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The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z ∼ 0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z ∼ 2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T eff < 5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H] > −0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2).

Aims. We compare and discuss abundances and trends in normal giants, mild barium, and barium stars, searching for differences and similarities between barium and mild barium stars that could help shed some light on the origin of these similar objects. Also, we search for nucleosynthetic effects possibly related to the s-process that were observed in the literature for elements like Cu in other types of s-process enriched stars. Methods. High signal to noise, high resolution spectra were obtained for a sample of normal, mild barium, and barium giants.Atmospheric parameters were determined from the Fe i and Fe ii lines. Abundances for Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Y, Zr, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, and Gd, were determined from equivalent widths and model atmospheres in a differential analysis, with the red giant Vir as the standard star. Results. The different levels of s-process overabundances of barium and mild barium stars were earlier suggested to be related to the stellar metallicity. Contrary to this suggestion, we found in this work no evidence of barium and mild barium having a different range in metallicity. However, comparing the ratio of abundances of heavy to light s-process elements, we found some evidence that they do not share the same neutron exposure parameter. The exact mechanism controlling this difference is still not clear. As a by-product of this analysis we identify two normal red giants misclassified as mild barium stars. The relevance of this finding is discussed. Concerning the suggested nucleosynthetic effects possibly related to the s-process, for elements like Cu, Mn, V and Sc, we found no evidence for an anomalous behavior in any of the s-process enriched stars analyzed here. However, further work is still needed since a clear [Cu/Fe] vs. [Ba/Fe] anticorrelation exists for other s-process enriched objects.

The early evolution of Earth's atmosphere and the origin of life took place at a time when physical conditions at the Earth were radically different from its present state. The radiative input from the Sun was much enhanced in the high-energy spectral domain, and in order to model early planetary atmospheres in detail, a knowledge of the solar radiative input is needed. We present an investigation of the atmospheric parameters, state of evolution, and high-energy fluxes of the nearby star κ 1 Cet, previously thought to have properties resembling those of the early Sun. Atmospheric parameters were derived from the excitation/ionization equilibrium of Fe i and Fe ii, profile fitting of Hα, and the spectral energy distribution. The UV irradiance was derived from Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer and Hubble Space Telescope data, and the absolute chromospheric flux from the Hα line core. From careful spectral analysis and the comparison of different methods, we propose for κ 1 Cet the following atmospheric parameters: T eff = 5665 ± 30 K (Hα profile and energy distribution), log g = 4.49 ± 0.05 dex (evolutionary and spectroscopic), and [Fe/H] = +0.10 ± 0.05 (Fe ii lines). The UV radiative properties of κ 1 Cet indicate that its flux is some 35% lower than the current Sun's between 210 and 300 nm, it matches the Sun's at 170 nm, and increases to at least 2-7 times higher than the Sun's between 110 and 140 nm. The use of several indicators ascribes an age to κ 1 Cet in the interval ∼0.4-0.8 Gyr and the analysis of the theoretical Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (H-R) suggests a mass ∼1.04 M . This star is thus a very close analog of the Sun when life arose on Earth and Mars is thought to have lost its surface bodies of liquid water. Photochemical models indicate that the enhanced UV emission leads to a significant increase in photodissociation rates compared with those commonly assumed of the early Earth. Our results show that reliable calculations of the chemical composition of early planetary atmospheres need to account for the stronger solar photodissociating UV irradiation.

Abstract.A calibration of Hα as both a chromospheric diagnostic and an age indicator is presented, complementing the works previously done on this subject (Herbig 1985;Pasquini & Pallavicini 1991). The chromospheric diagnostic was built with a statistically significant sample, covering nine years of observations, and including 175 solar neighborhood stars. Regarding the age indicator, the presence of stars for which very accurate ages are determined, such as those belonging to clusters and kinematic groups, lends confidence to our analysis. We also investigate the possibility that stars of the same age might have gone through different tracks of chromospheric decay, identifying -within the same age range -effects of metallicity and mass. These parameters, however, as well as age, seem to be significant only for dwarf stars, losing their meaning when we analyze stars in the subgiant branch. This result suggests that, in these evolved stars, the emission mechanism cannot be magnetohydrodynamical in nature, in agreement with recent models (Fawzy et al. 2002c, and references therein). The Sun is found to be a typical star in its Hα chromospheric flux, for its age, mass and metallicity. As a byproduct of this work, we developed an automatic method to determine temperatures from the wings of Hα, which means the suppression of the error inherent to the visual procedure used in the literature.

Aims. We report the derivation of abundances of C, Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Y, Zr, Ba, Ce, Nd, and Sm in a sample of 25 solar-type stars of the solar neighbourhood, correlating the abundances with the stellar ages, kinematics, and orbital parameters. Methods. The spectroscopic analysis, based on data of high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio, was differential to the Sun and applied to atomic line equivalent widths supplemented by the spectral synthesis of C and C 2 features. We also performed a statistical study by using the method of tree clustering analysis, searching for groups of stars sharing similar elemental abundance patterns. We derived the stellar parameters from various criteria, with average errors of 30 K, 0.13 dex, and 0.05 dex, respectively, for T eff , log g, and [Fe/H]. The average error of the [X/Fe] abundance ratios is 0.06 dex. Ages were derived from theoretical HR diagrams and membership of the stars in known kinematical moving groups.

Aims. We analyze the non-standard mixing history of the solar twins HIP 55 459, HIP 79 672, HIP 56 948, HIP 73 815, and HIP 100 963, to determine as precisely as possible their mass and age. Methods. We computed a grid of evolutionary models with non-standard mixing at several metallicities with the Toulouse-Geneva code for a range of stellar masses assuming an error bar of ±50 K in T eff . We choose the evolutionary model that reproduces accurately the observed low lithium abundances observed in the solar twins. Results. Our best-fit model for each solar twin provides a mass and age solution constrained by their Li content and T eff determination. HIP 56 948 is the most likely solar-twin candidate at the present time and our analysis infers a mass of 0.994 ± 0.004 M and an age of 4.71 ± 1.39 Gyr. Conclusions. Non-standard mixing is required to explain the low Li abundances observed in solar twins. Li depletion due to additional mixing in solar twins is strongly mass dependent. An accurate lithium abundance measurement and non-standard models provide more precise information about the age and mass more robustly than determined by classical methods alone.