| Issue |
A&A
Volume 390, Number 3, August II 2002
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Page(s) | 917 - 929 | |
| Section | Extragalactic astronomy | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20020334 | |
| Published online | 14 August 2002 | |
An inverse method to interpret colour-magnitude diagrams
1
Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg, UMR 7550, Université Louis Pasteur, 67000 Strasbourg, France
2
Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik der Universität, 24098 Kiel, Germany
3
International Space University, Parc d'Innovation, 67400 Illkirch, France
Corresponding author: D. Egret, Daniel.Egret@astro.u-strasbg.fr
Received:
13
November
2000
Accepted:
20
February
2002
An inverse method is developed to determine the star formation history, the age-metallicity relation, and the IMF slope from a colour-magnitude diagram. The method is applied to the Hipparcos HR diagram. We found that the thin disk of our Galaxy shows a peak of stellar formation 1.6 Gyr ago. The stars close to the Sun have a solar metallicity and a mean IMF index equal to 3.2. However, the model and the evolutionary tracks do not correctly reproduce the horizontal giant branch.
Key words: methods: statistical / stars: formation / stars: luminosity function, mass function / galaxy: formation
© ESO, 2002
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