A Search for Binary Stars at Low Metallicity

Details A Search for Binary Stars at Low Metallicity A Search for Binary Stars at Low Metallicity

2007-08-30

arxiv.org/abs/0708.4204v1

AIP Conf.Proc.990:145-147,2008

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

To appear in conference proceedings,"First Stars III", eds. B. O'Shea, A. Heger & T. Abel. 3 pages, 5 figures

Scientific paper

10.1063/1.2905523

We present initial results measuring the companion fraction of metal-poor stars ([Fe/H]$<-$2.0). We are employing the Lick Observatory planet-finding system to make high-precision Doppler observations of these objects. The binary fraction of metal-poor stars provides important constraints on star formation in the early Galaxy (Carney et al. 2003). Although it has been shown that a majority of solar metallicity stars are in binaries, it is not clear if this is the case for metal-poor stars. Is there a metallicity floor below which binary systems do not form or become rare? To test this we are determining binary fractions at metallicities below [Fe/H]$=-2.0$. Our measurments are not as precise as the planet finders', but we are still finding errors of only 50 to 300 m/s, depending on the signal-to-noise of a spectrum and stellar atmosphere of the star. At this precision we can be much more complete than previous studies in our search for stellar companions.

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