Accurate fundamental parameters for 23 bright solar-type stars

TL;DR

This study combines interferometry, asteroseismology, and spectroscopy to accurately determine fundamental parameters of 23 bright solar-type stars, validating indirect methods and providing detailed chemical compositions.

Contribution

It is the first comprehensive comparison of direct and indirect methods for a large sample of solar-type stars, improving parameter accuracy and calibration.

Findings

Direct and indirect methods agree within small offsets.

Spectroscopic Teff is slightly higher than direct measurements.

Accuracies of 80 K in Teff, 0.08 dex in log g, and 0.07 dex in [Fe/H] achieved.

Abstract

We combine results from interferometry, asteroseismology and spectroscopy to determine accurate fundamental parameters of 23 bright solar-type stars, from spectral type F5 to K2 and luminosity classes III to V. For some stars we can use direct techniques to determine the mass, radius, luminosity and effective temperature, and we compare with indirect methods that rely on photometric calibrations or spectroscopic analyses. We use the asteroseismic information available in the literature to infer an indirect mass with an accuracy of 4-15 percent. From indirect methods we determine luminosity and radius to 3 percent. For Teff we find a slight offset of -40+-20 K between the spectroscopic method and the direct method, meaning the spectroscopic temperatures are too high. From the spectroscopic analysis we determine the detailed chemical composition for 13 elements, including Li, C and O. We find no significant offset between the spectroscopic surface gravity and the value from combining asteroseismology with radius estimates. From the spectroscopy we also determine vsini and we present a new calibration of macro- and microturbulence. From the comparison between the results from the direct and spectroscopic methods we claim that we can determine Teff, log g, and [Fe/H] with absolute accuracies of 80 K, 0.08 dex, and 0.07 dex. The indirect methods are important to obtain reliable estimates of the fundamental parameters of relatively faint stars when interferometry cannot be used. Our study is the first to compare direct and indirect methods for a large sample of stars, and we conclude that indirect methods are valid, although slight corrections may be needed.