Contents
Images
Upload your image
DSS Images Other Images
Related articles
CCD Speckle Observations of Binary Stars from the Southern Hemisphere. IV. Measures during 2001
We present 549 observations of 181 primarily southern binary stars. Ofthese, 32 are high-quality nondetections, meaning that, if binary, thesystem had a separation below the diffraction limit at the time of theobservation, and relative astrometry is presented for the remaining 517observations. In addition, a magnitude difference measure is reported in312 cases in which the observation was judged to be of sufficientquality to have little decorrelation of the speckle pattern of thesecondary relative to the primary star. These data were obtained fromspeckle observations taken at the Lowell-Tololo 0.6 m telescope at CerroTololo Inter-American Observatory using a fast-readout CCD detectorduring 2001 November. Results from an astrometric measurement precisionstudy indicate that the measures have typical uncertainties of12.2+/-1.4 mas in separation and 1.28d+/-0.21d in position angle withlittle systematic error. The magnitude differences presented show goodagreement with values in the Hipparcos catalog where comparisons can bemade. Their uncertainties are also characterized; they show a typicalvalue of 0.18 mag per 2 minute observation. Four systems of particularinterest are discussed.
| Computed Hβ indices from ATLAS9 model atmospheres
Aims.Grids of Hβ indices based on updated (new-ODF) ATLAS9 modelatmospheres were computed for solar and scaled solar metallicities[+0.5], [+0.2], [0.0], [ -0.5] , [ -1.0] , [ -1.5] , [ -2.0] , [ -2.5]and for α enhanced compositions [+0.5a], [0.0a], [ -0.5a] , [-1.0a] , [ -1.5a] , [ -2.0a] , [ -2.5a] , and [ -4.0a] . Methods:.Indices for T_eff > 5000 K were computed with the same methods asdescribed by Lester et al. (1986, LGK86) except for a differentnormalization of the computed natural system to the standard system.LGK86 used special ODFs to compute the fluxes. For T_eff ≤ 5000 K wecomputed the fluxes using the synthetic spectrum method. In order toassess the accuracy of the computed indices comparisons were made withthe indices computed by Smalley & Dworetsky (1995, A&A, 293,446, MD95) and with the empirical relations T_eff-Hβ given byAlonso et al. (1996, A&A, 313, 873) for several metallicities.Furthermore, for cool stars, temperatures inferred from the computedindices were compared with those of the fundamental stars listed byMD95. The same kind of comparison was made between gravities for B-typestars. Results: .The temperatures from the computed indices are ingood agreement, within the error limits, with the literature values for4750 K ≤ T_eff ≤ 8000 K, while the gravities agree for T_eff> 9000 K. The computed Hβ indices for the Sun and for Procyonare very close to the observed values. The comparison between theobserved and computed Hβ indices as function of the observedHβ has shown a very small trend which almost completely disappearswhen only stars hotter than 10 000 K are considered. The trend due tothe cool stars is probably related with the low accuracy of thefundamental T_eff which are affected by large errors for most of thestars.
| PHASES High-Precision Differential Astrometry of δ Equulei
Delta Equulei is among the most well-studied nearby binary star systems.Results of its observation have been applied to a wide range offundamental studies of binary systems and stellar astrophysics. It iswidely used to calibrate and constrain theoretical models of the physicsof stars. We report 27 high-precision differential astrometrymeasurements of δ Equ from the Palomar High-precision AstrometricSearch for Exoplanet Systems (PHASES). The median size of the minor axesof the uncertainty ellipses for these measurements is 26 μas. Thesedata are combined with previously published radial velocity data andother previously published differential astrometry measurements usingother techniques to produce a combined model for the system orbit. Thedistance to the system is determined to within one twentieth of aparsec, and the component masses are determined at the level of apercent. The constraints on masses and distance are limited by theprecisions of the radial velocity data; we outline plans to improve thisdeficiency and discuss the outlook for further study of this binary.
| On the Flux of Extrasolar Dust in Earth's Atmosphere
Micron-size extrasolar dust particles have been convincingly detected bysatellites. Larger extrasolar meteoroids (5-35 μm) have most likelybeen detected by ground-based radar at Arecibo and New Zealand. Wepresent estimates of the minimum detectable particle sizes and thecollecting areas for both radar systems. We show that particles largerthan ~10 μm can propagate for tens of parsecs through theinterstellar medium, opening up the possibility that ground-based radarsystems can detect AGB stars, young stellar objects such as T Tauristars, and debris disks around Vega-like stars. We provide analyticaland numerical estimates of the ejection velocity in the case of a debrisdisk interacting with a Jupiter-mass planet. We give rough estimates ofthe flux of large micrometeoroids from all three classes of sources.Current radar systems are unlikely to detect significant numbers ofmeteors from debris disks such as β Pictoris. However, we suggestimprovements to radar systems that should allow for the detection ofmultiple examples of all three classes.
| Speckle Observations of Binary Stars with the WIYN Telescope. IV. Differential Photometry
Five hundred seventy-six magnitude difference measures are presented for260 binary stars. These measures are derived from CCD-based speckleobservations taken at the WIYN 3.5 m telescope at Kitt Peak NationalObservatory during the period 1997-2000. Separations of the systemsrange from over 1" down to near the diffraction limit of the telescope.A study of multiple measures of the same targets indicates that themeasures have a typical uncertainty of better than 0.13 mag per 2 minuteobservation, and that multiple observations can be averaged to arrive atsmaller uncertainties. Results presented here are also compared, insofaras it is possible, with measures in the Hipparcos Catalogue and toprevious studies using adaptive optics. No major systematic errors wereidentified.The WIYN Observatory is a joint facility of the University ofWisconsin-Madison, Indiana University, Yale University, and the NationalOptical Astronomy Observatory.
| The Geneva-Copenhagen survey of the Solar neighbourhood. Ages, metallicities, and kinematic properties of 14 000 F and G dwarfs
We present and discuss new determinations of metallicity, rotation, age,kinematics, and Galactic orbits for a complete, magnitude-limited, andkinematically unbiased sample of 16 682 nearby F and G dwarf stars. Our63 000 new, accurate radial-velocity observations for nearly 13 500stars allow identification of most of the binary stars in the sampleand, together with published uvbyβ photometry, Hipparcosparallaxes, Tycho-2 proper motions, and a few earlier radial velocities,complete the kinematic information for 14 139 stars. These high-qualityvelocity data are supplemented by effective temperatures andmetallicities newly derived from recent and/or revised calibrations. Theremaining stars either lack Hipparcos data or have fast rotation. Amajor effort has been devoted to the determination of new isochrone agesfor all stars for which this is possible. Particular attention has beengiven to a realistic treatment of statistical biases and errorestimates, as standard techniques tend to underestimate these effectsand introduce spurious features in the age distributions. Our ages agreewell with those by Edvardsson et al. (\cite{edv93}), despite severalastrophysical and computational improvements since then. We demonstrate,however, how strong observational and theoretical biases cause thedistribution of the observed ages to be very different from that of thetrue age distribution of the sample. Among the many basic relations ofthe Galactic disk that can be reinvestigated from the data presentedhere, we revisit the metallicity distribution of the G dwarfs and theage-metallicity, age-velocity, and metallicity-velocity relations of theSolar neighbourhood. Our first results confirm the lack of metal-poor Gdwarfs relative to closed-box model predictions (the ``G dwarfproblem''), the existence of radial metallicity gradients in the disk,the small change in mean metallicity of the thin disk since itsformation and the substantial scatter in metallicity at all ages, andthe continuing kinematic heating of the thin disk with an efficiencyconsistent with that expected for a combination of spiral arms and giantmolecular clouds. Distinct features in the distribution of the Vcomponent of the space motion are extended in age and metallicity,corresponding to the effects of stochastic spiral waves rather thanclassical moving groups, and may complicate the identification ofthick-disk stars from kinematic criteria. More advanced analyses of thisrich material will require careful simulations of the selection criteriafor the sample and the distribution of observational errors.Based on observations made with the Danish 1.5-m telescope at ESO, LaSilla, Chile, and with the Swiss 1-m telescope at Observatoire deHaute-Provence, France.Complete Tables 1 and 2 are only available in electronic form at the CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/418/989
| 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.
| Speckle Observations of Binary Stars with the WIYN Telescope. II. Relative Astrometry Measures during 1998-2000
Five hundred twelve relative astrometry measures are presented for 253double stars, including 53 double stars discovered by Hipparcos. In 15cases, relative astrometry is reported for the first time for newlyconfirmed pairs. In addition, 20 high-quality nondetections ofcompanions are reported for stars suspected of being nonsingle byHipparcos. Observations were taken using a fast-readout CCD camerasystem at the WIYN 3.5 m telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona. In comparingthese measures with ephemeris predictions for binary stars with verywell known orbits, we find that the measurement precision is better than3 mas in separation and 1° in position angle per individualobservation. Measurement precision and detection capabilities are fullydiscussed, and confirmed orbital motion is reported in four cases of theHipparcos double star discoveries. The WIYN Observatory is a jointfacility of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Indiana University,Yale University, and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory.
| On the anomaly of Balmer line profiles of A-type stars. Fundamental binary systems
In previous work, Gardiner et al. (\cite{GKS99}) found evidence for adiscrepancy between the Teff obtained from Balmer lines withthat from photometry and fundamental values for A-type stars. Aninvestigation into this anomaly is presented using Balmer line profilesof stars in binary system with fundamental values of bothTeff and log g. A revision of the fundamental parameters forbinary systems given by Smalley & Dworetsky (\cite{SD95}) is alsopresented. The Teff obtained by fitting Hα and Hβline profiles is compared to the fundamental values and those obtainedfrom uvby photometry. We find that the discrepancy found by Gardiner etal. (\cite{GKS99}) for stars in the range 7000 K <~ Teff<~ 9000 K is no longer evident. Partly based on DENIS data obtainedat the European Southern Observatory.
| 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.
| 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
| Research Note Hipparcos photometry: The least variable stars
The data known as the Hipparcos Photometry obtained with the Hipparcossatellite have been investigated to find those stars which are leastvariable. Such stars are excellent candidates to serve as standards forphotometric systems. Their spectral types suggest in which parts of theHR diagrams stars are most constant. In some cases these values stronglyindicate that previous ground based studies claiming photometricvariability are incorrect or that the level of stellar activity haschanged. Table 2 is only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/367/297
| No molecular gas around nearby solar-type stars
Molecular gas around main-sequence stars is thought to disperse in onlya few million years, constraining the time-scale for giant planets toform. However, this hypothesis has never been fully tested, as many ofthe search targets have been A-type stars, where the primary gas tracer,carbon monoxide, is readily photodissociated. A survey has been made of14 nearby F and G stars with known circumstellar dust - no CO isdetected, and a mean upper limit for all the stars implies less than0.015 Uranus masses of H2. Since these solar-like stars havenegligible dissociating UV radiation, this indicates that the lack ofgas detections is not an observational bias, and also that theories withformation of the outer gas giants at late times are not supported.
| 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.
| Resolved double-lined spectroscopic binaries: A neglected source of hypothesis-free parallaxes and stellar masses
Double-lined spectroscopic binaries, once visually resolved (VB-SB2),provide hypothesis-free orbital parallaxes and masses of bothcomponents. Unlike eclipsing-spectroscopic binaries for which manyaccurate masses are already known (Andersen 1991; Andersen 1997), thenumber of VB-SB2 remains rather small. This paper presents 40 suchsystems for which published visual observations and radial velocitiesallow a simultaneous adjustment of both data sets. The precision of theindividual masses as well as the evolution of that precision withrespect to the published precision is investigated.
| 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.
| Speckle Interferometry at the US Naval Observatory. III.
Position angles and separations resulting from 2578 speckleinterferometric observations of 590 binary stars are tabulated. This isthe third in a series of papers presenting measures obtained using the66 cm refractor at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, andcovers the period from 1995 June through 1996 December. Program starsrange in separation from 0.2" to 4.3", with a limiting magnitude ofV=11. Random errors are estimated to be 17.0 mas in separation and0.56d/rho in position angle, where rho is the separation in arcseconds.These are the first results acquired using an improved intensified CCDdetector. The new detector, in concert with an intensity-filteringtechnique applied in software, has permitted a 1 mag increase in dynamicrange, to 3.5 mag, for pairs separated by about 2". The instrumentationand calibration are briefly described, with an emphasis on thecharacteristics of the new detector. The software filter used toincrease the dynamic range is also described.
| Speckle Interferometry at the US Naval Observatory. II.
Position angles and separations resulting from 2406 speckleinterferometric observations of 547 binary stars are tabulated. This isthe second in a series of papers presenting measures obtained using the66 cm refractor at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, with anintensified CCD detector. Program stars range in separation from 0.2" to3.8", with Deltam<=2.5 mag and a limiting magnitude of V=10.0. Theobservation epochs run from 1993 January through 1995 August. Randomerrors are estimated to be 14 mas in separation and 0.52d/rho inposition angle, where rho is the separation in arcseconds. Theinstrumentation and calibration are briefly described. Aspects of thedata analysis related to the avoidance of systematic errors are alsodiscussed.
| Long-Term Stability of Planets in Binary Systems
A simple question of celestial mechanics is investigated: in whatregions of phase space near a binary system can planets persist for longtimes? The planets are taken to be test particles moving in the field ofan eccentric binary system. A range of values of the binary eccentricityand mass ratio is studied, and both the case of planets orbiting closeto one of the stars, and that of planets outside the binary orbiting thesystem's center of mass, are examined. From the results, empiricalexpressions are developed for both (1) the largest orbit around each ofthe stars and (2) the smallest orbit around the binary system as awhole, in which test particles survive the length of the integration(10^4 binary periods). The empirical expressions developed, which areroughly linear in both the mass ratio mu and the binary eccentricity e,are determined for the range 0.0<=e<=0.7-0.8 and0.1<=mu<=0.9 in both regions and can be used to guide searches forplanets in binary systems. After considering the case of a singlelow-mass planet in binary systems, the stability of a mutuallyinteracting system of planets orbiting one star of a binary system isexamined, though in less detail.
| Speckle Observations of Binary Stars with the WIYN Telescope. I. Measures During 1997
Two hundred seventy-seven position angle and separation measures of 154double stars are presented. Three of the systems were previously unknownto be double, and 16 other systems were discovered earlier this decadeby the Hipparcos satellite. Measures are derived from speckleobservations taken with the Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOAO (WIYN) 3.5 mtelescope located at Kitt Peak, Arizona. Speckle images were obtainedusing two different imaging detectors, namely, a multianode microchannelarray (MAMA) detector and a fast-readout CCD. A measurement precisionstudy was performed on a sample of binaries with extremely well knownorbits by comparing the measures obtained here to the ephemerispredictions. For the CCD, the root mean square (rms) deviation ofresiduals was found to be 3.5 milliarcseconds (mas) in separation and1.2d in position angle, while the residuals of the MAMA data varieddepending on the magnification used and seeing conditions but can becomparable or superior to the CCD values. In addition, the two cameraswere compared in terms of the detection limit in total magnitude andmagnitude difference of the systems under study. The MAMA system has theability to detect some systems with magnitude differences larger than3.5, although reliable astrometry could not be obtained on theseobjects. Reliable astrometry was obtained on a system of magnitudedifference of 5.3 with the CCD system.
| Evolution of the ``efficiency'' when different data sets are combined into a unified adjustment
Using a sample of binaries which were observed visually (VB) as well asspectroscopically for both components (SB2), we show that the efficiencyalmost always increases when a combined VB-SB2 solution replaces onebased only on VB.
| Fundamental parameters of nearby stars from the comparison with evolutionary calculations: masses, radii and effective temperatures
The Hipparcos mission has made it possible to constrain the positions ofnearby field stars in the colour-magnitude diagram with very highaccuracy. These positions can be compared with the predictions ofstellar evolutionary calculations to provide information on the basicparameters of the stars: masses, radii, effective temperatures, ages,and chemical composition. The degeneracy between mass, age, andmetallicity is not so large as to prevent a reliable estimate of masses,radii and effective temperatures, at least for stars of solarmetallicity. The evolutionary models of Bertelli et al. (1994) predictthose parameters finely, and furthermore, the applied transformationfrom the theoretical (log g- T_eff) to the observational (M_v-B-V) planeis precise enough to derive radii with an uncertainty of ~ 6%, masseswithin 8%, and T_effs within ~ 2% for a certain range of the stellarparameters. This is demonstrated by means of comparison with themeasurements in eclipsing binaries and the InfraRed Flux Method. Theapplication of the interpolation procedure in the theoretical isochronesto the stars within 100 pc from the Sun observed with Hipparcos providesestimates for 17,219 stars. Table~1 is only available in electronic format the CDS via anonymous ftp to: cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) orvia http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Testing convection theories using Balmer line profiles of A, F, and G stars
We consider the effects of convection on the Balmer line profiles({H_α} and {H_β}) of A, F, and G stars. The standardmixing-length theory (MLT) atlas9 models of Kurucz (1993), with andwithout overshooting, are compared to atlas9 models based on theturbulent convection theory proposed by Canuto & Mazzitelli (1991,1992) and implemented by Kupka (1996), and the improved version of thismodel proposed by Canuto et al. (1996) also implemented by Kupka. TheBalmer line profiles are a useful tool in investigating convectionbecause they are very sensitive to the parameters of convection used inthe stellar atmosphere codes. The {H_α} and {H_β} lines areformed at different depths in the atmosphere. The {H_α} line isformed just above the convection zone. The {H_β} line, however, ispartially formed inside the convection zone. We have calculated the{T_eff} of observed stars by fitting Balmer line profiles to syntheticspectra and compared this to: (i) the {T_eff} of the fundamental stars;(ii) the {T_eff} of stars determined by the Infra-Red Flux Method and(iii) the {T_eff} determined by Geneva photometry for the stars in theHyades cluster. We find that the results from the {H_α} and{H_β} lines are different, as expected, due to the differing levelsof formation. The tests are inconclusive between three of the fourmodels; MLT with no overshooting, CM and CGM models, which all giveresults in reasonable agreement with fundamental values. The resultsindicate that for the MLT theory with no overshooting it is necessary toset the mixing length parameter alpha equal to 0.5 for stars with {T_eff<= 6000} K or {T_eff >= 7000} K. However for stars with {6000}K{<= T_eff <= 7000} K the required value for the parameter is{alpha >= 1.25}. Models with overshooting are found to be clearlydiscrepant, consistent with the results with uvby photometry by Smalley& Kupka (1997). Based on observations made at the Observatorio delRoque de los Muchachos using the Richardson-Brealey Spectrograph on the1.0m Jacobs Kapteyn Telescope.
| Visual binary orbits and masses POST HIPPARCOS
The parallaxes from Hipparcos are an important ingredient to derive moreaccurate masses for known orbital binaries, but in order to exploit theparallaxes fully, the orbital elements have to be known to similarprecision. The present work gives improved orbital elements for some 205systems by combining the Hipparcos astrometry with existing ground-basedobservations. The new solutions avoid the linearity constraints andomissions in the Hipparcos Catalog by using the intermediate TransitData which can be combined with ground-based observations in arbitarilycomplex orbital models. The new orbital elements and parallaxes give newmass-sum values together with realistic total error-estimates. To getindividual masses at least for main-sequence systems, the mass-ratioshave been generally estimated from theoretical isochrones and observedmagnitude-differences. For some 25 short-period systems, however, trueastrometric mass-ratios have been determined through the observedorbital curvature in the 3-year Hipparcos observation interval. Thefinal result is an observed `mass-luminosity relation' which falls closeto theoretical expectation, but with `outliers' due to undetectedmultiplicity or to composition- and age-effects in the nonuniformnear-star sample. Based in part on observations collected with the ESAHipparcos astrometry satellite. Tables~ 1, 3, 4 and 6 are also availablein electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr~(130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Averaged energy distributions in the stellar spectra.
Not Available
| Correlation of the HIPPARCOS and Allegheny Observatory Parallax Catalogs
No significant difference is found between the systems of the Hipparcosand Allegheny Observatory MAP parallax catalogs. The correlation of theparallaxes of 63 stars common to both programs is 0.9995 +/- 0.0001,with an average standard deviation of the difference of 0.0023". Whilethere is no indication of systematic difference in the two programs, ourstudy suggests that the formal errors in one or both catalogs aresomewhat underestimated.
| Kinematics and Metallicity of Stars in the Solar Region
Several samples of nearby stars with the most accurate astrometric andphotometric parameters are searched for clues to their evolutionaryhistory. The main samples are (1) the main-sequence stars with b - ybetween 0.29 and 0.59 mag (F3 to K1) in the Yale parallax catalog, (2) agroup of high-velocity subgiants studied spectroscopically by Ryan &Lambert, and (3) high-velocity main-sequence stars in the extensiveinvestigation by Norris, Bessel, & Pickles. The major conclusionsare as follows: (1) The oldest stars (halo), t >= 10-12 Gyr, haveV-velocities (in the direction of Galactic rotation and referred to theSun) in the range from about -50 to -800 km s^-1 and have aheavy-element abundance [Fe/H] of less than about -0.8 dex. The agerange of these objects depends on our knowledge of globular clusterages, but if age is correlated with V-velocity, the youngest may be M22and M28 (V ~ -50 km s^-1) and the oldest NGC 3201 (V ~ -500 km s^-1) andassorted field stars. (2) The old disk population covers the large agerange from about 2 Gyr (Hyades, NGC 752) to 10 or 12 Gyr (Arcturusgroup, 47 Tuc), but the lag (V) velocity is restricted to less thanabout 120 km s^-1 and [Fe/H] >= -0.8 or -0.9 dex. The [Fe/H] ~ -0.8dex division between halo and old disk, near t ~ 10-12 Gyr, is marked bya change in the character of the CN index (C_m) and of the blanketingparameter K of the DDO photometry. (3) The young disk population, t <2 Gyr, is confined exclusively to a well-defined area of the (U, V)velocity plane. The age separating young and old disk stars is also thatseparating giant evolution of the Hyades (near main-sequence luminosity)and M67 (degenerate helium cores and a large luminosity rise) kinds. Thetwo disk populations are also separated by such indexes as the g-indexof Geveva photometry. There appears to be no obvious need to invokeexogeneous influences to understand the motion and heavy-elementabundance distributions of the best-observed stars near the Sun.Individual stars of special interest include the parallax star HD 55575,which may be an equal-component binary, and the high-velocity star HD220127, with a well-determined space velocity near 1000 km s^-1.
|
Submit a new article
Related links
Submit a new link
Member of following groups:
|
Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Equuleus |
| Right ascension: | 21h14m28.90s |
| Declination: | +10°00'25.0" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 4.49 |
| Distance: | 18.481 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | 39.7 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -304.2 |
| B-T magnitude: | 5.087 |
| V-T magnitude: | 4.544 |
Catalogs and designations:
|
NEWS@SKY (Science&Space News)
