Brightest Northern Sky M Dwarfs Spectroscopic Catalog with Proper Motion

Northern sky spectroscopic catalog of 1564 bright M-dwarf candidates, with 1408 confirmed as late-K and M dwarfs. The dataset, from NASA, includes spectral subtypes, metallicity indicators, effective temperature estimates, and velocity distributions, with a last update in 2026.

Use Cases

• Classifying stellar spectral subtypes based on calibrated CaH and TiO molecular band indices.
• Estimating stellar effective temperatures by fitting spectra to the Phoenix atmospheric model grid.
• Analyzing stellar kinematics and velocity distributions (U, V, W) using proper motion and photometric distances.
• Identifying active M dwarfs through correlations between H-alpha emission, X-ray, and UV excess data.
• Recalibrating the zeta parameter as a metallicity indicator for M dwarfs.

Strengths

• Contains 1564 candidate stars with 1408 confirmed M and late-K dwarfs.
• Authors estimate the census includes >90% of all northern-sky M dwarfs with J < 9 magnitude.
• Spectral classification is performed to half-subtype precision after systematic corrections.
• Includes proper motion data, photometric distances, and existing parallax measurements for 624 stars.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The zeta metallicity indicator has limited sensitivity, with +/- 0.5 dex accuracy for subtypes M2 and earlier.
• Spectral index measurements are dependent on instrumental factors, requiring observatory-specific calibration.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Spectroscopic observations of candidates selected from the SUPERBLINK proper-motion catalog.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:02:08.672555; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern sky