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Reliability Checks on the Indo-US Stellar Spectral Library Using Artificial Neural Networks and Principal Component Analysis
The Indo-US coudé feed stellar spectral library (CFLIB) madeavailable to the astronomical community recently by Valdes et al. (2004,ApJS, 152, 251) contains spectra of 1273 stars in the spectral region3460 to 9464Å at a high resolution of 1Å (FWHM) and a widerange of spectral types. Cross-checking the reliability of this databaseis an important and desirable exercise since a number of stars in thisdatabase have no known spectral types and a considerable fraction ofstars has not so complete coverage in the full wavelength region of3460-9464Å resulting in gaps ranging from a few Å to severaltens of Å. We use an automated classification scheme based onArtificial Neural Networks (ANN) to classify all 1273 stars in thedatabase. In addition, principal component analysis (PCA) is carried outto reduce the dimensionality of the data set before the spectra areclassified by the ANN. Most importantly, we have successfullydemonstrated employment of a variation of the PCA technique to restorethe missing data in a sample of 300 stars out of the CFLIB.
| An Atlas of Spectrophotometric Landolt Standard Stars
We present CCD observations of 102 Landolt standard stars obtained withthe Ritchey-Chrétien spectrograph on the Cerro TololoInter-American Observatory 1.5 m telescope. Using stellar atmospheremodels, we have extended the flux points to our six spectrophotometricsecondary standards, in both the blue and the red, allowing us toproduce flux-calibrated spectra that span a wavelength range from 3050Å to 1.1 μm. Mean differences between UBVRI spectrophotometrycomputed using Bessell's standard passbands and Landolt's publishedphotometry were determined to be 1% or less. Observers in bothhemispheres will find these spectra useful for flux-calibrating spectra,and through the use of accurately constructed instrumental passbands,will be able to compute accurate corrections to bring instrumentalmagnitudes to any desired standard photometric system (S-corrections).In addition, by combining empirical and modeled spectra of the Sun,Sirius, and Vega, we calculate and compare synthetic photometry toobserved photometry taken from the literature for these three stars.
| Adaptive Optics Photometry and Astrometry of Binary Stars
We present astrometric and photometric measurements of 39 binary starsmade with the adaptive optics system on the 3.6 m AdvancedElectro-Optical System (AEOS) telescope, taken from 2002 November to2003 March. The binaries have separations ranging from 0.08" to 5.11"and differential magnitudes ranging from 0.096 to 7.9. Also, we includea list of observations of 23 known binaries that we were unable toresolve. In the process of these measurements, we discovered three newcompanions to two previously known binary stars. We also discuss theeffects of scintillation and anisoplanatism on measurements of binarystar photometry in adaptive optics images. Suggestions on how tominimize these effects are then given.Based on observations made at the Maui Space Surveillance Systemoperated by Detachment 15 of the US Air Force Research Laboratory'sDirected Energy Directorate.
| A near-infrared stellar spectral library: I. H-band spectra.
This paper presents the H band near-infrared (NIR) spectral library of135 solar type stars covering spectral types O5-M3 and luminosityclasses I-V as per MK classification. The observations were carried outwith 1.2 meter Gurushikhar Infrared Telescope (GIRT), at Mt. Abu, Indiausing a NICMOS3 HgCdTe 256 x 256 NIR array based spectrometer. Thespectra have a moderate resolution of 1000 (about 16 A) at the H bandand have been continuum shape corrected to their respective effectivetemperatures. This library and the remaining ones in J and K bands oncereleased will serve as an important database for stellar populationsynthesis and other applications in conjunction with the newly formedlarge optical coude feed stellar spectral library of Valdes et al.(2004). The complete H-Band library is available online at: http://vo.iucaa.ernet.in/~voi/NIR_Header.html
| The Indo-US Library of Coudé Feed Stellar Spectra
We have obtained spectra for 1273 stars using the 0.9 m coudéfeed telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. This telescope feedsthe coudé spectrograph of the 2.1 m telescope. The spectra havebeen obtained with the no. 5 camera of the coudé spectrograph anda Loral 3K×1K CCD. Two gratings have been used to provide spectralcoverage from 3460 to 9464 Å, at a resolution of ~1 Å FWHMand at an original dispersion of 0.44 Å pixel-1. For885 stars we have complete spectra over the entire 3460 to 9464 Åwavelength region (neglecting small gaps of less than 50 Å), andpartial spectral coverage for the remaining stars. The 1273 stars havebeen selected to provide broad coverage of the atmospheric parametersTeff, logg, and [Fe/H], as well as spectral type. The goal ofthe project is to provide a comprehensive library of stellar spectra foruse in the automated classification of stellar and galaxy spectra and ingalaxy population synthesis. In this paper we discuss thecharacteristics of the spectral library, viz., details of theobservations, data reduction procedures, and selection of stars. We alsopresent a few illustrations of the quality and information available inthe spectra. The first version of the complete spectral library is nowpublicly available from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory(NOAO) via ftp and http.
| Library of flux-calibrated echelle spectra of southern late-type dwarfs with different activity levels
We present Echelle spectra of 91 late-type dwarfs, of spectral typesfrom F to M and of different levels of chromospheric activity, obtainedwith the 2.15 m telescope of the CASLEO Observatory located in theArgentinean Andes. Our observations range from 3890 to 6690 Å, ata spectral resolution from 0.141 to 0.249 Å per pixel(R=λ/δ λ ≈ 26 400). The observations were fluxcalibrated with the aid of long slit spectra. A version of thecalibrated spectra is available via the World Wide Web.Table 2 is also available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymousftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/414/699The spectra are available as FITS and ascii-files at the URL:http://www.iafe.uba.ar/cincunegui/spectra/Table2.html. They are alsoavailable in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/414/699. When convertingthe fits to ascii, the spectra were oversampled to a constant δλ ≈ 0.15 Å.Table 2 is also available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous
| Catalogue of averaged stellar effective magnetic fields. I. Chemically peculiar A and B type stars
This paper presents the catalogue and the method of determination ofaveraged quadratic effective magnetic fields < B_e > for 596 mainsequence and giant stars. The catalogue is based on measurements of thestellar effective (or mean longitudinal) magnetic field strengths B_e,which were compiled from the existing literature.We analysed the properties of 352 chemically peculiar A and B stars inthe catalogue, including Am, ApSi, He-weak, He-rich, HgMn, ApSrCrEu, andall ApSr type stars. We have found that the number distribution of allchemically peculiar (CP) stars vs. averaged magnetic field strength isdescribed by a decreasing exponential function. Relations of this typehold also for stars of all the analysed subclasses of chemicalpeculiarity. The exponential form of the above distribution function canbreak down below about 100 G, the latter value representingapproximately the resolution of our analysis for A type stars.Table A.1 and its references are only available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/407/631 and Tables 3 to 9are only available in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org
| STELIB: A library of stellar spectra at R ~ 2000
We present STELIB, a new spectroscopic stellar library, available athttp://webast.ast.obs-mip.fr/stelib. STELIB consists of an homogeneouslibrary of 249 stellar spectra in the visible range (3200 to 9500Å), with an intermediate spectral resolution (la 3 Å) andsampling (1 Å). This library includes stars of various spectraltypes and luminosity classes, spanning a relatively wide range inmetallicity. The spectral resolution, wavelength and spectral typecoverage of this library represents a substantial improvement overprevious libraries used in population synthesis models. The overallabsolute photometric uncertainty is 3%.Based on observations collected with the Jacobus Kaptein Telescope,(owned and operated jointly by the Particle Physics and AstronomyResearch Council of the UK, The Nederlandse Organisatie voorWetenschappelijk Onderzoek of The Netherlands and the Instituto deAstrofísica de Canarias of Spain and located in the SpanishObservatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos on La Palma which is operated bythe Instituto de AstrofÃsica de Canarias), the 2.3 mtelescope of the Australian National University at Siding Spring,Australia, and the VLT-UT1 Antu Telescope (ESO).Tables \ref{cat1} to \ref{cat6} and \ref{antab1} to A.7 are onlyavailable in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org. The StellarLibrary STELIB library is also available at the CDS, via anonymous ftpto cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/402/433
| Chemical Abundances of NGC 5461 and NGC 5471 Derived from Echelle Spectrophotometry
We present high resolution spectroscopic data of the two giantextragalactic H II regions NGC 5461 and NGC 5471 in M101, which havebeen obtained with the 2.1-m telescope of the Observatorio AstronómicoNacional in San Pedro Mártir, Baja California. We measured theintensities of several H and He recombination lines, and of forbiddenlines of a large number of ions. We calculate the physical conditions inthe two nebulae with a large number of diagnostics and determine theirchemical abundances by applying ionization correction factors (icf's) to the observed ionic abundances. For NGC 5461, theicf's are based on a tailored photoionization model of the region(Luridiana & Peimbert 2001), while for NGC 5471 they are computedfrom those predicted by a photoionization model of NGC 2363 (Luridiana,Peimbert, & Leitherer 1999), a region which is similar to NGC 5471in the ionization structure. For both regions, the icf's arecompared to those computed following the prescriptions by Mathis &Rosa (1991). Such comparison shows large discrepancies for severalelements, including nitrogen, neon, and chlorine.
| Rotational velocities of A-type stars in the northern hemisphere. II. Measurement of v sin i
This work is the second part of the set of measurements of v sin i forA-type stars, begun by Royer et al. (\cite{Ror_02a}). Spectra of 249 B8to F2-type stars brighter than V=7 have been collected at Observatoirede Haute-Provence (OHP). Fourier transforms of several line profiles inthe range 4200-4600 Å are used to derive v sin i from thefrequency of the first zero. Statistical analysis of the sampleindicates that measurement error mainly depends on v sin i and thisrelative error of the rotational velocity is found to be about 5% onaverage. The systematic shift with respect to standard values fromSlettebak et al. (\cite{Slk_75}), previously found in the first paper,is here confirmed. Comparisons with data from the literature agree withour findings: v sin i values from Slettebak et al. are underestimatedand the relation between both scales follows a linear law ensuremath vsin inew = 1.03 v sin iold+7.7. Finally, thesedata are combined with those from the previous paper (Royer et al.\cite{Ror_02a}), together with the catalogue of Abt & Morrell(\cite{AbtMol95}). The resulting sample includes some 2150 stars withhomogenized rotational velocities. Based on observations made atObservatoire de Haute Provence (CNRS), France. Tables \ref{results} and\ref{merging} are only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.125.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/393/897
| On the effective temperatures and surface gravities of superficially normal main sequence band B and A stars
Effective temperatures and surface gravities for 48 main sequence band Band A stars were found by matching optical region spectrophotometry andHγ profiles with the predictions of ATLAS9 solar composition modelatmospheres. When these values were compared with those found usingStrömgren uvbybeta photometry based on ATLAS6 model atmospheres, wefound a difference (photometry-spectrophotometry) of 25+/- 118 K for 29stars with 8000 K le Teff <= 10 050 K compared to 76 +/-105 K for 14 stars with 10 050 K <= Teff <= 17 000 K.The surface gravity scales are in agreement. These stars aresufficiently hot that their effective temperatures and surface gravitydeterminations are unaffected by discrepancies due to the choice ofMixing-Length or Canuto-Mazzitelli convection theories.
| A revised HRD for individual components of binary systems from BaSeL BVRI synthetic photometry. Influence of interstellar extinction and stellar rotation
Johnson BVRI photometric data for individual components of binarysystems have been provided by ten Brummelaar et al. (\cite{Brummelaar}).This is essential because non-interacting binaries can be considered astwo single stars and therefore play a critical role in testing andcalibrating single-star stellar evolution sets of isochrones and theimplicit theory. While they derived the effective temperature (T_eff)from their estimated spectral type, we infer metallicity-dependent T_efffrom a minimizing method fitting the B-V, V-R and V-I colours. For thispurpose, a grid of 621 600 flux distributions were computed from theBasel Stellar Library (BaSeL 2.2) of model-atmosphere spectra, and theirtheoretical colours compared with the observed photometry. The BaSeLcolours show a very good agreement with the BVRI metallicity-dependentempirical calibrations of Alonso et al. (\cite{Alonso}), with thetemperatures being different by 3+/-3% in the range 4000-8000 K fordwarf stars. Before deriving the metallicity-dependent T_eff from theBaSeL models, we paid particular attention to the influence of reddeningand stellar rotation. We inferred the reddening from two differentmethods: (i) the MExcessNg code v1.1 (Méndez & van Altena\cite{Mendez}) and (ii) neutral hydrogen column density data. Acomparison of both methods shows a good agreement for the sample locatedinside a local sphere of ~ 500 pc, but we point out a few directionswhere the MExcess model overestimates the E(B-V) colour excess.Influence of stellar rotation on the BVRI colours can be neglectedexcept for 5 stars with large v sin i, the maximum effect on temperaturebeing less than 5%. Our final determinations provide effectivetemperature estimates for each component. They are in good agreementwith previous spectroscopic determinations available for a few primarycomponents, and with ten Brummelaar et al. below ~ 10 000 K.Nevertheless, we obtain an increasing disagreement with theirtemperatures beyond 10 000 K. Finally, we provide a revisedHertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD) for the systems with the moreaccurately determined temperatures.
| Electron temperature fluctuations in 30 Doradus
We present an observational study of the spatial variation of theelectron temperature in the 30 Doradus Nebula. Weused the [ion {O}{iii}] (lambda 4959 + lambda 5007)/lambda 4363 ratio toestimate the electron temperature at 135 positions in the nebula acrossthree different directions. We analysed long-slit spectrophotometricdata of high signal-to-noise in the range of 4100 to 5030 Åobtained with the Cassegrain spectrograph attached to the 1.60 mtelescope of the Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica,Brazil. No large-scale electron temperature gradient was detected in 30Doradus. The electron temperature estimates obtained are fairlyhomogeneous with a mean value of 10 270 +/- 140 (3sigma ) K. Thecompatibility between the present estimates with optical and radiotemperature determinations found in the literature for other positionsor for the entire nebula corroborates this conclusion. Temperaturefluctuations of small amplitude were observed with a variance relativeto the mean of ts2= 0.0025 or equivalently with adispersion of only 5%. The areas with lower surface brightness seem topresent slightly higher electron temperatures. This would indicate thatthe bright arcs of 30 Doradus, which correspond to the densest regions,would have lower electron temperatures than the most diffuse areas.
| The spectroscopic binaries 21 Her and gamma Gem
In the framework of a search campaign for short-term oscillations ofearly-type stars we analysed recently obtained spectroscopic andphotometric observations of the early A-type spectroscopic binaries 21Her and gamma Gem. From the radial velocities of 21 Her we derived animproved orbital period and a distinctly smaller eccentricity incomparison with the values known up to now. Moreover, fairly convincingevidence exists for an increase of the orbital period with time. Inaddition to the orbital motion we find further periods in the orbitalresiduals. The longest period of 57\fd7 is most likely due to a thirdbody which has the mass of a brown dwarf, whereas the period of 1\fd48could be related to the half rotational period of the star. For thespectral types we deduced A1 III for the primary and M for thesecondary. Two further periods of 0\fd21 and 0\fd22 give hint to theexistence of short-term pulsations in 21 Her. Their period difference isof the order of the expected rotational period so that one possibleexplanation could be rotational splitting of nonradial pulsation modes.Because of the very strong aliasing of the data this finding has to beconfirmed by observations having a more suitable time sampling, however.The analysis of photometric series and the Hipparcos photometry give nocertain evidence for periodic light variations. For gamma Gem, besidesthe orbital RV variation, no variations with amplitudes larger thanabout 100 m s-1 could be detected. The orbital elements ofgamma Gem are only slightly changed compared to the previously knownorbital solution by including our new radial velocities, but theiraccuracy is improved. For some chemical elements we determined theirabundances, NLTE values of C, O, and Na as well as LTE values of Mg, Sc,Fe, Cr, and Ti. We find the abundances to be rather close to the solarvalues, only carbon shows a little underabundance. The research is basedon spectroscopic observations made with the 2 m telescope at theThüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Germany, and photometricobservations with the 0.6 m telescope of the National AstronomicalObservatory Rozhen, Bulgaria.
| Dynamical Friction in DE Globular Cluster Systems
The dynamical friction timescale for globular clusters to sink to thecenter of a dwarf elliptical galaxy (dE) is significantly less than aHubble time if the halos have King-model or isothermal profiles and theglobular clusters formed with the same radial density profile as theunderlying stellar population. We examine the summed radial distributionof the entire globular cluster systems and the bright globular clustercandidates in 51 Virgo and Fornax Cluster dE's for evidence of dynamicalfriction processes. We find that the summed distribution of the entireglobular cluster population closely follows the exponential profile ofthe underlying stellar population. However, there is a deficit of brightclusters within the central regions of dE's (excluding the nuclei),perhaps due to the orbital decay of these massive clusters into the dEcores. We also predict the nuclear magnitude of each dE assuming thatthe nuclei form via dynamical friction. The observed trend of decreasingnuclear luminosity with decreasing dE luminosity is much stronger thanpredicted if the nuclei formed via simple dynamical friction processes.We find that the bright dE nuclei could have been formed from the mergerof orbitally decayed massive clusters, but the faint nuclei are severalmagnitudes fainter than expected. These faint nuclei are found primarilyin MV>-14 dE's, which have high globular cluster specificfrequencies and extended globular cluster systems. In these galaxies,supernova-driven winds, high central dark matter densities, extendeddark matter halos, the formation of new star clusters, or tidalinteractions may act to prevent dynamical friction from collapsing theentire globular cluster population into a single bright nucleus.
| Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Optical Identification Campaign. IV. A Northern Hemisphere Sample of Active Late-Type Stars and Typical EUV Sources
We present new optical identifications of previously unidentified faintextreme ultraviolet sources. Our total sample of 30 identified sources,of which 22 are new identifications, includes 24 late-type stars, threewhite dwarfs, two cataclysmic variables (CVs), and one active galacticnucleus. These sources are joint detections of the faint sources fromthe all-sky surveys of the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) in the58-174 Å (0.071-0.214 keV) EUV band and of the ROSAT PositionSensitive Proportional Counter in the 5-120 Å (0.1-2.4 keV) X-rayband. We obtained medium-resolution spectra of the possible opticalcounterparts with the Shane 3 m telescope at Lick Observatory using theKast double spectrograph covering a bandpass of 3600-7500 Å. Oursample of active late-type stars is dominated by K and M stars showingstrong Balmer and Ca II emission lines. The white dwarfs are fairlytypical for those detected in the EUVE survey with Teff andlogg ranging from 35 to 53 kK and 7.6 to 8.7, respectively. We foundstrong H and He emission lines typical of cataclysmic variables (CVs)for EUVE J0854+390 and EUVE J1802+180. EUVE J0854+390 is a newlyidentified cataclysmic variable showing radial velocity shifts to thered as large as ~400 km s-1. We associate EUVE J1802+180 withthe previously identified CV, V884 Her (RX J1802.1+1804). Including thepresent work (22 new identifications), EUVE optical identificationcampaigns have identified ~28% of the presently cataloged NOID sources.
| Catalogue of Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (CADARS) - Third edition - Comments and statistics
The Catalogue, available at the Centre de Données Stellaires deStrasbourg, consists of 13 573 records concerning the results obtainedfrom different methods for 7778 stars, reported in the literature. Thefollowing data are listed for each star: identifications, apparentmagnitude, spectral type, apparent diameter in arcsec, absolute radiusin solar units, method of determination, reference, remarks. Commentsand statistics obtained from CADARS are given. The Catalogue isavailable in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcar?J/A+A/367/521
| The proper motions of fundamental stars. I. 1535 stars from the Basic FK5
A direct combination of the positions given in the HIPPARCOS cataloguewith astrometric ground-based catalogues having epochs later than 1939allows us to obtain new proper motions for the 1535 stars of the BasicFK5. The results are presented as the catalogue Proper Motions ofFundamental Stars (PMFS), Part I. The median precision of the propermotions is 0.5 mas/year for mu alpha cos delta and 0.7mas/year for mu delta . The non-linear motions of thephotocentres of a few hundred astrometric binaries are separated intotheir linear and elliptic motions. Since the PMFS proper motions do notinclude the information given by the proper motions from othercatalogues (HIPPARCOS, FK5, FK6, etc.) this catalogue can be used as anindependent source of the proper motions of the fundamental stars.Catalogue (Table 3) is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strastg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/365/222
| ICCD Speckle Observations of Binary Stars. XXIII. Measurements during 1982-1997 from Six Telescopes, with 14 New Orbits
We present 2017 observations of 1286 binary stars, observed by means ofspeckle interferometry using six telescopes over a 15 year period from1982 April to 1997 June. These measurements constitute the 23dinstallment in CHARA's speckle program at 2 to 4 m class telescopes andinclude the second major collection of measurements from the MountWilson 100 inch (2.5 m) Hooker Telescope. Orbital elements are alsopresented for 14 systems, seven of which have had no previouslypublished orbital analyses.
| Binary Star Differential Photometry Using the Adaptive Optics System at Mount Wilson Observatory
We present photometric and astrometric results for 36 binary systemsobserved with the natural guide star adaptive optics system of the MountWilson Institute on the 100 inch (2.5 m) Hooker Telescope. Themeasurements consist of differential photometry in U, B, V, R, and Ifilters along with astrometry of the relative positions of systemcomponents. Magnitude differences were combined with absolute photometryfound in the literature of the combined light for systems to obtainapparent magnitudes for the individual components at standardbandpasses, which in turn led to color determinations and spectraltypes. The combination of these results with Hipparcos parallaxmeasurements yielded absolute magnitudes and allowed us to plot thecomponents on an H-R diagram. To further examine the reliability andself-consistency of these data, we also estimated system masses from thespectral types. Based on observations made at Mount Wilson Observatory,operated by the Mount Wilson Institute under an agreement with theCarnegie Institution of Washington.
| Integrated photometry of galactic H Ii regions
Integrated photoelectric measurements of the equivalent width W_Hβ, the [O Iii]/Hβ ratio and the Hβ emission line flux arepresented for 31 southern hemisphere galactic H Ii regions. The Lymancontinuum photon fluxes are obtained for some of these objects. Theintegrated [O Iii]/Hβ ratios have not shown any statisticallysignificant deviation from non-integrated measurements found in theliterature.
| Two-colour photometry for 9473 components of close Hipparcos double and multiple stars
Using observations obtained with the Tycho instrument of the ESAHipparcos satellite, a two-colour photometry is produced for componentsof more than 7 000 Hipparcos double and multiple stars with angularseparations 0.1 to 2.5 arcsec. We publish 9473 components of 5173systems with separations above 0.3 arcsec. The majority of them did nothave Tycho photometry in the Hipparcos catalogue. The magnitudes arederived in the Tycho B_T and V_T passbands, similar to the Johnsonpassbands. Photometrically resolved components of the binaries withstatistically significant trigonometric parallaxes can be put on an HRdiagram, the majority of them for the first time. Based on observationsmade with the ESA Hipparcos satellite.
| Chemical Composition and Temperature Fluctuations in M 17
Not Available
| Spectrophotometry: Revised Standards and Techniques
The telluric features redward of 6700 Å have been removed from theaccurate spectrophotometric standards of Hamuy et al. to permit morereliable relative and absolute spectrophotometry to be obtained from CCDspectra. Smooth fluxes from 3300 to 10500 Å are best determined bydividing the raw spectra of all objects taken in a night by the rawspectrum of a ``smooth'' spectrum star before deriving the instrumentalresponse function using the revised standard star fluxes. In this waythe telluric features and any large instrumental variation withwavelength are removed from the raw data, leaving smooth spectra thatneed only small corrections to place them on an absolute flux scale.These small corrections with wavelength are well described by alow-order polynomial and result in very smooth flux-calibrated spectra.
| Faint Emission Lines and Temperature Fluctuations in M8
We present echelle spectroscopy in the 3500-10300 Å range of theHourglass Nebula, which is embedded in the Galactic H II region M8. Thedata were obtained using the 2.1 m telescope at ObservatorioAstronómico Nacional in San Pedro Mártir, Baja California.We have measured the intensities of 274 emission lines, in particular 88permitted lines of C^+, N^0, N^+, O^0, O^+, Ne^0, S^0, S^+, Si^0, Si^+,and Si^++, some of them produced by recombination only and others mainlyby fluorescence. We have determined electron temperatures and densitiesusing different line intensity ratios. We derive the He^+, C^++, O^+,and O^++ ionic abundances as well as-for the first time in a nebularobject-the total O abundance from recombination lines; these nebularvalues are independent of the temperature structure of the nebula. Wehave also derived abundances from collisionally excited lines for alarge number of ions and elements; these abundances do depend on thetemperature structure. Accurate t^2 values have been derived bycomparing the C^++, O^+, and O^++ ionic abundances obtained making useof both collisionally excited lines and recombination lines. Acomparison of the solar, Orion Nebula, and M8 chemical abundances ismade.
| Galactic-Scale Outflow and Supersonic Ram-Pressure Stripping in the Virgo Cluster Galaxy NGC 4388
The Hawaii Imaging Fabry-Perot Interferometer (HIFI) on the Universityof Hawaii 2.2 m telescope was used to map the Hα and [O III]lambda5007 emission-line profiles across the entire disk of the edge-onSb galaxy NGC 4388. We confirm a rich complex of highly ionized gas thatextends ~4 kpc above the disk of this galaxy. Low-ionization gasassociated with star formation is also present in the disk. Evidence forbar streaming is detected in the disk component and is discussed in acompanion paper. Nonrotational blueshifted velocities of 50-250 km s^-1are measured in the extraplanar gas northeast of the nucleus. Thebrighter features in this complex tend to have more blueshiftedvelocities. A redshifted cloud is also detected 2 kpc southwest of thenucleus. The velocity field of the extraplanar gas of NGC 4388 appearsto be unaffected by the inferred supersonic (Mach number M~3) motion ofthis galaxy through the ICM of the Virgo cluster. We argue that this isbecause the galaxy and the high-|z| gas lie behind a Mach cone withopening angle ~80 deg. The shocked ICM that flows near the galaxy has avelocity of ~500 km s^-1 and exerts insufficient ram pressure on theextraplanar gas to perturb its kinematics. We consider severalexplanations of the velocity field of the extraplanar gas. Velocities,especially blueshifted velocities on the north of the galaxy, are bestexplained as a bipolar outflow that is tilted by >12 deg from thenormal to the disk. The observed offset between the extraplanar gas andthe radio structure may be due to buoyancy or refractive bending bydensity gradients in the halo gas. Velocity substructure in theoutflowing gas also suggests an interaction with ambient halo gas.
| Spectroscopy of Hot Stars in the Galactic Halo. II. The Identification and Classification of Horizontal-Branch and Other A-Type Stars
We discuss a spectroscopic and photometric technique that enables theidentification and classification of field horizontal-branch (FHB) andother A-type stars, even from relatively low signal-to-noise ratiomedium-resolution spectra. This technique makes use of broadband UBVcolors predicted from model atmosphere calculations and Balmer lineprofiles and Ca II K equivalent widths determined from synthetic spectrato estimate the physical parameters T_eff, log g, and [Fe/H] for starsin the effective temperature range 6000-10,000 K. A comparison of ourmethod with high signal-to-noise ratio spectra of standard starsindicates a scatter in the derived parameters of sigma(T_eff)=+/-250 K,sigma(log g)=+/-0.14 dex, and sigma([Fe/H])=+/-0.12 dex. This precisionallows for a separation of low surface gravity FHB and other, generallyhigher surface gravity, A-type (and somewhat later) stars. We alsodevelop a synthetic-template comparison technique, which is veryeffective in the identification of metallic-line and peculiar A-typestars. A detailed investigation of the influence of noise in the spectraon the determination of physical parameters shows that, for spectra withsignal-to-noise ratios in the range 10
| High resolution spectroscopy over lambda lambda 8500-8750 Å for GAIA. I. Mapping the MKK classification system
We present an Echelle+CCD high resolution spectroscopic atlas (0.25Ä/pix dispersion, 0.43 Ä FWHM resolution and 20 000 resolvingpower) mapping the MKK classification system over the interval lambdalambda 8500-8750 Ä. The wavelength interval is remarkably free fromtelluric lines and it is centered on the near-IR triplet of Ca II, thehead of hydrogen Paschen series and several strong metallic lines. Thespectra of 131 stars of types between O4 and M8 and luminosity classes Ithrough V are included in the atlas. Special care was put in maintainingthe highest instrumental homogeneity over the whole set of data. Thecapability to derive accurate MKK spectral types from high resolutionobservations over the interval lambda lambda 8500-8750 Ä isdiscussed. The observations have been performed as part of an evaluationstudy of possible spectroscopic performances for the astrometric missionGAIA planned by ESA. Tables~3 and 4 are only available in electronicform at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5)or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/ Abstract.html}\fnmsep\thanks{ Thespectra of the stars listed in Table~2 are also available in electronicform at the CDS or via the personal HomePagehttp://ulisse.pd.astro.it/Astro/Atlases/}\fnmsep\thanks{ Figures 3--28are only available in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.com
| CCD images and long-slit spectroscopy of the ring nebula around theta MUS
We present the first digital CCD images and long-slit spectroscopy ofthe optical ring nebula around the Wolf-Rayet star theta Mus. The CCDimages obtained through narrow-band filters centred at [Oiii] and Hαshow that the nebula has a filamentary structure, similar to supernovaremnants, mainly seen in [Oiii]. A spatial detachment between [Oiii] andHα images suggests excitation stratification, or multiple rings. Ananalysis of the physical conditions in the nebula was performed by meansof long-slit CCD spectra. The spectral images show that the nebula is oflow density and medium excitation. By means of quotients ofrecombination and collisional spectral line fluxes we determine that theprincipal excitation mechanism is photoionization. We have determinedthe electronic temperature and density, and chemical abundances for theoxygen at different sites within the nebula. Nebular chemical abundancesare found to be similar to the Galactic ISM, indicating that the nebulais mainly composed of swept up material.
| Photometry from the HIPPARCOS Catalogue: Constant MCP Stars, Comparison and Check Stars
Photometry from the Hipparcos catalogue is used to verify the constancyof four magnetic CP stars, as well as the comparison and the check starsused for variability studies of normal and chemically peculiar B and Astars with the Four College Automated Photoelectric Telescope;variability in these stars can produce spurious results. A few of thecomparison stars are found to be variable and should be replaced forfuture differential photometric studies.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Virgo |
| Right ascension: | 13h09m57.00s |
| Declination: | -05°32'20.0" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 4.38 |
| Distance: | 127.226 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | 0 |
| Proper motion Dec: | 0 |
| B-T magnitude: | 4.386 |
| V-T magnitude: | 4.395 |
Catalogs and designations:
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