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Spatially Resolved Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy of NGC 1068: The Nature and Distribution of the Nuclear Material
We present spatially resolved, near-diffraction-limited 10 μm spectraof the nucleus of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068, obtained with Michelle,the mid-IR imager and spectrometer on the 8.1 m Gemini North Telescope.The spectra cover the nucleus and the central 6.0"×0.4" of theionization cones at a spatial resolution of approximately 0.4" (~30 pc).The spectra extracted in 0.4" steps along the slit reveal strikingvariations in continuum slope, silicate feature profile and depth, andfine-structure line fluxes on subarcsecond scales, illustrating inunprecedented detail the complexity of the circumnuclear regions of NGC1068 at mid-IR wavelengths. A comparison of photometry in variousapertures reveals two distinct components: a compact (radius<15 pc),bright source within the central 0.4"×0.4" and extended, lowerbrightness emission. We identify the compact source with theAGN-obscuring torus, and the diffuse component with dust in theionization cones. While the torus emission dominates the flux observedin the near-IR, the mid-IR flux measured with apertures larger thanabout 1" is dominated instead by emission from the ionization cones;despite its higher brightness, the torus contributes <30% of the 11.6μm flux in the central 1.2" region. Many previous attempts todetermine the torus spectral energy distribution are thus likely to besignificantly affected by contamination from the extended emission. Theobserved spectrum of the compact source is compared with clumpy torusmodels. The models require most of the clouds to be located within a fewparsecs of the central engine, in agreement with recent mid-IRinterferometric observations. We also present a UKIRT/CGS4 5 μmspectrum covering the R(0)-R(4) lines of the fundamentalvibration-rotation band of 12CO. None of these lines wasdetected, and we discuss these nondetections in terms of the fillingfactor and composition of the nuclear clouds.
| Variability of Stars in the Pulkovo Spectrophotometric Catalog
We present the results of a statistical study of brightness variabilityfor 693 stars of the Pulkovo spectrophotometric database in fivespectral bands in the range λλ 320 1080 nm. Significantbrightness variations were detected in at least one spectral bandagainst the background of the random noise for one-third of the starsnot earlier believed to be variable. A comparison of the distributionsof these variations in amplitude and spectral band for the normal andvariable stars shows that variability is inherent to most stars to someextent and is often wavelength dependent.
| CHARM2: An updated Catalog of High Angular Resolution Measurements
We present an update of the Catalog of High Angular ResolutionMeasurements (CHARM, Richichi & Percheron \cite{CHARM}, A&A,386, 492), which includes results available until July 2004. CHARM2 is acompilation of direct measurements by high angular resolution methods,as well as indirect estimates of stellar diameters. Its main goal is toprovide a reference list of sources which can be used for calibrationand verification observations with long-baseline optical and near-IRinterferometers. Single and binary stars are included, as are complexobjects from circumstellar shells to extragalactic sources. The presentupdate provides an increase of almost a factor of two over the previousedition. Additionally, it includes several corrections and improvements,as well as a cross-check with the valuable public release observationsof the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). A total of 8231entries for 3238 unique sources are now present in CHARM2. Thisrepresents an increase of a factor of 3.4 and 2.0, respectively, overthe contents of the previous version of CHARM.The catalog is only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/431/773
| Improved Astrometry and Photometry for the Luyten Catalog. II. Faint Stars and the Revised Catalog
We complete construction of a catalog containing improved astrometry andnew optical/infrared photometry for the vast majority of NLTT starslying in the overlap of regions covered by POSS I and by the secondincremental Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) release, approximately 44%of the sky. The epoch 2000 positions are typically accurate to 130 mas,the proper motions to 5.5 mas yr-1, and the V-J colors to0.25 mag. Relative proper motions of binary components are measured to 3mas yr-1. The false-identification rate is ~1% for11<~V<~18 and substantially less at brighter magnitudes. Theseimprovements permit the construction of a reduced proper-motion diagramthat, for the first time, allows one to classify NLTT stars intomain-sequence (MS) stars, subdwarfs (SDs), and white dwarfs (WDs). We inturn use this diagram to analyze the properties of both our catalog andthe NLTT catalog on which it is based. In sharp contrast to popularbelief, we find that NLTT incompleteness in the plane is almostcompletely concentrated in MS stars, and that SDs and WDs are detectedalmost uniformly over the sky δ>-33deg. Our catalogwill therefore provide a powerful tool to probe these populationsstatistically, as well as to reliably identify individual SDs and WDs.
| Contributions to the Nearby Stars (NStars) Project: Spectroscopy of Stars Earlier than M0 within 40 Parsecs: The Northern Sample. I.
We have embarked on a project, under the aegis of the Nearby Stars(NStars)/Space Interferometry Mission Preparatory Science Program, toobtain spectra, spectral types, and, where feasible, basic physicalparameters for the 3600 dwarf and giant stars earlier than M0 within 40pc of the Sun. In this paper, we report on the results of this projectfor the first 664 stars in the northern hemisphere. These resultsinclude precise, homogeneous spectral types, basic physical parameters(including the effective temperature, surface gravity, and overallmetallicity [M/H]), and measures of the chromospheric activity of ourprogram stars. Observed and derived data presented in this paper arealso available on the project's Web site.
| Stellar Kinematic Groups. II. A Reexamination of the Membership, Activity, and Age of the Ursa Major Group
Utilizing Hipparcos parallaxes, original radial velocities and recentliterature values, new Ca II H and K emission measurements,literature-based abundance estimates, and updated photometry (includingrecent resolved measurements of close doubles), we revisit the UrsaMajor moving group membership status of some 220 stars to produce afinal clean list of nearly 60 assured members, based on kinematic andphotometric criteria. Scatter in the velocity dispersions and H-Rdiagram is correlated with trial activity-based membership assignments,indicating the usefulness of criteria based on photometric andchromospheric emission to examine membership. Closer inspection,however, shows that activity is considerably more robust at excludingmembership, failing to do so only for <=15% of objects, perhapsconsiderably less. Our UMa members demonstrate nonzero vertex deviationin the Bottlinger diagram, behavior seen in older and recent studies ofnearby young disk stars and perhaps related to Galactic spiralstructure. Comparison of isochrones and our final UMa group membersindicates an age of 500+/-100 Myr, some 200 Myr older than thecanonically quoted UMa age. Our UMa kinematic/photometric members' meanchromospheric emission levels, rotational velocities, and scattertherein are indistinguishable from values in the Hyades and smaller thanthose evinced by members of the younger Pleiades and M34 clusters,suggesting these characteristics decline rapidly with age over 200-500Myr. None of our UMa members demonstrate inordinately low absolutevalues of chromospheric emission, but several may show residual fluxes afactor of >=2 below a Hyades-defined lower envelope. If one defines aMaunder-like minimum in a relative sense, then the UMa results maysuggest that solar-type stars spend 10% of their entire main-sequencelives in periods of precipitously low activity, which is consistent withestimates from older field stars. As related asides, we note six evolvedstars (among our UMa nonmembers) with distinctive kinematics that liealong a 2 Gyr isochrone and appear to be late-type counterparts to diskF stars defining intermediate-age star streams in previous studies,identify a small number of potentially very young but isolated fieldstars, note that active stars (whether UMa members or not) in our samplelie very close to the solar composition zero-age main sequence, unlikeHipparcos-based positions in the H-R diagram of Pleiades dwarfs, andargue that some extant transformations of activity indices are notadequate for cool dwarfs, for which Ca II infrared triplet emissionseems to be a better proxy than Hα-based values for Ca II H and Kindices.
| 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
| The Hamburg/RASS Catalogue of optical identifications. Northern high-galactic latitude ROSAT Bright Source Catalogue X-ray sources
We present the Hamburg/RASS Catalogue (HRC) of optical identificationsof X-ray sources at high-galactic latitude. The HRC includes all X-raysources from the ROSAT Bright Source Catalogue (RASS-BSC) with galacticlatitude |b| >=30degr and declination delta >=0degr . In thispart of the sky covering ~ 10 000 deg2 the RASS-BSC contains5341 X-ray sources. For the optical identification we used blue Schmidtprism and direct plates taken for the northern hemisphere Hamburg QuasarSurvey (HQS) which are now available in digitized form. The limitingmagnitudes are 18.5 and 20, respectively. For 82% of the selectedRASS-BSC an identification could be given. For the rest either nocounterpart was visible in the error circle or a plausibleidentification was not possible. With ~ 42% AGN represent the largestgroup of X-ray emitters, ~ 31% have a stellar counterpart, whereasgalaxies and cluster of galaxies comprise only ~ 4% and ~ 5%,respectively. In ~ 3% of the RASS-BSC sources no object was visible onour blue direct plates within 40\arcsec around the X-ray sourceposition. The catalogue is used as a source for the selection of(nearly) complete samples of the various classes of X-ray emitters.
| Magnetic survey of bright northern main sequence stars
The first results of a systematic search for magnetic fields in thebrightest upper main sequence (MS) stars are presented. The main goal isto survey the stars with about the same detection limit and to improveexisting statistics of their magnetism. The target list contains 57upper MS stars and represents well B0.5-F9 stars. High-resolution Zeemanspectra were obtained for 30 stars of the list. The accuracy of themagnetic field measurements ranges from 20 to 300 G depending mainly onspectral class. In the majority of studied stars we did not detectmagnetic fields. In some stars we suspect the presence of a weakmagnetic field. These are the best candidates for more extensivestudies. A particular case is the star chi Dra where we probablydetected the global magnetic field. The longitudinal field strength isB_l= -54+/-12 G. Further observations of this star are needed to confirmthe detection and to ascertain if the magnetic field is variable withthe period of rotation. Based on observations collected at the 1 mtelescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory (Nizhnij Arkhyz,Russia).
| 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
| Do dusty A stars exhibit accretion signatures in their photospheres?
We determined abundances of O, Ca, Fe, Ba and Y for a sample of dustyand dust-free A stars, taken from the list of Cheng et al.(\cite{Cheng92}). Five of the stars have an infrared-excess due tocircumstellar dust. Ongoing accretion from their circumstellarsurroundings might have modified the abundances in the photospheres ofthese stars, but our results clearly show, that there is no differencein the photospheric composition of the dusty and dust-free stars.Instead all of them show the typical diffusion pattern which diminishestowards larger rotational velocities.
| CHARM: A Catalog of High Angular Resolution Measurements
The Catalog of High Angular Resolution Measurements (CHARM) includesmost of the measurements obtained by the techniques of lunaroccultations and long-baseline interferometry at visual and infraredwavelengths, which have appeared in the literature or have otherwisebeen made public until mid-2001. A total of 2432 measurements of 1625sources are included, along with extensive auxiliary information. Inparticular, visual and infrared photometry is included for almost allthe sources. This has been partly extracted from currently availablecatalogs, and partly obtained specifically for CHARM. The main aim is toprovide a compilation of sources which could be used as calibrators orfor science verification purposes by the new generation of largeground-based facilities such as the ESO Very Large Interferometer andthe Keck Interferometer. The Catalog is 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/386/492, and from theauthors on CD-Rom.
| Long-Term Behavior of Mira Ceti Maxima
We gathered the maxima of Mira Ceti (1596-2000) in order to evaluate thefrequency of two consecuitve bright apparitions. We did an evaluation ofthe correlation between two following maxima in order to verify theprobability of occurrence of two consecutive bright maxima. Analysingthe maxima of Mira, we found a probability of seeing it brighter than ?Ceti once every 21 years. In this case, as in February 1997, Mira can bedetected at the first sight as a new component near the most significantasterism in its zone, and composed of ???????and ? Ceti. We found also acorrelation between the magnitude of two consecutive maxima described bythe linear fit: Mi+1 - Mi = -(1.10 ñ 0.08) Mi + (3.74 ñ 0.26), withR=-0.74. This study was done to test whether Mira could have been theStar of Bethlehem and fulfilled the hypothesis suggested by Kepler of anew star that appeared during the triple conjunction at 1 degree ofJupiter and Saturn that occurred in 7-6 B.C.E.
| Interferometric Measurement of the Angular Sizes of Dwarf Stars in the Spectral Range K3-M4
We have used the Palomar Testbed Interferometer to measure the angulardiameter of five dwarf stars of spectral types K3-M4. Using the 110 mbaseline and observing in H and K bands allows us to measure angulardiameters with an accuracy of 2%-8% for stars with apparent angulardiameters approaching 1 milliarcsecond. We provide results for bothuniform-disk and limb-darkened models and compare our results withtheoretical predictions. At the current level of precision ourmeasurements are consistent with most widely accepted models, butfurther observations should be able to provide useful empiricalconstraints.
| Microstructure of the Local Interstellar Cloud and the Identification of the Hyades Cloud
We analyze high-resolution UV spectra of the Mg II h and k lines for 18members of the Hyades to study inhomogeneity along these proximate linesof sight. The observations were taken by the Space Telescope ImagingSpectrograph (STIS) instrument on board the Hubble Space Telescope(HST). Three distinct velocity components are observed. All 18 lines ofsight show absorption by the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC); 10 starsshow absorption by an additional cloud, which we name the Hyades Cloud;and one star exhibits a third absorption component. The LIC absorptionis observed at a lower radial velocity than predicted by the LICvelocity vector derived by Lallement & Bertin in 1992 and Lallementet al. in 1995[vpredicted(LIC)-vobserved(LIC)=2.9+/-0.7 kms-1], which may indicate a compression or deceleration at theleading edge of the LIC. We propose an extension of the Hyades Cloudboundary based on previous HST observations of other stars in thegeneral vicinity of the Hyades, as well as ground-based Ca IIobservations. We present our fits of the interstellar parameters foreach absorption component. The availability of 18 similar lines of sightprovides an excellent opportunity to study the inhomogeneity of thewarm, partially ionized local interstellar medium (LISM). We find thatthese structures are roughly homogeneous. The measured Mg II columndensities do not vary by more than a factor of 2 for angular separationsof <~8°, which at the outer edge of the LIC correspond tophysical separations of <~0.6 pc.
| Brown Dwarf Companions to G-Type Stars. I. Gliese 417B and Gliese 584C
We present astrometric and spectroscopic observations confirming thattwo nearby G dwarf systems (Gliese 417 =BD+36°2162 and Gliese584AB=η CrB AB) have a widely separated, L dwarf, substellarcompanion. Using age estimates of the G dwarf primaries, we estimatemasses for these L dwarfs from theoretical evolutionary tracks. For theL4.5 dwarf Gl 417B we estimate an age of 0.08-0.3 Gyr and a mass of0.035+/-0.015 Msolar. For the L8 dwarf Gl 584C we estimate anage of 1.0-2.5 Gyr and a mass of 0.060+/-0.015 Msolar. Thislatter object also shows evidence of spectrum variability, which may bedue to surface inhomogeneities rotating into and out of view. These newcompanions are also compared to six other L dwarf and T dwarf companionspreviously recognized. For the L dwarf companions, ages implied by thepresence or absence of lithium are consistent with ages inferred fromthe primaries alone. Portions of the data presented herein were obtainedat the W. M. Keck Observatory which is operated as a scientificpartnership among the California Institute of Technology, the Universityof California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support ofthe W. M. Keck Foundation.
| Speckle Interferometry of Southern Double Stars. II. Measures from the CASLEO 2.15 Meter Telescope, 1995-1996
Relative astrometry is presented for 198 observations of 160 doublestars. The data were obtained at the 2.15 m telescope at the ComplejoAstronómico El Leoncito (Argentina) with a multianodemicrochannel array (MAMA) detector system. Five high-qualitynondetections are also reported. When judged against ephemeris positionsfor binaries with very well determined orbits, the separation residualsexhibit a root mean square deviation of13.2+3.4-1.9 mas and the position angle residualsexhibit rms deviation of 2.9d+0.8d-0.5d. Factorsaffecting the measurement precision are discussed.
| 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 ROSAT Bright Survey: II. Catalogue of all high-galactic latitude RASS sources with PSPC countrate CR > 0.2 s-1
We present a summary of an identification program of the more than 2000X-ray sources detected during the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (Voges et al.1999) at high galactic latitude, |b| > 30degr , with countrate above0.2 s-1. This program, termed the ROSAT Bright Survey RBS, isto more than 99.5% complete. A sub-sample of 931 sources with countrateabove 0.2 s-1 in the hard spectral band between 0.5 and 2.0keV is to 100% identified. The total survey area comprises 20391deg2 at a flux limit of 2.4 x 10-12 ergcm-2 s-1 in the 0.5 - 2.0 keV band. About 1500sources of the complete sample could be identified by correlating theRBS with SIMBAD and the NED. The remaining ~ 500 sources were identifiedby low-resolution optical spectroscopy and CCD imaging utilizingtelescopes at La Silla, Calar Alto, Zelenchukskaya and Mauna Kea. Apartfrom completely untouched sources, catalogued clusters and galaxieswithout published redshift as well as catalogued galaxies with unusualhigh X-ray luminosity were included in the spectroscopic identificationprogram. Details of the observations with an on-line presentation of thefinding charts and the optical spectra will be published separately.Here we summarize our identifications in a table which contains opticaland X-ray information for each source. As a result we present the mostmassive complete sample of X-ray selected AGNs with a total of 669members and a well populated X-ray selected sample of 302 clusters ofgalaxies with redshifts up to 0.70. Three fields studied by us remainwithout optical counterpart (RBS0378, RBS1223, RBS1556). While the firstis a possible X-ray transient, the two latter are isolated neutron starcandidates (Motch et al. 1999, Schwope et al. 1999).
| CCD Speckle Observations of Binary Stars from the Southern Hemisphere. II. Measures from the Lowell-Tololo Telescope during 1999
Speckle observations of 145 double stars and suspected double stars arepresented and discussed. On the basis of multiple observations, a totalof 280 position angle and separation measures are determined, as well as23 high-quality nondetections. All observations were taken with the(unintensified) Rochester Institute of Technology fast-readout CCDcamera mounted on the Lowell-Tololo 61 cm telescope at the Cerro TololoInter-American Observatory during 1999 October. We find that themeasures, when judged as a whole against ephemeris positions of binarieswith very well-known orbits, have root mean square deviations of1.8d+/-0.3d in position angle and 13+/-2 mas in separation. Elevendouble stars discovered by Hipparcos were also successfully observed,and the change in position angle and/or separation since the Hipparcosobservations was substantial in three cases.
| Modeling Visual Photometry I: Preliminary Determination of Visual Bandpass
This paper addresses the issue of spectral sensitivity as part of theoverall visual model. A mathematical theory and observational method arepresented for the determination of color coefficient with error term foran individual observer.
| Photometric Measurements of the Fields of More than 700 Nearby Stars
In preparation for optical/IR interferometric searches for substellarcompanions of nearby stars, we undertook to characterize the fields ofall nearby stars visible from the Northern Hemisphere to determinesuitable companions for interferometric phase referencing. Because theKeck Interferometer in particular will be able to phase-reference oncompanions within the isoplanatic patch (30") to about 17th magnitude atK, we took images at V, r, and i that were deep enough to determine iffield stars were present to this magnitude around nearby stars using aspot-coated CCD. We report on 733 fields containing 10,629 measurementsin up to three filters (Gunn i, r and Johnson V) of nearby stars down toabout 13th magnitude at V.
| The ROSAT all-sky survey catalogue of the nearby stars
We present X-ray data for all entries of the Third Catalogue of NearbyStars \cite[(Gliese & Jahreiss 1991)]{gli91} that have been detectedas X-ray sources in the ROSAT all-sky survey. The catalogue contains1252 entries yielding an average detection rate of 32.9 percent. Inaddition to count rates, source detection parameters, hardness ratios,and X-ray fluxes we also list X-ray luminosities derived from Hipparcosparallaxes. Catalogue also available at CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| A search for circumstellar gas around normal A stars and Lambda Bootis stars
We have searched for interstellar or circumstellar absorption lines inthe center of Ca II K towards bright A-type stars that are mostly within80 pc of the Sun. Narrow absorption features are found in about 30 % ofthe 28 normal main-sequence A stars and 18 metal-deficient lambda Bootisstars studied. We have determined surface gravities and projectedrotational velocities. Most of the stars with detectable Ca K featureshave comparatively low gravities and high projected rotationalvelocities. This correlation with stellar properties implies that mostof the narrow absorption features are of circumstellar rather thaninterstellar origin. The preference of low gravity and rapid rotationfurthermore suggests that most of the gas shells around A stars developin the pre-main-sequence phase of evolution, and disappear largelybefore the star arrives at the ZAMS. Among the normal A stars studied,about 50 % are known to have dust disks. Unlike A stars withcircumstellar gas, these dusty stars do not prefer low log g and high vsin i. This results in an apparent lack of correlation between gas anddust, and indicates that normal A stars with gas shells and those withdust disks are not in the same evolutionary stage. We conjecture thatdust disks tend to develop after most of the gas has disappeared. Basedon observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile
| Additional ultra-high-resolution observations of Ca^+ ions in the local interstellar medium
We present ultra-high-resolution (0.35 km s^-1 FWHM) observations of theinterstellar Ca K line towards seven nearby stars. The spectralresolution was sufficient to resolve the line profiles fully, therebyenabling us to detect hitherto unresolved velocity components, and toobtain accurate measurements of the velocity dispersions (b values).Absorption components with velocities similar to those expected for theLocal Interstellar Cloud (LIC) and the closely associated `G cloud' wereidentified towards six of the seven stars. However, in most cases the bvalues deduced for these components were significantly larger than theb~2.2 km s^-1 (i.e. T_k~7000 K, v_t~1 km s^-1) expected for the LIC, andit is argued that this results from the presence of additional,spectrally unresolved, components having similar velocities and physicalconditions. For two stars (delta Vel and alpha Pav) we detectinterstellar components with much smaller b values (1.1+/-0.3 and0.8+/-0.1 km s^-1, respectively) than are expected for low-densityclouds within the Local Bubble. In the case of the narrow alpha Pavcomponent, we also find an anomalously large Nai/Caii column densityratio, which is indicative of a relatively high density. Thus it ispossible that, in addition to LIC-type clouds, the local interstellarmedium contains a population of previously undetected cooler and denserinterstellar clouds.
| The ROSAT all-sky survey catalogue of optically bright main-sequence stars and subgiant stars
We present X-ray data for all main-sequence and subgiant stars ofspectral types A, F, G, and K and luminosity classes IV and V listed inthe Bright Star Catalogue that have been detected as X-ray sources inthe ROSAT all-sky survey; several stars without luminosity class arealso included. The catalogue contains 980 entries yielding an averagedetection rate of 32 percent. In addition to count rates, sourcedetection parameters, hardness ratios, and X-ray fluxes we also listX-ray luminosities derived from Hipparcos parallaxes. The catalogue isalso available in electronic form via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| An extensive Delta a-photometric survey of southern B and A type bright stars
Photoelectric photometry of 803 southern BS objects in the Deltaa-system as detection tool for magnetic chemically peculiar (=CP2) starshas been carried out and compared to published spectral types. Thestatistical yield of such objects detected by both techniques ispractically the same. We show that there are several factors whichcontaminate the search for these stars, but this contamination is onlyof the order of 10% in both techniques. We find a smooth transition fromnormal to peculiar stars. Our sample exhibits the largest fraction ofCP2 stars at their bluest colour interval, i.e. 10% of all stars in thecolour range -0.19 <= B-V < -0.10 or -0.10 <= b-y < -0.05.No peculiar stars based on the Delta a-criterion were found at bluercolours. Towards the red side the fraction of CP2 stars drops to about3% for positive values of B-V or b-y with red limits roughlycorresponding to normal stars of spectral type A5. The photometricbehaviour of other peculiar stars: Am, HgMn, delta Del, lambda Boo, Heabnormal stars, as well as Be/shell stars and supergiants shows someslight, but definite deviations from normal stars. Spectroscopic andvisual binaries are not distinguished from normal stars in their Delta abehaviour. The results of this work justify larger statistical work(e.g. in open clusters) employing more time-saving photometric methods(CCD). \newpage Based on observations obtained at the European SouthernObservatory, La Silla, Chile. This research has made use of the Simbaddatabase, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France. Table 2 is only availablein electronic form via anonymous ftp 130.79.128.5 orhttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Investigation of a group of rapidly rotating A stars having an emission excess at IRAS wavelengths.
Not Available
| MSC - a catalogue of physical multiple stars
The MSC catalogue contains data on 612 physical multiple stars ofmultiplicity 3 to 7 which are hierarchical with few exceptions. Orbitalperiods, angular separations and mass ratios are estimated for eachsub-system. Orbital elements are given when available. The catalogue canbe accessed through CDS (Strasbourg). Half of the systems are within 100pc from the Sun. The comparison of the periods of close and widesub-systems reveals that there is no preferred period ratio and allpossible combinations of periods are found. The distribution of thelogarithms of short periods is bimodal, probably due to observationalselection. In 82\% of triple stars the close sub-system is related tothe primary of a wide pair. However, the analysis of mass ratiodistribution gives some support to the idea that component masses areindependently selected from the Salpeter mass function. Orbits of wideand close sub-systems are not always coplanar, although thecorresponding orbital angular momentum vectors do show a weak tendencyof alignment. Some observational programs based on the MSC aresuggested. Tables 2 and 3 are only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Stellar population of elliptical galaxies in different environments: spectroscopic CO observations
Near-infrared spectra of a sample of 21 elliptical galaxies in thePisces and Abell 2634 clusters and the general field have been obtained.The strengths of CO (2.3 μm) absorption features in these galaxiesare used to explore the presence of an intermediate-age population(e.g., asymptotic giant branch stars) in ellipticals in differentenvironments. The CO absorption features in the spectra of fieldellipticals are found to be stronger than those in clusters, withaverage indices of 0.247+/-0.018 and 0.218+/-0.018 respectively. The twodistributions are different at the 95 per cent confidence level.Differences in metallicities and absolute magnitudes among the field andcluster ellipticals cannot explain these observations. This isinterpreted as evidence for an intermediate-age stellar population inthe field galaxies, indicative of a more extended or recent epoch ofstar formation. The effect of CO indices on the scatter in the opticalD_n-sigma and L-sigma relations of ellipticals is explored, and thereare indications of a smaller intrinsic scatter in these relations forisolated galaxies compared to those in richer environments.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Cetus |
| Right ascension: | 02h43m18.00s |
| Declination: | +03°14'09.0" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 3.47 |
| Distance: | 25.138 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | 0 |
| Proper motion Dec: | 0 |
| B-T magnitude: | 3.644 |
| V-T magnitude: | 3.551 |
Catalogs and designations:
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