WIlson-bappu effect: Extended to surface gravity

Abstract

In 1957, Wilson and Bappu found a tight correlation between the stellar absolute visual magnitude (MV ) and the width of the Ca II K emission line for late-type stars. Here, we revisit the Wilson-Bappu relationship (WBR) to claim that the WBR can be an excellent indicator of stellar surface gravity of late-type stars as well as a distance indicator. We have measured the width (W) of the Ca II K emission line in high-resolution spectra of 125 late-type stars obtained with the Bohyunsan Optical Echelle Spectrograph and adopted from the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph archive. Based on our measurement of the emission line width (W), we have obtained a WBR of M V = 33.76-18.08 log W. In order to extend the WBR to being a surface gravity indicator, stellar atmospheric parameters such as effective temperature (T eff), surface gravity (log g), metallicity ([Fe/H]), and micro-turbulence (ξtur) have been derived from self-consistent detailed analysis using the Kurucz stellar atmospheric model and the abundance analysis code, MOOG. Using these stellar parameters and log W, we found that log g = -5.85 log W+9.97 log T eff-23.48 for late-type stars. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.