Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Roulston, Benjamin R., Leonhardes-Barboza, Naunet, Green, Paul J., Portnoi, Evan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.18763
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866909470869684224
author Roulston, Benjamin R.
Leonhardes-Barboza, Naunet
Green, Paul J.
Portnoi, Evan
author_facet Roulston, Benjamin R.
Leonhardes-Barboza, Naunet
Green, Paul J.
Portnoi, Evan
contents Carbon stars (with atmospheric C/O$>1$) range widely in temperature and luminosity, from low mass dwarfs to asymptotic giant branch stars (AGB). The main sequence dwarf carbon (dC) stars have inherited carbon-rich material from an AGB companion, which has since transitioned to a white dwarf. The dC stars are far more common than C giants, but no reliable estimates of dC space density have been published to date. We present results from an all-sky survey for carbon stars using the low-resolution XP spectra from Gaia DR3. We developed and measured a set of spectral indices contrasting C$_{\rm 2}$ and CN molecular band strengths in carbon stars against common absorption features found in normal (C/O$<1$) stars such as CaI, TiO and Balmer lines. We combined these indices with the XP spectral coefficients as input to supervised machine-learning algorithms trained on a vetted sample of known C stars from LAMOST. We describe the selection of the carbon candidate sample, and provide a catalog of 43,574 candidates dominated by cool C giants in the Magellanic Clouds and at low galactic latitude in the Milky Way. We report the confirmation of candidate C stars using intermediate ($R\sim 1800$) resolution optical spectroscopy from the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, and provide estimates of sample purity and completeness. From a carefully-vetted sample of over 600 dCs, we measure their local space density to be $ρ_0\,=\,1.96^{+0.14}_{-0.12}\times10^{-6}\,\text{pc}^{-3}$ (about one dC in every local disk volume of radius 50\,pc), with a relatively large disk scale height of $H_z\,=\,856^{+49}_{-43}\,$pc.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_18763
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Carbon Stars From Gaia DR3 and the Space Density of Dwarf Carbon Stars
Roulston, Benjamin R.
Leonhardes-Barboza, Naunet
Green, Paul J.
Portnoi, Evan
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Carbon stars (with atmospheric C/O$>1$) range widely in temperature and luminosity, from low mass dwarfs to asymptotic giant branch stars (AGB). The main sequence dwarf carbon (dC) stars have inherited carbon-rich material from an AGB companion, which has since transitioned to a white dwarf. The dC stars are far more common than C giants, but no reliable estimates of dC space density have been published to date. We present results from an all-sky survey for carbon stars using the low-resolution XP spectra from Gaia DR3. We developed and measured a set of spectral indices contrasting C$_{\rm 2}$ and CN molecular band strengths in carbon stars against common absorption features found in normal (C/O$<1$) stars such as CaI, TiO and Balmer lines. We combined these indices with the XP spectral coefficients as input to supervised machine-learning algorithms trained on a vetted sample of known C stars from LAMOST. We describe the selection of the carbon candidate sample, and provide a catalog of 43,574 candidates dominated by cool C giants in the Magellanic Clouds and at low galactic latitude in the Milky Way. We report the confirmation of candidate C stars using intermediate ($R\sim 1800$) resolution optical spectroscopy from the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, and provide estimates of sample purity and completeness. From a carefully-vetted sample of over 600 dCs, we measure their local space density to be $ρ_0\,=\,1.96^{+0.14}_{-0.12}\times10^{-6}\,\text{pc}^{-3}$ (about one dC in every local disk volume of radius 50\,pc), with a relatively large disk scale height of $H_z\,=\,856^{+49}_{-43}\,$pc.
title Carbon Stars From Gaia DR3 and the Space Density of Dwarf Carbon Stars
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.18763