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# 78 Vir

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 Kinematic structure of the corona of the Ursa Major flow found using proper motions and radial velocities of single starsAims.We study the kinematic structure of peripheral areas of the UrsaMajoris stream (Sirius supercluster). Methods.We use diagrams ofindividual stellar apexes developed by us and the classical technique ofproper motion diagrams generalized to a star sample distributed over thesky. Results.Out of 128 cluster members we have identified threecorona (sub)structures comprised of 13, 13 and 8 stars. Thesubstructures have a spatial extension comparable to the size of thecorona. Kinematically, these groups are distinguished by their propermotions, radial velocities and by the directions of their spatialmotion. Coordinates of their apexes significantly differ from those ofthe apexes of the stream and its nucleus. Our analysis shows that thesesubstructures do not belong to known kinematic groups, such as Hyades orCastor. We find kinematic inhomogeneity of the corona of the UMa stream. Recovery of the global magnetic field configuration of 78 Virginis from Stokes IQUV line profilesThe surface magnetic field configuration of the Ap star HD 118022 (78Vir) has been reconstructed in the framework of the magnetic chargedistribution (MCD) method from the analysis of Stokes IQUV spectraobtained using the MuSiCoS spectropolarimeter at Pic du MidiObservatory. Magnetically-sensitive Fe ii lines were primarily employedin the analysis, supposing that iron is evenly distributed over thestellar surface. We show that the Stokes IQUV profile shapes andvariations of 78 Vir can be approximately fit assuming a global magneticfield configuration described by a slightly decentered, inclinedmagnetic dipole of polar surface intensity approximately 3.3 kG. Thederived inclinations of the stellar rotational axis to the line of sighti=24 ± 5° as well as to the magnetic dipole axis β=124± 5° are in good agreement with previous estimations by otherauthors, whereas the sky-projected position angle of the stellarrotation axis Ω110° is reported here for the first time.In addition, several lines of Cr ii and Ti ii were studied, yieldingevidence for non-uniform surface distributions of these elements, andmagnetic field results similar to those derived from Fe. A catalog of stellar magnetic rotational phase curvesMagnetized stars usually exhibit periodic variations of the effective(longitudinal) magnetic field Be caused by their rotation. Wepresent a catalog of magnetic rotational phase curves, Be vs.the rotational phase φ, and tables of their parameters for 136stars on the main sequence and above it. Phase curves were obtained bythe least squares fitting of sine wave or double wave functions to theavailable Be measurements, which were compiled from theexisting literature. Most of the catalogued objects are chemicallypeculiar A and B type stars (127 stars). For some stars we also improvedor determined periods of their rotation. We discuss the distribution ofparameters describing magnetic rotational phase curves in our sample.All tables and Appendix A are only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org Probable detection of radial magnetic field gradients in the atmospheres of Ap starsFor the first time the possible presence of radial gradients of magneticfields in the atmospheres of three magnetic Ap stars has been criticallyexamined by measurements of the mean magnetic field modulus fromspectral lines resolved into magnetically split components lying on thedifferent sides of the Balmer jump. A number of useful diagnostic linesbelow and above the Balmer discontinuity, only slightly affected byblends, with simple doublet and triplet Zeeman pattern have beenidentified from the comparison between synthetic spectra computed withthe SYNTHMAG code and the high resolution and S/N spectra obtained inunpolarized light with the ESO VLT UVES spectrograph. For all threestars of our sample, HD 965, HD 116114 and 33 Lib, an increase of themagnetic field strength of the order of a few hundred Gauss has beendetected bluewards of the Balmer discontinuity. These results should betaken into account in future modelling of the geometric structure of Apstar magnetic fields and the determination of the chemical abundances inAp stars with strong magnetic fields.Based on observations obtained at the European Southern Observatory,Paranal, Chile (ESO program No. 70.D-0470). Astral magnetic fields-as observed in starforming nurseries, in stars, and in the Solar systemCherchez le champ magnétique'' is trendy in astronomy. Themagnetic field takes the hourglass shape in gravitationally contractingyoung stellar objects, helically wraps up the jets of protostars, guidesparticles in stellar coronae, explodes in stellar flares, causes unrestin pulsar quakes and creates planetary aurorae. In stars and pulsars,dipolar dynamo magnetic fields play a dominant rôle in the gasdynamics. In planetary disks, the field is toroidal or archimedeanspiral. Remanent magnetism is found in meteorites and asteroids. Theastral magnetic fields can reach 1018 G in magnetars,dwarfing anything we can do on Earth in stable conditions(107 G) or in pulsed conditions (1010 G).Magnetism plays a physical rôle in starforming clouds and itsconcomittent structures, from stellar nurseries to protostars, down toplanets and asteroids. Starting with star-forming clouds (~10 pc=32light-years=31×1016 m), this reviews coversprotostellar systems (~1 cpc), circumstellar space (~1 mpc), masers,interplanetary space (~1 μpc), pulsars, stars, planets (~1 npc),asteroids (~30 km; ~1 ppc), and meteorites (~0.3 m; ~10 apc). Some Comments on the Magnetic Braking of CP StarsThe low rotation velocities of magnetic CP stars are discussed.Arguments against the involvement of the magnetic field in the loss ofangular momentum are given: (1) the fields are not strong enough inyoung stars in the stage of evolution prior to the main sequence; (2)there is no significant statistical correlation between the magneticfield strength and the rotation period of CP stars; (3) stars with shortperiods have the highest fields; (4) a substantial number of stars withvery low magnetic fields (B e P>25 days, which form 12% of the total,probably lie at the edge of the velocity distribution for low massstars. All of these properties conflict with the hypothesis of magneticbraking of CP stars. Stellar Kinematic Groups. II. A Reexamination of the Membership, Activity, and Age of the Ursa Major GroupUtilizing Hipparcos parallaxes, original radial velocities and recentliterature values, new Ca II H and K emission measurements,literature-based abundance estimates, and updated photometry (includingrecent resolved measurements of close doubles), we revisit the UrsaMajor moving group membership status of some 220 stars to produce afinal clean list of nearly 60 assured members, based on kinematic andphotometric criteria. Scatter in the velocity dispersions and H-Rdiagram is correlated with trial activity-based membership assignments,indicating the usefulness of criteria based on photometric andchromospheric emission to examine membership. Closer inspection,however, shows that activity is considerably more robust at excludingmembership, failing to do so only for <=15% of objects, perhapsconsiderably less. Our UMa members demonstrate nonzero vertex deviationin the Bottlinger diagram, behavior seen in older and recent studies ofnearby young disk stars and perhaps related to Galactic spiralstructure. Comparison of isochrones and our final UMa group membersindicates an age of 500+/-100 Myr, some 200 Myr older than thecanonically quoted UMa age. Our UMa kinematic/photometric members' meanchromospheric emission levels, rotational velocities, and scattertherein are indistinguishable from values in the Hyades and smaller thanthose evinced by members of the younger Pleiades and M34 clusters,suggesting these characteristics decline rapidly with age over 200-500Myr. None of our UMa members demonstrate inordinately low absolutevalues of chromospheric emission, but several may show residual fluxes afactor of >=2 below a Hyades-defined lower envelope. If one defines aMaunder-like minimum in a relative sense, then the UMa results maysuggest that solar-type stars spend 10% of their entire main-sequencelives in periods of precipitously low activity, which is consistent withestimates from older field stars. As related asides, we note six evolvedstars (among our UMa nonmembers) with distinctive kinematics that liealong a 2 Gyr isochrone and appear to be late-type counterparts to diskF stars defining intermediate-age star streams in previous studies,identify a small number of potentially very young but isolated fieldstars, note that active stars (whether UMa members or not) in our samplelie very close to the solar composition zero-age main sequence, unlikeHipparcos-based positions in the H-R diagram of Pleiades dwarfs, andargue that some extant transformations of activity indices are notadequate for cool dwarfs, for which Ca II infrared triplet emissionseems to be a better proxy than Hα-based values for Ca II H and Kindices. Catalogue of averaged stellar effective magnetic fields. I. Chemically peculiar A and B type starsThis paper presents the catalogue and the method of determination ofaveraged quadratic effective magnetic fields < B_e > for 596 mainsequence and giant stars. The catalogue is based on measurements of thestellar effective (or mean longitudinal) magnetic field strengths B_e,which were compiled from the existing literature.We analysed the properties of 352 chemically peculiar A and B stars inthe catalogue, including Am, ApSi, He-weak, He-rich, HgMn, ApSrCrEu, andall ApSr type stars. We have found that the number distribution of allchemically peculiar (CP) stars vs. averaged magnetic field strength isdescribed by a decreasing exponential function. Relations of this typehold also for stars of all the analysed subclasses of chemicalpeculiarity. The exponential form of the above distribution function canbreak down below about 100 G, the latter value representingapproximately the resolution of our analysis for A type stars.Table A.1 and its references are only available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/407/631 and Tables 3 to 9are only available in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org Metallicity Determinations from Ultraviolet-Visual Spectrophotometry. I. The Test SampleNew visual spectrophotometric observations of non-supergiant solarneighborhood stars are combined with IUE Newly Extracted Spectra (INES)energy distributions in order to derive their overall metallicities,[M/H]. This fundamental parameter, together with effective temperatureand apparent angular diameter, is obtained by applying the flux-fittingmethod while surface gravity is derived from the comparison withevolutionary tracks in the theoretical H-R diagram. Trigonometricparallaxes for the stars of the sample are taken from the HipparcosCatalogue. The quality of the flux calibration is discussed by analyzinga test sample via comparison with external photometry. The validity ofthe method in providing accurate metallicities is tested on a selectedsample of G-type stars with well-determined atmospheric parameters fromrecent high-resolution spectral analysis. The extension of the overallprocedure to the determination of the chemical composition of all theINES non-supergiant G-type stars with accurate parallaxes is planned inorder to investigate their atmospheric temperature structure. Based onobservations collected at the INAOE G. Haro'' Observatory, Cananea(Mexico). Measurements of stellar magnetic fields using synthetic spectrum fittingA sample of Ap and Bp stars have been investigated with respect to theirsurface magnetic field using synthetic spectrum fitting. The advantageof this technique is the simplicity in determining the surface fieldstrength and the possibility to apply it to objects whose spectrum doesnot display resolved Zeeman components. We show the usefulness of themethod by demonstrations on stellar spectra with resolved Zeemancomponents, where the results have been compared with values based onmeasurements of the Zeeman splitting for the magnetically sensitive FeIi lambda 6149 line. The objects HD 192678 andHD 165474 have been observed over their rotationalperiod to investigate magnetic field variations. The analysis is thenextended to objects where no resolved structure is observed. The rapidlyrotating stars HD 22316 and HD10783 are used as examples where this method is useful toachieve a value of the surface field. The relative intensification ofthe Fe Ii lambda lambda 6147, 6149 lines is investigated in an attemptto understand its relation to the surface magnetic field strength forthe stars HD 22316 and HD 10783. Based on observations obtained with theNordic Optical Telescope, operated on the island of La Palma jointly byDenmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, in the SpanishObservatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisicade Canarias. Multiplicity among chemically peculiar stars. II. Cool magnetic Ap starsWe present new orbits for sixteen Ap spectroscopic binaries, four ofwhich might in fact be Am stars, and give their orbital elements. Fourof them are SB2 systems: HD 5550, HD 22128, HD 56495 and HD 98088. Thetwelve other stars are: HD 9996, HD 12288, HD 40711, HD 54908, HD 65339,HD 73709, HD 105680, HD 138426, HD 184471, HD 188854, HD 200405 and HD216533. Rough estimates of the individual masses of the components of HD65339 (53 Cam) are given, combining our radial velocities with theresults of speckle interferometry and with Hipparcos parallaxes.Considering the mass functions of 74 spectroscopic binaries from thiswork and from the literature, we conclude that the distribution of themass ratio is the same for cool Ap stars and for normal G dwarfs.Therefore, the only differences between binaries with normal stars andthose hosting an Ap star lie in the period distribution: except for thecase of HD 200405, all orbital periods are longer than (or equal to) 3days. A consequence of this peculiar distribution is a deficit of nulleccentricities. There is no indication that the secondary has a specialnature, like e.g. a white dwarf. Based on observations collected at theObservatoire de Haute-Provence (CNRS), France.Tables 1 to 3 are 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/394/151Appendix B is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org Rotational velocities of A-type stars in the northern hemisphere. II. Measurement of v sin iThis work is the second part of the set of measurements of v sin i forA-type stars, begun by Royer et al. (\cite{Ror_02a}). Spectra of 249 B8to F2-type stars brighter than V=7 have been collected at Observatoirede Haute-Provence (OHP). Fourier transforms of several line profiles inthe range 4200-4600 Å are used to derive v sin i from thefrequency of the first zero. Statistical analysis of the sampleindicates that measurement error mainly depends on v sin i and thisrelative error of the rotational velocity is found to be about 5% onaverage. The systematic shift with respect to standard values fromSlettebak et al. (\cite{Slk_75}), previously found in the first paper,is here confirmed. Comparisons with data from the literature agree withour findings: v sin i values from Slettebak et al. are underestimatedand the relation between both scales follows a linear law ensuremath vsin inew = 1.03 v sin iold+7.7. Finally, thesedata are combined with those from the previous paper (Royer et al.\cite{Ror_02a}), together with the catalogue of Abt & Morrell(\cite{AbtMol95}). The resulting sample includes some 2150 stars withhomogenized rotational velocities. Based on observations made atObservatoire de Haute Provence (CNRS), France. Tables \ref{results} and\ref{merging} are only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.125.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/393/897 Detecting magnetic fields of upper-main-sequence stars with FORS1 at ANTU.Not Available Are Stellar Rotational Axes Distributed Randomly?Stellar line widths yield values of Vsini, but the equatorial rotationalvelocities, V, cannot be determined for individual stars withoutknowledge of their inclinations, i, relative to the lines of sight. Forlarge numbers of stars we usually assume random orientations ofrotational axes to derive mean values of V, but we wonder whether thatassumption is valid. Individual inclinations can be derived only inspecial cases, such as for eclipsing binaries where they are close to90° or for chromospherically active late-type dwarfs or spotted(e.g., Ap) stars where we have independent information about therotational periods. We consider recent data on 102 Ap stars for whichCatalano & Renson compiled rotational periods from the literatureand Abt & Morrell (primarily) obtained measures of Vsini. We findthat the rotational axes are oriented randomly within the measuringerrors. We searched for possible dependence of the inclinations onGalactic latitude or longitude, and found no dependence. Catalogue of Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (CADARS) - Third edition - Comments and statisticsThe 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 FK5A 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 Spectropolarimetric measurements of the mean longitudinal magnetic field of chemically peculiar stars. II. Phase relating the magnetic and luminosity variabilitiesFor a sample of chemically peculiar stars, we report time-resolvedmeasurements of the effective magnetic field which were obtained withthe spectropolarimetry operating at the Catania AstrophysicalObservatory. These observations are combined with data from theliterature for better pointing out that periodic magnetic variabilitywhich characterises this class of stars. Periods given in the literaturehave been checked and, if possible, re-determined, not only by means ofthe magnetic measurements but referring also to the Hipparcosphotometry. The variability of the effective magnetic field of thealready known magnetic star 25 Sex is pointed out for the first time. Asto the suspected magnetic chemically peculiar star EP UMa, ourmeasurements confirm that this is really a magnetic star and we indicatea possible variability period. The accuracy of the variability periodfor CS Vir and FF Vir is improved. The suggestion that light variabilityis due to the re-distribution of ultraviolet flux towards the visiblewavelengths in metal rich regions, which are not homogeneouslydistributed on the stellar surface, appears not always and straightlyvalid. Local line-blocking is certainly important in the case of CS Virand a direct influence of the magnetic field on the infrared photometricvariability cannot be ruled out for 25 Sex. Based on observationscollected at the Catania Astrophysical Observatory, Italy. High-precision magnetic field measurements of Ap and Bp starsIn this paper we describe a new approach for measuring the meanlongitudinal magnetic field and net linear polarization of Ap and Bpstars. As was demonstrated by Wade et al., least-squares deconvolution(LSD; Donati et al.) provides a powerful technique for detecting weakStokes V, Q and U Zeeman signatures in stellar spectral lines. Thesesignatures have the potential to apply strong new constraints to modelsof stellar magnetic field structure. Here we point out two importantuses of LSD Stokes profiles. First, they can provide very precisedeterminations of the mean longitudinal magnetic field. In particular,this method allows one frequently to obtain 1σ error bars betterthan 50G, and smaller than 20G in some cases. This method is applicableto both broad- and sharp-lined stars, with both weak and strong magneticfields, and effectively redefines the quality standard of longitudinalfield determinations. Secondly, LSD profiles can in some cases provide ameasure of the net linear polarization, a quantity analogous to thebroad-band linear polarization recently used to derive detailed magneticfield models for a few stars (e.g. Leroy et al.). In this paper wereport new high-precision measurements of the longitudinal fields of 14magnetic Ap/Bp stars, as well as net linear polarization measurementsfor four of these stars, derived from LSD profiles. Spectropolarimetric measurements of magnetic Ap and Bp stars in all four Stokes parametersIn this paper we begin an exploration of the potential of spectral lineZeeman linear and circular polarization signatures for reconstructingthe surface magnetic field topologies of magnetic Ap and Bp stars. Wepresent our first observational results, which include the very firsthigh-quality measurements of stellar Zeeman spectral line linearpolarization ever obtained. Using the new MuSiCoS spectropolarimeter atthe Pic du Midi Observatory, over 360 spectra were obtained, in circularor linear polarization, of 14 magnetic Ap/Bp stars and six calibrationobjects. Zeeman circular polarization signatures are detected in mostsingle lines in essentially all spectra of magnetic Ap stars, withtypical relative amplitudes of a few per cent. Linear polarizationZeeman signatures are unambiguously detected in individual strong,magnetically sensitive lines in outstanding spectra of five objects.However, linear polarization is generally not detected in individualstrong lines in our much more common moderate signal-to-noise ratio(S/N) spectra, and is essentially never detected in weak lines. In orderto overcome the limitations imposed by the S/N ratio and the inherentweakness of linear polarization Zeeman signatures, we exploit theinformation contained in the many lines in our spectra by using theleast-squares deconvolution (LSD) technique. Using LSD, mean linearpolarization signatures are consistently detected within the spectrallines of 10 of our 14 programme stars. These mean linear polarizationsignatures are very weak, with typical amplitudes 10-20 times smallerthan those of the associated mean circular polarization signatures. For11 stars full or partial rotational phase coverage has been obtained inthe Stokes I and V or the Stokes I, V, Q and U parameters. Therotational modulation of the LSD mean signatures is reported for theseobjects. Measurements of the longitudinal field and net linearpolarization obtained from these LSD profiles show they are consistentwith existing comparable data, and provide constraints on magnetic fieldmodels which are at least as powerful as any other data presentlyavailable. To illustrate the new information available from these datasets, we compare for four stars the observed Stokes profiles with thosepredicted by magnetic field models published previously in theliterature. Important and sometimes striking differences between theobserved and computed profiles indicate that the Zeeman signaturespresented here contain important new information about the structure ofthe magnetic fields of Ap and Bp stars capable of showing thelimitations of the best magnetic field models currently available. Observing roAp Stars with WET: A PrimerWe give an extensive primer on roAp stars -- introducing them, puttingthem in context and explaining terminology and jargon, and giving athorough discussion of what is known and not known about them. Thisprovides a good understanding of the kind of science WET could extractfrom these stars. We also discuss the many potential pitfalls andproblems in high-precision photometry. Finally, we suggest a WETcampaign for the roAp star HR 1217. The First 50 Years at Palomar, 1949-1999 Another View: Instruments, Spectroscopy and Spectrophotometry and the InfraredWe review the research on a wide variety of topics using data obtainedwith the 200-inch Hale telescope. Using state-of-the-art spectrographs,photometers, spectrometers and infrared detectors, the Palomarastronomers investigated the spectra of stars, interstellar matter, AGNsand quasars in great detail. Spectral resolutions ranged from 1000 A forbroad-band photometry to 0.04 A using interferometric techniques. On the effective temperatures, surface gravities, and optical region fluxes of the CP starsWe determined effective temperatures and surface gravities for 17magnetic Chemically Peculiar (mCP) stars by comparing optical regionspectrophotometry and Hγ profiles with the predictions of ATLAS9model atmospheres. Although solar composition models can fit the energydistributions of the normal and many Mercury-Manganese stars, theycannot match the optical energy distributions of the mCP stars,especially the lambda 5200 broad, continuum regions. The role ofmetallicity and microturbulence to provide appropriate energydistributions which fit those observed for the mCP stars isinvestigated. Using metal-rich models with the opacity distributionfunctions for microturbulent velocities of 4 and 8 km s-1,their lambda 5200 broad, continuum features are often fit as part ofthis process. For some stars it is impossible to fit simultaneously boththis feature and the line blanketing in the Hγ region. Thissuggests that this continuum feature is produced by elements other thanthose which contribute most of the general line blanketing. A systematicdifference in the temperatures found by the photometric andspectrophotometric approaches is discovered for the hotter mCP stars. Aninvestigation of 10 Mercury-Manganese stars shows a similar effect. Thismay be due to the photospheric compositions becoming less solar withincreasing temperature. Sixth Catalogue of Fundamental Stars (FK6). Part I. Basic fundamental stars with direct solutionsThe FK6 is a suitable combination of the results of the HIPPARCOSastrometry satellite with ground-based data, measured over more than twocenturies and summarized in the FK5. Part I of the FK6 (abbreviatedFK6(I)) contains 878 basic fundamental stars with direct solutions. Suchdirect solutions are appropriate for single stars or for objects whichcan be treated like single stars. From the 878 stars in Part I, we haveselected 340 objects as "astrometrically excellent stars", since theirinstantaneous proper motions and mean (time-averaged) ones do not differsignificantly. Hence most of the astrometrically excellent stars arewell-behaving "single-star candidates" with good astrometric data. Thesestars are most suited for high-precision astrometry. On the other hand,199 of the stars in Part I are Δμ binaries in the sense ofWielen et al. (1999). Many of them are newly discovered probablebinaries with no other hitherto known indication of binarity. The FK6gives, besides the classical "single-star mode" solutions (SI mode),other solutions which take into account the fact that hidden astrometricbinaries among "apparently single-stars" introduce sizable "cosmicerrors" into the quasi-instantaneously measured HIPPARCOS proper motionsand positions. The FK6 gives in addition to the SI mode the "long-termprediction (LTP) mode" and the "short-term prediction (STP) mode". TheseLTP and STP modes are on average the most precise solutions forapparently single stars, depending on the epoch difference with respectto the HIPPARCOS epoch of about 1991. The typical mean error of anFK6(I) proper motion in the single-star mode is 0.35 mas/year. This isabout a factor of two better than the typical HIPPARCOS errors for thesestars of 0.67 mas/year. In the long-term prediction mode, in whichcosmic errors are taken into account, the FK6(I) proper motions have atypical mean error of 0.50 mas/year, which is by a factor of more than 4better than the corresponding error for the HIPPARCOS values of 2.21mas/year (cosmic errors included). Oxygen 6156-8 Angstroms Triplet in Chemically Peculiar Stars of the Upper Main Sequence: Do HgMn Stars Show an Oxygen Anomaly?An extensive spectrum-fitting analysis in the lambda ~ 6150 Angstromsregion was performed for forty late-B and A chemically peculiar (HgMn,Ap, Am, weak-lined) and normal stars of the upper main sequence, inorder to quantitatively establish the abundance of oxygen from the O I6156-8 triplet and to study its behavior/anomaly for each peculiaritygroup, where special attention was paid to HgMn-type stars. Magnetic Apvariables (Si or SrCrEu type) generally show a remarkably large oxygendepletion (by ~ -1.6 dex to ~ -0.4 dex relative to the solar abundance),and classical Am stars also show a clear underabundance (by ~ -0.6 dexon the average). In contrast, the oxygen abundance in HgMn stars,exhibiting only a mild deficiency relative to the Sun typically by ~0.3-0.4 dex, is not markedly different from the tendency of normalstars, also showing a subsolar abundance ([O/H] =~ -0.2). In view of therecent observational implication that the present solar oxygen abundanceis enriched by ~ 0.2-0.3 dex relative to the interstellar gas (fromwhich young stars are formed), and thus unsuitable for the comparisonstandard, we concluded that the extent of the average O-deficiency inHgMn stars is appreciably reduced down to only ~ 0.1-0.2 dex (i.e., notmuch different from the initial composition), which contrasts with theirwell-known drastically large N-depletion. Yet, as can be seen from thedelicate and tight O vs. Fe anticorrelation, this marginal deficiencyshould be real, and thus some physical process simultaneously producingO-depletion/Fe-enrichment must have actually worked in the atmosphere ofHgMn stars. Lithium on the surface of cool magnetic CP stars I. Summary of spectroscopic observations with three telescopesWe present new results of observations of the 6708 Ä line in twelveCP stars made with three telescopes: the ESO CAT telescope, the CrimeanObservatory (CrAO) 2.6-m telescope, and the Nordic Optical Telescope(NOT). Unique profile and wavelength variations of the line at 6708Ä were discovered in two stars, HD 60435 and HD 83368. We presentarguments in favour of the identification of this feature with theresonant Li i line. According to the incidence and variability of thisline, spectra of twelve stars were divided in four groups: Group 1 - theline is remarkably variable in intensity and wavelength; this groupincludes the stars HD 83386 and HD 60435; Group 2 - the line is variableto a lesser extent; includes beta CrB and HD 188041; Group 3 - the lineis not variable; includes 33 Lib, HD 134214, HD 166473 and gamma Equ;Group 4 - the line is not present; includes HD 42659, HD 80316, HD118022 and HD 128898. The behaviour in Groups 1-3 can be explained bythe existence of Li rich spots on the star's surface using the obliquerotator model with different inclination and magnetic obliquity for eachstar. For HD 83368 we have found a tight correlation between thevisibility of the spots and the orientation of the dipole pulsationmode. Based on observations collected at the European SouthernObservatory, La Silla, Chile, the Nordic Optical Telescope, La Palma,Spainand the Shajn Telescope, Crimean Astrophysical Observatory,Ukraine} On the near infrared variability of chemically peculiar starsSome CP stars have recently been discovered by Catalano et al. to bevariable also in the near infrared, although with smaller amplitudesthan in the visible. Hence an observational campaign was started inwhich the infrared light variability of a number of CP2 and CP4 starshas been investigated at the ESO-La Silla Observatory in the bands J, H,and K. As a general result, infrared variations show the same behaviorin all three filters but amplitudes are smaller than in the visible. On the HIPPARCOS photometry of chemically peculiar B, A, and F starsThe Hipparcos photometry of the Chemically Peculiar main sequence B, A,and F stars is examined for variability. Some non-magnetic CP stars,Mercury-Manganese and metallic-line stars, which according to canonicalwisdom should not be variable, may be variable and are identified forfurther study. Some potentially important magnetic CP stars are noted.Tables 1, 2, and 3 are available only in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html Effective temperatures of AP starsA new method of determination of the effective temperatures of Ap starsis proposed. The method is based on the fact that the slopes of theenergy distribution in the Balmer continuum near the Balmer jump fornormal" main sequence stars and chemically peculiar stars with thesame Teff are identical. The effective temperaturecalibration is based on a sample of main sequence stars with well knowntemperatures (\cite[Sokolov 1995]{sokolov}). It is shown that theeffective temperatures of Ap stars are derived by this method in goodagreement with those derived by the infrared flux method and by themethod of \cite[Stepien & Dominiczak (1989)]{stepien}. On the otherhand, the comparison of obtained Teff with Teffderived from the color index (B2-G) of Geneva photometry shows a largescatter of the points, nevertheless there are no systematicaldifferences between two sets of the data. Near infrared light variations of chemically peculiar stars. The SrCrEu starsTwenty magnetic Chemically Peculiar (CP2) stars of the SrCrEu subgroupmostly brighter than the 7.5 visual magnitude have been investigated inthe near infrared at 1.25, 1.6 and 2.2 mu . The stars HD 3980, HD 24712,HD 49976, HD 83368, HD 96616, HD 98088, HD 118022, HD 125248, HD 148898,HD 203006, and HD 220825 have been found to be variable in the infraredwith the same period as the visible light, spectrum, and magnetic fieldvariations. HD 221760 is also variable with a period of 12.45 days,which has to be confirmed. The stars HD 72968, HD 111133, HD 126515, HD153882, and HD 164258 do show some hint of variability, although thedata are too few. Infrared variability has been detected for the firsttime in the stars HD 101065, and HD 206088, which have not yet beenconsidered as variable. No variability has been detected for the star HD137949 within a time scale of the order of ten days. Based onobservations collected at the European Southern Observatory, La SillaChile. Delta a and Stroemgren photometry of stars in the Renson-catalogue of AP and AM starsWe have observed 131 stars of \cite[Renson's (1991)]{re91} catalogue ofAp and Am stars both in the Stroemgren & Maitzen's (1976) Delta asystem as a contribution to the photometric studies of the lambda 5200broad band flux depression feature in chemically peculiar stars. Withfew exceptions the probability grouping of Renson for membership in theCP2 group of peculiar stars is nicely reflected by peculiar values ofDelta a. Comparison with already available Delta a values yieldsslightly larger values due to a minor shift in the filter g_1 samplingthe depression. As found by \cite[Maitzen & Vogt (1983)]{ma83} theGeneva system peculiarity parameters correlate well with Delta a. Thisstudy demonstrates the advantageous performance of a photoelectricphotometer with a rapidly rotating filter wheel moving in a stop and gomode. Tables 3 and 4 are also available in electronic form at the CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
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