Gaia DR2 data and the evolutionary status of eight high-velocity hot post-AGB candidates

Abstract

From Gaia DR2 data of eight high-velocity hot post-AGB candidates, LS 3593, LSE 148, LS 5107, HD 172324, HD 214539, LS IV −12 111, LS III +52 24, and LS 3099, we found that six of them have accurate parallaxes which made it possible to derive their distances, absolute visual magnitudes (MV) and luminosity (log L/L⊙). All the stars except LS 5107 have an accurate effective temperature (Teff) in the literature. Some of these stars are metal poor, and some of them do not have circumstellar dust shells. In the past, the distances of some stars were estimated to be 6 kpc, which we find to be incorrect. The accurate Gaia DR2 parallaxes show that they are relatively nearby, post-AGB stars. When compared with post-AGB evolutionary tracks we find their initial masses to be in the range 1 M⊙ to 2 M⊙. We find the luminosity of LSE 148 to be significantly lower than that of post-AGB stars, suggesting that this is a post-horizontal-branch star or post-early-AGB star. LS 3593 and LS 5107 are new high-velocity hot post-AGB stars from Gaia DR2.