Stellar Loci. VII. Photometric Metallicities of 5 Million FGK Stars Based on GALEX GR6+7 AIS and Gaia EDR3

TL;DR

This paper develops a method to estimate stellar metallicities using combined GALEX and Gaia data, achieving high accuracy for millions of stars and demonstrating the NUV-band's effectiveness for metallicity determination.

Contribution

It introduces a new photometric metallicity estimation technique based on NUV and Gaia data, extending to very low metallicities and large stellar samples.

Findings

Achieves ~0.11 dex metallicity precision for dwarfs

Extends metallicity estimates down to [Fe/H] = -4.0

Provides metallicities for 5 million stars across the sky

Abstract

We combine photometric data from GALEX GR6+7 AIS and Gaia EDR3 with stellar parameters from the SAGA and PASTEL catalogs to construct high-quality training samples for dwarfs ($\rm 0.4< BP-RP<1.6$) and giants ($\rm 0.6< BP-RP <1.6$). We apply careful reddening corrections using empirical temperature- and extinction-dependent extinction coefficients. Using the two samples, we establish a relationship between stellar loci (NUV$-$BP vs. BP$-$RP colors), metallicity, and $\rm M_G$. For a given BP$-$RP color, a 1 dex change in [Fe/H] corresponds to an approximately 1 magnitude change in NUV$-$BP color for solar-type stars. These relationships are employed to estimate metallicities based on NUV$-$BP, BP$-$RP, and $\rm M_G$. Thanks to the strong metallicity dependence in the GALEX NUV-band, our models enable a typical photometric-metallicity precision of approximately $\sigma_{\rm [Fe/H]}$ = 0.11 dex for dwarfs and $\sigma_{\rm [Fe/H]}$ = 0.17 dex for giants, with an effective metallicity range extending down to [Fe/H] $= -3.0$ for dwarfs and [Fe/H] $= -4.0$ for giants. We also find that the NUV-band based photometric-metallicity estimate is not as strongly affected by carbon enhancement as previous photometric techniques. With the Gaia and GALEX data, we have estimated metallicities for about 5 million stars across almost the entire sky, including approximately 4.5 million dwarfs and 0.5 million giants. This work demonstrates the potential of the NUV-band for estimating photometric metallicities, and sets the groundwork for utilizing the NUV data from space telescopes such as the upcoming Chinese Space Station Telescope.