Luminosity Distribution and Proper Motions of Tenth-Magnitude K Stars.

Absolute luminosities and proper motions have been determined for 681 K stars between 10.0 and 11.0 photovisual magnitude in a sampling of the entire sky north of -25°. It is found that some 85 per cent of these stars in low latitUdes are giants, and approximately 73 per cent in higher latitudes. `Ihus the galactic concentration of the K giants is very low. Since the dispersions in the motions of the higher-latitude giants and their group motion with respect to the sun appear to be considerably larger than average, it is inferred that they are characterized by larger-than-average eccentricities in their orbits around the galactic center