New Red Jewels in Coma Berenices

Wilson, John C.; Weaver, Benjamin A.; Stassun, Keivan G.; Siverd, Robert J.; Schneider, Donald P.; Rodriguez, Joseph E.; Pepper, Joshua; Nidever, David L.; Majewski, Steven R.; Johnson, Jennifer A.; Jackson, Kelly M.; Frinchaboy, Peter M.; Fleming, Scott W.; Allende Prieto, C.; Cottaar, Michiel; Cargile, Phillip A.; Hearty, Frederick R.; Bender, Chad F.; Deshpande, Rohit; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Terrien, R. C.
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 782, Issue 2, article id. 61, 12 pp. (2014).

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2
2014
Number of authors
21
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
17
Refereed citations
14
Description
We have used Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III (SDSS-III) Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) radial velocity observations in the near-infrared H-band to explore the membership of the nearby (86.7 ± 0.9 pc) open cluster Coma Berenices (Melotte 111), concentrating on the poorly populated low-mass end of the main sequence. Using SDSS-III APOGEE radial velocity measurements, we confirm the membership of eight K/M dwarf members, providing the first confirmed low-mass members of the Coma Berenices cluster. Using R ~ 2000 spectra from IRTF-SpeX, we confirm the independently luminosity classes of these targets, and find their metallicities to be consistent with the known solar mean metallicity of Coma Berenices and of M dwarfs in the solar neighborhood. In addition, the APOGEE spectra have enabled measurement of vsin i for each target and detection for the first time of the low-mass secondary components of the known binary systems Melotte 111 102 and Melotte 111 120, as well as identification of the previously unknown binary system 2MASS J12214070+2707510. Finally, we use Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope photometry to measure photometric variability and rotation periods for a subset of the Coma Berenices members.
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