The CH fraction of carbon stars at high galactic latitudes

Abstract

CH stars form a distinct class of objects with characteristic properties like iron deficiency, enrichment of carbon and overabundance of heavy elements. These properties can provide strong observational constraints for the theoretical computation of nucleosynthesis at low metallicity. An important issue is the relative surface density of CH stars, which can provide valuable input to our understanding of the role of low- to intermediate-mass stars in early Galactic chemical evolution. Spectroscopic characterization provides an effective way of identifying CH stars. The present analysis aims at a quantitative assessment of the fraction of CH stars in a sample using a set of spectral classification criteria. The sample consists of 92 objects selected from a collection of candidate faint high-latitude carbon stars from the Hamburg/ESO survey. Medium-resolution (λ/δλ ~ 1300) spectra for these objects were obtained using the Optomechanics Research (OMR) spectrograph at the Vainu Bappu Observatory (VBO), Kavalur and the Himalaya Faint Object Spectrograph (HFOSC) at the Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT), Indian Astronomical Observatory, Hanle, during 2007-2009, spanning a wavelength range 3800-6800Å. Spectral analysis shows 36 of the 92 objects to be potential CH stars; combined with our earlier studies this implies ~37 per cent (of 243 objects) as the CH fraction. We present spectral descriptions of the newly identified CH star candidates. Estimated effective temperatures, 12C/13C isotopic ratios and their locations on the two-colour J - H versus H - K plot are used to support their identification.