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A systematic study of variability among OB-stars based on HIPPARCOS photometry
Context: Variability is a key factor for understanding the nature of themost massive stars, the OB stars. Such stars lie closest to the unstableupper limit of star formation. Aims: In terms of statistics, thedata from the HIPPARCOS satellite are unique because of time coverageand uniformity. They are ideal to study variability in this large,uniform sample of OB stars. Methods: We used statisticaltechniques to determine an independant threshold of variabilitycorresponding to our sample of OB stars, and then applied an automaticalgorithm to search for periods in the data of stars that are locatedabove this threshold. We separated the sample stars into 4 maincategories of variability: 3 intrinsic and 1 extrinsic. The intrinsiccategories are: OB main sequence stars (~2/3 of the sample), OBe stars(~10%) and OB Supergiant stars (~1/4).The extrinsic category refers toeclipsing binaries. Results: We classified about 30% of the wholesample as variable, although the fraction depends on magnitude level dueto instrumental limitations. OBe stars tend to be much more variable(≈80%) than the average sample star, while OBMS stars are belowaverage and OBSG stars are average. Types of variables include αCyg, β Cep, slowly pulsating stars and other types from the generalcatalog of variable stars. As for eclipsing binaries, there arerelatively more contact than detached systems among the OBMS and OBestars, and about equal numbers among OBSG stars.
| The Projected Rotational Velocity Distribution of a Sample of OB stars from a Calibration Based on Synthetic He I Lines
We derive projected rotational velocities (v sin i) for a sample of 156Galactic OB star members of 35 clusters, H II regions, and associations.The He I lines at 4026, 4388, and 4471 Å were analyzed in order todefine a calibration of the synthetic He I full widths at half-maximum(FWHMs) versus stellar v sin i. A grid of synthetic spectra of He I lineprofiles was calculated in non-LTE using an extensive helium model atomand updated atomic data. The v sin i values for all stars were derivedusing the He I FWHM calibrations, but also, for those target stars withrelatively sharp lines, v sin i values were obtained from best-fitsynthetic spectra of up to 40 lines of C II, N II, O II, Al III, Mg II,Si III, and S III. This calibration is a useful and efficient tool forestimating the projected rotational velocities of O9-B5 main-sequencestars. The distribution of v sin i for an unbiased sample of early Bstars in the unbound association Cep OB2 is consistent with thedistribution reported elsewhere for other unbound associations.
| Pulkovo compilation of radial velocities for 35495 stars in a common system.
Not Available
| New Estimates of the Solar-Neighborhood Massive Star Birthrate and the Galactic Supernova Rate
The birthrate of stars of masses >=10 Msolar is estimatedfrom a sample of just over 400 O3-B2 dwarfs within 1.5 kpc of the Sunand the result extrapolated to estimate the Galactic supernova ratecontributed by such stars. The solar-neighborhood Galactic-plane massivestar birthrate is estimated at ~176 stars kpc-3Myr-1. On the basis of a model in which the Galactic stellardensity distribution comprises a ``disk+central hole'' like that of thedust infrared emission (as proposed by Drimmel and Spergel), theGalactic supernova rate is estimated at probably not less than ~1 normore than ~2 per century and the number of O3-B2 dwarfs within the solarcircle at ~200,000.
| Catalog of Galactic OB Stars
An all-sky catalog of Galactic OB stars has been created by extendingthe Case-Hamburg Galactic plane luminous-stars surveys to include 5500additional objects drawn from the literature. This work brings the totalnumber of known or reasonably suspected OB stars to over 16,000.Companion databases of UBVβ photometry and MK classifications forthese objects include nearly 30,000 and 20,000 entries, respectively.
| The total-to-selective extinction ratio determined from near IR photometry of OB stars
The paper presents an extensive list of the total to selectiveextinction ratios R calculated from the infrared magnitudes of 597 O andB stars using the extrapolation method. The IR magnitudes of these starswere taken from the literature. The IR colour excesses are determinedwith the aid of "artificial standards" - Wegner (1994). The individualand mean values of total to selective extinction ratios R differ in mostcases from the average value R=3.10 +/-0.05 - Wegner (1993) in differentOB associations. The relation between total to selective extinctionratios R determined in this paper and those calculated using the "methodof variable extinction" and the Cardelli et al. (1989) formulae isdiscussed. The R values presented in this paper can be used to determineindividual absolute magnitudes of reddened OB stars with knowntrigonometric parallaxes.
| Autocorrelation Analysis of Hipparcos Photometry of Short-Period Be Stars
We have used Hipparcos epoch photometry and a form of autocorrelationanalysis to investigate the amplitude and timescale of the short-periodvariability of 82 Be stars, including 46 Be stars that were analyzed byHubert & Floquet using Fourier and CLEAN analysis and 36 other Bestars that were suspected of short-period variability. Our method hasgiven useful information for about 84% of these stars; for the rest, thetime distribution of the Hipparcos epoch photometry limits thecapability of our technique.
| A Search for High-Velocity Be Stars
We present an analysis of the kinematics of Be stars based uponHipparcos proper motions and published radial velocities. We findapproximately 23 of the 344 stars in our sample have peculiar spacemotions greater than 40 km s-1 and up to 102 kms-1. We argue that these high-velocity stars are the resultof either a supernova that disrupted a binary or ejection by closeencounters of binaries in young clusters. Be stars spun up by binarymass transfer will appear as high-velocity objects if there wassignificant mass loss during the supernova explosion of the initiallymore massive star, but the generally moderate peculiar velocities of BeX-ray binaries indicate that the progenitors lose most of their massprior to the supernova (in accordance with model predictions). Binaryformation models for Be stars predict that most systems bypass thesupernova stage (and do not receive runaway velocities) to createultimately Be+white dwarf binaries. The fraction of Be stars spun up bybinary mass transfer remains unknown, since the post-mass transfercompanions are difficult to detect.
| Chemical Abundances of OB Stars in Five OB Associations
We present LTE abundances of magnesium, aluminum, sulfur, and iron andnon-LTE abundances of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and silicon for a sampleof 15 slowly rotating B stars belonging to five OB associations: CygOB3, Cyg OB7, Lac OB1, Vul OB1, and Cep OB3. These OB associations lieon the Galactic plane and are situated within 3 kpc of the Sun. Of theeight elements sampled, non-LTE abundances for C, N, O, and Si, as wellas LTE abundances for Al and Fe, generally show subsolar abundances,with typical underabundances of ~0.2-0.4 dex. The LTE abundances for Mgand S tend to fall closer to solar values in the five associations.Whether the somewhat larger abundances derived for Mg and S, relative tothe other six elements studied, are significantly different will requirefurther work, while the modest, but persistent, underabundances(relative to solar) found for the other elements confirm a number ofprevious studies of young disk OB stars lying relatively near to theSun. The five associations studied here do not span a significant rangeof Galactocentric distances; however, their derived abundances agreewith what would be expected based upon previous studies that have mappedabundance versus Galactocentric distance and measured abundancegradients in the Milky Way disk.
| Statistical analysis of intrinsic polarization, IR excess and projected rotational velocity distributions of classical Be stars
We present the results of statistical analyses of a sample of 627 Bestars. The parameters of intrinsic polarization (p*),projected rotational velocity (v sin i), and near IR excesses have beeninvestigated. The values of p* have been estimated for a muchlarger and more representative sample of Be stars (~490 objects) thanpreviously. We have confirmed that most Be stars of early spectral typehave statistically larger values of polarization and IR excesses incomparison with the late spectral type stars. It is found that thedistributions of p* diverge considerably for the differentspectral subgroups. In contrast to late spectral types (B5-B9.5), thedistribution of p* for B0-B2 stars does not peak at the valuep*=0%. Statistically significant differences in the meanprojected rotational velocities (/line{vsin i}) are found for differentspectral subgroups of Be stars in the sense that late spectral typestars (V luminosity class) generally rotate faster than early types, inagreement with previously published results. This behaviour is, however,not obvious for the III-IV luminosity class stars. Nevertheless, thecalculated values of the ratio vt/vc of the truerotational velocity, vt, to the critical velocity forbreak-up, vc, is larger for late spectral type stars of allluminosity classes. Thus, late spectral type stars appear to rotatecloser to their break-up rotational velocity. The distribution of nearIR excesses for early spectral subgroups is bi-modal, the position ofthe second peak displaying a maximum value E(V-L)~ 1 . m 3for O-B1.5 stars, decreasing to E(V-L)~0. m8 for intermediatespectral types (B3-B5). It is shown that bi-modality disappears for latespectral types (B6-B9.5). No correlations were found betweenp* and near IR excesses and between E(V-L) and vsin i for thedifferent subgroups of Be stars. In contrast to near IR excesses, arelation between p* and far IR excesses at 12 mu m is clearlyseen. A clear relation between p* and vsin i (as well asbetween p* and /line{vsin i}/vc) is found by thefact that plots of these parameters are bounded by a ``triangular"distribution of p*: vsin i, with a decrease of p*towards very small and very large vsin i (and /line{vsini}/vc) values. The latter behaviour can be understood in thecontext of a larger oblateness of circumstellar disks for the stars witha rapid rotation. From the analysis of correlations between differentobservational parameters we conclude that circumstellar envelopes forthe majority of Be stars are optically thin disks with the range of thehalf-opening angle of 10degr
| Long-term visual spectrophotometric behaviour of Be stars. II. Correlations with fundamental stellar parameters and interpretation
The long-term visual spectrophotometric (SPh) behaviour of Be stars as afunction of fundamental stellar parameters is studied. Some previous SPhresults obtained by other authors are confirmed. Moreover, a tendencyfor temperature and aspect angle dependency of SPh variations is found.From the characteristics of visual SPh behaviour in Be stars we deriveconstraints for models of regions in circumstellar envelopes where thevisual continuum spectrum is formed: (i) The SPh emission and absorptionphases should not imply preferential aspect angles, as they can bothappear whatever the stellar inclination. This phenomenon cannot bealways accounted for by strongly flattened circumstellar envelopes; (ii)Radii of the visible continuum forming regions cannot be larger than afew R_*; (iii) Electron densities of these regions should not exceed N_e~ 10(13) cm(-3) ; (iv) Electron temperature of circumstellar layersproducing the SPh emission phases compare with the stellar Balmercontinuum radiation temperature and it is much lower in those producingthe SPh absorption phases. Three scenarios were studied to produce theobserved characteristics of emissions in the V magnitude and in thesecond component of Balmer discontinuity (Delta D) during the SPhemission phases: (a) expansion of a massive circumstellar shell thatpreserves circumstellar envelope flattening; (b) expansion of acircumstellar shell which increases the global flattening, so that adisc-like structure is formed; (c) continuous mass ejection thatincreases the storage of mass in a constant volume with a givenflattening. Mechanisms (a) and (b) produce a double valued (DeltaV,Delta D) SPh relation, while (c) produces a single valued relation.Only mechanisms (a) and (c) can easily produce the observed amounts ofemission Delta V and Delta D without violating the modeling constraintsfrom (i) to (iv) imposed by observations. The model SPh slopes of (DeltaV,Delta D) show the global sin i and T_eff observed dependencies. Thescenarios used to describe the double valued (Delta V,Delta D) suggestanother possible way how to build up circumstellar envelopes around Bestars.
| Speckle Interferometry of New and Problem HIPPARCOS Binaries
The ESA Hipparcos satellite made measurements of over 12,000 doublestars and discovered 3406 new systems. In addition to these, 4706entries in the Hipparcos Catalogue correspond to double star solutionsthat did not provide the classical parameters of separation and positionangle (rho,theta) but were the so-called problem stars, flagged ``G,''``O,'' ``V,'' or ``X'' (field H59 of the main catalog). An additionalsubset of 6981 entries were treated as single objects but classified byHipparcos as ``suspected nonsingle'' (flag ``S'' in field H61), thusyielding a total of 11,687 ``problem stars.'' Of the many ground-basedtechniques for the study of double stars, probably the one with thegreatest potential for exploration of these new and problem Hipparcosbinaries is speckle interferometry. Results are presented from aninspection of 848 new and problem Hipparcos binaries, using botharchival and new speckle observations obtained with the USNO and CHARAspeckle cameras.
| Catalogue of H-alpha emission stars in the Northern Milky Way
The ``Catalogue of Stars in the Northern Milky Way Having H-alpha inEmission" appears in Abhandlungen aus der Hamburger Sternwarte, Band XIin the year 1997. It contains 4174 stars, range {32degr <= l() II< 214degr , -10degr < b() II < +10degr } having the Hαline in emission. HBH stars and stars of further 99 lists taken from theliterature till the end of 1994 were included in the catalogue. We givethe cross-identification of stars from all lists used. The catalogue isalso available in the Centre de Données, Strasbourg ftp130.79.128.5 or http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr and at the HamburgObservatory via internet.
| Long-term visual spectrophotometric behaviour of Be stars
The long-term spectrophotometric variations of 49 Be stars are studiedusing the U and V magnitudes of the UBV system, the total Balmerdiscontinuity D and the visible gradient Phi _rb. BCD spectrophotometricand photometric data in five different photometric systems, obtained inmost cases since 1950 and reduced to the BCD system, were used. The(U,D), (V,D), (Phi _rb,D) and (Phi _rb,V) correlations obtained differfrom star to star and they can be single or double-valued. They differclearly for Be phases or Be-shell phases. Be stars with small Vsin ishowing the ``spectrophotometric shell behaviour'': D > D_*, werefound. This finding implies either that strongly flattened models ofcircumstellar envelopes are in doubt for these stars, or that not all Bestars are rapid rotators. Comparison of observed variations with thosepredicted for model Be stars with spherical circumstellar envelopes ofvariable densities and dimensions implies that spectrophotometricpatterns of Be phases are due to circumstellar envelopes in low opacityregimes, while those of spectrophotometric shell phases are due tocircumstellar envelopes in high opacity regimes. In a given star, theenvelope regions responsible for the observed variations of D and Phi_rbin spectrophotometric shell phases seem to be smaller and denser thanthose producing the observed variations of these parameters inspectrophotometric Be phases. The high positive RV found in strong shellphases might favor the formation of compact circumstellar layers nearthe star. Figure 6 is only available in electronic form at CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Photometric Monitoring of Bright Be Stars. III. 1988-89 and 1992-95
We report long-term photometric (BV) observations of 23 bright, activeBe stars made in 1988 and 1989 and 1992 and 1995 with the 0.4m telescopeat the University of Toronto. Cumulative light curves, includingobservations made earlier at the University of Toronto, and with theAutomatic Photometric Telescope Service in Arizona, are presented forseveral of the stars. Many of the stars show cyclic variations of up to0.2 in V and B on time scales of a few years, as well as variations ontime scales of about a day. (SECTION: Stars)
| UBV photometry of Be stars at Hvar: 1972--1990
A summary of results of the systematic UBV photoelectric monitoring ofbright northern Be stars carried out at the Hvar Observatory between1972 and 1990 is presented. Altogether, 76 Be stars of all luminosityclasses were observed and 13,848 UBV measurements secured.Simultaneously, 9,648 UBV measurements of 48 check stars (most of themof early spectral types) were obtained. A careful transformation of allobservations into the standard Johnson system allowed detection andmonitoring of even very mild long-term light and colour variations ofthese objects. Almost all early-type Be stars in the sample turned outto be variable. For several stars phase-locked light variations relatedto their binary nature were established. Sudden brightenings, on a timescale of a few days, were detected for o Cas and QR Vul. Tables 2 and 3are only available in electronic form at CDS via ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Catalogue of stars in the northern Milky Way having H-alpha in emission
Not Available
| Rotational Velocity Determinations for 164 Be and B Stars
Rotational velocities, v sin i, have been obtained for 96 Be and 68normal B stars by measurements of the FWHM of the He I lambda-4471 line(for spectral types B0-B4.5) and Mg II lambda-4481 (for types B5-B9.5).The consistency of various published sources is examined. (SECTION:Stars)
| Vitesses radiales. Catalogue WEB: Wilson Evans Batten. Subtittle: Radial velocities: The Wilson-Evans-Batten catalogue.
We give a common version of the two catalogues of Mean Radial Velocitiesby Wilson (1963) and Evans (1978) to which we have added the catalogueof spectroscopic binary systems (Batten et al. 1989). For each star,when possible, we give: 1) an acronym to enter SIMBAD (Set ofIdentifications Measurements and Bibliography for Astronomical Data) ofthe CDS (Centre de Donnees Astronomiques de Strasbourg). 2) the numberHIC of the HIPPARCOS catalogue (Turon 1992). 3) the CCDM number(Catalogue des Composantes des etoiles Doubles et Multiples) byDommanget & Nys (1994). For the cluster stars, a precise study hasbeen done, on the identificator numbers. Numerous remarks point out theproblems we have had to deal with.
| Near-infrared photometric observations of Be stars.
Not Available
| Profile variability and nonradial pulsations in Be stars.
Not Available
| Galactic OB associations in the northern Milky Way Galaxy. I - Longitudes 55 deg to 150 deg
The literature on all OB associations was reviewed, and their IRAS pointsource content was studied, between galactic longitude 55 and 150 deg.Only one third of the 24 associations listed by Ruprecht et al. (1981)have been the subject of individual studies designed to identify thebrightest stars. Distances to all of these were recomputed using themethod of cluster fitting of the B main sequence stars, which makes itpoossible to reexamine the absolute magnitude calibration of the Ostars, as well as for the red supergiant candidate stars. Also examinedwas the composite HR diagram for these associations. Associations withthe best defined main sequences, which also tend to contain very youngclusters, referred to here as OB clusters, have extremely few evolved Band A or red supergiants. Associations with poorly defined mainsequences and few OB clusters have many more evolved stars. They alsoshow an effect in the upper HR diagram referred to as a ledge byFitzpatrick and Garmany (1990) in similar data for the Large MagellanicCloud. It is suggested that the differences in the associations are notjust observational selection effects but represent real differences inage and formation history.
| Close binaries observed polarimetrically
Not Available
| A nonradially pulsating Be star 28 Cygni - Results from photometry
Photometric observations of the Be star 28 Cyg in 1985 reveal lightvariations with large amplitude (around 0.85 mag in the V band), andonly marginal color changes. Period analysis yields ambiguous results asfrom the appearance of the lightcurve alone it is not possible to choosewhich period is the correct one (P = 0.64 d for single-wave or itsdouble value for double-wave light curve appearance). This findingcorroborates Peters's and Penrod's (1988) results based on the detailedline-profile analysis. A shorter period is due to pulsations in thelow-order nonradial mode l = 2, but due to wave behavior, thelight-curve is expected to be of the double-wave variety. The scatteraround the mean light-curve is still larger than the assumedobservational error and further periodicities could be present in thedata. The CLEAN algorithm was used to extract these frequencies, whichwere further adjusted in a multifrequency fit. Results are discussed inthe framework of a nonradial pulsation hypothesis.
| Empirical temperature calibrations for early-type stars
Three temperature calibrations of suitable photometric quantities havebeen derived for O and B stars. A sample of 120 stars with reliableT(eff.) determinations has been used for establishing each calibration.The different calibrations have been critically discussed and compared.Temperature determinations for 1009 program stars have been obtainedwith an accuracy of the order of 10 percent.
| A search for time variability and its possible regularities in linear polarization of Be stars
Linear polarization measurements are presented for 14 Be stars obtainedat McDonald Observatory during four observing runs from June to Novemberof 1983. Methods of observation and data reduction are described. Sevenof eight program stars observed on six or more nights exhibited obviouspolarimetric variations on time scales of days or months. The incidenceis estimated as 50 percent and may be as high as 93 percent. Noconnection can be found between polarimetric variability and rapidperiodic light or spectroscopic variability. Ultrarapid variability ontime scales of minutes was searched for with negative results. In allcases, the position angles also show variations indicating that the axisof symmetry of the circumstellar envelope changes its orientation inspace.
| Delta-a photometry of Be/shell stars
Existing spectrophotometry of Be/stars is used to synthesize the indexDelta-a, which is commonly used to identify CP2 stars (Ap stars).Together with direct measurements of Delta-a, it is shown that thephotometric behavior of the Be star Pleione during its recent shellepisode, mimicking a CP2-star by its Delta-a, is not a common phenomenonamong Be stars. The possible contamination of photometrically detectedCP2 stars is therefore negligible.
| Photoelectric monitoring of bright Be stars
The paper describes and summarizes BV photometric observations of 34bright, active Be stars made at various times between 1981 and 1987 witha 0.4-m telescope at the University of Toronto. These observationsdemonstrate the photometric variability of Be stars on time scales ofhours to years.
| The possible multiperiodic variable Be star KY Andromedae
Broad-band UBV photometric measurements of the variable Be star KYAndromedae obtained in September 1982 have been analysed in search ofpossible periodicity. Periodogram analysis has shown that one dominantperiod of 0.751 d is present in the data. Further periods aretentatively identified, but possible multiperiodicity will still have tobe confirmed with a larger data set. Besides the claimed multiperiodicvariations, the color behaviour is also similar to that of non-radialpulsators of the 53 Persei type. At least one other explanation ispossible in terms of stellar rotation combined with irregular intrinsiccircumstellar variations.
| A photometric campaign on the Be stars Omicron And, KX And, KY And, LQ And and EW Lac
Results are presented from a UBV photometric study of five northern Bestars. It is found that the variation of Omicron And, LQ And, andpossibly KX And and EW Lac, is periodic. No periodicity was observed forKY And. The light curves of the stars are discussed. Only two of themodels considered account for the short-term variability observed in thestars. The nonradial pulsator requires special assumptions to explainnonsinusoidal light curves. Also, it is difficult to explain the abruptchange in the light curve of EW Lac with the magnetic oblique rotatormodel.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Andromeda |
| Right ascension: | 23h09m16.75s |
| Declination: | +49°39'02.2" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 6.744 |
| Distance: | 649.351 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | 2.4 |
| Proper motion Dec: | 0.6 |
| B-T magnitude: | 6.69 |
| V-T magnitude: | 6.74 |
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