arXiv subjects

S. Ak

Publications and source records attributed to S. Ak.

51 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Transformations between 2MASS, SDSS and BVI photometric systems for late-type giants

We present colour transformations from Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) photometric system to Johnson-Cousins system and to Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) system for late-type giants and vice versa. The giant star sample was formed using surface gravity constraints ($2 < \log g \leq 3$) to Cayrel de Strobel et al.\rq s (2001) spectroscopic catalogue. 2MASS, SDSS and Johnson-Cousins photometric data was taken from Cutri et al. (2003), Ofek (2008) and van Leeuwen (2007), respectively. The final sample was refined applying the following steps: (1) the data were dereddened, (2) the sample stars selected are of the highest photometric quality. We give two--colour dependent transformations as a function of metallicity as well as independent of metallicity. The transformations provide absolute magnitudes and distance determinations which can be used in space density evaluations at relatively short distances where some or all of the SDSS magnitudes of late-type giants are saturated.

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arXiv2009

CCD BV and 2MASS photometric study of the open cluster NGC 1513

We present CCD BV and JHK$_{s}$ 2MASS photometric data for the open cluster NGC 1513. We observed 609 stars in the direction of the cluster up to a limiting magnitude of $V\sim19$ mag. The star count method shows that the centre of the cluster lies at $α_{2000}=04^{h}09^{m}36^{s}$, $δ_{2000}=49^{\circ}28^{'}43^{''}$ and its angular size is $r=10$ arcmin. The optical and near-infrared two-colour diagrams reveal the colour excesses in the direction of the cluster as $E(B-V)=0.68\pm0.06$, $E(J-H)=0.21\pm0.02$ and $E(J-K_{s})=0.33\pm0.04$ mag. These results are consistent with normal interstellar extinction values. Optical and near-infrared Zero Age Main-Sequences (ZAMS) provided an average distance modulus of $(m-M)_{0}=10.80\pm0.13$ mag, which can be translated into a distance of $1440\pm80$ pc. Finally, using Padova isochrones we determined the metallicity and age of the cluster as $Z=0.015\pm 0.004$ ($[M/H]=-0.10 \pm 0.10$ dex) and $\log (t/yr) = 8.40\pm0.04$, respectively.

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arXiv2009

The age of cataclysmic variables: a kinematical study

Using available astrometric and radial velocity data, the space velocities of cataclysmic variables (CVs) with respect to Sun were computed and kinematical properties of various sub-groups of CVs were investigated. Although observational errors of systemic velocities ($γ$) are high, propagated errors are usually less than computed dispersions. According to the analysis of propagated uncertainties on the computed space velocities, available sample is refined by removing the systems with the largest propagated uncertainties so that the reliability of the space velocity dispersions was improved. Having a dispersion of $51\pm7$ km s$^{-1}$ for the space velocities, CVs in the current refined sample (159 systems) are found to have $5\pm1$ Gyr mean kinematical age. After removing magnetic systems from the sample, it is found that non-magnetic CVs (134 systems) have a mean kinematical age of $4\pm1$ Gyr. According to $5\pm1$ and $4\pm1$ Gyr kinematical ages implied by $52\pm8$ and $45\pm7$ km s$^{-1}$ dispersions for non-magnetic systems below and above the period gap, CVs below the period gap are older than systems above the gap, which is a result in agreement with the standard evolution theory of CVs. Age difference between the systems below and above the gap is smaller than that expected from the standard theory, indicating a similarity of the angular momentum loss time scales in systems with low-mass and high-mass secondary stars. Assuming an isotropic distribution, $γ$ velocity dispersions of non-magnetic CVs below and above the period gap are calculated $σ_γ=30\pm5$ km s$^{-1}$ and $σ_γ=26\pm4$ km s$^{-1}$.

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arXiv2009

SDSS Absolute Magnitudes for Thin Disc Stars based on Trigonometric Parallaxes

We present a new luminosity-colour relation based on trigonometric parallaxes for thin disc main-sequence stars in SDSS photometry. We matched stars from the newly reduced Hipparcos catalogue with the ones taken from 2MASS All-Sky Catalogue of Point Sources, and applied a series of constraints, i.e. relative parallax errors ($σ_π/π\leq0.05$), metallicity ($-0.30\leq[M/H]\leq0.20$ dex), age ($0\leq t \leq 10$ Gyr) and surface gravity ($\log g>4$), and obtained a sample of thin disc main-sequence stars. Then, we used our previous transformation equations (Bilir et al. 2008a) between SDSS and 2MASS photometries and calibrated the $M_{g}$ absolute magnitudes to the $(g-r)_{0}$ and $(r-i)_0$ colours. The transformation formulae between 2MASS and SDSS photometries along with the absolute magnitude calibration provide space densities for bright stars which saturate the SDSS magnitudes.

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arXiv2008

Luminosity-Colours relations for thin disc main-sequence stars

In this study we present the absolute magnitude calibrations of thin disc main-sequence stars in the optical ($M_{V}$), and in the near-infrared ($M_{J}$). Thin disc stars are identified by means of Padova isochrones, and absolute magnitudes for the sample are evaluated via the newly reduced Hipparcos data. The obtained calibrations cover a large range of spectral types: from A0 to M4 in the optical and from A0 to M0 in the near-infrared. Also, we discuss the of effects binary stars and evolved stars on the absolute magnitude calibrations. The usage of these calibrations can be extended to the estimation of galactic model parameters for the thin disc individually, in order to compare these parameters with the corresponding ones estimated by $χ{^2}_{min}$ statistics (which provides galactic model parameters for thin and thick discs, and halo simultaneously) to test any degeneracy between them. The calibrations can also be used in other astrophysical researches where distance plays an important role in that study.

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arXiv2008

Estimation of galactic model parameters in high latitudes with SDSS

We estimated the Galactic model parameters for a set of 36 high-latitude fields included in the currently available Data Release 5 (DR 5) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey ({\em SDSS}), to explore their possible variation with the Galactic longitude. The thick disc scaleheight moves from $\sim$550 pc at $120^{\circ}<l<150^{\circ}$ to $\sim$720 pc at $250^{\circ}<l<290^{\circ}$, while the thin disc scaleheight is as large as $\sim$195 pc in the anticenter direction and $\sim$15% lower at $|l|<30^\circ$. Finally, the axis ratio ($c/a$) of the halo changes from a mean value of $\sim$0.55 in the two first quadrants of the Galaxy to $\sim$0.70 at $190^{\circ}<l<300^{\circ}$. For the halo, the reason for the dependence of the model parameters on the Galactic longitude arises from the well known asymmetric structure of this component. However, the variation of the model parameters of the thin and thick discs with Galactic longitude originates from the gravitational effect of the Galactic long bar. Moreover, the excess of stars in quadrant I (quadrant III) over quadrant IV (quadrant II) is in agreement with this scenario.

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arXiv2007

Transformations between 2MASS, SDSS and BVRI photometric systems: bridging the near infrared and optical

We present colour transformations for the conversion of the {\em 2MASS} photometric system to the Johnson-Cousins $UBVRI$ system and further into the {\em SDSS} $ugriz$ system. We have taken {\em SDSS} $gri$ magnitudes of stars measured with the 2.5-m telescope from $SDSS$ Data Release 5 (DR5), and $BVRI$ and $JHK_{s}$ magnitudes from Stetson's catalogue and \citet{Cu03}, respectively. We matched thousands of stars in the three photometric systems by their coordinates and obtained a homogeneous sample of 825 stars by the following constraints, which are not used in previous transformations: 1) the data are de-reddened, 2) giants are omitted, and 3) the sample stars selected are of the highest quality. We give metallicity, population type, and transformations dependent on two colours. The transformations provide absolute magnitude and distance determinations which can be used in space density evaluations at short distances where some or all of the {\em SDSS} $ugriz$ magnitudes are saturated. The combination of these densities with those evaluated at larger distances using {\em SDSS} $ugriz$ photometry will supply accurate Galactic model parameters, particularly the local space densities for each population.

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arXiv2007

Spatial distribution and galactic model parameters of cataclysmic variables

The spatial distribution, galactic model parameters and luminosity function of cataclysmic variables (CVs) in the solar neighbourhood have been determined from a carefully established sample of 459 CVs. The sample contains all of the CVs with distances computed from the Period-Luminosity-Colours (PLCs) relation of CVs which has been recently derived and calibrated with {\em 2MASS} photometric data. It has been found that an exponential function fits best to the observational z-distributions of all of the CVs in the sample, non-magnetic CVs and dwarf novae, while the sech^{2} function is more appropriate for nova-like stars and polars. The vertical scaleheight of CVs is 158$\pm$14 pc for the {\em 2MASS} J-band limiting apparent magnitude of 15.8. On the other hand, the vertical scaleheights are 128$\pm$20 and 160$\pm$5 pc for dwarf novae and nova-like stars, respectively. The local space density of CVs is found to be $\sim3\times10^{-5}$ pc^{-3} which is in agreement with the lower limit of the theoretical predictions. The luminosity function of CVs shows an increasing trend toward higher space densities at low luminosities, implying that the number of short-period systems should be high. The discrepancies between the theoretical and observational population studies of CVs will almost disappear if for the z-dependence of the space density the sech^{2} density function is used.

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arXiv2007

The metallicity distributions in high-latitudes with SDSS

We present metallicities and their variations with different parameters for 36 high-latitude fields covering Galactic longitudes 0<l<360. The metallicities for relatively short vertical distances (z<2.5 kpc) show systematic fluctuations with Galactic longitude, similar to those of the thick-disc scaleheight, which may be interpreted as indicating a common origin, viz., the flare effect of the disc. This suggestion is supported by the metallicity variations which we find as functions of radial distance. The metallicity variation at larger vertical distances (6.5<z<9.5 kpc) is small but monotonic. Three different vertical metallicity gradients could be detected: d[M/H]/dz=-0.22(+/-0.03), d[M/H]/dz=-0.38 (+/-0.06), and d[M/H]/dz=-0.08 (+/-0.07) dex/kpc for the intervals z<3, 3<z<5, and 5<z<10 kpc, respectively. Since our data cover the whole Galactic longitude interval, the resulting metallicity gradients can be interpreted as properties of the larger-scale Galaxy. The first gradient confirms the dissipational formation of the disc at short z-distances. The steeper gradient corresponds to the transition region between different population components of the Galaxy, and finally, the lowest value provides an adequate description of the inner-halo metallicity gradient.

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arXiv2007

A new absolute magnitude calibration with 2MASS for cataclysmic variables

Using reliable trigonometric measurements, we find that the absolute magnitude of cataclysmic variables depends on the orbital period and de-reddened $(J-H)_{0}$ and $(H-K_{s})_{0}$ colours of {\em 2MASS} (Two Micron All Sky Survey) photometric system. The calibration equation covers the ranges $0.032^{d} < P_{orb} \leq 0.454^{d}$, $-0.08 < (J-H)_{0} \leq 1.54$, $-0.03 <(H-K_{s})_{0} \leq 0.56$ and $2.0 < M_{J} < 11.7$; It is based on trigonometric parallaxes with relative errors of $(σ_π/π) \leq 0.4$. By using the period-luminosity-colours (PLCs) relation, we estimated the distances of cataclysmic variables with orbital periods and {\em 2MASS} observations and compared them with distances found from other methods. We suggest that the PLCs relation can be a useful statistical tool to estimate the distances of cataclysmic variables.

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arXiv2006

Estimation of Galactic model parameters with the SDSS and metallicity distribution in two fields in the anti-centre direction of the Galaxy

We estimated the Galactic model parameters from the SDSS data reduced for two fields in the anti-centre direction of the Galaxy, $l= 180^{o}$, and symmetric relative to the Galactic plane, $b=+45^{o}$ and $b=-45^{o}$. The large size of each field, 60 deg$^{2}$, and the faint limiting apparent magnitude, g=22, give us the chance to determine reliable parameters for three components, thin and thick discs and halo, in the north and south hemispheres of the Galaxy, except the scalelengths for two discs which are adopted from Jurić et al. (2005). Metallicities were evaluated by a recent calibration for SDSS, and absolute magnitudes of stars with $4<M(g)\leq8$ were derived as a function of (g-r) colour and metallicity. Conspicuous differences could not be detected between the corresponding Galactic model parameters for the thin disc of north and south fields, and our results are consistent with the ones in the literature. The same case is valid for the halo, especially the axis ratios for two fields are exactly equal, $κ=0.45$. The metallicity distribution for unevolved G type stars with $5<M(g)\leq6$ shows three substructures relative to the distance from the Galactic plane: for $z^{*}<3$ kpc, the metallicity gradient for two fields is $d[M/H]/dz \sim -0.20(\pm0.02)$ dex kpc$^{-1}$, consistent with the formation scenario of the thin disc. For $5<z^{*}<10$ kpc, $d[M/H]/dz \sim -0.03(\pm0.001)$ dex kpc$^{-1}$ for two fields, confirming that the metallicity gradient for the halo component is close to zero. When we combine these substructures, however, we find a smooth metallicity gradient for two fields, $-0.30(\pm0.04)$ dex kpc$^{-1}$.

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arXiv2006

Estimation of Galactic model parameters in high latitudes with 2MASS

In this paper, we try to find any dependence of the Galactic structural parameters with the Galactic longitude for either the thin disc or the thick disc of the Milky Way, that would indicate to possible inhomogeneities or asymmetries in those Galactic components. Galactic model parameters obtained using a set of 36 high-latitude fields with 2MASS photometry for the different fields show that, effectively, they are Galactic longitude-dependent. The thick disc scaleheight changes from 800 pc at 150 deg < l < 230 deg to 1050 pc at |l| < 30 deg. A plausible explanation for this finding might be the effect of the flare in this Galactic component that changes the scaleheight with Galactocentric distance

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arXiv2006

Galactic longitude dependent Galactic model parameters

We present the Galactic model parameters for thin disc estimated by Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data of 14 940 stars with apparent magnitudes $16 =220$ pc ($196\leq H \leq 234$ pc) and $ =1900$ pc ($1561\leq h \leq 2280$ pc) respectively. This result would be useful to explain different numerical values claimed for those parameters obtained by different authors for the fields in different directions of the Galaxy.

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arXiv2003

Extragalactic Objects in Basle Fields

We discriminated the extragalactic objects (galaxies and quasars) from stars for Basle star fields, Plaut I, SA 54, and SA 82 by comparison of Basle fields and APS POSS I finder charts. Their numbers are 187, 70, and 93 for Plaut I, SA 54, and SA 82, respectively. Most of these objects are apparently faint in V, and they cause an overestimated local luminosity function for absolutely faint magnitudes, M(V) > 5. This effect is more conspicious for the field Plaut I.

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arXiv2003

A New Procedure for the Photometric Parallax Estimation

We present a new procedure for photometric parallax estimation. The data for 1236 stars provide calibrations between the absolute magnitude offset from the Hyades main-sequence and the UV-excess for different (B-V)o colour-index intervals, i.e.: (0.3 0.4), (0.4 0.5), (0.5 0.6), (0.6 0.7), (0.7 0.8), (0.8 0.9), (0.9 1.0), and (1.0 1.1). The mean difference between the original and estimated absolute magnitudes and the corresponding standard deviation are rather small, +0.0002 and +/-0.0613 mag. The procedure has been adapted to the Sloan photometry by means of colour equations and applied to a set of artificial stars with different metallicity. The comparison of the absolute magnitudes estimated by the new procedure and the canonical one indicates that a single colour-magnitude diagram does not supply reliable absolute magnitudes for stars with large range of metallicity.

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