Author ORCID Identifier
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-2017
Publication Title
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume
467
Issue
1
First Page
68
Last Page
82
Abstract
The majority of hot subdwarf stars are low-mass core-helium-burning stars. Their atmospheres are generally helium deficient; however, a minority have extremely helium-rich surfaces. An additional fraction have an intermediate surface-helium abundance, occasionally accompanied by peculiar abundances of other elements. We have identified a sample of 88 hot subdwarfs including 38 helium-deficient, 27 intermediate-helium and 23 extreme-helium stars for which radial-velocity and proper-motion measurements, together with distances, allow a calculation of galactic space velocities. We have investigated the kinematics of these three groups to determine whether they belong to similar or different Galactic populations. The majority of helium-deficient subdwarfs in our sample show a kinematic distribution similar to that of thick disc stars. Helium-rich sdBs show a more diverse kinematic distribution. Although the majority are probably disc stars, a minority show a much higher velocity dispersion consistent with membership of a Galactic halo population. Several of the halo subdwarfs are members of the class of ‘heavy-metal’ subdwarfs discovered by Naslim et al.
Recommended Citation
Martin, P.; Jeffery, C. S.; N., Naslim; and Woolf, V. M., "Kinematics of subluminous O and B stars by surface helium abundance" (2017). Physics Faculty Publications. 55.
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/physicsfacpub/55
Comments
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: © 2016 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.