic chemical evolution in the [C/O]-[O/H] plane shows that the models that best match the data are the ones that have been calculated with the Galactic thin and thick disks in mind. [ABRIDGED] ....

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arXiv2021

Rocky planet engulfment in the binary system HIP 71726-37

Binary stars are supposed to be chemically homogeneous, as they are born from the same molecular cloud. However, high precision chemical abundances show that some binary systems display chemical differences between the components, which could be due to planet engulfment. In this work, we determine precise fundamental parameters and chemical abundances for the binary system HIP 71726/ HIP 71737. Our results show that the pair is truly conatal, coeval and comoving. We also find that the component HIP 71726 is more metal-rich than HIP 71737 in the refractory elements such as iron, with $Δ$[Fe/H] $= 0.11 \pm 0.01$ dex. Moreover, HIP 71726 has a lithium abundance 1.03 dex higher than HIP 71737, which is the largest difference in Li detected in twin-star binary systems with $Δ$ $T_{\rm eff}$ $\leq$ 50 K. The ingestion of $9.8^{+2.0}_{-1.6}$ M$_{\oplus}$ of rocky material fully explains both the enhancement in refractory elements and the high Li content observed in HIP 71726, thereby reinforcing the planet engulfment scenario in some binary systems.

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arXiv2021

Searching for new solar twins: The Inti survey for the Northern Sky

Solar twins are key in different areas of astrophysics, however only just over a hundred were identified and well-studied in the last two decades. In this work, we take advantage of the very precise \textit{Gaia} (DR2/EDR3), Tycho and 2MASS photometric systems to create the Inti survey of new solar twins in the Northern Hemisphere. The spectra of our targets were initially obtained with spectrographs of moderate resolution (ARCES and Goodman spectrographs with $R$ = 31500 and 11930, respectively) to find the best solar twin candidates and then observed at McDonald Observatory with higher resolving power (TS23, $R$ = 60000) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR $\sim$ 300-500). The stellar parameters were estimated through the differential spectroscopic equilibrium relative to the Sun, which allow us to achieve a high internal precision ($σ(T_{\rm{eff}})$ = 15 K, $σ(\log g)$ = 0.03 dex, $σ$([Fe/H]) = 0.01 dex, and $σ(v_{t})$ = 0.03 km s$^{-1}$). We propose a new class of stars with evolution similar to the Sun: \textit{solar proxy}, which is useful to perform studies related to the evolution of the Sun, such as its rotational and magnetic evolution. Its definition is based on metallicity ($-$0.15 dex $\leq$ [Fe/H] $\leq$ +0.15 dex) and mass (0.95 M$_{\odot}$ $\leq$ M $\leq$ 1.05 M$_{\odot}$) constraints, thus assuring that the star follows a similar evolutionary path as the Sun along the main sequence. Based on this new definition, we report 70 newly identified solar proxies, 46 solar analogs and 13 solar-type stars. In addition, we identified 9 \textit{close solar twins} whose stellar parameters are the most similar to those of the Sun.

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arXiv2021

Gemini/Phoenix H-band analysis of the globular cluster AL3

The globular cluster AL~3 is old and located in the inner bulge. Three individual stars were observed with the Phoenix spectrograph at the Gemini South telescope. The wavelength region contains prominent lines of CN, OH, and CO, allowing the derivation of C, N, and O abundances of cool stars. We aim to derive C, N, O abundances of three stars in the bulge globular cluster AL3, and additionally in stars of NGC 6558 and HP1. The spectra of AL3 allows us to derive the cluster's radial velocity. For AL3, we applied a new code to analyse its colour-magnitude diagram. Synthetic spectra were computed and compared to observed spectra for the three clusters. We present a detailed identification of lines in the spectral region centred at 15555 A, covering the wavelength range 15525-15590 A. C, N, and O abundances are tentatively derived for the sample stars.

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arXiv2020

Chemical evolution of the Galactic bulge as traced by microlensed dwarf and subgiant stars. VII. Lithium

Lithium abundances are presented for 91 dwarf and subgiant stars in the Galactic bulge. The analysis is based on line synthesis of the 7Li line at 6707 Å in high-resolution spectra obtained during gravitational microlensing events, when the brightnesses of the targets were highly magnified. Our main finding is that the bulge stars at sub-solar metallicities, and that are older than about eight billion years, does not show any sign of Li production, that is, the Li trend with metallicity is flat (or even slightly declining). This indicates that no lithium was produced during the first few billion years in the history of the bulge. This finding is essentially identical to what is seen for the (old) thick disk stars in the Solar neighbourhood, and adds another piece of evidence for a tight connection between the metal-poor bulge and the Galactic thick disk. For the bulge stars younger than about eight billion years, the sample contains a group of stars at very high metallicities at [Fe/H]~+0.4 that have lithium abundances in the range A(Li)=2.6-2.8. In the Solar neighbourhood the lithium abundances have been found to peak at a A(Li)~3.3 at [Fe/H]~ +0.1 and then decrease by 0.4-0.5 dex when reaching [Fe/H]~+0.4. The few bulge stars that we have at these metallicities, seem to support this declining A(Li) trend. This could indeed support the recent claim that the low A(Li) abundances at the highest metallicities seen in the Solar neighbourhood could be due to stars from the inner disk, or the bulge region, that have migrated to the Solar neighbourhood.

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arXiv2019

Revisiting the 16 Cygni planet host at unprecedented precision and exploring automated tools for precise abundances

The binary system 16 Cygni is key in studies of the planet-star chemical composition connection, as only one of the stars is known to host a planet. This allows us to better assess the possible influence of planet interactions on the chemical composition of stars that are born from the same cloud and thus, should have a similar abundance pattern. In our previous work, we found clear abundance differences for elements with Z$\leq30$ between both components of this system, and a trend of these abundances as a function of the condensation temperature (T$_{c}$), which suggests a spectral chemical signature related to planet formation. In this work we show that our previous findings are still consistent even if we include more species, like the volatile N and neutron capture elements (Z $>$ 30). We report a slope with T$_{c}$ of $1.56 \pm 0.24 \times 10^{-5}$ dex K$^{-1}$, that is good agreement with both our previous work and recent results by Nissen and collaborators. We also performed some tests using ARES and iSpec to automatic measure the equivalent width and found T$_c$ slopes in reasonable agreement with our results as well. In addition, we determine abundances for Li and Be by spectral synthesis, finding that 16 Cyg A is richer not only in Li but also in Be, when compared to its companion. This may be evidence of planet engulfment, indicating that the T$_{c}$ trend found in this binary system may be a chemical signature of planet accretion in the A component, rather than a imprint of the giant planet rocky core formation on 16 Cyg B.

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arXiv2019

Chemical (in)homogeneity and atomic diffusion in the open cluster M67

Context. The benchmark open cluster M67 is known to have solar metallicity and similar age as the Sun. It thus provides us a great opportunity to study the properties of solar twins, as well as the evolution of Sun-like stars. Aims. Previous spectroscopic studies reported to detect possible subtle changes in stellar surface abundances throughout the stellar evolutionary phase, namely the effect of atomic diffusion, in M67. In this study we attempt to confirm and quantify more precisely the effect of atomic diffusion, as well as to explore the level of chemical (in)homogeneity in M67. Methods. We presented a strictly line-by-line differential chemical abundance analysis of two groups of stars in M67: three turn-off stars and three sub-giants. Stellar atmospheric parameters and elemental abundances were obtained with very high precision using the Keck/HIRES spectra. Results. The sub-giants in our sample show negligible abundance variations ($\le$ 0.02 dex), which implies that M67 was born chemically homogeneous. We note there is a significant abundance difference ($\sim$ 0.1 - 0.2 dex) between sub-giants and turn-off stars, which can be interpreted as the signature of atomic diffusion. Qualitatively stellar models with diffusion agree with the observed abundance results. Some turn-off stars do not follow the general pattern, which suggests that in some cases diffusion can be inhibited, or they might suffered some sort of mixing event related to planets. Conclusions. Our results pose additional challenges for chemical tagging when using turn-off stars. In particular, the effects of atomic diffusion, which could be as large as 0.1 - 0.2 dex, must be taken into account in order for chemical tagging to be successfully applied.

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arXiv2018

Modelling the solar twin 18 Sco

Solar twins are objects of great interest in that they allow us to understand better how stellar evolution and structure are affected by variations of the stellar mass, age and chemical composition in the vicinity of the commonly accepted solar values. We aim to use the existing spectrophotometric, interferometric and asteroseismic data for the solar twin 18 Sco to constrain stellar evolution models. 18 Sco is the brightest solar twin and is a good benchmark for the study of solar twins. The goal is to obtain realistic estimates of its physical characteristics (mass, age, initial chemical composition, mixing-length parameter) and realistic associated uncertainties using stellar models. We set up a Bayesian model that relates the statistical properties of the data to the probability density of the stellar parameters. Special care is given to the modelling of the likelihood for the seismic data, using Gaussian mixture models. The probability densities of the stellar parameters are approximated numerically using an adaptive MCMC algorithm. From these approximate distributions we proceeded to a statistical analysis. We also performed the same exercise using local optimisation. The precision on the mass is approximately 6%. The precision reached on X0 and Z0 and the mixing-length parameter are respectively 6%, 9%, and 35%. The posterior density for the age is bimodal, with modes at 4.67 Gyr and 6.95 Gyr, the first one being slightly more likely. We show that this bimodality is directly related to the structure of the seismic data. When asteroseismic data or interferometric data are excluded, we find significant losses of precision for the mass and the initial hydrogen-mass fraction. Our final estimates of the uncertainties from the Bayesian analysis are significantly larger than values inferred from local optimization.

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arXiv2018

Detailed chemical compositions of the wide binary HD 80606/80607: revised stellar properties and constraints on planet formation

Differences in the elemental abundances of planet hosting stars in binary systems can give important clues and constraints about planet formation and evolution. In this study we performed a high-precision, differential elemental abundance analysis of a wide binary system, HD 80606/80607, based on high-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio Keck/HIRES spectra. HD 80606 is known to host a four Jupiter mass giant planet while no planet has yet been detected around HD 80607. We determined stellar parameters as well as abundances for 23 elements for these two stars with extremely high precision. Our main results are: (i) we confirmed that the two components share very similar chemical compositions, but HD 80606 is marginally more metal-rich than HD 80607 with an average difference of +0.013 $\pm$ 0.002 dex ($σ$ = 0.009 dex) and (ii) there is no obvious trend between abundance differences and condensation temperature. Assuming this binary formed from material with the same chemical composition, it is difficult to understand how giant planet formation could produce the present-day photospheric abundances of the elements we measure. We can not exclude the possibility that HD 80606 might have accreted about 2.5 to 5 $M_{\rm Earth}$ material onto its surface, possibly from a planet destabilised by the known highly-eccentric giant.

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arXiv2017

The age and abundance structure of the stellar populations in the central sub-kpc of the Milky Way

The four main findings about the age and abundance structure of the Milky Way bulge based on microlensed dwarf and subgiant stars are: (1) a wide metallicity distribution with distinct peaks at [Fe/H]=-1.09, -0.63, -0.20, +0.12, +0.41; (2) a high fraction of intermediate-age to young stars where at [Fe/H]>0 more than 35 % are younger than 8 Gyr, (3) several episodes of significant star formation in the bulge 3, 6, 8, and 11 Gyr ago; (4) the `knee' in the alpha-element abundance trends of the sub-solar metallicity bulge appears to be located at a slightly higher [Fe/H] (about 0.05 to 0.1 dex) than in the local thick disk.

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arXiv2017

Chemical evolution of the Galactic bulge as traced by microlensed dwarf and subgiant stars. VI. Age and abundance structure of the stellar populations in the central sub-kpc of the Milky Way

We present a detailed elemental abundance study of 90 F and G dwarf, turn-off and subgiant stars in the Galactic bulge. Based on high-resolution spectra acquired during gravitational microlensing events, stellar ages and abundances for 11 elements (Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, Zn, Y and Ba) have been determined. We find that the Galactic bulge has a wide metallicity distribution with significant peaks at [Fe/H]=-1.09, -0.63, -0.20, +0.12, +0.41. We also find a high fraction of intermediate-age to young stars: at [Fe/H]>0 more than 35 % are younger than 8 Gyr. For [Fe/H]<-0.5 most stars are 10 Gyr or older. We have also identified several episodes when significant star formation in the bulge happened: 3, 6, 8, and 12 Gyr ago. We further find that the "knee" in the alpha-element abundance trends of the sub-solar metallicity bulge is located at about 0.1 dex higher [Fe/H] than in the local thick disk. The Galactic bulge has complex age and abundance properties that appear to be tightly connected to the main Galactic stellar populations. In particular, the peaks in the metallicity distribution, the star formation episodes, and the abundance trends, show similarities with the properties of the Galactic thin and thick disks. At the same time there are additional components not seen outside the bulge region, and that most likely can be associated with the Galactic bar. For instance, the star formation rate appears to have been slightly faster in the bulge than in the local thick disk, which most likely is an indication of the denser stellar environment closer to the Galactic centre. Our results strengthen the observational evidence that support the idea of a secular origin for the Galactic bulge, formed out of the other main Galactic stellar populations present in the central regions of our Galaxy.

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arXiv2016

How much can we trust high-resolution spectroscopic stellar chemical abundances?

To study stellar populations, it is common to combine chemical abundances from different spectroscopic surveys/studies where different setups were used. These inhomogeneities can lead us to inaccurate scientific conclusions. In this work, we studied one aspect of the problem: When deriving chemical abundances from high-resolution stellar spectra, what differences originate from the use of different radiative transfer codes?

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arXiv2016

How much can we trust high-resolution spectroscopic stellar atmospheric parameters?

The determination of atmospheric parameters depends on the use of radiative transfer codes (among other elements such as model atmospheres) to compute synthetic spectra and/or derive abundances from equivalent widths. However, it is common to mix results from different surveys/studies where different setups were used to derive the parameters. These inhomogeneities can lead us to inaccurate conclusions. In this work, we studied one aspect of the problem: When deriving atmospheric parameters from high-resolution stellar spectra, what differences originate from the use of different radiative transfer codes?

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arXiv2016

The nucleosynthetic history of elements in the Galactic disk: [X/Fe] - age relations from high-precision spectroscopy

Context: The chemical composition of stars is intimately linked to the Galaxy formation and evolution. Aims: We aim to trace the chemical evolution of the Galactic disk through the inspection of the [X/Fe]-age relations of 24 species from C to Eu. Methods: Using high-resolution and high-signal-to-noise UVES spectra of nine solar twins, we obtained precise estimates of stellar ages and chemical abundances. These determinations have been integrated with additional accurate age and abundance determinations from recent spectroscopic studies of solar twins existing in the literature, comprising superb abundances with 0.01~dex precision. Based on this data set, we outlined the [X/Fe]-age relations over a time interval of 10~Gyr. Results: We present the [X/Fe] - age relations for 24 elements (C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, and Eu). Each different class of elements showed distinct evolution with time that relies on the different characteristics, rates and timescales of the nucleosynthesis' sites from which they are produced. The $α$-elements are characterised by a [X/Fe] decrement as time goes on. Strikingly, an opposite behaviour is observed for Ca. The iron-peak elements show an early [X/Fe] increase followed by a decrease towards the youngest stars. The [X/Fe] for the n-capture elements decrease with age. We also found that both [Mg/Y] and [Al/Y] are precise stellar clocks, with [Al/Y] showing the steepest dependence with age. Conslusions: Knowledge of the [X/Fe]-age relations is a gold mine from which we can achieve a great understanding about the processes that governed the formation and evolution of the Milky Way. Through the reverse engineering of these relations we will be able to put strong constraints on the nature of the stellar formation history, the SNe rates, the stellar yields, and the variety of the SNe progenitors.

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arXiv2016

The Solar Twin Planet Search III. The [Y/Mg] clock: estimating stellar ages of solar-type stars

Solar twins are stars with similar stellar (surface) parameters to the Sun that can have a wide range of ages. This provide an opportunity to analyze the variation of their chemical abundances with age. Nissen (2015) recently suggested that the abundances of the s-process element Y and the $α$-element Mg could be used to estimate stellar ages. This paper aims to determine with high precision the Y, Mg, and Fe abundances for a sample of 88 solar twins that span a broad age range ($0.3-10.0$\,Gyr) and investigate their use for estimating ages. We obtained high-quality Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle (MIKE) spectra and determined Y and Mg abundances using equivalent widths and a line-by-line differential method within a 1D LTE framework. Stellar parameters and iron abundances were measured in Paper I of this series for all stars, but a few (three) required a small revision. The [Y/Mg] ratio shows a strong correlation with age. It has a slope of -0.041$\pm$0.001 dex/Gyr and a significance of 41 $σ$. This is in excellent agreement with the relation first proposed by Nissen (2015). We found some outliers that turned out to be binaries where mass transfer may have enhanced the yttrium abundance. Given a precise measurement of [Y/Mg] with typical error of 0.02 dex in solar twins, our formula can be used to determine a stellar age with $\sim$0.8 Gyr precision in the 0 to 10 Gyr range.

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arXiv2015

Shallow extra mixing in solar twins inferred from Be abundances

Lithium and beryllium are destroyed at different temperatures in stellar interiors. As such, their relative abundances offer excellent probes of the nature and extent of mixing processes within and below the convection zone. We determine Be abundances for a sample of eight solar twins for which Li abundances have previously been determined. The analyzed solar twins span a very wide range of age, 0.5-8.2 Gyr, which enables us to study secular evolution of Li and Be depletion. We gathered high-quality UVES/VLT spectra and obtained Be abundances by spectral synthesis of the Be II 313 nm doublet. The derived beryllium abundances exhibit no significant variation with age. The more fragile Li, however, exhibits a monotonically decreasing abundance with increasing age. Therefore, relatively shallow extra mixing below the convection zone is necessary to simultaneously account for the observed Li and Be behavior in the Sun and solar twins.

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arXiv2014

The chemical composition of red giants in 47 Tucanae I: Fundamental parameters and chemical abundance patterns

Context: The study of chemical abundance patterns in globular clusters is of key importance to constrain the different candidates for intra-cluster pollution of light elements. Aims: We aim at deriving accurate abundances for a large range of elements in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae (NGC 104) to add new constraints to the pollution scenarios for this particular cluster, expanding the range of previously derived element abundances. Methods: Using tailored 1D LTE atmospheric models together with a combination of equivalent width measurements, LTE, and NLTE synthesis we derive stellar parameters and element abundances from high-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra of 13 red giant stars near the tip of the RGB. Results: We derive abundances of a total 27 elements (O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Mo, Ru, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Eu, Dy). Departures from LTE were taken into account for Na, Al and Ba. We find a mean [Fe/H] = $-0.78\pm0.07$ and $[α/{\rm Fe}]=0.34\pm0.03$ in good agreement with previous studies. The remaining elements show good agreement with the literature, but the inclusion of NLTE for Al has a significant impact on the behaviour of this key element. Conclusions: We confirm the presence of an Na-O anti-correlation in 47 Tucanae found by several other works. Our NLTE analysis of Al shifts the [Al/Fe] to lower values, indicating that this may be overestimated in earlier works. No evidence for an intrinsic variation is found in any of the remaining elements.

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