The origin of dwarf carbon stars

矮碳星的起源是一个近40年的谜。这些恒星在质量和温度上与太阳相似，但主要由碳而不是氧组成。虽然研究人员假设这样一颗富碳的星星可以产生碳占主导地位的行星系统，但工作假设是这些恒星是双星星星演化的产物。值得注意的是，相当数量的矮碳星似乎属于古老的晕族，因此拥有星星形成和银河系化学演化最早阶段的线索。该观测项目将分析径向速度和相关数据，以首次研究任何双星系统（分数，周期，质量转移）。另一个方面可能是利用现有的数据和模型构建这些恒星的第一个光谱序列。运动学信息也可以用来确定年龄和银河系晕和盘的成员资格。

The origin of dwarf carbon stars is a mystery nearly 40 years old. These stars are similar in mass and temperature to the Sun, but are dominated by carbon instead of oxygen. While researchers have hypothesised that such a carbon-rich star can give birth to carbon dominated planetary systems, the working hypothesis is that these stars are the product of binary star evolution. Remarkably, a significant number of dwarf carbon stars appear to belong to the ancient halo population, and thus hold clues to the earliest stages of star formation and Galactic chemical evolution. The observational project will analyse radial velocity and related data to characterise any binary systems for the first time (fraction, periods, mass transfer). Another aspect might be construction of the first spectral sequence of these stars using available data and models. Kinematical information can also be used to establish age and membership in the Galactic halo and disk.