Metallicity, temperature, and gravity scales of M subdwarfs

• Published in: Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin) Vol. 628; p. A61
• Main Authors: Lodieu, N., Allard, F., Rodrigo, C., Pavlenko, Y., Burgasser, A., Lyubchik, Y., Kaminsky, B., Homeier, D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg EDP Sciences 01.08.2019
• Subjects: Astrophysics; Atmospheric models; European Southern Observatory; Gravitation; Gravity; Infrared spectra; infrared: stars; Iron; Low mass stars; Metallicity; Metals; Near infrared radiation; Physical properties; Red dwarf stars; Sciences of the Universe; Space missions; Spectral energy distribution; stars: low-mass; subdwarfs; techniques: spectroscopic; Temperature scales; Titanium; Very Large Telescope; subdwarfs; stars: low-mass; techniques: spectroscopic; infrared: stars; Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
• ISSN: 0004-6361; 1432-0746; 1432-0756
• DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201935299

Aims. The aim of the project is to define metallicity/gravity/temperature scales for different spectral types of metal-poor M dwarfs. Methods. We obtained intermediate-resolution ultraviolet (R ∼ 3300), optical (R ∼ 5400), and near-infrared (R ∼ 3900) spectra of 43 M subdwarfs (sdM), extreme subdwarfs (esdM), and ultra-subdwarfs (usdM) with the X-shooter spectrograph on the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope. We compared our atlas of spectra to the latest BT-Settl synthetic spectral energy distribution over a wide range of metallicities, gravities, and effective temperatures to infer the physical properties for the whole M dwarf sequence (M0–M9.5) at sub-solar metallicities and constrain the latest atmospheric models. Results. The BT-Settl models accurately reproduce the observed spectra across the 450–2500 nm wavelength range except for a few regions. We find that the best fits are obtained for gravities of log (g) = 5.0–5.5 for the three metal classes. We infer metallicities of [Fe/H] = −0.5, −1.5, and −2.0 ± 0.5 dex and effective temperatures of 3700–2600 K, 3800–2900 K, and 3700–2900 K for subdwarfs, extreme subdwarfs, and ultra-subdwarfs, respectively. Metal-poor M dwarfs tend to be warmer by about 200 ± 100 K and exhibit higher gravity than their solar-metallicity counterparts. We derive abundances of several elements (Fe, Na, K, Ca, Ti) for our sample but cannot describe their atmospheres with a single metallicity parameter. Our metallicity scale expands the current scales available for mildly metal-poor planet-host low-mass stars. Our compendium of moderate-resolution spectra covering the 0.45–2.5 micron range represents an important resource for large-scale surveys and space missions to come.