Contents
Images
Upload your image
DSS Images Other Images
Related articles
Adaptive Optics Photometry and Astrometry of Binary Stars
We present astrometric and photometric measurements of 39 binary starsmade with the adaptive optics system on the 3.6 m AdvancedElectro-Optical System (AEOS) telescope, taken from 2002 November to2003 March. The binaries have separations ranging from 0.08" to 5.11"and differential magnitudes ranging from 0.096 to 7.9. Also, we includea list of observations of 23 known binaries that we were unable toresolve. In the process of these measurements, we discovered three newcompanions to two previously known binary stars. We also discuss theeffects of scintillation and anisoplanatism on measurements of binarystar photometry in adaptive optics images. Suggestions on how tominimize these effects are then given.Based on observations made at the Maui Space Surveillance Systemoperated by Detachment 15 of the US Air Force Research Laboratory'sDirected Energy Directorate.
| Local kinematics of K and M giants from CORAVEL/Hipparcos/Tycho-2 data. Revisiting the concept of superclusters
The availability of the Hipparcos Catalogue has triggered many kinematicand dynamical studies of the solar neighbourhood. Nevertheless, thosestudies generally lacked the third component of the space velocities,i.e., the radial velocities. This work presents the kinematic analysisof 5952 K and 739 M giants in the solar neighbourhood which includes forthe first time radial velocity data from a large survey performed withthe CORAVEL spectrovelocimeter. It also uses proper motions from theTycho-2 catalogue, which are expected to be more accurate than theHipparcos ones. An important by-product of this study is the observedfraction of only 5.7% of spectroscopic binaries among M giants ascompared to 13.7% for K giants. After excluding the binaries for whichno center-of-mass velocity could be estimated, 5311 K and 719 M giantsremain in the final sample. The UV-plane constructed from these datafor the stars with precise parallaxes (σπ/π≤20%) reveals a rich small-scale structure, with several clumpscorresponding to the Hercules stream, the Sirius moving group, and theHyades and Pleiades superclusters. A maximum-likelihood method, based ona Bayesian approach, has been applied to the data, in order to make fulluse of all the available stars (not only those with precise parallaxes)and to derive the kinematic properties of these subgroups. Isochrones inthe Hertzsprung-Russell diagram reveal a very wide range of ages forstars belonging to these groups. These groups are most probably relatedto the dynamical perturbation by transient spiral waves (as recentlymodelled by De Simone et al. \cite{Simone2004}) rather than to clusterremnants. A possible explanation for the presence of younggroup/clusters in the same area of the UV-plane is that they have beenput there by the spiral wave associated with their formation, while thekinematics of the older stars of our sample has also been disturbed bythe same wave. The emerging picture is thus one of dynamical streamspervading the solar neighbourhood and travelling in the Galaxy withsimilar space velocities. The term dynamical stream is more appropriatethan the traditional term supercluster since it involves stars ofdifferent ages, not born at the same place nor at the same time. Theposition of those streams in the UV-plane is responsible for the vertexdeviation of 16.2o ± 5.6o for the wholesample. Our study suggests that the vertex deviation for youngerpopulations could have the same dynamical origin. The underlyingvelocity ellipsoid, extracted by the maximum-likelihood method afterremoval of the streams, is not centered on the value commonly acceptedfor the radial antisolar motion: it is centered on < U > =-2.78±1.07 km s-1. However, the full data set(including the various streams) does yield the usual value for theradial solar motion, when properly accounting for the biases inherent tothis kind of analysis (namely, < U > = -10.25±0.15 kms-1). This discrepancy clearly raises the essential questionof how to derive the solar motion in the presence of dynamicalperturbations altering the kinematics of the solar neighbourhood: doesthere exist in the solar neighbourhood a subset of stars having no netradial motion which can be used as a reference against which to measurethe solar motion?Based on observations performed at the Swiss 1m-telescope at OHP,France, and on data from the ESA Hipparcos astrometry satellite.Full Table \ref{taba1} is 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/430/165}
| The Indo-US Library of Coudé Feed Stellar Spectra
We have obtained spectra for 1273 stars using the 0.9 m coudéfeed telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. This telescope feedsthe coudé spectrograph of the 2.1 m telescope. The spectra havebeen obtained with the no. 5 camera of the coudé spectrograph anda Loral 3K×1K CCD. Two gratings have been used to provide spectralcoverage from 3460 to 9464 Å, at a resolution of ~1 Å FWHMand at an original dispersion of 0.44 Å pixel-1. For885 stars we have complete spectra over the entire 3460 to 9464 Åwavelength region (neglecting small gaps of less than 50 Å), andpartial spectral coverage for the remaining stars. The 1273 stars havebeen selected to provide broad coverage of the atmospheric parametersTeff, logg, and [Fe/H], as well as spectral type. The goal ofthe project is to provide a comprehensive library of stellar spectra foruse in the automated classification of stellar and galaxy spectra and ingalaxy population synthesis. In this paper we discuss thecharacteristics of the spectral library, viz., details of theobservations, data reduction procedures, and selection of stars. We alsopresent a few illustrations of the quality and information available inthe spectra. The first version of the complete spectral library is nowpublicly available from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory(NOAO) via ftp and http.
| Synthetic Lick Indices and Detection of α-enhanced Stars. II. F, G, and K Stars in the -1.0 < [Fe/H] < +0.50 Range
We present an analysis of 402 F, G, and K solar neighborhood stars, withaccurate estimates of [Fe/H] in the range -1.0 to +0.5 dex, aimed at thedetection of α-enhanced stars and at the investigation of theirkinematical properties. The analysis is based on the comparison of 571sets of spectral indices in the Lick/IDS system, coming from fourdifferent observational data sets, with synthetic indices computed withsolar-scaled abundances and with α-element enhancement. We useselected combinations of indices to single out α-enhanced starswithout requiring previous knowledge of their main atmosphericparameters. By applying this approach to the total data set, we obtain alist of 60 bona fide α-enhanced stars and of 146 stars withsolar-scaled abundances. The properties of the detected α-enhancedand solar-scaled abundance stars with respect to their [Fe/H] values andkinematics are presented. A clear kinematic distinction betweensolar-scaled and α-enhanced stars was found, although a one-to-onecorrespondence to ``thin disk'' and ``thick disk'' components cannot besupported with the present data.
| Further Results of TiO-Band Observations of Starspots
We present measurements of starspot parameters (temperature and fillingfactor) on five highly active stars, using absorption bands of TiO, fromobservations made between 1998 March and 2001 December. We determinedstarspot parameters by fitting TiO bands using spectra of inactive G andK stars as proxies for the unspotted photospheres of the active starsand spectra of M stars as proxies for the spots. For three evolved RSCVn systems, we find spot filling factors between 0.28 and 0.42 for DMUMa, 0.22 and 0.40 for IN Vir, and 0.31 and 0.35 for XX Tri; thesevalues are similar to those found by other investigators usingphotometry and Doppler imaging. Among active dwarfs, we measured a lowerspot temperature (3350 K) for EQ Vir than found in a previous study ofTiO bands, and for EK Dra a lower spot temperature (~3800 K) than foundthrough photometry. For all active stars but XX Tri, we achieved goodphase coverage through a stellar rotational period. We also present ourfinal, extensive grid of spot and nonspot proxy stars.This paper includes data taken at McDonald Observatory of the Universityof Texas at Austin.
| Empirically Constrained Color-Temperature Relations. II. uvby
A new grid of theoretical color indices for the Strömgren uvbyphotometric system has been derived from MARCS model atmospheres and SSGsynthetic spectra for cool dwarf and giant stars having-3.0<=[Fe/H]<=+0.5 and 3000<=Teff<=8000 K. Atwarmer temperatures (i.e., 8000-2.0. To overcome thisproblem, the theoretical indices at intermediate and high metallicitieshave been corrected using a set of color calibrations based on fieldstars having well-determined distances from Hipparcos, accurateTeff estimates from the infrared flux method, andspectroscopic [Fe/H] values. In contrast with Paper I, star clustersplayed only a minor role in this analysis in that they provided asupplementary constraint on the color corrections for cool dwarf starswith Teff<=5500 K. They were mainly used to test thecolor-Teff relations and, encouragingly, isochrones thatemploy the transformations derived in this study are able to reproducethe observed CMDs (involving u-v, v-b, and b-y colors) for a number ofopen and globular clusters (including M67, the Hyades, and 47 Tuc)rather well. Moreover, our interpretations of such data are verysimilar, if not identical, with those given in Paper I from aconsideration of BV(RI)C observations for the sameclusters-which provides a compelling argument in support of thecolor-Teff relations that are reported in both studies. Inthe present investigation, we have also analyzed the observedStrömgren photometry for the classic Population II subdwarfs,compared our ``final'' (b-y)-Teff relationship with thosederived empirically in a number of recent studies and examined in somedetail the dependence of the m1 index on [Fe/H].Based, in part, on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope,operated jointly on the island of La Palma by Denmark, Finland, Iceland,Norway, and Sweden, in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de losMuchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias.Based, in part, on observations obtained with the Danish 1.54 mtelescope at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile.
| STELIB: A library of stellar spectra at R ~ 2000
We present STELIB, a new spectroscopic stellar library, available athttp://webast.ast.obs-mip.fr/stelib. STELIB consists of an homogeneouslibrary of 249 stellar spectra in the visible range (3200 to 9500Å), with an intermediate spectral resolution (la 3 Å) andsampling (1 Å). This library includes stars of various spectraltypes and luminosity classes, spanning a relatively wide range inmetallicity. The spectral resolution, wavelength and spectral typecoverage of this library represents a substantial improvement overprevious libraries used in population synthesis models. The overallabsolute photometric uncertainty is 3%.Based on observations collected with the Jacobus Kaptein Telescope,(owned and operated jointly by the Particle Physics and AstronomyResearch Council of the UK, The Nederlandse Organisatie voorWetenschappelijk Onderzoek of The Netherlands and the Instituto deAstrofísica de Canarias of Spain and located in the SpanishObservatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos on La Palma which is operated bythe Instituto de AstrofÃsica de Canarias), the 2.3 mtelescope of the Australian National University at Siding Spring,Australia, and the VLT-UT1 Antu Telescope (ESO).Tables \ref{cat1} to \ref{cat6} and \ref{antab1} to A.7 are onlyavailable in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org. The StellarLibrary STELIB library is also available at the CDS, via anonymous ftpto cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/402/433
| Carbon-rich giants in the HR diagram and their luminosity function
The luminosity function (LF) of nearly 300 Galactic carbon giants isderived. Adding BaII giants and various related objects, about 370objects are located in the RGB and AGB portions of the theoretical HRdiagram. As intermediate steps, (1) bolometric corrections arecalibrated against selected intrinsic color indices; (2) the diagram ofphotometric coefficients 1/2 vs. astrometric trueparallaxes varpi are interpreted in terms of ranges of photosphericradii for every photometric group; (3) coefficients CR andCL for bias-free evaluation of mean photospheric radii andmean luminosities are computed. The LF of Galactic carbon giantsexhibits two maxima corresponding to the HC-stars of the thick disk andto the CV-stars of the old thin disk respectively. It is discussed andcompared to those of carbon stars in the Magellanic Clouds and Galacticbulge. The HC-part is similar to the LF of the Galactic bulge,reinforcing the idea that the Bulge and the thick disk are part of thesame dynamical component. The CV-part looks similar to the LF of theLarge Magellanic Cloud (LMC), but the former is wider due to thesubstantial errors on HIPPARCOS parallaxes. The obtained meanluminosities increase with increasing radii and decreasing effectivetemperatures, along the HC-CV sequence of photometric groups, except forHC0, the earliest one. This trend illustrates the RGB- and AGB-tracks oflow- and intermediate-mass stars for a range in metallicities. From acomparison with theoretical tracks in the HR diagram, the initial massesMi range from about 0.8 to 4.0 Msun for carbongiants, with possibly larger masses for a few extreme objects. A largerange of metallicities is likely, from metal-poor HC-stars classified asCH stars on the grounds of their spectra (a spheroidal component), tonear-solar compositions of many CV-stars. Technetium-rich carbon giantsare brighter than the lower limit Mbol =~ -3.6+/- 0.4 andcentered at =~-4.7+0.6-0.9 at about =~(2935+/-200) K or CV3-CV4 in our classification. Much like the resultsof Van Eck et al. (\cite{vaneck98}) for S stars, this confirms theTDU-model of those TP-AGB stars. This is not the case of the HC-stars inthe thick disk, with >~ 3400 K and>~ -3.4. The faint HC1 and HC2-stars( =~ -1.1+0.7-1.0) arefound slightly brighter than the BaII giants ( =~-0.3+/-1.3) on average. Most RCB variables and HdC stars range fromMbol =~ -1 to -4 against -0.2 to -2.4 for those of the threepopulation II Cepheids in the sample. The former stars show the largestluminosities ( <~ -4 at the highest effectivetemperatures (6500-7500 K), close to the Mbol =~ -5 value forthe hot LMC RCB-stars (W Men and HV 5637). A full discussion of theresults is postponed to a companion paper on pulsation modes andpulsation masses of carbon-rich long period variables (LPVs; Paper IV,present issue). This research has made use of the Simbad databaseoperated at CDS, Strasbourg, France. Partially based on data from theESA HIPPARCOS astrometry satellite. Table 2 is only available inelectronic form at the 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/390/967
| Hydroxyl 1.563 Micron Absorption from Starspots on Active Stars
We present results from a study of starspots on active stars using apair of vibrational-rotational absorption lines of the OH molecule near1.563 μm. We detect excess OH absorption due to dark, cool starspotson several active stars of the RS CVn and BY Dra classes. Our resultsfor the single-lined spectroscopic binaries II Pegasi, V1762 Cygni, andλ Andromedae augment those from a previous study that used a lesssensitive detector. In this study, we were able for the first time touse molecular absorption features to measure starspot properties ondouble-lined spectroscopic binaries. Measuring the equivalent widths ofthese OH lines in inactive giant and dwarf stars of spectral types G, K,and M, we find that the total equivalent width of the line pairincreases approximately linearly as effective temperature decreases from5000 to 3000 K. We measure starspot filling factors by fitting thespectra of active stars with linear combinations of comparison starspectra representing the spot and nonspot regions of the star.
| Catalogue of Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (CADARS) - Third edition - Comments and statistics
The Catalogue, available at the Centre de Données Stellaires deStrasbourg, consists of 13 573 records concerning the results obtainedfrom different methods for 7778 stars, reported in the literature. Thefollowing data are listed for each star: identifications, apparentmagnitude, spectral type, apparent diameter in arcsec, absolute radiusin solar units, method of determination, reference, remarks. Commentsand statistics obtained from CADARS are given. The Catalogue isavailable in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcar?J/A+A/367/521
| The proper motions of fundamental stars. I. 1535 stars from the Basic FK5
A direct combination of the positions given in the HIPPARCOS cataloguewith astrometric ground-based catalogues having epochs later than 1939allows us to obtain new proper motions for the 1535 stars of the BasicFK5. The results are presented as the catalogue Proper Motions ofFundamental Stars (PMFS), Part I. The median precision of the propermotions is 0.5 mas/year for mu alpha cos delta and 0.7mas/year for mu delta . The non-linear motions of thephotocentres of a few hundred astrometric binaries are separated intotheir linear and elliptic motions. Since the PMFS proper motions do notinclude the information given by the proper motions from othercatalogues (HIPPARCOS, FK5, FK6, etc.) this catalogue can be used as anindependent source of the proper motions of the fundamental stars.Catalogue (Table 3) is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strastg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/365/222
| Barium Stars and Tc-Poor S Stars: Binary Masqueraders within the Carbon-Star Family
Not Available
| K-Band Calibration of the Red Clump Luminosity
The average near-infrared (K-band) luminosity of 238 Hipparcos red clumpgiants is derived and then used to measure the distance to the Galacticcenter. These Hipparcos red clump giants have been previously employedas I-band standard candles. The advantage of the K-band is a decreasedsensitivity to reddening and perhaps a reduced systematic dependence onmetallicity. In order to investigate the latter, and also to refer ourcalibration to a known metallicity zero point, we restrict our sample ofred clump calibrators to those with abundances derived fromhigh-resolution spectroscopic data. The mean metallicity of the sampleis [Fe/H]=-0.18 dex (σ=0.17 dex). The data are consistent with nocorrelation between MK and [Fe/H] and only weakly constrainthe slope of this relation. The luminosity function of the sample peaksat MK=-1.61+/-0.03 mag. Next, we assemble published opticaland near-infrared photometry for ~20 red clump giants in a Baade'swindow field with a mean metallicity of [Fe/H]=-0.17+/-0.09 dex, whichis nearly identical to that of the Hipparcos red clump. Assuming thatthe average (V-I)0 and (V-K)0 colors of these twored clumps are the same, the extinctions in the Baade's window field arefound to be AV=1.56, AI=0.87, andAK=0.15, in agreement with previous estimates. We derive thedistance to the Galactic center: (m-M)0=14.58+/-0.11 mag, orR=8.24+/-0.42 kpc. The uncertainty in this distance measurement isdominated by the small number of Baade's window red clump giantsexamined here.
| Rotation and lithium in single giant stars
In the present work, we study the link between rotation and lithiumabundance in giant stars of luminosity class III, on the basis of alarge sample of 309 single stars of spectral type F, G and K. We havefound a trend for a link between the discontinuity in rotation at thespectral type G0III and the behavior of lithium abundances around thesame spectral type. The present work also shows that giant starspresenting the highest lithium contents, typically stars earlier thanG0III, are those with the highest rotation rates, pointing for adependence of lithium content on rotation, as observed for otherluminosity classes. Giant stars later than G0III present, as a rule, thelowest rotation rates and lithium contents. A large spread of about fivemagnitudes in lithium abundance is observed for the slow rotators.Finally, single giant stars with masses 1.5 < M/Msun<=2.5 show a clearest trend for a correlation between rotational velocityand lithium abundance. Based on observations collected at theObservatoire de Haute -- Provence (France) and at the European SouthernObservatory, La Silla (Chile). Table 2 is only available electronicallywith the On-Line publication athttp://link.springer.de/link/service/00230/
| A catalog of rotational and radial velocities for evolved stars
Rotational and radial velocities have been measured for about 2000evolved stars of luminosity classes IV, III, II and Ib covering thespectral region F, G and K. The survey was carried out with the CORAVELspectrometer. The precision for the radial velocities is better than0.30 km s-1, whereas for the rotational velocity measurementsthe uncertainties are typically 1.0 km s-1 for subgiants andgiants and 2.0 km s-1 for class II giants and Ib supergiants.These data will add constraints to studies of the rotational behaviourof evolved stars as well as solid informations concerning the presenceof external rotational brakes, tidal interactions in evolved binarysystems and on the link between rotation, chemical abundance and stellaractivity. In this paper we present the rotational velocity v sin i andthe mean radial velocity for the stars of luminosity classes IV, III andII. Based on observations collected at the Haute--Provence Observatory,Saint--Michel, France and at the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile. Table \ref{tab5} also available in electronic form at CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| The effective temperature scale of giant stars (F0-K5). I. The effective temperature determination by means of the IRFM
We have applied the InfraRed Flux Method (IRFM) to a sample ofapproximately 500 giant stars in order to derive their effectivetemperatures with an internal mean accuracy of about 1.5% and a maximumuncertainty in the zero point of the order of 0.9%. For the applicationof the IRFM, we have used a homogeneous grid of theoretical modelatmosphere flux distributions developed by \cite[Kurucz (1993)]{K93}.The atmospheric parameters of the stars roughly cover the ranges: 3500 K<= T_eff <= 8000 K; -3.0 <= [Fe/H] <= +0.5; 0.5 <= log(g) <= 3.5. The monochromatic infrared fluxes at the continuum arebased on recent photometry with errors that satisfy the accuracyrequirements of the work. We have derived the bolometric correction ofgiant stars by using a new calibration which takes the effect ofmetallicity into account. Direct spectroscopic determinations ofmetallicity have been adopted where available, although estimates basedon photometric calibrations have been considered for some stars lackingspectroscopic ones. The adopted infrared absolute flux calibration,based on direct optical measurements of stellar angular diameters, putsthe effective temperatures determined in this work in the same scale asthose obtained by direct methods. We have derived up to fourtemperatures, TJ, TH, TK and T_{L'},for each star using the monochromatic fluxes at different infraredwavelengths in the photometric bands J, H, K and L'. They show goodconsistency over 4000 K, and there is no appreciable trend withwavelength, metallicity and/or temperature. We provide a detaileddescription of the steps followed for the application of the IRFM, aswell as the sources of error and their effect on final temperatures. Wealso provide a comparison of the results with previous work.
| Catalogs of temperatures and [Fe/H] averages for evolved G and K stars
A catalog of mean values of [Fe/H] for evolved G and K stars isdescribed. The zero point for the catalog entries has been establishedby using differential analyses. Literature sources for those entries areincluded in the catalog. The mean values are given with rms errors andnumbers of degrees of freedom, and a simple example of the use of thesestatistical data is given. For a number of the stars with entries in thecatalog, temperatures have been determined. A separate catalogcontaining those data is briefly described. Catalog only available atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Measurements of Starspot Parameters on Active Stars using Molecular Bands in Echelle Spectra
We present results from a study of starspot areas (f_S) and temperatures(T_S), primarily on active, single-lined spectroscopic binaries,determined using molecular absorption bands. Expanding upon our previousstudies, we have analyzed multiorder echelle spectra of eight systems tosimultaneously measure several different molecular bands andchromospheric emission lines. We determined starspot parameters byfitting the molecular bands of interest, using spectra of inactive G andK stars as proxies for the nonspotted photosphere of the active stars,and using spectra of M stars as proxies for the spots. At least twobands with different T_eff sensitivities are required. We found thatfitting bands other than the TiO 7055 and 8860 Å features does notgreatly extend the temperature range or sensitivity of our technique.The 8860 Å band is particularly important because of its sharplydifferent temperature sensitivity. We did not find any substantialdepartures from f_S or T_S that we have measured previously based onsingle-order spectra. We refined our derived spot parameters usingcontemporaneous photometry where available. We found that using M giantsas spot proxies for subgiant active stars often underestimates f_Sneeded to fit the photometry; this is presumably due to the increase instrength of the TiO bands with decreasing gravity. We also investigatedcorrelations between f_S and chromospheric emission, and we developed asimple method to measure nonspot temperature (T_Q) solely from ourechelle spectra.
| Broad-band JHK(L') photometry of a sample of giants with 0.5 > [Fe/H] > -3
We present the results of a three-year campaign of broad-band photometryin the near-infrared J, H, K and L' bands for a sample of approximately250 giant stars carried out at the Observatorio del Teide (Tenerife,Spain). Transformations of the Telescopio Carlos Sanchez systeminto/from several currently used infrared systems are extended to theredward part of the colour axis. The linearity of our photometric systemin the range -3 mag [Fe/H] >-3. Data of comparable quality previouslypublished have been added to the sample in order to increase thereliability of the relations to be obtained. We also provide mean IRcolours for giant stars according to spectral type.ables 1, 2 and 3 are only available in electronic form via the CDS(anonymous ftp 130.79.128.5 or http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| A CORAVEL radial-velocity monitoring of giant BA and S stars: Spectroscopic orbits and intrinsic variations. I.
With the aim of deriving the binary frequency among Ba and S stars, 56new spectroscopic orbits (46 and 10, respectively) have been derived forthese chemically-peculiar red giants monitored with the \coravel\spectrometers. These orbits are presented in this paper (38 orbits) andin a companion paper \cite[(Udry et al. 1998,]{Udry} Paper II; 18orbits). The results for 12 additional long-period binary stars (6 and6, respectively), for which only minimum periods (generally exceeding 10y) can be derived, are also presented here (10) and in Paper II (2). Theglobal analysis of this material, with a few supplementary orbits fromthe literature, is presented in \cite[Jorissen et al.(1998).]{Jorissen98} For the subsample of Mira S, SC and (Tc-poor) Cstars showing intrinsic radial-velocity variations due to atmosphericphenomena, orbital solutions (when available) have been retained if thevelocity and photometric periods are different (3 stars). However, it isemphasized that these orbit determinations are still tentative. Threestars have been found with radial-velocity variations synchronous withthe light variations. Pseudo-orbital solutions have been derived forthose stars. In the case of RZ Peg, a line-doubling phenomenon isobserved near maximum light, and probably reflects the shock wavepropagating through the photosphere. Based on observations obtained atthe Haute-Provence Observatory (France) and at the European SouthernObservatory (ESO, La Silla, Chile).
| Insights into the formation of barium and Tc-poor S stars from an extended sample of orbital elements
The set of orbital elements available for chemically-peculiar red giant(PRG) stars has been considerably enlarged thanks to a decade-longCORAVEL radial-velocity monitoring of about 70 barium stars and 50 Sstars. When account is made for the detection biases, the observedbinary frequency among strong barium stars, mild barium stars andTc-poor S stars (respectively 35/37, 34/40 and 24/28) is compatible withthe hypothesis that they are all members of binary systems. Thesimilarity between the orbital-period, eccentricity and mass-functiondistributions of Tc-poor S stars and barium stars confirms that Tc-poorS stars are the cooler analogs of barium stars. A comparative analysisof the orbital elements of the various families of PRG stars, and of asample of chemically-normal, binary giants in open clusters, revealsseveral interesting features. The eccentricity - period diagram of PRGstars clearly bears the signature of dissipative processes associatedwith mass transfer, since the maximum eccentricity observed at a givenorbital period is much smaller than in the comparison sample of normalgiants. be held The mass function distribution is compatible with theunseen companion being a white dwarf (WD). This lends support to thescenario of formation of the PRG star by accretion of heavy-element-richmatter transferred from the former asymptotic giant branch progenitor ofthe current WD. Assuming that the WD companion has a mass in the range0.60+/-0.04 Msb ȯ, the masses of mild and strong barium starsamount to 1.9+/-0.2 and 1.5+/-0.2 Msb ȯ, respectively. Mild bariumstars are not restricted to long-period systems, contrarily to what isexpected if the smaller accretion efficiency in wider systems were thedominant factor controlling the pollution level of the PRG star. Theseresults suggest that the difference between mild and strong barium starsis mainly one of galactic population rather than of orbital separation,in agreement with their respective kinematical properties. There areindications that metallicity may be the parameter blurring the period -Ba-anomaly correlation: at a given orbital period, increasing levels ofheavy-element overabundances are found in mild barium stars, strongbarium stars, and Pop.II CH stars, corresponding to a sequence ofincreasingly older, i.e., more metal-deficient, populations. PRG starsthus seem to be produced more efficiently in low-metallicitypopulations. Conversely, normal giants in barium-like binary systems mayexist in more metal-rich populations. HD 160538 (DR Dra) may be such anexample, and its very existence indicates at least that binarity is nota sufficient condition to produce a PRG star. This paper is dedicated tothe memory of Antoine Duquennoy, who contributed many among theobservations used in this study
| The Tokyo PMC catalog 90-93: Catalog of positions of 6649 stars observed in 1990 through 1993 with Tokyo photoelectric meridian circle
The sixth annual catalog of the Tokyo Photoelectric Meridian Circle(PMC) is presented for 6649 stars which were observed at least two timesin January 1990 through March 1993. The mean positions of the starsobserved are given in the catalog at the corresponding mean epochs ofobservations of individual stars. The coordinates of the catalog arebased on the FK5 system, and referred to the equinox and equator ofJ2000.0. The mean local deviations of the observed positions from theFK5 catalog positions are constructed for the basic FK5 stars to comparewith those of the Tokyo PMC Catalog 89 and preliminary Hipparcos resultsof H30.
| OH 1.563 micron Absorption from Starspots on Active Stars
We present results from a study of starspots on active stars using apair of vibrational-rotational absorption lines of the OH molecule near1.563mu m. We detect excess OH absorption due to dark, cool starspots onthe RS CVn binaries II Pegasi, V1762 Cygni, and lambda Andromedae. Thisis the first detection of OH absorption from spots on stars other thanthe Sun. We have measured absorption equivalent widths of these OH lines(which are blended at the resolution of our observations) in inactivegiant and dwarf stars of spectral types G, K, and M. We find that thetotal equivalent width of the line pair increases approximately linearlyas effective temperature decreases from 5000 K to 3000 K. This greatlyextends the temperature range over which starspots can be detectedthrough molecular absorption features. We measure starspot fillingfactors by fitting the spectra of active stars with linear combinationsof comparison star spectra representing the spot and non-spot regions ofthe star. Fitting only one spectral feature, we cannot deriveindependent constraints on starspot area and temperature. Assuming spottemperatures based on previous analyses, we find (for one epoch) spotfilling factors between 35% and 48% for II Peg, 22% and 26% for lambdaAnd, and 27% and 32% for V1762 Cyg.
| A catalogue of [Fe/H] determinations: 1996 edition
A fifth Edition of the Catalogue of [Fe/H] determinations is presentedherewith. It contains 5946 determinations for 3247 stars, including 751stars in 84 associations, clusters or galaxies. The literature iscomplete up to December 1995. The 700 bibliographical referencescorrespond to [Fe/H] determinations obtained from high resolutionspectroscopic observations and detailed analyses, most of them carriedout with the help of model-atmospheres. The Catalogue is made up ofthree formatted files: File 1: field stars, File 2: stars in galacticassociations and clusters, and stars in SMC, LMC, M33, File 3: numberedlist of bibliographical references The three files are only available inelectronic form at the Centre de Donnees Stellaires in Strasbourg, viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5), or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Library of high and mid-resolution spectra in the CA II H & K, Hα, Hβ NA i D1, D2, and He i D3 line regions of F, G, K and M field stars
In this work we present spectroscopic observations centered in thespectral lines most widely used as optical indicators of chromosphericactivity (Hα, Hβ, Ca ii H & K, and He i D3) ina sample of F, G, K and M chromospherically inactive stars. The spectrahave been obtained with the aim of providing a library of high andmid-resolution spectra to be used in the application of the spectralsubtraction technique to obtain the active-chromosphere contribution tothese lines in chromospherically active single and binary stars. Thislibrary can also be used for spectral classification purposes. A digitalversion with all the spectra is available via ftp and the World Wide Web(WWW) in both ASCII and FITS formats. Based on observations made withthe Isaac Newton telescope and the William Herschel Telescope operatedon the island of La Palma by the Royal Greenwich Observatory at theSpanish Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos of the Instituto deAstrofisica de Canarias, and with the 2.2 m telescope of the CentroAstronomico Hispano-Aleman of Calar Alto (Almeria, Spain) operatedjointly by the Max Planck Institut fur Astronomie (Heidelberg) and theSpanish Comision Nacional de Astronomia. The spectra of the stars listedin Table \protect\ref{tab:par} are also available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Barium stars, galactic populations and evolution.
In this paper HIPPARCOS astrometric and kinematical data together withradial velocities from other sources are used to calibrate bothluminosity and kinematics parameters of Ba stars and to classify them.We confirm the results of our previous paper (where we used data fromthe HIPPARCOS Input Catalogue), and show that Ba stars are aninhomogeneous group. Five distinct classes have been found i.e. somehalo stars and four groups belonging to disk population: roughlysuper-giants, two groups of giants (one on the giant branch, the otherat the clump location) and dwarfs, with a few subgiants mixed with them.The confirmed or suspected duplicity, the variability and the range ofknown orbital periods found in each group give coherent resultssupporting the scenario for Ba stars that are not too highly massivebinary stars in any evolutionary stages but that all were previouslyenriched with Ba from a more evolved companion. The presence in thesample of a certain number of ``false'' Ba stars is confirmed. Theestimates of age and mass are compatible with models for stars with astrong Ba anomaly. The mild Ba stars with an estimated mass higher than3Msun_ may be either stars Ba enriched by themselves or``true'' Ba stars, which imposes new constraints on models.
| The barium stars in the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram.
We present absolute magnitudes for a sample of 52 barium stars observedby the HIPPARCOS satellite, and their location in the HR diagram. Ourplot (Fig. 1) is restricted to stars with parallax accuracies betterthan 22%. The luminosity classes range from Ib supergiants down to Vdwarfs on the main sequence, as expected from spectral classificaiton.Discrepancies are however notes. No gap is observed in the regionextending from the main sequence to the giant branch, excatly as shownby Perryman et al. (1995A&A...304...69P) for normal stars. This isalso true for class II bright giants. A clump is however obvious atG8-K0 IIIb and M_V_~0. 85 which correspond to the one noted as (B-V)~1.0and M_Hp_~1.0 by Perryman et al. It appears that barium stars on themain sequence are earlier than G4, upward evolution being noticeable forlater types. They are also distributed in the subgiant zone followingthe locus of normal stars, i.e. increasing brightness for later types. Afew stars in our sample are also classified as CH stars: four of themare definitely main sequence class V-dwarfs, one is a class IVb faintsubgiant while two possible CH-stars are class III-giants. These resultsare consistent with the currently-admitted model of surface pollution ofa normal star through mass transfer in a binary system whose primary hasbecome a white dwarf (WD). HIPPARCOS data show perturbations of theastrometric solution which can be attributed to proved (or possible)binarity for 21 stars our of 121, and 8 of them were already quoted inthe CCDM catalogue (not necessarily with a WD component). This lowproportion can be explained by the 5-11 magnitudes differences predictedbetween the two components and/or low angular separation with periodsclose to one year.
| Absolute magnitudes and kinematics of barium stars.
The absolute magnitude of barium stars has been obtained fromkinematical data using a new algorithm based on the maximum-likelihoodprinciple. The method allows to separate a sample into groupscharacterized by different mean absolute magnitudes, kinematics andz-scale heights. It also takes into account, simultaneously, thecensorship in the sample and the errors on the observables. The methodhas been applied to a sample of 318 barium stars. Four groups have beendetected. Three of them show a kinematical behaviour corresponding todisk population stars. The fourth group contains stars with halokinematics. The luminosities of the disk population groups spread alarge range. The intrinsically brightest one (M_v_=-1.5mag,σ_M_=0.5mag) seems to be an inhomogeneous group containing bariumbinaries as well as AGB single stars. The most numerous group (about 150stars) has a mean absolute magnitude corresponding to stars in the redgiant branch (M_v_=0.9mag, σ_M_=0.8mag). The third group containsbarium dwarfs, the obtained mean absolute magnitude is characteristic ofstars on the main sequence or on the subgiant branch (M_v_=3.3mag,σ_M_=0.5mag). The obtained mean luminosities as well as thekinematical results are compatible with an evolutionary link betweenbarium dwarfs and classical barium giants. The highly luminous group isnot linked with these last two groups. More high-resolutionspectroscopic data will be necessary in order to better discriminatebetween barium and non-barium stars.
| DDO photometry of E-region stars and equatorial standards - II
This paper deals with the observations of 72 of McClure's equatorialstandard stars, made with the same photometer and DDO filters as wereused for the E-region stars in Cousins' Paper I in order to standardizethe observations. These observations were reduced in the natural systemand later transformed into McClure's system. Zero-point ties between theequatorial and E-region stars were also needed to standardize the lattersystem. With the exception of C(38-41), our photometry agrees as wellwith McClure's standard system as his own observations do, but both showsome small, apparently systematic, differences which are almostinevitable with a system like the DDO unless the response functions arevery well matched. Comparisons with 17 of Dean's measurements ofE-region stars show good agreement (~2 mmag) for the averagedzero-points, but there are small colour differences affecting C(35-38)and C(38-41) because of differences between the filters and thereduction procedures. This paper also deals with several problems in theDDO photometry that have implications for precision photometry ingeneral.
| Measurements of Starspot Area and Temperature on Five Active, Evolved Stars
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1996ApJ...463..766O&db_key=AST
|
Submit a new article
Related links
Submit a new link
Member of following groups:
|
Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Lion |
| Right ascension: | 11h00m33.60s |
| Declination: | +03°37'03.0" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 4.84 |
| Distance: | 104.822 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | 14.8 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -15.1 |
| B-T magnitude: | 6.342 |
| V-T magnitude: | 4.968 |
Catalogs and designations:
|
NEWS@SKY (Science&Space News)
