M Subdwarf Research. II. Atmospheric Parameters and Kinematics

TL;DR

This study refines the classification of M subdwarfs using LAMOST and Gaia data, analyzing their atmospheric parameters and kinematics to understand their Galactic population origins and properties.

Contribution

It introduces a revised classification scheme for M subdwarfs and explores their atmospheric parameters and kinematic properties using large survey data.

Findings

Objects with high gravity and low metallicity are likely intrinsic M subdwarfs.

Galactic velocity analysis shows a mix of halo, thick disk, and thin disk populations among M subdwarfs.

Selection effects and contamination influence the observed properties and require further study.

Abstract

Applying the revised M subdwarf classification criteria discussed in Paper I to LAMOST DR7, combining the M subdwarf sample from Savcheva et al, a new M subdwarf sample was constructed for further study. The atmospheric parameters for each object were derived fitting with the PHOENIX grid, combining with Gaia DR2, the relationship between the gravity and metallicity were explored according to the locus both in the color-absolute magnitude diagram and the reduced proper motion diagram. Objects that have both the largest gravity and the lowest metallicity are located away from the main-sequence cloud and may be considered as the intrinsic M subdwarfs, which can be classified as luminosity class VI. Another group of objects whose spectra show typical M subdwarf characters have lower gravity and relatively moderate metal deficiency and occupy part of the ordinary M dwarf region in both diagrams. The Galactic U , V , W space velocity components and their dispersion show that the local Galactic halo population sampled in the solar neighborhood is represented by objects of high gravity and an inconspicuous bimodal metallicity distribution, with a fraction of prograde orbits. The other M subdwarfs seem to partly belong to the thick disk component with a significant fraction of thin disk moderately metal-poor objects intricately mixed with them. However, the selection effects, especially the favored anti-center direction of investigation in the LAMOST sub-sample, but also contamination by multiplicity and parameter coupling could play important roles and need to be further investigated.