22nd Annual Student Research Conference
Local Stellar Kinematics from the SUPERBLINK Database
Jacob A. Hummel
Dr. Sebastien Lepine (American Museum of Natural History) and Dr. Matthew M. Beaky, Faculty Mentors
We present an analysis of the distance and velocity distribution of the main sequence disk dwarfs within 100 parsecs of the Sun and the main sequence halo subdwarfs within 300 parsecs, the halo subdwarf analysis being the first of its kind. We find the mean motion of the Sun with respect to the halo stars to be U = (12.7 ±0.2) km/s, V = (137 ±4) km/s and W = (9.2 ±0.2) km/s. Whereas most stellar kinematics studies in recent years have relied heavily on the Hipparcos catalog, which is deficient in the low luminosity red dwarfs most common in the solar vicinity, our sample, drawn from the SUPERBLINK database of high proper motion stars, is dominated by these red dwarfs. Thus our sample allows for a more detailed analysis of the stars in the solar vicinity, complementing and significantly expanding upon studies drawn from the Hipparcos catalog.
Keywords: Astronomy, Stellar Populations, Stellar Kinematics
Topic(s):Physics
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 12-2
Location: PML
Time: 4:15