Publication Date:
2016-06-06
Description:
An abundance analysis is reported of 58-K giants identified by Famaey et al. ( 2005 , A&A, 430, 165) as highly probable members of the Hercules stream selected from stars north of the celestial equator in the Hipparcos catalogue. The giants have compositions spanning the interval [Fe/H] from –0.17 to +0.42 with a mean value of +0.15 and relative elemental abundances [El/Fe] representative of the Galactic thin disc. Selection effects may have biased the selection from the Hipparcos catalogue against the selection of metal-poor stars. Our reconsideration of the recent extensive survey by Bensby et al. of FG dwarfs, including metal-poor stars, provides a [Fe/H] distribution for the Hercules stream, which is similar to that from the 58 giants. It appears that the stream is dominated by metal-rich stars from the thin disc. We discuss suggestions in the literature that the stream includes metal-poor stars from the thick disc.
Print ISSN:
0035-8711
Electronic ISSN:
1365-2966
Topics:
Physics
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