2026/01/31 by Daisuke Taniguchi, P. de Laverny, Alejandra Recio-Blanco +2 · 1 voice
Physics and Astronomy · #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Astro and Planetary Science #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202658913
Context . Solar twins, stars whose stellar parameters (effective temperature, T eff ; surface gravity, log g; and metallicity, [M/H]) are very close to those of the Sun, offer a unique opportunity to investigate Galactic archaeology with very high accuracy and precision. However, most previous catalogs of solar twins contain only a small number of objects (typically a few dozen), and their selection functions are poorly characterized. Aims . Our aim is to build a large catalog of solar twins from Gaia DR3 GSP-Spec data, providing stellar parameters and ages determined using a model-driven (rather than a data-driven) method, together with a well-characterized selection function. Methods . Using stellar parameters from the Gaia DR3 GSP-Spec catalog, we selected solar twin candidates whose parameters lie within ±200 K in T eff , ±0.2 in log g, and ±0.1 dex in [M/H] of the solar values. Candidates unlikely to be genuine solar twins were removed using Gaia flags and photometric constraints. We determined accurate ages for individual twins with a Bayesian isochroneprojection method by considering three combinations of parameters: T eff and [M/H] combined with either log g, M G , or M K s . We also constructed a mock catalog to characterize the properties and selection function of our observed sample. Results . Our final GSP-Spec solar twin catalog contains 6594 stars. The mock catalog consisting of 75 588 artificial twins reproduces the main characteristics of the observed catalog well, especially for ages determined with M G or M K s . To demonstrate the usefulness of our catalog, we compared chemical abundances [X/Fe] with age. We statistically confirmed the age-[X/Fe] relations for several species (e.g., Al, Si, Ca, and Y), demonstrating that trends previously identified in small but very high precision samples persist in a much larger, independent sample. Conclusions . Our study bridges small high-precision solar twin samples and large data-driven ones by providing a large sample with model-driven stellar parameters and a quantified selection function, enabling demographic studies of solar twins.