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Spitzer Far-Infrared Detections of Cold Circumstellar Disks
Observations at 70 μm with the Spitzer Space Telescope have detectedseveral stellar systems within 65 pc of the Sun. Of 18 presumably youngsystems detected in this study, as many as 15 have 70 μm emission inexcess of that expected from their stellar photospheres. Five of thesystems with excesses are members of the Tucanae association. The 70μm excesses range from a factor of ~2 to nearly 30 times the expectedphotospheric emission from these stars. In contrast to the 70 μmproperties of these systems, there is evidence for an emission excess at24 μm for only HD 3003, confirming previous results for this star.The lack of a strong 24 μm excess in most of these systems suggeststhat the circumstellar dust producing the IR excesses is relatively cool(Tdust<~150 K) and that there is little IR-emittingmaterial within the inner few AU of the primary stars. Many of thesesystems lie close enough to Earth that the distribution of the dustproducing the IR excesses might be imaged in scattered light at opticaland near-IR wavelengths.
| Late-type members of young stellar kinematic groups - I. Single stars
This is the first paper of a series aimed at studying the properties oflate-type members of young stellar kinematic groups. We concentrate ourstudy on classical young moving groups such as the Local Association(Pleiades moving group, 20-150Myr), IC 2391 supercluster (35Myr), UrsaMajor group (Sirius supercluster, 300Myr), and Hyades supercluster(600Myr), as well as on recently identified groups such as the Castormoving group (200Myr). In this paper we compile a preliminary list ofsingle late-type possible members of some of these young stellarkinematic groups. Stars are selected from previously established membersof stellar kinematic groups based on photometric and kinematicproperties as well as from candidates based on other criteria such astheir level of chromospheric activity, rotation rate and lithiumabundance. Precise measurements of proper motions and parallaxes takenfrom the Hipparcos Catalogue, as well as from the Tycho-2 Catalogue, andpublished radial velocity measurements are used to calculate theGalactic space motions (U, V, W) and to apply Eggen's kinematic criteriain order to determine the membership of the selected stars to thedifferent groups. Additional criteria using age-dating methods forlate-type stars will be applied in forthcoming papers of this series. Afurther study of the list of stars compiled here could lead to a betterunderstanding of the chromospheric activity and their age evolution, aswell as of the star formation history in the solar neighbourhood. Inaddition, these stars are also potential search targets for directimaging detection of substellar companions.
| Tucana Association
Among star clusters, only the sparse Ursa Major nucleus is closer toEarth than the recently identified Tucana association. Based on newphotometric VRI magnitudes, we construct a color-magnitude diagramcomposed of likely and possible Tucana members. The implied age of theTucana association stars, <~40 Myr, is consistent with the agedetermined from a previous analysis by Stelzer & Neuhäuser ofthe X-ray luminosities of plausible association members. Based primarilyon space motions and X-ray fluxes, we identify potential new members ofthe Tucana association not considered in earlier studies. Torres andcoworkers recently identified a group of post-T Tauri stars, theHorologium association, which is located near the Tucana association inright ascension and declination. Because the Horologium stars have thesame space motions, age, distance from Earth, volume density, and rangeof spectral types as Tucana stars, we suggest that, rather than beingcharacterized as a separate group, it would be appropriate andeconomical to subsume the Horologium association stars into the Tucanastream.
| X-ray emission from young stars in the Tucanae association
We report on X-ray emission from members of the recently discoveredTucanae association, a group of stars with youth signatures and similarspace motion. The Tucanae association is the nearest known region ofrecent star formation ( ~ 45 pc) far from molecular clouds(\cite{Zuckerman00.1}). We have made use of the ROSAT Data Archive andsearched for X-rays from Tucanae stars in both ROSAT All-Sky Survey(RASS) and pointed observations. While the RASS provides completecoverage of the sky, only three potential Tucanae members have beenobserved during PSPC pointings. All three stars have been detected. Forthe RASS the percentage of detections is 59%. The comparison of theX-ray luminosity function of Tucanae to that of other star formingregions may provide clues to the uncertain age of the association. Wefind that the distribution of X-ray luminosities is very similar to theones derived for the TW Hya association, the Taurus-Auriga T TauriStars, and the IC 2602 cluster, but significantly brighter than theluminosity distribution of the Pleiades. We conclude that the stars inTucanae are most likely young, on the order of 10-30 Myr. Strongvariability of most stars emerges from the X-ray lightcurves whereseveral flares and irregular variations are observed.
| Identification of a Nearby Stellar Association in theHipparcos Catalog: Implications for Recent, Local Star Formation
The TW Hydrae Association (~55 pc from Earth) is the nearest knownregion of recent star formation. Based primarily on the Hipparcoscatalog, we have identified a group of nine or 10 comoving star systemsat a common distance (~45 pc) from Earth that appear to compriseanother, somewhat older association (``the Tucanae Association'').Together with ages and motions recently determined for some nearby fieldstars, the existence of the Tucanae and TW Hydrae Associations suggeststhat the Sun is now close to a region that was the site of substantialstar formation only 10-50 Myr ago. The TW Hydrae Association representsa final chapter in the local star formation history.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Tucana |
| Right ascension: | 23h08m12.37s |
| Declination: | -63°37'41.4" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 8.453 |
| Distance: | 56.786 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | 103.8 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -62.7 |
| B-T magnitude: | 9.213 |
| V-T magnitude: | 8.516 |
Catalogs and designations:
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