October 21, 1999 Pratt Conference Room, Perkin G-04, 12:30 pm
Optical and Infrared Astronomy Division Talk
The Characteristics of Binaries
in the Halo and Disk Populations of the Galaxy
Dr. David Latham, CfA
One way to study the formation and early history of the Galaxy is to look
at the kinematics and chemistry of old stars that just happen to be
passing through the solar neighborhood. The stars with the highest
velocities and weakest metallicities belong to the halo of the Galaxy. For
many years it was the standard wisdom that binaries are very rare in the
halo. Our survey of a large sample of stars selected for high proper
motions has shown that the old ideas are wrong, and that the spectroscopic
binaries in the halo have characteristics similar to the disk populations,
with a few intriguing differences that can be understood as the result
of stellar evolution.