Observations towards early-type stars in the ESO-POP Survey - II. Searches for intermediate- and high-velocity clouds
We present CaII K and TiII optical spectra of early-type stars takenmainly from the ultraviolet and visual echelle spectrograph (UVES)Paranal Observatory Project, plus HI 21-cm spectra, from the Vila-Elisaand Leiden-Dwingeloo Surveys, which are employed to obtain distances tointermediate- and high-velocity clouds (IHVCs). HI emission at avelocity of -117 kms-1 towards the sightline HD30677 () withcolumn density ~1.7 × 1019 cm-2 has nocorresponding CaII K absorption in the UVES spectrum, which has asignal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of 610 per resolution element. The star hasa spectroscopically determined distance of 2.7 kpc, and hence sets thisas a firm lower distance limit towards Anti-Centre cloud ACII. Towardsanother sightline (HD46185 with ), HI at a velocity of +122kms-1 and column density of 1.2 × 1019cm-2 is seen. The corresponding CaII K spectrum has a S/N of780, although no absorption is observed at the cloud velocity. Thissimilarly places a firm lower distance limit of 2.9 kpc towards thisparcel of gas that may be an intermediate-velocity (IV) cloud. The lackof IV CaII absorption towards HD196426 () at a S/N of 500 reinforces alower distance limit of ~700 pc towards this part of complex gp, wherethe HI column density is 1.1 × 1019 cm-2 andvelocity is +78 kms-1. Additionally, no IV CaII is seen inabsorption in the spectrum of HD19445, which is strong in HI with acolumn density of 8 × 1019 cm-2 at avelocity of ~ -42 kms-1, placing a firm althoughuninteresting lower distance limit of 39 pc to this part of IV South.Finally, no high-velocity CaII K absorption is seen towards HD115363 ()at a S/N of 410, placing a lower distance of ~3.2 kpc towards the HVCgas at velocity of ~ +224 kms-1 and HI column density of 5.2× 1019 cm-2. This gas is in the same regionof the sky as complex WE (Wakker 2001), but at higher velocities. Thenon-detection of CaII K absorption sets a lower distance of ~3.2 kpctowards the HVC, which is unsurprising if this feature is indeed relatedto the Magellanic System.
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Statistical properties of a sample of periodically variable B-type supergiants. Evidence for opacity-driven gravity-mode oscillations
Aims.We have studied a sample of 28 periodically variable B-typesupergiants selected from the HIPPARCOS mission and 12 comparison starscovering the whole B-type spectral range. Our goal is to test if theirvariability is compatible with opacity-driven non-radialoscillations. Methods: .We have used the NLTE atmosphere codeFASTWIND to derive the atmospheric and wind parameters of the completesample through line profile fitting. We applied the method to selectedH, He, and Si line profiles, measured with the high resolution CESspectrograph attached to the ESO CAT telescope in La Silla, Chile.Results: .From the location of the stars in the (log T_eff, log g)diagram, we suggest that variability of our sample supergiants is indeeddue to the gravity modes resulting from the opacity mechanism. We findnine of the comparison stars to be periodically variable as well, andsuggest them to be new α Cyg variables. We find marginal evidenceof a correlation between the amplitude of the photometric variabilityand the wind density. We investigate the wind momentum-luminosityrelation for the whole range of B spectral type supergiants, and findthat the later types (>B5) perfectly follow the relation for Asupergiants. Additionally, we provide a new spectral type - T_effcalibration for B supergiants. Conclusions: .Our results imply thepossibility of probing internal structure models of massive stars ofspectral type B through seismic tuning of gravity modes.Figures of the spectral line fits and discussion of the individualobjects, Appendices A, B and Table 6 are only available in electronicform at http://www.aanda.org
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Early-type stars observed in the ESO UVES Paranal Observatory Project - I. Interstellar NaI UV, TiII and CaII K observations*
We present an analysis of interstellar NaI (λair=3302.37 and 3302.98 Å), TiII(λair= 3383.76Å) and CaII K (λair= 3933.66 Å) absorptionfeatures for 74 sightlines towards O- and B-type stars in the Galacticdisc. The data were obtained from the Ultraviolet and Visual EchelleSpectrograph Paranal Observatory Project, at a spectral resolution of3.75 km s-1 and with mean signal-to-noise ratios per pixel of260, 300 and 430 for the NaI, TiII and CaII observations, respectively.Interstellar features were detected in all but one of the TiIIsightlines and all of the CaII sightlines. The dependence of the columndensity of these three species with distance, height relative to theGalactic plane, HI column density, reddening and depletion relative tothe solar abundance has been investigated. We also examine the accuracyof using the NaI column density as an indicator of that for HI. Ingeneral, we find similar strong correlations for both Ti and Ca, andweaker correlations for Na. Our results confirm the general belief thatTi and Ca occur in the same regions of the interstellar medium (ISM) andalso that the TiII/CaII ratio is constant over all parameters. We henceconclude that the absorption properties of Ti and Ca are essentiallyconstant under the general ISM conditions of the Galactic disc.
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WX Cen (≡ WR 48c) - a possible Type Ia supernova progenitor
We confirm the orbital period of WX Cen ≡ WR 48c determined byDiaz & Steiner and refined its value to Porb= 0.4169615(+/-22) d. The light curve of this object has a peak-to-peak variationof approximately 0.32 mag. It is non-sinusoidal in the sense that it hasa V-shaped narrow minimum, similar to the ones seen in V Sge, V617 Sgrand in compact binary supersoft sources (CBSS).Most of the emission lines in the optical spectrum are due to Balmer,HeII, CIV, NV, OV and OVI. An analysis of the HeII Pickering seriesdecrement shows that the system has significant amount of hydrogen. Theemission lines of HeII 4686 Å became weaker between the 1991 and2000/2002 observations, indicating distinct levels of activity. Thespectra of WX Cen show variable absorption features in the Balmer lineswith V=-2900 km s-1 and in emission with V=+/-3500 kms-1. These highly variable features remind us of thesatellite emission lines found in the spectra of CBSS.We estimate the colour excess as E(B-V) = 0.63 on the basis of theobserved diffuse interstellar band at 5780 Å. Given thedistance-colour excess relation in the direction of WX Cen, this impliesa distance of 2.8 +/- 0.3 kpc. Interstellar absorption of the NaI Dlines show components at -4.1 km s-1, which corresponds tothe velocity of the Coalsack, and three other components at -23.9, -32.0and -39.0 km s-1. These components are also seen with similarstrengths in field stars that have distances between 1.8 and 2.7 kpc.The intrinsic colour of WX Cen is (B-V)0=-0.2 and theabsolute magnitude is MV=-0.5.Extended red wings in the strong emission lines are seen. A possibleexplanation is that the system has a spill-over stream similar to whatis seen in V617 Sgr. We predict that when observed in opposite phase,blue wings would be observed. A puzzling feature that remains to beexplained is the highly variable red wing (V~ 700 km s-1) ofthe OVI emission lines as well as of the red wings of the H and Helines.The velocity of the satellite-like feature is consistent with the ideathat the central star is a white dwarf with a mass of M~ 0.9Msolar. With the high accretion rate under consideration, thestar may become a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) in a time-scale of 5 ×106 yr.
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New periodic variables from the Hipparcos epoch photometry
Two selection statistics are used to extract new candidate periodicvariables from the epoch photometry of the Hipparcos catalogue. Theprimary selection criterion is a signal-to-noise ratio. The dependenceof this statistic on the number of observations is calibrated usingabout 30000 randomly permuted Hipparcos data sets. A significance levelof 0.1 per cent is used to extract a first batch of candidate variables.The second criterion requires that the optimal frequency be unaffectedif the data are de-trended by low-order polynomials. We find 2675 newcandidate periodic variables, of which the majority (2082) are from theHipparcos`unsolved' variables. Potential problems with theinterpretation of the data (e.g. aliasing) are discussed.
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H I Shells behind the Coalsack
We report the discovery of two new large H I shells in the direction ofthe Coalsack Nebula. Both shells were observed with the Parkes RadioTelescope as part of the Southern Galactic Plane Survey. The largestshell, GSH 304-00-12, is at a distance of ~1.2 kpc and has derivedphysical dimensions of 280×200 pc. The second shell, GSH305+01-24, is at a distance of ~2.2 kpc and has derived dimensions of280×440 pc. We present a simple numerical model to show that GSH305+01-24 most likely formed from stellar winds in the Centaurus OB1stellar association. There is associated radio, infrared, and Hαcontinuum emission. Both shells are situated in the Sagittarius-Carinaarm, with GSH 305+01-24 more distant. The far edge of GSH 304-00-12 isat the near side of the arm and opens into the interarm region. We findno evidence of closure at the near side of the shell and thereforedescribe the geometry as conical. Emission from the near side of theshell may be lost in absorption by the Coalsack Nebula.
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The 75th Name-List of Variable Stars
We present the next regular Name-List of variable stars containinginformation on 916 variable stars recently designated in the system ofthe General Catalogue of Variable Stars.
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Five-colour photometry of OB-stars in the Southern Hemisphere
Observations of OB-stars, made in 1959 and 1960 at the Leiden SouthernStation near Hartebeespoortdam, South Africa, with the VBLUW photometerattached to the 90 cm light-collector, are given in this paper. They arecompared with photometry obtained by \cite[Graham (1968),]{gra68}\cite[Walraven & Walraven (1977),]{wal77} \cite[Lub & Pel(1977)]{lub77} and \cite[Van Genderen et al. (1984).]{gen84} Formulaefor the transformation of the present observations to those of\cite[Walraven & Walraven (1977)]{wal77} and \cite[Lub & Pel(1977)]{lub77} are given. Table 4 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
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UBV beta Database for Case-Hamburg Northern and Southern Luminous Stars
A database of photoelectric UBV beta photometry for stars listed in theCase-Hamburg northern and southern Milky Way luminous stars surveys hasbeen compiled from the original research literature. Consisting of over16,000 observations of some 7300 stars from over 500 sources, thisdatabase constitutes the most complete compilation of such photometryavailable for intrinsically luminous stars around the Galactic plane.Over 5000 stars listed in the Case-Hamburg surveys still lackfundamental photometric data.
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Study of an unbiased sample of B stars observed with Hipparcos: the discovery of a large amount of new slowly pulsating B stars
We present a classification of 267 new variable B-type stars discoveredby Hipparcos. We have used two different classification schemes and theyboth result in only a few new beta Cephei stars, a huge number of newslowly pulsating B stars, quite some supergiants with alpha Cyg-typevariations and variable CP stars, and further some new periodic Be starsand eclipsing binaries. Our results clearly point out the biased naturetowards short-period variables of earlier, ground-based surveys ofvariable stars. The position of the new beta Cephei stars and slowlypulsating B stars in the HR diagram is determined by means of Genevaphotometry and is confronted with the most recent calculations of theinstability strips for both groups of variables. We find that the newbeta Cephei stars are situated in the blue part of the instability stripand that the new slowly pulsating B stars almost fully cover thetheoretical instability domain determined for such stars. Thesupergiants with alpha Cyg-type variations are situated between theinstability strips of the beta Cephei and the slowly pulsating B starson the one hand and previously known supergiants that exhibitmicrovariations on the other hand. This suggests some connection betweenthe variability caused by the kappa mechanism acting in a zone ofpartially ionised metals and the unknown cause of the variations insupergiants.
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Interstellar CH^+^ in southern OB associations.
Optical absorption line observations of interstellar CH^+^ and CH arepresented towards the southern OB associations CMa OB1, NGC 2439, VelaOB1, NGC 4755, and Cen OB1. A total of 5-11 stars per association wereobserved, with visual extinctions ranging from A_V_=0.5-4.5mag. Thederived CH^+^ and CH velocities agree within the measurement errors.Towards a particular association, the CH^+^ column density N(CH^+^) iscorrelated to the visual extinction of the background star. Thesefindings weaken the possibility that magnetic shocks are the generalmechanism that is required to produce interstellar CH^+^. It is foundthat N(CH^+^) is correlated to N(CH), which indicates that N(CH^+^) iscorrelated to the optical depth of a cloud. The correlations aredifficult to reconcile with scenarios where the sites of CH^+^ formationare constrained to the surface of molecular clouds. The observationssupport ideas which involve turbulence as a major CH^+^ productionmechanism. In particular, the results are in agreement with expectationsfrom a scenario where the CH^+^ formation proceeds in cool gas via afraction of fast, non-Maxwellian H_2_ or C^+^, created by thedissipation of interstellar turbulence.
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A Radial Velocity Database for Stephenson-Sanduleak Southern Luminous Stars
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1997AJ....113..823R&db_key=AST
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Interstellar Extinction from 0.35 to 2.2 Microns: A Study Based on Luminous Southern Stars
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1995ApJS..101..335H&db_key=AST
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Vitesses radiales. Catalogue WEB: Wilson Evans Batten. Subtittle: Radial velocities: The Wilson-Evans-Batten catalogue.
We give a common version of the two catalogues of Mean Radial Velocitiesby Wilson (1963) and Evans (1978) to which we have added the catalogueof spectroscopic binary systems (Batten et al. 1989). For each star,when possible, we give: 1) an acronym to enter SIMBAD (Set ofIdentifications Measurements and Bibliography for Astronomical Data) ofthe CDS (Centre de Donnees Astronomiques de Strasbourg). 2) the numberHIC of the HIPPARCOS catalogue (Turon 1992). 3) the CCDM number(Catalogue des Composantes des etoiles Doubles et Multiples) byDommanget & Nys (1994). For the cluster stars, a precise study hasbeen done, on the identificator numbers. Numerous remarks point out theproblems we have had to deal with.
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A spectroscopic database for Stephenson-Sanduleak Southern Luminous Stars
A database of published spectral classifications for objects in theStepenson-Sanduleak Luminous Stars in the Southern Milky Way catalog hasbeen compiled from the literature. A total of 6182 classifications for2562 stars from 139 sources are incorporated.
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Stromgren and H-Beta Photometry of Associations and Open Clusters - Part Three - CENTAURUS-OB1 and CRUX-OB1
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1994MNRAS.269..289K&db_key=AST
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A study of reddened luminous stars in the southern Milky Way. IV. JHK photometry.
Not Available
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A study of reddened luminous stars in the southern Milky Way. III. VRI photometry.
Not Available
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A study of reddened luminous stars in the southern Milky Way. II. H-beta photometry, reddening and distances.
Not Available
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A study of reddened luminous stars in the southern Milky Way. UVBY photometry.
Not Available
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LSS 2854 and LSS 2895: Two Reddened beta Lyrae Systems
Not Available
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UBV photometry of OB+ stars in the southern Milky Way
One thousand two hundred and twenty six new observations are combinedwith previously published results of the author to yield an internalyconsistent set of magnitudes and colors on the international UBV systemfor 666 stars classified as OB+ in the Stephenson-Sanduleak OB starsurvey. The U - B, B - V diagram indicates that these stars consistprimarily of O-type stars and early B-type supergiants, reddened by upto E(B - V) = 2.1 mag.
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Getting to the bottom of the lagoon - Dust, magnetism, and star formation
A V-band polarimetric survey of stars associated with the Lagoon Nebula(M8; NGC 6523) and the embedded cluster NGC 6530 has been conducted. Thedata have been combined with existing photometric and spectroscopicobservations in order to study the dust in the immediate vicinity and toinvestigate the alignment of magnetic field lines with identifiablesymmetry axes. Using the cluster method, it has been possible toseparate multiple stars from single stars and thereby derive acccuratevalues for the ratio of total to selective extinction and the distancemodulus. The value of R for the associated dust is 4.6 + or - 0.3.Anomalous reddening is a characteristic of the region, not just Herschel36. Electric vectors show a high degree of alignment perpendicular tothe direction of the extension of the large-scale distributions ofionized gas and massive stars. The overall collapse of molecular gasappears to have been asymmetrical, proceeding most rapidly along adirection parallel to magnetic field lines. A lot of the dust mixed withthe ionized gas has been destroyed, so the large-scale uniformity ofreddening laws and polarization position angles indicates that much ofthe dust responsible for extinction and polarization is associated withneutral gas.
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UBV-beta photometry of luminous early-type stars and emission-line stars in the Southern Coalsack region
A catalog is presented giving UBV-beta photometry for 144 luminous OBstars and UBV photometry for 154 emission-line stars in a 100-sq-degregion around the Southern Coalsack. Total visual absorptions anddistance moduli have been determined for all the stars and aretabulated. Comparisons with previous observations are discussed.
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On the intrinsic UVBY colours of early-type supergiants
The present photoelectric uvby observations of 43 late O-type to earlyA-type supergiants are combined with published results to extend theZhang (1983) determination of the intrinsic color lines in the(b-y)/c(1) diagram. Zhang's conclusion that the H-beta index is wellcorrelated with luminosity class is reaffirmed by the results obtained,although the degree of separation found here is less clear. It is notfound, however, that beta has a significant minimum between the B1 andB3 spectral types.
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A study of B-type supergiants with the uvby,beta photometric system
The applicability of the uvby,beta photometric system to theclassification and study of B-type supergiants (BTS) is investigatedusing published data on 157 BTS and observations of 17 BTS made with the36-in. reflector at McDonald Observatory. The results are presented intabular form and analyzed to produce preliminary calibrations ofluminosity class vs. beta index and of absolute magnitude (Mv) vs. beta(or delta Mv vs. delta beta) for four associations of stars. Theeffectiveness of various color indices as temperature indicators isdiscussed. It is shown that there is good correspondence between MK anduvby,beta classifications of B-type main-sequence stars, giants, andBTS, confirming the usefulness of the uvby,beta system in furtherresearch on BTS.
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UBV photometry for southern OB stars
New UBV photometry of 1227 OB stars in the southern Milky Way ispresented. For 1113 of these stars, MK spectral types have been reportedpreviously in a comprehensive survey to B = 10.0 mag.
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Catalog of Luminous Stars in the Southern Coalsack Zone
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1982RMxAA...5..183M&db_key=AST
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Discoveries on Southern Red Sensitive Objective-Prism Plates - Part Three - New Stars Having Hα in Emission
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1981A&AS...44..387M&db_key=AST
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On the 4430 A interstellar band - A visual classification
A system of visual classification of the strength of the interstellarband 4430 A has been developed, based on spectra taken at spectralclassification dispersion. The intensity of the band was divided into 8main classes, defined by a group of selected standard stars. The systemwas applied to 1,111 southern OB stars contained in the catalog ofspectral types by Garrison, Hiltner, and Schild (1977). The mean errorin the classification was estimated to be plus or minus 1 class.Equivalent widths were measured for 100 stars; an excellent correlationwith the visual estimations was obtained. A calibration between thesetwo parameters is given.
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