Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-1-2010
Keywords
Galaxy: kinematics and dynamics, Open clusters and associations: general, Solar neighbourhood, Sun: general
Abstract
We describe the results of a search for the remnants of the Sun's birth cluster among stars in the Hipparcos Catalogue. This search is based on the predicted phase-space distribution of the Sun's siblings from simple simulations of the orbits of the cluster stars in a smooth Galactic potential. For stars within 100 pc, the simulations show that it is interesting to examine those that have small space motions relative to the Sun. From amongst the candidate siblings thus selected, there are six stars with ages consistent with that of the Sun. Considering their radial velocities and abundances only one potential candidate, HIP 21158, remains, but essentially the result of the search is negative. This is consistent with predictions by Portegies Zwart on the number of siblings near the Sun. We discuss the steps that should be taken in anticipation of the data from the Gaia mission in order to conduct fruitful searches for the Sun's siblings in the future.
Recommended Citation
Brown, Anthony GA, Simon F. Portegies Zwart, and Jennifer Bean. "The quest for the Sun's siblings: an exploratory search in the Hipparcos Catalogue." Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 407, no. 1 (2010): 458-464.
DOI for the article
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16921.x
Rights Information
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. © 2010 The authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
