As estrelas azuis tardias (blue straggler stars ou estrelas BS) são estrelas de sequência principal que apresentam um aparente atraso evolutivo em relação às suas vizinhanças. Elas foram identificadas inicialmente na sequência principal de aglomerados globulares acima do ponto de turnoff no diagrama HR. Desde então, têm sido encontradas em todos os ambientes estelares: aglomerados abertos e globulares, galáxias anãs próximas e entre as estrelas de campo na Galáxia. O principal objetivo deste trabalho é construir uma grande amostra de estrelas BS no campo galáctico. Para tanto, métodos de separação desses objetos de estrelas BHB foram comparados com critérios de seleção que envolvem parâmetros atmosféricos estimados pelo SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline (SSPP). Tal procedimento permitiu incluir também estrelas com magnitudes g maiores que 18, antes excluídas pelos métodos tradicionais para objetos com razão sinal-ruído menores que 9. Os métodos apresentados neste trabalho permitiram a seleção de uma amostra de 8001 candidatas a estrelas BS que foram analisadas cinematicamente, através de suas velocidades radiais. Verificou-se que aproximadamente um quinto dessa amostra (cerca de 1500 objetos) possui características que a associa à corrente de Sagitário, sugerindo uma origem extragaláctica para tais objetos. / Blue straggler stars (BSSs) are main sequence stars that exhibit an apparent evolutionary delay over the region where they are found in the HR diagram. They were initially identified in the main sequence of globular clusters above the turnoff point. Since then, they have been found in many different stellar environments: globular and open clusters, near dwarf galaxies, and also in the field of the Galaxy. The main goal of this work is to build a large sample of BSSs in the galactic field region. In order to accomplish this task, classical methods of separation of BSS from BHB stars were compared with proposed restrictions based on their atmospheric parameters, which are estimated by the SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline (SSPP). The latter procedure allowed to include stars with magnitudes g greater than 18, not handled by traditional methods when signal-noise ratio is smaller than 9. The selection methods gathered a sample of 8001 BS stars. These stars were kinematically analyzed through their radial velocities. The results suggest that many of them (about 1500) can have extragalactic origin, associated with Sagittarius stream.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 190 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-190). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

As estrelas azuis tardias (blue straggler stars ou estrelas BS) são estrelas de sequência principal que apresentam um aparente atraso evolutivo em relação às suas vizinhanças. Elas foram identificadas inicialmente na sequência principal de aglomerados globulares acima do ponto de turnoff no diagrama HR. Desde então, têm sido encontradas em todos os ambientes estelares: aglomerados abertos e globulares, galáxias anãs próximas e entre as estrelas de campo na Galáxia. O principal objetivo deste trabalho é construir uma grande amostra de estrelas BS no campo galáctico. Para tanto, métodos de separação desses objetos de estrelas BHB foram comparados com critérios de seleção que envolvem parâmetros atmosféricos estimados pelo SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline (SSPP). Tal procedimento permitiu incluir também estrelas com magnitudes g maiores que 18, antes excluídas pelos métodos tradicionais para objetos com razão sinal-ruído menores que 9. Os métodos apresentados neste trabalho permitiram a seleção de uma amostra de 8001 candidatas a estrelas BS que foram analisadas cinematicamente, através de suas velocidades radiais. Verificou-se que aproximadamente um quinto dessa amostra (cerca de 1500 objetos) possui características que a associa à corrente de Sagitário, sugerindo uma origem extragaláctica para tais objetos. / Blue straggler stars (BSSs) are main sequence stars that exhibit an apparent evolutionary delay over the region where they are found in the HR diagram. They were initially identified in the main sequence of globular clusters above the turnoff point. Since then, they have been found in many different stellar environments: globular and open clusters, near dwarf galaxies, and also in the field of the Galaxy. The main goal of this work is to build a large sample of BSSs in the galactic field region. In order to accomplish this task, classical methods of separation of BSS from BHB stars were compared with proposed restrictions based on their atmospheric parameters, which are estimated by the SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline (SSPP). The latter procedure allowed to include stars with magnitudes g greater than 18, not handled by traditional methods when signal-noise ratio is smaller than 9. The selection methods gathered a sample of 8001 BS stars. These stars were kinematically analyzed through their radial velocities. The results suggest that many of them (about 1500) can have extragalactic origin, associated with Sagittarius stream.

Cette thèse est une étude de l'origine des étoiles chaudes à grande vitesse et/ou à grande distance du plan galactique, à l'aide des données du satellite Hipparcos. L'existence de ce type d'étoiles montre une incohérence entre le temps de vie assigné par la théorie de l'évolution stellaire aux étoiles de type B et A de Population I et celui beaucoup plus long des mécanismes responsables de l'augmentation de la dispersion des vitesses. Dans un premier temps, l'effet de la rotation stellaire sur les magnitudes absolues tirées des parallaxes trigonométriques est analysé sur un échantillon d'étoiles A normales de séquence principale. Aucune variation significative n'est observée. Une méthode de détermination des vitesses radiales est développée pour les spectres observés avec le spectrographe Élodie (OHP). Elle permet le calcul de la vitesse radiale avec une précision de l'ordre de 1-2 km/s sans limitation due au vsini de l'étoile observée. Dans un second temps, un échantillon de 35000 étoiles de type B-A-F tirées du catalogue Hipparcos est analysé. 316 étoiles à grande vitesse sont identifiées et les différentes hypothèses expliquant leur origine sont discutées. En particulier, la contribution des blue stragglers est étudiée à l'aide d'un modèle de synthèse de populations. Il est montré que les blue stragglers du disque mince représentent une source d'étoiles à grande vitesse essentiellement dans les étoiles de type précoce (B et A) alors que les blue stragglers du disque épais concourent aux étoiles de type A tardif et F.

The orbital parameters of binaries at intermediate periods (10(2)-10(3) d) are difficult to measure with conventional methods and are very incomplete. We have undertaken a new survey, applying our pulsation timing method to Kepler light curves of 2224 main-sequence A/F stars and found 341 non-eclipsing binaries. We calculate the orbital parameters for 317 PB1 systems (single-pulsator binaries) and 24 PB2s (double-pulsators), tripling the number of intermediate-mass binaries with full orbital solutions. The method reaches down to small mass ratios q approximate to 0.02 and yields a highly homogeneous sample. We parametrize the mass-ratio distribution using both inversion and Markov-Chain Monte Carlo forward-modelling techniques, and find it to be skewed towards low-mass companions, peaking at q approximate to 0.2. While solar-type primaries exhibit a brown dwarf desert across short and intermediate periods, we find a small but statistically significant (2.6 sigma) population of extreme-mass-ratio companions (q < 0.1) to our intermediate-mass primaries. Across periods of 100-1500 d and at q > 0.1, we measure the binary fraction of current A/F primaries to be 15.4 per cent +/- 1.4 per cent, though we find that a large fraction of the companions (21 per cent +/- 6 per cent) are white dwarfs in post-mass-transfer systems with primaries that are now blue stragglers, some of which are the progenitors of Type Ia supernovae, barium stars, symbiotics, and related phenomena. Excluding these white dwarfs, we determine the binary fraction of original A/F primaries to be 13.9 per cent +/- 2.1 per cent over the same parameter space. Combining our measurements with those in the literature, we find the binary fraction across these periods is a constant 5 per cent for primaries M-1 < 0.8 M-circle dot, but then increases linearly with log M-1, demonstrating that natal discs around more massive protostars M-1 greater than or similar to M-1(circle dot) become increasingly more prone to fragmentation. Finally, we find the eccentricity distribution of the main-sequence pairs to be much less eccentric than the thermal distribution.

<p> The conditions ideally suited for blue straggler star formation are for the most part unknown, though there is mounting evidence to suggest that the preferred blue straggler formation pathway, whether it be via the coalescence of a primordial binary system or through the collision of two single main-sequence stars, depends largely on the cluster environment. In this thesis we are trying to isolate the preferred blue straggler formation mechanism(s) operating in various globular cluster environments by comparing relative blue straggler frequencies to global cluster properties.</p> <p> We define a series of selection rules to isolate the blue stragglers from main-sequence turn-off and extended horizontal branch stars in the colour-magnitude diagrams of 57 globular clusters taken from HST images of their central cores. The boundary conditions were defined using only the main-sequence turn-off as a point of reference, and are hence applied consistently from cluster to cluster. We chose to count only those stars found within one core radius of the cluster center in an effort to obtain a sample that is approximately representative of a uniform cluster environment where, ideally, a single blue straggler formation mechanism is predominantly operating. Relative frequencies of blue straggler stars are then found using the red giant branch for normalization and are subsequently analyzed. We confirm the anticorrelation between relative blue straggler frequency and total integrated cluster luminosity previously observed by Piotto et al. (2004), and find a new anticorrelation between relative blue straggler frequency and the central velocity dispersion, as well as a weak anticorrelation with the half-mass relaxation time. We find no other statistically significant trends. Observational implications pertaining to blue straggler formation mechanisms are then discussed.</p> <p> We present a very simple, semi-analytic model designed in an attempt to reproduce the observed trends in the core. Using estimates for the collisional timescales, we find that only a small percentage of the blue stragglers produced are a direct result of collisions. The majority of the blue stragglers created in our model are thus products of mass-transfer in tight, low-mass binary systems. We were surprised to find a reasonably good agreement between the data and our predictions, given the simplicity of our model. Our results suggest that the binary fraction could be a crucial parameter in shaping blue straggler populations, and hence better and more abundant observations of binary systems and their numbers could prove an important step in gaining a better understanding of blue straggler formation mechanisms.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)