TY - JOUR
T1 - New members of the TW Hydrae association, β pictoris moving group, and Tucana/Horologium association
AU - Song, Inseok
AU - Zuckerman, B.
AU - Bessell, M. S.
PY - 2003/12/10
Y1 - 2003/12/10
N2 - We have identified five new members of the TW Hydrae association (TWA), 11 new members of the β Pic moving group, and 11 new Tucana/Horologium association members. These are the three youngest (≲30 Myr) known kinematic stellar groups near the Earth. Newly identified β Pic group members are located mostly in the northern hemisphere, and they have a slightly different U-component of Galactic velocity compared to that of previously known members. Tracing the motion of β Pic members backward in time for 12 Myr indicates that they might have formed in a small region with an initial velocity dispersion of ∼8 km s-1. A couple of mid-M spectral type β Pic members show emission features [He I λ5876+λ6678) and Na D λ5890+λ5896)] seen among earlier spectral type stars in the TWA and β Pic groups. To derive the distances of the non-Hipparcos members of these groups, we have constructed a V-K versus MK color-magnitude diagram that is very useful in separating young K/M stars from older main-sequence counterparts and constraining theoretical pre-main-sequence evolutionary tracks. All newly identified K- and M-type members of the three groups show saturated X-ray activity (LX/Lbol ∼ 10-3). One newly identified TWA member, SSS 101727-5354, is estimated to be only 22 pc away from Earth. Its extreme youth, late spectral type (∼M5), and proximity to Earth make SSS 101727-5354 perhaps the best target for direct imaging detection of cooling planets.
AB - We have identified five new members of the TW Hydrae association (TWA), 11 new members of the β Pic moving group, and 11 new Tucana/Horologium association members. These are the three youngest (≲30 Myr) known kinematic stellar groups near the Earth. Newly identified β Pic group members are located mostly in the northern hemisphere, and they have a slightly different U-component of Galactic velocity compared to that of previously known members. Tracing the motion of β Pic members backward in time for 12 Myr indicates that they might have formed in a small region with an initial velocity dispersion of ∼8 km s-1. A couple of mid-M spectral type β Pic members show emission features [He I λ5876+λ6678) and Na D λ5890+λ5896)] seen among earlier spectral type stars in the TWA and β Pic groups. To derive the distances of the non-Hipparcos members of these groups, we have constructed a V-K versus MK color-magnitude diagram that is very useful in separating young K/M stars from older main-sequence counterparts and constraining theoretical pre-main-sequence evolutionary tracks. All newly identified K- and M-type members of the three groups show saturated X-ray activity (LX/Lbol ∼ 10-3). One newly identified TWA member, SSS 101727-5354, is estimated to be only 22 pc away from Earth. Its extreme youth, late spectral type (∼M5), and proximity to Earth make SSS 101727-5354 perhaps the best target for direct imaging detection of cooling planets.
KW - Open clusters and associations: individual (TW Hydrae, β Pictoris, Tucana)
KW - Stars: evolution
KW - Stars: kinematics
KW - Stars: pre-main-sequence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0347062287&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1086/379194
DO - 10.1086/379194
M3 - Article
SN - 0004-637X
VL - 599
SP - 342
EP - 350
JO - Astrophysical Journal
JF - Astrophysical Journal
IS - 1 I
ER -