Rotational Velocities of B Stars in the Outer Galactic Disk
Abstract
Metallicity gradients in the Milky Way disk are important constraints to models of chemical evolution and galaxy formation. As part of a long term project to better constrain the galactic metallicity gradient (Daflon & Cunha) we have obtained spectra of early B stars in the outer disk with the Magellan 6.5m (Clay) and MIKE double echelle spectrograph. We present herein a preliminary analysis of the projected rotational velocities (v sin i), for 150 early B stars in the third galactic quadrant. The stars were selected from the Case-Hamburg Catalog of Luminous Stars (Reed, 2005). Distances have been computed from the reddening-free Q parameter and published Mv values. We use the spectral type information in the catalog to further refine distances of the non-main sequence B stars in our sample. We have followed the method described by Daflon et al (2007) to estimate v sin i for these stars from their He I lines. These stars are primarily field B stars, with galactocentric distances between 8 and 16 kpc, and most of them lie outside dense clusters and associations. Our analysis will address two questions: 1) Is there any evidence for a difference in mean rotation rate as a function of galactocentric distance and/or metallicity; and 2) Do these stars have on average low rotation rates, as seem to characterize stars in the field and in expanding associations near the Sun (Wolff, et al. 2007).
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #215
- Pub Date:
- January 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AAS...21541318G