Search

As part of our comprehensive, ongoing characterisation of the low-mass end of the main sequence in the Solar neighbourhood, we used the OSIRIS instrument at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias to acquire low- and mid-resolution (R$\approx$300 and R$\approx$2500) optical spectroscopy of 53 late-M and L ultracool dwarfs. Most of these objects are known but poorly investigated and lacking complete kinematics. We measured spectral indices, determined spectral types (six of which are new) and inferred effective temperature and surface gravity from BT-Settl synthetic spectra fits for all objects. We were able to measure radial velocities via line centre fitting and cross correlation for 46 objects, 29 of which lacked previous radial velocity measurements. Using these radial velocities in combination with the latest Gaia DR3 data, we also calculated Galactocentric space velocities. From their kinematics, we identified two candidates outside of the thin disc and four in young stellar kinematic groups. Two further ultracool dwarfs are apparently young field objects: 2MASSW J1246467$+$402715 (L4$\beta$), which has a potential, weak lithium absorption line, and G 196$-$3B (L3$\beta$), which was already known as young due to its well-studied primary companion., Comment: 33 pages, 14 figures, Accepted by MNRAS

Gravitational waves from black-hole merging events have revealed a population of extra-galactic BHs residing in short-period binaries with masses that are higher than expected based on most stellar evolution models - and also higher than known stellar-origin black holes in our Galaxy. It has been proposed that those high-mass BHs are the remnants of massive metal-poor stars. Gaia astrometry is expected to uncover many Galactic wide-binary systems containing dormant BHs, which may not have been detected before. The study of this population will provide new information on the BH-mass distribution in binaries and shed light on their formation mechanisms and progenitors. As part of the validation efforts in preparation for the fourth Gaia data release (DR4), we analysed the preliminary astrometric binary solutions, obtained by the Gaia Non-Single Star pipeline, to verify their significance and to minimise false-detection rates in high-mass-function orbital solutions. The astrometric binary solution of one source, Gaia BH3, implies the presence of a 32.70 \pm 0.82 M\odot BH in a binary system with a period of 11.6 yr. Gaia radial velocities independently validate the astrometric orbit. Broad-band photometric and spectroscopic data show that the visible component is an old, very metal-poor giant of the Galactic halo, at a distance of 590 pc. The BH in the Gaia BH3 system is more massive than any other Galactic stellar-origin BH known thus far. The low metallicity of the star companion supports the scenario that metal-poor massive stars are progenitors of the high-mass BHs detected by gravitational-wave telescopes. The Galactic orbit of the system and its metallicity indicate that it might belong to the Sequoia halo substructure. Alternatively, and more plausibly, it could belong to the ED-2 stream, which likely originated from a globular cluster that had been disrupted by the Milky Way., Comment: 23 pages, accepted fro publication in A&A Letters. New version with small fixes

Context: The local census of very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs is crucial to improving our understanding of the stellar-substellar transition and their formation history. These objects, known as ultra-cool dwarfs (UCDs), are essential targets for searches of potentially habitable planets. However, their detection poses a challenge because of their low luminosity. The Gaia survey has identified numerous new UCD candidates thanks to its large survey and precise astrometry. Aims: We aim to characterise 60 UCD candidates detected by Gaia in the solar neighbourhood with a spectroscopic follow-up to confirm that they are UCDs, as well as to identify peculiarities. Methods: We acquired the near-infrared (NIR) spectra of 60 objects using the SOFI spectrograph between 0.93 and 2.5 microns (R$\sim600$). We identified their spectral types using a template-matching method. Their binarity is studied using astrometry and spectral features. Results: We confirm that 60 objects in the sample have ultra-cool dwarf spectral types close to those expected from astrometry. Their NIR spectra reveal that seven objects could host an unresolved coolest companion and seven UCDs share the same proper motions as other stars. The characterisation of these UCDs is part of a coordinated effort to improve our understanding of the Solar neighbourhood., Comment: Based on observations made with the ESO New Technology Telescope at the La Silla Observatory under programme 106.214E.001 and 108.22G4.001. Accepted by A&A on the 30/01/2024

Gaia's readout window strategy is challenged by very dense fields in the sky. Therefore, in addition to standard Gaia observations, full Sky Mapper (SM) images were recorded for nine selected regions in the sky. A new software pipeline exploits these Service Interface Function (SIF) images of crowded fields (CFs), making use of the availability of the full two-dimensional (2D) information. This new pipeline produced half a million additional Gaia sources in the region of the omega Centauri ($\omega$ Cen) cluster, which are published with this Focused Product Release. We discuss the dedicated SIF CF data reduction pipeline, validate its data products, and introduce their Gaia archive table. Our aim is to improve the completeness of the {\it Gaia} source inventory in a very dense region in the sky, $\omega$ Cen. An adapted version of {\it Gaia}'s Source Detection and Image Parameter Determination software located sources in the 2D SIF CF images. We validated the results by comparing them to the public {\it Gaia} DR3 catalogue and external Hubble Space Telescope data. With this Focused Product Release, 526\,587 new sources have been added to the {\it Gaia} catalogue in $\omega$ Cen. Apart from positions and brightnesses, the additional catalogue contains parallaxes and proper motions, but no meaningful colour information. While SIF CF source parameters generally have a lower precision than nominal {\it Gaia} sources, in the cluster centre they increase the depth of the combined catalogue by three magnitudes and improve the source density by a factor of ten. This first SIF CF data publication already adds great value to the {\it Gaia} catalogue. It demonstrates what to expect for the fourth {\it Gaia} catalogue, which will contain additional sources for all nine SIF CF regions.

The third Gaia Data Release (DR3) provided photometric time series of more than 2 million long-period variable (LPV) candidates. Anticipating the publication of full radial-velocity (RV) in DR4, this Focused Product Release (FPR) provides RV time series for a selection of LPVs with high-quality observations. We describe the production and content of the Gaia catalog of LPV RV time series, and the methods used to compute variability parameters published in the Gaia FPR. Starting from the DR3 LPVs catalog, we applied filters to construct a sample of sources with high-quality RV measurements. We modeled their RV and photometric time series to derive their periods and amplitudes, and further refined the sample by requiring compatibility between the RV period and at least one of the $G$, $G_{\rm BP}$, or $G_{\rm RP}$ photometric periods. The catalog includes RV time series and variability parameters for 9\,614 sources in the magnitude range $6\lesssim G/{\rm mag}\lesssim 14$, including a flagged top-quality subsample of 6\,093 stars whose RV periods are fully compatible with the values derived from the $G$, $G_{\rm BP}$, and $G_{\rm RP}$ photometric time series. The RV time series contain a mean of 24 measurements per source taken unevenly over a duration of about three years. We identify the great most sources (88%) as genuine LPVs, with about half of them showing a pulsation period and the other half displaying a long secondary period. The remaining 12% consists of candidate ellipsoidal binaries. Quality checks against RVs available in the literature show excellent agreement. We provide illustrative examples and cautionary remarks. The publication of RV time series for almost 10\,000 LPVs constitutes, by far, the largest such database available to date in the literature. The availability of simultaneous photometric measurements gives a unique added value to the Gaia catalog (abridged), Comment: 36 pages, 38 figures

Gaia DR3 provided a first release of RP spectra and astrophysical parameters for ultracool dwarfs. We used these Gaia RP spectra and astrophysical parameters to select the most outlying ultracool dwarfs. These objects have spectral types of M7 or later and might be young brown dwarfs or low metallicity objects. This work aimed to find ultracool dwarfs which have Gaia RP spectra significantly different to the typical population. However, the intrinsic faintness of these ultracool dwarfs in Gaia means that their spectra were typically rather low signal-to-noise in Gaia DR3. This study is intended as a proof-of-concept for future iterations of the Gaia data releases. Based on well studied subdwarfs and young objects, we created a spectral type-specific color ratio, defined using Gaia RP spectra; this ratio is then used to determine which objects are outliers. We then used the objects kinematics and photometry external to Gaia to cut down the list of outliers into a list of 'prime candidates'. We produce a list of 58 Gaia RP spectra outliers, seven of which we deem as prime candidates. Of these, six are likely subdwarfs and one is a known young stellar object. Four of six subdwarf candidates were known as subdwarfs already. The two other subdwarf candidates: 2MASS J03405673+2633447 (sdM8.5) and 2MASS J01204397+6623543 (sdM9), are new classifications., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, accepted by MNRAS

Context. Star-forming regions are excellent benchmarks for testing and validating theories of star formation and stellar evolution. The Perseus star-forming region being one of the youngest (<10 Myr), closest (280-320 pc), and most studied in the literature, is a fundamental benchmark. Aims. We aim to study the membership, phase-space structure, mass, and energy (kinetic plus potential) distribution of the Perseus star-forming region using public catalogues (Gaia, APOGEE, 2MASS, PanSTARRS). Methods. We use Bayesian methodologies accounting for extinction to identify the Perseus physical groups in the phase-space, retrieve their candidate members, derive their properties (age, mass, 3D positions, 3D velocities, and energy), and attempt to reconstruct their origin. Results. We identify 1052 candidate members in seven physical groups (one of them new) with ages between 3 and 10 Myr, dynamical super-virial states, and large fractions of energetically unbound stars. Their mass distributions are broadly compatible with that of Chabrier for masses >0.1 $M_\odot$ and do not show hints of over-abundance of low-mass stars in NGC1333 with respect to IC348. These groups' ages, spatial structure, and kinematics are compatible with at least three generations of stars. Future work is still needed to clarify if the formation of the youngest was triggered by the oldest. Conclusions. The exquisite Gaia data complemented with public archives and mined with comprehensive Bayesian methodologies allow us to identify 31% more members than in previous studies, discover a new physical group (Gorgophone: 7 Myr, 191 members, and 145 $M_\odot$), and confirm that the spatial, kinematic, and energy distributions of these groups support the hierarchical star-formation scenario., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, 29 pages, 22 Figures, 8 tables one of them electronic

Aims. In this work we use the Gaia DR3 set of ultracool dwarf candidates and complement the Gaia spectrophotometry with additional photometry in order to characterise its global properties. This includes the inference of the distances, their locus in the Gaia colour-absolute magnitude diagram and the (biased through selection) luminosity function in the faint end of the Main Sequence. We study the overall changes in the Gaia RP spectra as a function of spectral type. We study the UCDs in binary systems, attempt to identify low-mass members of nearby young associations, star forming regions and clusters, and analyse their variability properties. Results. We detect 57 young, kinematically homogeneous groups some of which are identified as well known star forming regions, associations and clusters of different ages. We find that the primary members of 880 binary systems with a UCD belong mainly to the thin and thick disk components of the Milky Way. We identify 1109 variable UCDs using the variability tables in the Gaia archive, 728 of which belong to the star forming regions defined by HMAC. We define two groups of variable UCDs with extreme bright or faint outliers. Conclusions. The set of sources identified as UCDs in the Gaia archive contains a wealth of information that will require focused follow-up studies and observations. It will help to advance our understanding of the nature of the faint end of the Main Sequence and the stellar/substellar transition., Comment: Accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics. 29 pages, 20 figures plus 3 appendices

We present the General Stellar Parameterizer from Photometry (GSP-Phot), which is part of the astrophysical parameters inference system (Apsis). GSP-Phot is designed to produce a homogeneous catalogue of parameters for hundreds of millions of single non-variable stars based on their astrometry, photometry, and low-resolution BP/RP spectra. These parameters are effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, absolute $M_G$ magnitude, radius, distance, and extinction for each star. GSP-Phot uses a Bayesian forward-modelling approach to simultaneously fit the BP/RP spectrum, parallax, and apparent $G$ magnitude. A major design feature of GSP-Phot is the use of the apparent flux levels of BP/RP spectra to derive, in combination with isochrone models, tight observational constraints on radii and distances. We carefully validate the uncertainty estimates by exploiting repeat Gaia observations of the same source. The data release includes GSP-Phot results for 471 million sources with $G<19$. Typical differences to literature values are 110 K for $T_{\rm eff}$ and 0.2-0.25 for $\log g$, but these depend strongly on data quality. In particular, GSP-Phot results are significantly better for stars with good parallax measurements ($\varpi/\sigma_varpi>20$), mostly within 2kpc. Metallicity estimates exhibit substantial biases compared to literature values and are only useful at a qualitative level. However, we provide an empirical calibration of our metallicity estimates that largely removes these biases. Extinctions $A_0$ and $A_{\rm BP}$ show typical differences from reference values of 0.07-0.09 mag. MCMC samples of the parameters are also available for 95% of the sources. GSP-Phot provides a homogeneous catalogue of stellar parameters, distances, and extinctions that can be used for various purposes, such as sample selections (OB stars, red giants, solar analogues etc.)., Comment: 23 pages, 19 figures

The third Gaia data release provides photometric time series covering 34 months for about 10 million stars. For many of those stars, a characterisation in Fourier space and their variability classification are also provided. This paper focuses on intermediate- to high-mass (IHM) main sequence pulsators M >= 1.3 Msun) of spectral types O, B, A, or F, known as beta Cep, slowly pulsating B (SPB), delta Sct, and gamma Dor stars. These stars are often multi-periodic and display low amplitudes, making them challenging targets to analyse with sparse time series. All datasets used in this analysis are part of the Gaia DR3 data release. The photometric time series were used to perform a Fourier analysis, while the global astrophysical parameters necessary for the empirical instability strips were taken from the Gaia DR3 gspphot tables, and the vsini data were taken from the Gaia DR3 esphs tables. We show that for nearby OBAF-type pulsators, the Gaia DR3 data are precise and accurate enough to pinpoint them in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. We find empirical instability strips covering broader regions than theoretically predicted. In particular, our study reveals the presence of fast rotating gravity-mode pulsators outside the strips, as well as the co-existence of rotationally modulated variables inside the strips as reported before in the literature. We derive an extensive period-luminosity relation for delta Sct stars and provide evidence that the relation features different regimes depending on the oscillation period. Finally, we demonstrate how stellar rotation attenuates the amplitude of the dominant oscillation mode of delta Sct stars.

The third Gaia data release contains, beyond the astrometry and photometry, dispersed light for hundreds of millions of sources from the Gaia prism spectra (BP and RP) and the spectrograph (RVS). This data release opens a new window on the chemo-dynamical properties of stars in our Galaxy, essential knowledge for understanding the structure, formation, and evolution of the Milky Way. To provide insight into the physical properties of Milky Way stars, we used these data to produce a uniformly-derived, all-sky catalog of stellar astrophysical parameters (APs): Teff, logg, [M/H], [$\alpha$/Fe], activity index, emission lines, rotation, 13 chemical abundance estimates, radius, age, mass, bolometric luminosity, distance, and dust extinction. We developed the Apsis pipeline to infer APs of Gaia objects by analyzing their astrometry, photometry, BP/RP, and RVS spectra. We validate our results against other literature works, including benchmark stars, interferometry, and asteroseismology. Here we assessed the stellar analysis performance from Apsis statistically. We describe the quantities we obtained, including our results' underlying assumptions and limitations. We provide guidance and identify regimes in which our parameters should and should not be used. Despite some limitations, this is the most extensive catalog of uniformly-inferred stellar parameters to date. These comprise Teff, logg, and [M/H] (470 million using BP/RP, 6 million using RVS), radius (470 million), mass (140 million), age (120 million), chemical abundances (5 million), diffuse interstellar band analysis (1/2 million), activity indices (2 million), H{$\alpha$} equivalent widths (200 million), and further classification of spectral types (220 million) and emission-line stars (50 thousand). More precise and detailed astrophysical parameters based on epoch BP, RP, and RVS are planned for the next Gaia data release., Comment: Gaia DR3 paper, 37 pages, 38 figures, catalog is available from the Gaia Archive and partner data centers; Accepted for publication in A&A

Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3) provides a wealth of new data products for the astronomical community to exploit, including astrophysical parameters for a half billion stars. In this work we demonstrate the high quality of these data products and illustrate their use in different astrophysical contexts. We query the astrophysical parameter tables along with other tables in Gaia DR3 to derive the samples of the stars of interest. We validate our results by using the Gaia catalogue itself and by comparison with external data. We have produced six homogeneous samples of stars with high quality astrophysical parameters across the HR diagram for the community to exploit. We first focus on three samples that span a large parameter space: young massive disk stars (~3M), FGKM spectral type stars (~3M), and UCDs (~20K). We provide these sources along with additional information (either a flag or complementary parameters) as tables that are made available in the Gaia archive. We furthermore identify 15740 bone fide carbon stars, 5863 solar-analogues, and provide the first homogeneous set of stellar parameters of the Spectro Photometric Standard Stars. We use a subset of the OBA sample to illustrate its usefulness to analyse the Milky Way rotation curve. We then use the properties of the FGKM stars to analyse known exoplanet systems. We also analyse the ages of some unseen UCD-companions to the FGKM stars. We additionally predict the colours of the Sun in various passbands (Gaia, 2MASS, WISE) using the solar-analogue sample., Comment: 35 pages, (incl 6 pages references, acknowledgements, affiliations), 37 figures, A&A accepted

Gaia Data Release 3 contains a wealth of new data products for the community. Astrophysical parameters are a major component of this release. They were produced by the Astrophysical parameters inference system (Apsis) within the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium. The aim of this paper is to describe the overall content of the astrophysical parameters in Gaia Data Release 3 and how they were produced. In Apsis we use the mean BP/RP and mean RVS spectra along with astrometry and photometry, and we derive the following parameters: source classification and probabilities for 1.6 billion objects, interstellar medium characterisation and distances for up to 470 million sources, including a 2D total Galactic extinction map, 6 million redshifts of quasar candidates and 1.4 million redshifts of galaxy candidates, along with an analysis of 50 million outlier sources through an unsupervised classification. The astrophysical parameters also include many stellar spectroscopic and evolutionary parameters for up to 470 million sources. These comprise Teff, logg, and m_h (470 million using BP/RP, 6 million using RVS), radius (470 million), mass (140 million), age (120 million), chemical abundances (up to 5 million), diffuse interstellar band analysis (0.5 million), activity indices (2 million), H-alpha equivalent widths (200 million), and further classification of spectral types (220 million) and emission-line stars (50 thousand). This catalogue is the most extensive homogeneous database of astrophysical parameters to date, and it is based uniquely on Gaia data., Comment: 35 pages (incl 7 pages references, appendix, affiliations, acknowledgements), 29 figures, A&A, accepted

The Gaia Radial Velocity Spectrometer provides the unique opportunity of a spectroscopic analysis of millions of stars at medium-resolution in the near-infrared. This wavelength range includes the Ca II infrared triplet (IRT), which is a good diagnostics of magnetic activity in the chromosphere of late-type stars. Here we present the method devised for inferring the Gaia stellar activity index together with its scientific validation. A sample of well studied PMS stars is considered to identify the regime in which the Gaia stellar activity index may be affected by mass accretion. The position of these stars in the colour-magnitude diagram and the correlation with the amplitude of the photometric rotational modulation is also scrutinised. Three regimes of the chromospheric stellar activity are identified, confirming suggestions made by previous authors on much smaller $R'_{\rm HK}$ datasets. The highest stellar activity regime is associated with PMS stars and RS CVn systems, in which activity is enhanced by tidal interaction. Some evidence of a bimodal distribution in MS stars with $T_{\rm eff}\ge$ 5000 K is also found, which defines the two other regimes, without a clear gap in between. Stars with 3500 K$\le T_{\rm eff} \le$ 5000 K are found to be either very active PMS stars or active MS stars with a unimodal distribution in chromospheric activity. A dramatic change in the activity distribution is found for $T_{\rm eff}\le$3500 K, with a dominance of low activity stars close to the transition between partially- and fully-convective stars and a rise in activity down into the fully-convective regime., Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables, submitted to A&A

The Gaia DR3 Catalogue contains for the first time about eight hundred thousand solutions with either orbital elements or trend parameters for astrometric, spectroscopic and eclipsing binaries, and combinations of them. This paper aims to illustrate the huge potential of this large non-single star catalogue. Using the orbital solutions together with models of the binaries, a catalogue of tens of thousands of stellar masses, or lower limits, partly together with consistent flux ratios, has been built. Properties concerning the completeness of the binary catalogues are discussed, statistical features of the orbital elements are explained and a comparison with other catalogues is performed. Illustrative applications are proposed for binaries across the H-R diagram. The binarity is studied in the RGB/AGB and a search for genuine SB1 among long-period variables is performed. The discovery of new EL CVn systems illustrates the potential of combining variability and binarity catalogues. Potential compact object companions are presented, mainly white dwarf companions or double degenerates, but one candidate neutron star is also presented. Towards the bottom of the main sequence, the orbits of previously-suspected binary ultracool dwarfs are determined and new candidate binaries are discovered. The long awaited contribution of Gaia to the analysis of the substellar regime shows the brown dwarf desert around solar-type stars using true, rather than minimum, masses, and provides new important constraints on the occurrence rates of substellar companions to M dwarfs. Several dozen new exoplanets are proposed, including two with validated orbital solutions and one super-Jupiter orbiting a white dwarf, all being candidates requiring confirmation. Beside binarity, higher order multiple systems are also found., Comment: 60 pages, 60 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics (2022-06-09). The catalogue of binary masses is available for download from the ESA Gaia DR3 Archive and will be available from the CDS/VizieR service

Gaia DR3 opens a new era of all-sky spectral analysis of stellar populations thanks to the nearly 5.6 million stars observed by the RVS and parametrised by the GSP-spec module. The all-sky Gaia chemical cartography allows a powerful and precise chemo-dynamical view of the Milky Way with unprecedented spatial coverage and statistical robustness. First, it reveals the strong vertical symmetry of the Galaxy and the flared structure of the disc. Second, the observed kinematic disturbances of the disc -- seen as phase space correlations -- and kinematic or orbital substructures are associated with chemical patterns that favour stars with enhanced metallicities and lower [alpha/Fe] abundance ratios compared to the median values in the radial distributions. This is detected both for young objects that trace the spiral arms and older populations. Several alpha, iron-peak elements and at least one heavy element trace the thin and thick disc properties in the solar cylinder. Third, young disc stars show a recent chemical impoverishment in several elements. Fourth, the largest chemo-dynamical sample of open clusters analysed so far shows a steepening of the radial metallicity gradient with age, which is also observed in the young field population. Finally, the Gaia chemical data have the required coverage and precision to unveil galaxy accretion debris and heated disc stars on halo orbits through their [alpha/Fe] ratio, and to allow the study of the chemo-dynamical properties of globular clusters. Gaia DR3 chemo-dynamical diagnostics open new horizons before the era of ground-based wide-field spectroscopic surveys. They unveil a complex Milky Way that is the outcome of an eventful evolution, shaping it to the present day (abridged)., Comment: Astronomy and Astrophysics (accepted, in press)

The chemo-physical parametrisation of stellar spectra is essential for understanding the nature and evolution of stars and of Galactic stellar populations. Gaia DR3 contains the parametrisation of RVS data performed by the General Stellar Parametriser-spectroscopy, module. Here we describe the parametrisation of the first 34 months of RVS observations. GSP-spec estimates the chemo-physical parameters from combined RVS spectra of single stars. The main analysis workflow described here, MatisseGauguin, is based on projection and optimisation methods and provides the stellar atmospheric parameters; the individual chemical abundances of N, Mg, Si, S, Ca, Ti, Cr, FeI, FeII, Ni, Zr, Ce and Nd; the differential equivalent width of a cyanogen line; and the parameters of a DIB feature. Another workflow, based on an artificial neural network, provides a second set of atmospheric parameters that are useful for classification control. We implement a detailed quality flag chain considering different error sources. With about 5.6 million stars, the Gaia DR3 GSP-spec all-sky catalogue is the largest compilation of stellar chemo-physical parameters ever published and the first one from space data. Internal and external biases have been studied taking into account the implemented flags. In some cases, simple calibrations with low degree polynomials are suggested. The homogeneity and quality of the estimated parameters enables chemo-dynamical studies of Galactic stellar populations, interstellar extinction studies from individual spectra, and clear constraints on stellar evolution models. We highly recommend that users adopt the provided quality flags for scientific exploitation . The Gaia DR3 GSP-spec catalogue is a major step in the scientific exploration of Milky Way stellar populations, confirming the Gaia promise of a new Galactic vision (abridged)., Comment: Astronomy and Astrophysics (accepted, in press)

Context: A rich population of low-mass brown dwarfs and isolated planetary mass objects has been reported recently in the Upper Scorpius and Ophiuchus star forming complex. Aims: We investigate the membership, nature and properties of 17 of these isolated planetary mass candidates using low-resolution near-infrared spectra. Methods: We investigate the membership by looking for evidences of youth using four diagnostics: the slope of the continuum between the J and Ks band, the Hcont and TLI-g gravity sensitive indices, and by comparing the spectra to young and field (old) M and L-dwarf standards. Results: All the targets but one are confirmed as young ultracool objects, with spectral types between L0 and L6 and masses in the range 0.004-0.013 M according to evolutionary models. The status of the last target is unclear at this point. Conclusions: Only one possible contaminant has been identified among the 17 targets, suggesting that the contamination level of the original sample must be lower than 6%, Comment: Accepted on 2022 June 2. Pending language revision

Stellar ages are key to improving our understanding of different astrophysical phenomena. However, many techniques to estimate stellar ages are highly model-dependent. The lithium depletion boundary (LDB), based on the presence or absence of lithium in low-mass stars, can be used to derive ages in stellar associations of between 20 and 500~Ma. The purpose of this work is to revise former LDB ages in stellar associations in a consistent way, taking advantage of the homogeneous \textit{Gaia} parallaxes as well as bolometric luminosity estimations that do not rely on monochromatic bolometric corrections. We studied nine open clusters and three moving groups characterised by a previous determination of the LDB age. We gathered all the available information from our data and the literature: membership, distances, photometric data, reddening, metallicity, and surface gravity. We re-assigned membership and calculated bolometric luminosities and effective temperatures using distances derived from Gaia DR2 and multi-wavelength photometry for individual objects around the former LDB. We located the LDB using a homogeneous method for all the stellar associations. Finally, we estimated the age by comparing it with different evolutionary models. We located the LDB for the twelve stellar associations and derived their ages using several theoretical evolutionary models. We compared the LDB ages among them, along with data obtained with other techniques, such as isochrone fitting, ultimately finding some discrepancies among the various approaches. Finally, we remark that the 32 Ori MG is likely to be composed of at least two populations of different ages., Comment: 78 pages, accepted by A&A

We present new luminosity-metallicity (LZ; MV-[Fe/H] and MG-[Fe/H]) relations and, for the first time, empirical, Gaia three-band (G,GBP,GRP) period-Wesenheit-metallicity (PWZ) relations of RR Lyrae stars (RRLs) derived using a hierarchical Bayesian approach and new accurate parallaxes published for these variables in the Gaia Early Data Release 3 (EDR3). In a previous study we obtained Bayesian hierarchically-derived LZ relations from a sample of about four hundred Milky Way field RRLs with G-band light curves and trigonometric parallaxes published in the Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2), using V mean magnitudes, metallicities, absorptions and pulsation periods available in the literature. We now extend that study in two directions. Firstly, we update our previous results using trigonometric parallaxes from Gaia EDR3 and incorporate the Bayesian analysis of a first empirical PWZ relation derived using those field RRLs with G, GBP and GRP time-series photometry available in Gaia DR2. Secondly, we use Bayesian inference to derive LZ relations and empirical PW Gaia three-band relations from 385 RRLs belonging to 15 Milky Way globular clusters (GC) with literature-compiled spectroscopic metallicities ranging from -0.36 to -2.39 dex and prior distances extending from 2.2 to 41.2 kpc. From the samples of RRLs analysed in this paper we infer a mean Gaia EDR3 zero-point offset of -0.028 mas with median values ranging from -0.033 (LZ and PWZ models for field stars) to -0.024 mas (LZ model in the V-band for GC RRLs)., Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Dating stars is a major challenge with a deep impact on many astrophysical fields. One of the most promising techniques for this is using chemical abundances. Recent space- and ground-based facilities have improved the quantity of stars with accurate observations. This has opened the door for using Bayesian inference tools to maximise the information we can extract from them. Our aim is to present accurate and reliable stellar age estimates of FGK stars using chemical abundances and stellar parameters. We used one of the most flexible Bayesian inference techniques (hierarchical Bayesian models) to exceed current possibilities in the use of chemical abundances for stellar dating. Our model is a data-driven model. We used a training set that has been presented in the literature with ages estimated with isochrones and accurate stellar abundances and general characteristics. The core of the model is a prescription of certain abundance ratios as linear combinations of stellar properties including age. We gathered four different testing sets to assess the accuracy, precision, and limits of our model. We also trained a model using chemical abundances alone. We found that our age estimates and those coming from asteroseismology, other accurate sources, and also with ten Gaia benchmark stars agree well. The mean absolute difference of our estimates compared with those used as reference is 0.9 Ga, with a mean difference of 0.01 Ga. When using open clusters, we reached a very good agreement for Hyades, NGC 2632, Ruprecht 147, and IC4651. We also found outliers that are a reflection of chemical peculiarities and/or stars at the limit of the validity ranges of the training set. The model that only uses chemical abundances shows slightly worse mean absolute difference (1.18 Ga) and mean difference (-0.12 Ga)., Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Context: The $\chi^{1}$ Fornacis cluster (Alessi 13) is one of a few open clusters of its age and distance in the Solar neighbourhood that ought to benefit from more attention as it can serve as a cornerstone for numerous future studies related to star and planet formation. Aims: We take advantage of the early installment of the third data release of the Gaia space mission in combination with archival data and our own observations, to expand the census of cluster members and revisit some properties of the cluster. Methods: We applied a probabilistic method to infer membership probabilities over a field of more than 1000 deg${^2}$ to select the most likely cluster members and derive the distances, spatial velocities, and physical properties of the stars in this sample. Results: We identify 164 high-probability cluster members (including 61 new members) covering the magnitude range from 5.1 to 19.6 mag in the G-band. Our sample of cluster members is complete down to 0.04 M$_{\odot}$. We derive the distance of $108.4\pm0.3$ pc from Bayesian inference and confirm that the cluster is comoving with the Tucana-Horologium, Columba, and Carina young stellar associations. We investigate the kinematics of the cluster from a subsample of stars with measured radial velocities and we do not detect any significant expansion or rotation effects in the cluster. Our results suggest that the cluster is somewhat younger (about 30 Myr) than previously thought. Based on spectroscopic observations, we argue that the cluster is mass-segregated and that the distribution of spectral types shows little variation compared to other young stellar groups. Conclusions: In this study, we deliver the most complete census of cluster members that can be done with Gaia data alone and we use this new sample to provide an updated picture on the 6D structure of the cluster., Comment: 16 pages, 12 Figures, online material, A&A (in press)

Context. The analysis of luminosity and mass distributions of young stellar clusters is essential to understanding the star-formation process. However, the gas and dust left over by this process extinct the light of the newborn stars and can severely bias both the census of cluster members and its luminosity distribution. Aims. We aim to develop a Bayesian methodology to infer, with minimal biases due to photometric extinction, the candidate members and magnitude distributions of embedded young stellar clusters. Methods. We improve a previously published methodology and extend its application to embedded stellar clusters. We validate the method using synthetically extincted data sets of the Pleiades cluster with varying degrees of extinction. Results. Our methodology can recover members from data sets extincted up to Av ~ 6 mag with accuracies, true positive, and contamination rates that are better than 99%, 80%, and 9%, respectively. Missing values hamper our methodology by introducing contaminants and artifacts into the magnitude distributions. Nonetheless, these artifacts vanish through the use of informative priors in the distribution of the proper motions. Conclusions. The methodology presented here recovers, with minimal biases, the members and distributions of embedded stellar clusters from data sets with a high percentage of sources with missing values (>96%)., Comment: 21 pages, 24 figures

We produce a clean and well-characterised catalogue of objects within 100\,pc of the Sun from the \G\ Early Data Release 3. We characterise the catalogue through comparisons to the full data release, external catalogues, and simulations. We carry out a first analysis of the science that is possible with this sample to demonstrate its potential and best practices for its use. The selection of objects within 100\,pc from the full catalogue used selected training sets, machine-learning procedures, astrometric quantities, and solution quality indicators to determine a probability that the astrometric solution is reliable. The training set construction exploited the astrometric data, quality flags, and external photometry. For all candidates we calculated distance posterior probability densities using Bayesian procedures and mock catalogues to define priors. Any object with reliable astrometry and a non-zero probability of being within 100\,pc is included in the catalogue. We have produced a catalogue of \NFINAL\ objects that we estimate contains at least 92\% of stars of stellar type M9 within 100\,pc of the Sun. We estimate that 9\% of the stars in this catalogue probably lie outside 100\,pc, but when the distance probability function is used, a correct treatment of this contamination is possible. We produced luminosity functions with a high signal-to-noise ratio for the main-sequence stars, giants, and white dwarfs. We examined in detail the Hyades cluster, the white dwarf population, and wide-binary systems and produced candidate lists for all three samples. We detected local manifestations of several streams, superclusters, and halo objects, in which we identified 12 members of \G\ Enceladus. We present the first direct parallaxes of five objects in multiple systems within 10\,pc of the Sun., Comment: 45 Pages, 39 figures in main part and 18 in appendix, tables on CDS

Context: Chamaeleon is the southernmost low-mass star-forming complex within 200 pc from the Sun. Its stellar population has been extensively studied in the past, but the current census of the stellar content is not complete yet and deserves further investigation. Aims: We take advantage of the second data release of the \textit{Gaia} space mission to expand the census of stars in Chamaeleon and to revisit the properties of the stellar populations associated to the Chamaeleon I (Cha I) and Chamaeleon II (Cha II) dark clouds. Methods: We perform a membership analysis of the sources in the \textit{Gaia} catalogue over a field of 100 deg$^{2}$ encompassing the Chamaeleon clouds, and use this new census of cluster members to investigate the 6D structure of the complex. Results: We identify 188 and 41 high-probability members of the stellar populations in Cha I and Cha II, respectively, including 19 and 7 new members. Our sample covers the magnitude range from $G=6$ to $G=20$ mag in Cha I, and from $G=12$ to $G=18$ mag in Cha II. We confirm that the northern and southern subgroups of Cha I are located at different distances ($191.4^{+0.8}_{-0.8}$ pc and $186.7^{+1.0}_{-1.0}$ pc), but they exhibit the same space motion within the reported uncertainties. Cha II is located at a distance of $197.5^{+1.0}_{-0.9}$ pc and exhibits a space motion that is consistent with Cha I within the admittedly large uncertainties on the spatial velocities of the stars that come from radial velocity data. The median age of the stars derived from the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD) and stellar models is about 1-2 Myr, suggesting that they are somewhat younger than previously thought. We do not detect significant age differences between the Chamaeleon subgroups, but we show that Cha II exhibits a higher fraction of disc-bearing stars compared to Cha I., Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures, online material (Tables A.1 - A.7). Accepted for publication in A&A

Context: Lupus is recognised as one of the closest star-forming regions, but the lack of trigonometric parallaxes in the pre-Gaia era hampered many studies on the kinematic properties of this region and led to incomplete censuses of its stellar population. Aims: We use the second data release of the Gaia space mission combined with published ancillary radial velocity data to revise the census of stars and investigate the 6D structure of the Lupus complex. Methods: We performed a new membership analysis of the Lupus association based on astrometric and photometric data over a field of 160 deg2 around the main molecular clouds of the complex and compared the properties of the various subgroups in this region. Results: We identified 137 high-probability members of the Lupus association of young stars, including 47 stars that had never been reported as members before. Many of the historically known stars associated with the Lupus region identified in previous studies are more likely to be field stars or members of the adjacent Scorpius-Centaurus association. Our new sample of members covers the magnitude and mass range from G=8 to G=18 mag and from 0.03 to 2.4Msun, respectively. We compared the kinematic properties of the stars projected towards the molecular clouds Lupus 1 to 6 and showed that these subgroups are located at roughly the same distance (about 160~pc) and move with the same spatial velocity. Our age estimates inferred from stellar models show that the Lupus subgroups are coeval (with median ages ranging from about 1 to 3 Myr). The Lupus association appears to be younger than the population of young stars in the Corona-Australis star-forming region recently investigated by our team using a similar methodology. The initial mass function of the Lupus association inferred from the distribution of spectral types shows little variation compared to other star-forming regions., Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures, A&A in press

Context: Stellar clusters are benchmarks for theories of star formation and evolution. The high precision parallax data of the Gaia mission allows significant improvements in the distance determination to stellar clusters and its stars. In order to have accurate and precise distance determinations, systematics like the parallax spatial correlations need to be accounted for, especially for stars in small sky regions. Aims: Provide the astrophysical community with a free and open code designed to simultaneously infer cluster parameters (i.e. distance and size) and the distances to its stars using Gaia parallax measurements. It includes cluster oriented prior families and is specifically designed to deal with the Gaia parallax spatial correlations. Methods: A Bayesian hierarchical model is created to allow the inference of both the cluster parameters and distances to its stars. Results: Using synthetic data that mimics Gaia parallax uncertainties and spatial correlations, we observe that our cluster oriented prior families result in distance estimates with smaller errors than those obtained with an exponentially decreasing space density prior. In addition, the treatment of the parallax spatial correlations minimizes errors in the estimated cluster size and stellar distances and avoids the underestimation of uncertainties. Although neglecting the parallax spatial correlations has no impact on the accuracy of cluster distance determinations, it underestimates the uncertainties and may result in measurements that are incompatible with the true value. Conclusions: The combination of prior knowledge with the treatment of Gaia parallax spatial correlations produces accurate (error <10%) and trustworthy estimates (i.e. true values contained within the 2$\sigma$ uncertainties) of clusters distances for clusters up to ~5 kpc, and cluster sizes for clusters up to ~1 kpc., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, accepted in A&A, for the associated code visit https://github.com/olivares-j/Kalkayotl

We model the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 23 protoplanetary disks in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region using detailed disk models and a Bayesian approach. This is made possible by combining these models with artificial neural networks to drastically speed up their performance. Such a setup allows us to confront $\alpha$-disk models with observations while accounting for several uncertainties and degeneracies. Our results yield high viscosities and accretion rates for many sources, which is not consistent with recent measurements of low turbulence levels in disks. This inconsistency could imply that viscosity is not the main mechanism for angular momentum transport in disks, and that alternatives such as disk winds play an important role in this process. We also find that our SED-derived disk masses are systematically higher than those obtained solely from (sub)mm fluxes, suggesting that part of the disk emission could still be optically thick at (sub)mm wavelengths. This effect is particularly relevant for disk population studies and alleviates previous observational tensions between the masses of protoplanetary disks and exoplanetary systems., Comment: 24 pages (including appendices), 13 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Existing and upcoming instrumentation is collecting large amounts of astrophysical data, which require efficient and fast analysis techniques. We present a deep neural network architecture to analyze high-resolution stellar spectra and predict stellar parameters such as effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, and rotational velocity. With this study, we firstly demonstrate the capability of deep neural networks to precisely recover stellar parameters from a synthetic training set. Secondly, we analyze the application of this method to observed spectra and the impact of the synthetic gap (i.e., the difference between observed and synthetic spectra) on the estimation of stellar parameters, their errors, and their precision. Our convolutional network is trained on synthetic PHOENIX-ACES spectra in different optical and near-infrared wavelength regions. For each of the four stellar parameters, $T_{\rm eff}$, $\log{g}$, [M/H], and $v \sin{i}$, we constructed a neural network model to estimate each parameter independently. We then applied this method to 50 M dwarfs with high-resolution spectra taken with CARMENES (Calar Alto high-Resolution search for M dwarfs with Exo-earths with Near-infrared and optical Echelle Spectrographs), which operates in the visible (520-960 nm) and near-infrared wavelength range (960-1710 nm) simultaneously. Our results are compared with literature values for these stars. They show mostly good agreement within the errors, but also exhibit large deviations in some cases, especially for [M/H], pointing out the importance of a better understanding of the synthetic gap.

We present ten new ultra-cool dwarfs in seven wide binary systems discovered using $\textit{Gaia}$ DR2 data, identified as part of our $\textit{Gaia}$ Ultra-Cool Dwarf Sample project. The seven systems presented here include an L1 companion to the G5 IV star HD 164507, an L1: companion to the V478 Lyr AB system, an L2 companion to the metal-poor K5 V star CD-28 8692, an M9 V companion to the young variable K0 V star LT UMa, and three low-mass binaries consisting of late Ms and early Ls. The HD 164507, CD-28 8692, V478 Lyr, and LT UMa systems are particularly important benchmarks, because the primaries are well characterised and offer excellent constraints on the atmospheric parameters and ages of the companions. We find that the M8 V star 2MASS J23253550+4608163 is $\sim$2.5 mag overluminous compared to M dwarfs of similar spectral type, but at the same time it does not exhibit obvious peculiarities in its near-infrared spectrum. Its overluminosity cannot be explained by unresolved binarity alone. Finally, we present an L1+L2 system with a projected physical separation of 959 au, making this the widest L+L binary currently known., Comment: Accepted for publication on MNRAS

Corona-Australis is one of the nearest regions to the Sun with recent and ongoing star formation, but the current picture of its stellar (and substellar) content is not complete yet. We take advantage of the second data release of the Gaia space mission to revisit the stellar census and search for additional members of the young stellar association in Corona-Australis. We applied a probabilistic method to infer membership probabilities based on a multidimensional astrometric and photometric data set over a field of 128 deg$^{2}$ around the dark clouds of the region. We identify 313 high-probability candidate members to the Corona-Australis association, 262 of which had never been reported as members before. Our sample of members covers the magnitude range between $G\gtrsim5$ mag and $G\lesssim20$ mag, and it reveals the existence of two kinematically and spatially distinct subgroups. There is a distributed `off-cloud' population of stars located in the north of the dark clouds that is twice as numerous as the historically known `on-cloud' population that is concentrated around the densest cores. By comparing the location of the stars in the HR-diagram with evolutionary models, we show that these two populations are younger than 10 Myr. Based on their infrared excess emission, we identify 28 Class II and 215 Class III stars among the sources with available infrared photometry, and we conclude that the frequency of Class II stars (i.e. `disc-bearing' stars) in the on-cloud region is twice as large as compared to the off-cloud population. The distance derived for the Corona-Australis region based on this updated census is $d=149.4^{+0.4}_{-0.4}$ pc, which exceeds previous estimates by about 20 pc.In this paper we provide the most complete census of stars in Corona-Australis available to date that can be confirmed with Gaia data., Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, online data. Abridged abstract. Accepted for publication in A&A (in press)

Aims:We take advantage of the second data release of the Gaia space mission and the state-of-the-art astrometry delivered from very long baseline interferometry observations to revisit the structure and kinematics of the nearby Taurus star-forming region. Methods: We apply a hierarchical clustering algorithm for partitioning the stars in our sample into groups (i.e., clusters) that are associated with the various molecular clouds of the complex, and derive the distance and spatial velocity of individual stars and their corresponding molecular clouds. Results: We show that the molecular clouds are located at different distances and confirm the existence of important depth effects in this region reported in previous studies. For example, we find that the L 1495 molecular cloud is located at $d=129.9^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$ pc, while the filamentary structure connected to it (in the plane of the sky) is at $d=160.0^{+1.2}_{-1.2}$ pc. We report B 215 and L 1558 as the closest ($d=128.5^{+1.6}_{-1.6}$ pc) and most remote ($d=198.1^{+2.5}_{-2.5}$ pc) substructures of the complex, respectively. The median inter-cloud distance is 25 pc and the relative motion of the subgroups is on the order of a few km/s. We find no clear evidence for expansion (or contraction) of the Taurus complex, but signs of the potential effects of a global rotation. Finally, we compare the radial velocity of the stars with the velocity of the underlying $^{13}$CO molecular gas and report a mean difference of $0.04\pm0.12$ km/s (with r.m.s. of 0.63 km/s) confirming that the stars and the gas are tightly coupled., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

Context. The study of star formation is extremely challenging due to the lack of complete and clean samples of young, nearby clusters, and star forming regions. The recent Gaia DR2 catalogue complemented with the deep, ground based COSMIC DANCe catalogue offers a new database of unprecedented accuracy to revisit the membership of clusters and star forming regions. The 30 Myr open cluster IC 4665 is one of the few well-known clusters of this age and it is an excellent target where to test evolutionary models and study planetary formation. Aims. We aim to provide a comprehensive membership analysis of IC 4665 and to study the following properties: empirical isochrones, distance, magnitude distribution, present-day system mass function, and spatial distribution. Methods. We use the Gaia DR2 catalogue together with the DANCe catalogue to look for members using a probabilistic model of the distribution of the observable quantities in both the cluster and background populations. Results. We obtain a final list of 819 candidate members which cover a 12.4 magnitude range (7 < J < 19.4). We find that 50% are new candidates, and we estimate a conservative contamination rate of 20%. This unique sample of members allows us to obtain a present-day system mass function in the range of 0.02-6 Msun, which reveals a number of details not seen in previous studies. In addition, they favour a spherically symmetric spatial distribution for this young open cluster. Conclusions. Our membership analysis represents a significant increase in the quantity and quality (low-contamination) with respect to previous studies. As such, it offers an excellent opportunity to revisit other fundamental parameters such as the age.

We identify and investigate known late M, L and T dwarfs in the Gaia second data release. This sample is being used as a training set in the Gaia data processing chain of the ultra cool dwarfs work package. We find 695 objects in the optical spectral range M8 to T6 with accurate Gaia coordinates, proper motions, and parallaxes which we combine with published spectral types and photometry from large area optical and infrared sky surveys. We find that 100 objects are in 47 multiple systems, of which 27 systems are published and 20 are new. These will be useful benchmark systems and we discuss the requirements to produce a complete catalog of multiple systems with an ultra cool dwarf component. We examine the magnitudes in the Gaia passbands and find that the GBP magnitudes are unreliable and should not be used for these objects. We examine progressively redder colour magnitude diagrams and see a notable increase in the main sequence scatter and a bivariate main sequence for old and young objects. We provide an absolute magnitude spectral sub-type calibration for G and GRP passbands along with linear fits over the range M8 L8 for other passbands., Comment: 19 pages, 24 figures, submitted to MNRAS but still time to make minor changes

Context. Ruprecht 147 is the oldest (2.5 Gyr) open cluster in the solar vicinity (< 300 pc), making it an important target for stellar evolution studies and exoplanet searches. Aims. Derive a census of members and the luminosity, mass, and spatial distributions of the cluster. Methods. We use an astro-photometric data set including all available information from the literature together with our own observations. We process the data with an updated version of an existent membership selection methodology. Results. We identify 259 high-probability candidate members, including 58 previously unreported. All these candidates cover the luminosity interval between G > 6 mag to i< 21 mag. The cluster luminosity and mass distributions are derived with an unprecedented level of details allowing us to recognize, among other features, the Wielen dip. The mass distribution in the low-mass regime drops sharply at 0.4 $M_{\odot}$ even though our data are sensitive to stellar masses down to 0.1 $M_{\odot}$, suggesting that most very-low-mass members left the cluster as the result of its dynamical evolution. In addition, the cluster is highly elongated (ellipticity $\sim$ 0.5) towards the galactic plane, and mass segregated. Conclusions. Our combined Gaia+DANCe data set allows us to obtain an extended list of cluster candidate members, and to derive luminosity, mass and projected spatial distributions in the oldest open cluster of the solar vicinity., Comment: 25 pages

More than half a million of the 1.69 billion sources in Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) are published with photometric time series that exhibit light variations during the 22 months of observation. An all-sky classification of common high-amplitude pulsators (Cepheids, long-period variables, Delta Scuti / SX Phoenicis, and RR Lyrae stars) is provided for stars with brightness variations greater than 0.1 mag in G band. A semi-supervised classification approach was employed, firstly training multi-stage random forest classifiers with sources of known types in the literature, followed by a preliminary classification of the Gaia data and a second training phase that included a selection of the first classification results to improve the representation of some classes, before the improved classifiers were applied to the Gaia data. Dedicated validation classifiers were used to reduce the level of contamination in the published results. A relevant fraction of objects were not yet sufficiently sampled for reliable Fourier series decomposition, consequently classifiers were based on features derived from statistics of photometric time series in the G, BP, and RP bands, as well as from some astrometric parameters. The published classification results include 195,780 RR Lyrae stars, 150,757 long-period variables, 8550 Cepheids, and 8882 Delta Scuti / SX Phoenicis stars. All of these results represent candidates whose completeness and contamination are described as a function of variability type and classification reliability. Results are expressed in terms of class labels and classification scores, which are available in the vari_classifier_result table of the Gaia archive., Comment: 21 pages, 33 figures, with minor revisions, in press (Astronomy & Astrophysics)

We present results from the analysis of 401 RR Lyrae stars (RRLs) belonging to the field of the Milky Way (MW). For a fraction of them multi-band ($V$, $K_{\rm s}$, $W1$) photometry, metal abundances, extinction values and pulsation periods are available in the literature and accurate trigonometric parallaxes measured by the Gaia mission alongside Gaia $G$-band time-series photometry have become available with the Gaia second data release (DR2) on 2018 April 25. Using a Bayesian fitting approach we derive new near-, mid-infrared period-absolute magnitude-metallicity ($PMZ$) relations and new absolute magnitude-metallicity relations in the visual ($M_V - {\rm [Fe/H]}$) and $G$ bands ($M_G - {\rm [Fe/H]}$), based on the Gaia DR2 parallaxes. We find the dependence of luminosity on metallicity to be higher than usually found in the literature, irrespective of the passband considered. Running the adopted Bayesian model on a simulated dataset we show that the high metallicity dependence is not caused by the method, but likely arises from the actual distribution of the data and the presence of a zero-point offset in the Gaia parallaxes. We infer a zero-point offset of $-0.057$ mas, with the Gaia DR2 parallaxes being systematically smaller. We find the RR Lyrae absolute magnitude in the $V$, $G$, $K_{\rm s}$ and $W1$ bands at metallicity of [Fe/H]=$-1.5$ dex and period of P = 0.5238 days, based on Gaia DR2 parallaxes to be $M_V = 0.66\pm0.06$ mag, $M_G = 0.63\pm0.08$ mag, $M_{K_{\rm s}} = -0.37\pm0.11$ mag and $M_{W1} = -0.41\pm0.11$ mag, respectively., Comment: 18 pages, 21 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Gaia DR2 provides a unique all-sky catalogue of 550'737 variable stars, of which 151'761 are long-period variable (LPV) candidates with G variability amplitudes larger than 0.2 mag (5-95% quantile range). About one-fifth of the LPV candidates are Mira candidates, the majority of the rest are semi-regular variable candidates. For each source, G, BP , and RP photometric time-series are published, together with some LPV-specific attributes for the subset of 89'617 candidates with periods in G longer than 60 days. We describe this first Gaia catalogue of LPV candidates, and present various validation checks. Various samples of LPVs were used to validate the catalogue: a sample of well-studied very bright LPVs with light curves from the AAVSO that are partly contemporaneous with Gaia light curves, a sample of Gaia LPV candidates with good parallaxes, the ASAS_SN catalogue of LPVs, and the OGLE catalogues of LPVs towards the Magellanic Clouds and the Galactic bulge. The analyses of these samples show a good agreement between Gaia DR2 and literature periods. The same is globally true for bolometric corrections of M-type stars. The main contaminant of our DR2 catalogue comes from young stellar objects (YSOs) in the solar vicinity (within ~1 kpc), although their number in the whole catalogue is only at the percent level. A cautionary note is provided about parallax-dependent LPV attributes published in the catalogue. This first Gaia catalogue of LPVs approximately doubles the number of known LPVs with amplitudes larger than 0.2 mag, despite the conservative candidate selection criteria that prioritise low contamination over high completeness, and despite the limited DR2 time coverage compared to the long periods characteristic of LPVs. It also contains a small set of YSO candidates, which offers the serendipitous opportunity to study these objects at an early stage of the Gaia data releases., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 29 pages, 52 figures

The Gaia second Data Release (DR2) presents a first mapping of full-sky RR Lyrae stars and Cepheids observed by the spacecraft during the initial 22 months of science operations. The Specific Object Study (SOS) pipeline, developed to validate and fully characterise Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars (SOS Cep&RRL) observed by Gaia, has been presented in the documentation and papers accompanying the Gaia first Data Release. Here we describe how the SOS pipeline was modified to allow for processing the Gaia multiband (G, G_BP and G_RP) time series photometry of all-sky candidate variables and produce specific results for confirmed RR Lyrae stars and Cepheids that are published in the DR2 catalogue. The SOS Cep&RRL processing uses tools such as the period-amplitude and the period-luminosity relations in the G band. For the analysis of the Gaia DR2 candidates we also used tools based on the G_BP and G_RP photometry, such as the period-Wesenheit relation in (G,G_RP). Multiband time series photometry and characterisation by the SOS Cep&RRL pipeline are published in Gaia DR2 for 150,359 such variables (9,575 classified as Cepheids and 140,784 as RR Lyrae stars) distributed all over the sky. The sample includes variables in 87 globular clusters and 14 dwarf galaxies. To the best of our knowledge, as of 25 April 2018, variability of 50,570 of these sources (350 Cepheids and 50,220 RR Lyrae stars) is not known in the literature, hence likely they are new discoveries by Gaia. An estimate of the interstellar absorption is published for 54,272 fundamental-mode RR Lyrae stars from a relation based on the G-band amplitude and the pulsation period. Metallicities derived from the Fourier parameters of the light curves are also released for 64,932 RR Lyrae stars and 3,738 fundamental-mode classical Cepheids with period shorter than 6.3 days., Comment: 46 pages, 46 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

We highlight the power of the Gaia DR2 in studying many fine structures of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD). Gaia allows us to present many different HRDs, depending in particular on stellar population selections. We do not aim here for completeness in terms of types of stars or stellar evolutionary aspects. Instead, we have chosen several illustrative examples. We describe some of the selections that can be made in Gaia DR2 to highlight the main structures of the Gaia HRDs. We select both field and cluster (open and globular) stars, compare the observations with previous classifications and with stellar evolutionary tracks, and we present variations of the Gaia HRD with age, metallicity, and kinematics. Late stages of stellar evolution such as hot subdwarfs, post-AGB stars, planetary nebulae, and white dwarfs are also analysed, as well as low-mass brown dwarf objects. The Gaia HRDs are unprecedented in both precision and coverage of the various Milky Way stellar populations and stellar evolutionary phases. Many fine structures of the HRDs are presented. The clear split of the white dwarf sequence into hydrogen and helium white dwarfs is presented for the first time in an HRD. The relation between kinematics and the HRD is nicely illustrated. Two different populations in a classical kinematic selection of the halo are unambiguously identified in the HRD. Membership and mean parameters for a selected list of open clusters are provided. They allow drawing very detailed cluster sequences, highlighting fine structures, and providing extremely precise empirical isochrones that will lead to more insight in stellar physics. Gaia DR2 demonstrates the potential of combining precise astrometry and photometry for large samples for studies in stellar evolution and stellar population and opens an entire new area for HRD-based studies., Comment: Published in the A&A Gaia Data Release 2 special issue. Tables 2 and A.4 corrected. Tables available at http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/616/A10

The Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2): we summarise the processing and results of the identification of variable source candidates of RR Lyrae stars, Cepheids, long period variables (LPVs), rotation modulation (BY Dra-type) stars, delta Scuti & SX Phoenicis stars, and short-timescale variables. In this release we aim to provide useful but not necessarily complete samples of candidates. The processed Gaia data consist of the G, BP, and RP photometry during the first 22 months of operations as well as positions and parallaxes. Various methods from classical statistics, data mining and time series analysis were applied and tailored to the specific properties of Gaia data, as well as various visualisation tools. The DR2 variability release contains: 228'904 RR Lyrae stars, 11'438 Cepheids, 151'761 LPVs, 147'535 stars with rotation modulation, 8'882 delta Scuti & SX Phoenicis stars, and 3'018 short-timescale variables. These results are distributed over a classification and various Specific Object Studies (SOS) tables in the Gaia archive, along with the three-band time series and associated statistics for the underlying 550'737 unique sources. We estimate that about half of them are newly identified variables. The variability type completeness varies strongly as function of sky position due to the non-uniform sky coverage and intermediate calibration level of this data. The probabilistic and automated nature of this work implies certain completeness and contamination rates which are quantified so that users can anticipate their effects. This means that even well-known variable sources can be missed or misidentified in the published data. The DR2 variability release only represents a small subset of the processed data. Future releases will include more variable sources and data products; however, DR2 shows the (already) very high quality of the data and great promise for variability studies., Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics, added several language corrections, and expanded Gaia archive query examples

Aims. We develop, test and characterise of a new statistical tool (intelligent system) for the sifting and analysis of nearby young open cluster (NYOC) populations. Methods. Using a Bayesian formalism, this statistical tool is able to obtain the posterior distributions of parameters governing the cluster model. It also uses hierarchical bayesian models to establish weakly informative priors, and incorporates the treatment of missing values and non-homogeneous (heteroscedastic) observational uncertainties. Results. From simulations, we estimate that this statistical tool renders kinematic (proper motion) and photometric (luminosity) distributions of the cluster population with a contamination rate of $5.8 \pm 0.2$ %. The luminosity distributions and present day mass function agree with the ones found by Bouy et al. (2015b) on the completeness interval of the survey. At the probability threshold of maximum accuracy, the classifier recovers $\sim$ 90% of Bouy et al. (2015b) candidate members and finds 10% of new ones. Conclusions. A new statistical tool for the analysis of NYOC is introduced, tested and characterised. Its comprehensive modelling of the data properties allows it to get rid of the biases present in previous works. In particular, those resulting from the use of only completely observed (non-missing) data and the assumption of homoskedastic uncertainties. Also, its Bayesian framework allows it to properly propagate observational uncertainties into membership probabilities and cluster velocity and luminosity distributions. Our results are in a general agreement with those from the literature, although we provide the most up-to-date and extended list of candidate members of the Pleiades cluster., Comment: 30 pages, 21 figures, 1 online table

Methods. We compute Bayesian evidences and Bayes Factors for a set of variations of the classical radial models by King (1962), Elson et al. (1987) and Lauer et al. (1995). The variations incorporate different degrees of model freedom and complexity, amongst which we include biaxial (elliptical) symmetry, and luminosity segregation. As a by-product of the model comparison, we obtain posterior distributions and maximum a posteriori estimates for each set of model parameters. Results. We find that the model comparison results depend on the spatial extent of the region used for the analysis. For a circle of 11.5 parsecs around the cluster centre (the most homogeneous and complete region), we find no compelling reason to abandon Kings model, although the Generalised King model, introduced in this work, has slightly better fitting properties. Furthermore, we find strong evidence against radially symmetric models when compared to the elliptic extensions. Finally, we find that including mass segregation in the form of luminosity segregation in the J band, is strongly supported in all our models. Conclusions. We have put the question of the projected spatial distribution of the Pleiades cluster on a solid probabilistic framework, and inferred its properties using the most exhaustive and least contaminated list of Pleiades candidate members available to date. Our results suggest however that this sample may still lack about 20% of the expected number of cluster members. Therefore, this study should be revised when the completeness and homogeneity of the data can be extended beyond the 11.5 parsecs limit. Such study will allow a more precise determination of the Pleiades spatial distribution, its tidal radius, ellipticity, number of objects and total mass., Comment: 39 pages, 31 figures

Parallaxes for 331 classical Cepheids, 31 Type II Cepheids and 364 RR Lyrae stars in common between Gaia and the Hipparcos and Tycho-2 catalogues are published in Gaia Data Release 1 (DR1) as part of the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS). In order to test these first parallax measurements of the primary standard candles of the cosmological distance ladder, that involve astrometry collected by Gaia during the initial 14 months of science operation, we compared them with literature estimates and derived new period-luminosity ($PL$), period-Wesenheit ($PW$) relations for classical and Type II Cepheids and infrared $PL$, $PL$-metallicity ($PLZ$) and optical luminosity-metallicity ($M_V$-[Fe/H]) relations for the RR Lyrae stars, with zero points based on TGAS. The new relations were computed using multi-band ($V,I,J,K_{\mathrm{s}},W_{1}$) photometry and spectroscopic metal abundances available in the literature, and applying three alternative approaches: (i) by linear least squares fitting the absolute magnitudes inferred from direct transformation of the TGAS parallaxes, (ii) by adopting astrometric-based luminosities, and (iii) using a Bayesian fitting approach. TGAS parallaxes bring a significant added value to the previous Hipparcos estimates. The relations presented in this paper represent first Gaia-calibrated relations and form a "work-in-progress" milestone report in the wait for Gaia-only parallaxes of which a first solution will become available with Gaia's Data Release 2 (DR2) in 2018., Comment: 29 pages, 25 figures. Accepted for publication by A&A

We identify and investigate known ultracool stars and brown dwarfs that are being observed or indirectly constrained by the Gaia mission. These objects will be the core of the Gaia ultracool dwarf sample composed of all dwarfs later than M7 that Gaia will provide direct or indirect information on. We match known L and T dwarfs to the Gaia first data release, the Two Micron All Sky Survey and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer AllWISE survey and examine the Gaia and infrared colours, along with proper motions, to improve spectral typing, identify outliers and find mismatches. There are 321 L and T dwarfs observed directly in the Gaia first data release, of which 10 are later than L7. This represents 45 % of all the known LT dwarfs with estimated Gaia G magnitudes brighter than 20.3 mag. We determine proper motions for the 321 objects from Gaia and the Two Micron All Sky Survey positions. Combining the Gaia and infrared magnitudes provides useful diagnostic diagrams for the determination of L and T dwarf physical parameters. We then search the Tycho-Gaia astrometric solution Gaia first data release subset to find any objects with common proper motions to known L and T dwarfs and a high probability of being related. We find 15 new candidate common proper motion systems., Comment: Accepted by MNRAS, 17 pages, appendix of 6 pages, two online tables

Context. The first Gaia Data Release contains the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS). This is a subset of about 2 million stars for which, besides the position and photometry, the proper motion and parallax are calculated using Hipparcos and Tycho-2 positions in 1991.25 as prior information. Aims. We investigate the scientific potential and limitations of the TGAS component by means of the astrometric data for open clusters. Methods. Mean cluster parallax and proper motion values are derived taking into account the error correlations within the astrometric solutions for individual stars, an estimate of the internal velocity dispersion in the cluster, and, where relevant, the effects of the depth of the cluster along the line of sight. Internal consistency of the TGAS data is assessed. Results. Values given for standard uncertainties are still inaccurate and may lead to unrealistic unit-weight standard deviations of least squares solutions for cluster parameters. Reconstructed mean cluster parallax and proper motion values are generally in very good agreement with earlier Hipparcos-based determination, although the Gaia mean parallax for the Pleiades is a significant exception. We have no current explanation for that discrepancy. Most clusters are observed to extend to nearly 15 pc from the cluster centre, and it will be up to future Gaia releases to establish whether those potential cluster-member stars are still dynamically bound to the clusters. Conclusions. The Gaia DR1 provides the means to examine open clusters far beyond their more easily visible cores, and can provide membership assessments based on proper motions and parallaxes. A combined HR diagram shows the same features as observed before using the Hipparcos data, with clearly increased luminosities for older A and F dwarfs., Comment: Accepted for publication by A&A. 21 pages main text plus 46 pages appendices. 34 figures main text, 38 figures appendices. 8 table in main text, 19 tables in appendices

The ESA Gaia mission provides a unique time-domain survey for more than one billion sources brighter than G=20.7 mag. Gaia offers the unprecedented opportunity to study variability phenomena in the Universe thanks to multi-epoch G-magnitude photometry in addition to astrometry, blue and red spectro-photometry, and spectroscopy. Within the Gaia Consortium, Coordination Unit 7 has the responsibility to detect variable objects, classify them, derive characteristic parameters for specific variability classes, and provide global descriptions of variable phenomena. We describe the variability processing and analysis that we plan to apply to the successive data releases, and we present its application to the G-band photometry results of the first 14 months of Gaia operations that comprises 28 days of Ecliptic Pole Scanning Law and 13 months of Nominal Scanning Law. Out of the 694 million, all-sky, sources that have calibrated G-band photometry in this first stage of the mission, about 2.3 million sources that have at least 20 observations are located within 38 degrees from the South Ecliptic Pole. We detect about 14% of them as variable candidates, among which the automated classification identified 9347 Cepheid and RR Lyrae candidates. Additional visual inspections and selection criteria led to the publication of 3194 Cepheid and RR Lyrae stars, described in Clementini et al. (2016). Under the restrictive conditions for DR1, the completenesses of Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars are estimated at 67% and 58%, respectively, numbers that will significantly increase with subsequent Gaia data releases. Data processing within the Gaia Consortium is iterative, the quality of the data and the results being improved at each iteration. The results presented in this article show a glimpse of the exceptional harvest that is to be expected from the Gaia mission for variability phenomena. [abridged], Comment: 40 pages, 46 figures. Submitted to A&A

This paper continues our study of the foreground population to the Orion molecular clouds. The goal is to characterize the foreground population north of NGC 1981 and to investigate the star formation history in the large Orion star-forming region. We focus on a region covering about 25 square degrees, centered on the $\epsilon$ Orionis supergiant (HD 37128, B0\,Ia) and covering the Orion Belt asterism. We used a combination of optical (SDSS) and near-infrared (2MASS) data, informed by X-ray (\textit{XMM-Newton}) and mid-infrared (WISE) data, to construct a suite of color-color and color-magnitude diagrams for all available sources. We then applied a new statistical multiband technique to isolate a previously unknown stellar population in this region. We identify a rich and well-defined stellar population in the surveyed region that has about 2\,000 objects that are mostly M stars. We infer the age for this new population to be at least 5\, Myr and likely $\sim10$\,Myr and estimate a total of about 2\,500 members, assuming a normal IMF. This new population, which we call the Orion Belt population, is essentially extinction-free, disk-free, and its spatial distribution is roughly centered near $\epsilon$ Ori, although substructure is clearly present. The Orion Belt population is likely the low-mass counterpart to the Ori OB Ib subgroup. Although our results do not rule out Blaauw's sequential star formation scenario for Orion, we argue that the recently proposed blue streams scenario provides a better framework on which one can explain the Orion star formation region as a whole. We speculate that the Orion Belt population could represent the evolved counterpart of an Orion nebula-like cluster., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication to A&A

We present an overview of the Specific Objects Study (SOS) pipeline developed within the Coordination Unit 7 (CU7) of the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC), the coordination unit charged with the processing and analysis of variable sources observed by Gaia, to validate and fully characterise Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars observed by the spacecraft. We describe how the SOS for Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars (SOS Cep&RRL) was specifically tailored to analyse Gaia's G-band photometric time-series with a South Ecliptic Pole (SEP) footprint, which covers an external region of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). G-band time-series photometry and characterization by the SOS Cep&RRL pipeline (mean magnitude and pulsation characteristics) are published in Gaia Data Release 1 (Gaia DR1) for a total sample of 3,194 variable stars, 599 Cepheids and 2,595 RR Lyrae stars, of which 386 (43 Cepheids and 343 RR Lyrae stars) are new discoveries by Gaia. All 3,194 stars are distributed over an area extending 38 degrees on either side from a point offset from the centre of the LMC by about 3 degrees to the north and 4 degrees to the east. The vast majority, but not all, are located within the LMC. The published sample also includes a few bright RR Lyrae stars that trace the outer halo of the Milky Way in front of the LMC., Comment: 36 pages, 45 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication on A&A. A full version with higher resolution figures and the complete atlas of light curves can be found at this link: http://davide2.bo.astro.it/~felix/ The manuscript is part of the series of DPAC papers that accompany Gaia DR1

Stellar clusters are open windows to understand stellar evolution. Specifically, the change with time and the dependence on mass of different stellar properties. As such, they are our laboratories where different theories can be tested. We try to understand the origin of the connection between lithium depletion in F, G and K stars, rotation and activity, in particular in the Pleiades open cluster. We have collected all the relevant data in the literature, including information regarding rotation period, binarity and activity, and cross-matched with proper motions, multi-wavelength photometry and membership probability from the DANCe database. In order to avoid biases, only Pleiades single members with probabilities larger than p=0.75 have been included in the discussion. Results. The analysis confirms that there is a strong link between activity, rotation and the lithium equivalent width excess, specially for the range Lum(bol) = 0.5-0.2 Lsun (about K2-K7 spectral types or 0.75-0.95 Msun). It is not possible to disentangle these effects but we cannot exclude that the observed lithium overabundance is partially an observational effect due to enhanced activity, due to a large coverage by stellar spots induced by high rotation rates. Since a bona fide lithium enhancement is present in young, fast rotators, both activity and rotation should play a role in the lithium problem., Comment: Accepted Astronomy & Astrophysics, three big tables submitted to CDS