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Measurements of Binary Stars, Including Two New Discoveries, with the Lick Observatory Adaptive Optics System
We present astronomical results from observations for a number ofmultiple star systems observed with the Lick Observatory natural guidestar adaptive optics system. We have discovered and classified a fifthcomponent in the ι Cas system and a third component for the widebinary WDS 00310+2839. Using two different data reduction techniques, wedemonstrate relative astrometric precision to 2-3 mas and photometricprecision to within 0.05 mag. The binary stars enable anisoplanatism tobe measured, from which a mean turbulence height over Lick Observatoryof 1.5-3 km is determined.
| Initial Results from the Palomar Adaptive Optics Survey of Young Solar-Type Stars: A Brown Dwarf and Three Stellar Companions
We present first results from the Palomar Adaptive Optics Survey ofYoung Stars conducted at the Hale 5 m telescope. Through direct imagingwe have discovered a brown dwarf and two low-mass stellar companions tothe young solar-type stars HD 49197, HD 129333 (EK Dra), and V522 Perand confirmed a previously suspected companion to RX J0329.1+0118(Sterzik et al.), at respective separations of 0.95" (43 AU), 0.74" (25AU), 2.09" (400 AU), and 3.78" (380 AU). Physical association of eachbinary system is established through common proper motion and/orlow-resolution infrared spectroscopy. Based on the companion spectraltypes, we estimate their masses at 0.06, 0.20, 0.13, and 0.20Msolar, respectively. From analysis of our imaging datacombined with archival radial velocity data, we find that the spatiallyresolved companion to HD 129333 is potentially identical to thepreviously identified spectroscopic companion to this star (Duquennoy& Mayor). However, a discrepancy with the absolute magnitudesuggests that the two companions could also be distinct, with theresolved one being the outermost component of a triple system. The browndwarf HD 49197B is a new member of a growing list of directly imagedsubstellar companions at 10-1000 AU separations from main-sequencestars, indicating that such brown dwarfs may be more common thaninitially speculated.
| Binary Star Speckle Interferometry: Measurements and Orbits
Results of our second observational run of binary star interferometricmeasurements with an ICCD speckle camera attached to the 1.52 mtelescope of the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional at Calar Alto(Almería, Spain) in 2000 June-July are presented. The measuredangular separations range from 0.096" to 6.558". With the use of the newspeckle data, the orbits of the visual binaries WDS 14369+4813 and WDS21597+4908 are improved.
| The 100 Brightest X-Ray Stars within 50 Parsecs of the Sun
Based on the Hipparcos and Tycho-2 astrometric catalogs and the ROSATsurveys, a sample of 100 stars most luminous in X-rays within or arounda distance of 50 pc is culled. The smallest X-ray luminosity in thesample, in units of 1029 ergs s-1, isLX=9.8 the strongest source in the solar neighborhood is IIPeg, a RS CVn star, at LX=175.8. With respect to the originof X-ray emission, the sample is divided into partly overlapping classesof pre-main-sequence, post-T Tauri, and very young ZAMS objects (typeXY), RS CVn-type binary stars (type RS), other active short-periodbinaries, including binary BY Dra-type objects (type XO), apparentlysingle or long-period binary active evolved stars (type XG), contactbinaries of WU UMa kind (type WU), apparently single or long-periodbinary variable stars of BY Dra kind (type BY), and objects of unknownnature (type X?). Chromospherically active, short-period binaries (RSand XO) make up 40% of the brightest X-ray emitters, followed by youngstars (XY) at 30% and unknown sources (X?) at 15%. The fraction ofspectroscopically single evolved X-ray emitters of spectral classes IVand III is quite large (10%). The sources identified as RS CVn-typestars (RS, 23 objects) are considerably stronger in X-ray than theXY-objects and the other active binaries (XO and WU, 20 objects). Sevenobjects have LX>100, all RS except one XY, viz., BO Mic. Onlyfive (22%) RS objects have LX<25, while only three (10%)XY stars have LX>25. Formally, the limit of LX=25could serve as a statistical criterion to differentiate RS and XY stars.However, the other short-period binaries (including eclipsing stars ofAlgol and β Lyr type) have a distribution of LX verysimilar to the XY objects. The contact binaries (WU) appear to be muchweaker in X-rays than their detached counterparts of RS type, but thesample of the former is too small (three objects) to reach a firmconclusion. Sources matched with giants (either single or in binaries)are found to be significantly harder, with only 7% of hardness ratiosbelow 0, than subgiants (66% of HR1<0) and dwarfs (59% of HR1<0).Almost all objects in the sample are binary or multiple stars; thefraction of components (FC), defined as the total number of componentsin all binary and multiple systems divided by the sum of the totalnumber of components and single stars, is at least 0.90. The FC for theXY objects reaches 0.81, and for the unknown type 0.89. About 70% of RSobjects have also visual or astrometric companions, which makes themhierarchical multiple systems. The RS objects (mostly old, evolvedstars) and the XY stars have quite different kinematics. While the RSobjects move at considerable velocities in apparently random directionswith respect to the local standard of rest, the young stars have smallerand orderly velocities and tend to comprise expanding mini-associationssuch as the β Pic and the Tucana groups. The majority of the youngX-ray active stars belong to the Pleiades stream with the meanheliocentric velocity (U,V,W)=(-9.6,-21.8,-7.7) km s-1.
| Are stellar coronae optically thin in X-rays?. A systematic investigation of opacity effects
The relevance of resonant scattering in the solar corona has always beendiscussed controversially. Ratios of emission lines from identical ionsbut different oscillator strengths have been used in order to estimatedamping of resonance lines due to possible resonant scattering, i.e.,absorption by photo-excitation and re-emission out of the line of sight.The analysis of stellar spectra in analogy to previous works for the Sunis possible now with XMM-Newton and Chandra grating spectra and requiresthis issue to be considered again. In this work we present a sample of45 X-ray spectra obtained for 26 stellar coronae with the RGS on boardXMM-Newton and the LETGS and HETGS on board Chandra. We use ratios ofthe Fe XVII lines at 15.27 Å and 16.78 Å lines to theresonance line at 15.03 Å as well as the He-like f/r ratio of OVII and Ne IX to measure optical depth effects and compare them withratios obtained from optically thin plasma atomic databases such asMEKAL, Chianti, and APEC. From the Fe XVII line ratios we find noconvincing proof for resonance line scattering. Optical depths arebasically identical for all kinds of stellar coronae and we concludethat identical optical depths are more probable when effects fromresonant scattering are generally negligible. The 15.27/15.03Åratio shows a regular trend suggesting blending of the 15.27Åline by a cooler Fe line, possibly Fe XVI. The He-like f/r ratiosfor O and Ne show no indication for significant damping of the resonancelines. We mainly attribute deviations from the atomic databases tostill uncertain emissivities which do not agree well with laboratorymeasurements and which come out with differing results when accountingfor one or the other side effect. We attribute the discrepancies in thesolar data to geometrical effects from observing individual emittingregions in the solar corona but only overall emission for stellarcoronae including photons eventually scattered into the line of sight.
| The Hamburg/RASS Catalogue of optical identifications. Northern high-galactic latitude ROSAT Bright Source Catalogue X-ray sources
We present the Hamburg/RASS Catalogue (HRC) of optical identificationsof X-ray sources at high-galactic latitude. The HRC includes all X-raysources from the ROSAT Bright Source Catalogue (RASS-BSC) with galacticlatitude |b| >=30degr and declination delta >=0degr . In thispart of the sky covering ~ 10 000 deg2 the RASS-BSC contains5341 X-ray sources. For the optical identification we used blue Schmidtprism and direct plates taken for the northern hemisphere Hamburg QuasarSurvey (HQS) which are now available in digitized form. The limitingmagnitudes are 18.5 and 20, respectively. For 82% of the selectedRASS-BSC an identification could be given. For the rest either nocounterpart was visible in the error circle or a plausibleidentification was not possible. With ~ 42% AGN represent the largestgroup of X-ray emitters, ~ 31% have a stellar counterpart, whereasgalaxies and cluster of galaxies comprise only ~ 4% and ~ 5%,respectively. In ~ 3% of the RASS-BSC sources no object was visible onour blue direct plates within 40\arcsec around the X-ray sourceposition. The catalogue is used as a source for the selection of(nearly) complete samples of the various classes of X-ray emitters.
| A systematic study of X-ray variability in the ROSAT all-sky survey
We present a systematic search for variability among the ROSAT All-SkySurvey (RASS) X-ray sources. We generated lightcurves for about 30 000X-ray point sources detected sufficiently high above background. For ourvariability study different search algorithms were developed in order torecognize flares, periods and trends, respectively. The variable X-raysources were optically identified with counterparts in the SIMBAD, theUSNO-A2.0 and NED data bases, but a significant part of the X-raysources remains without cataloged optical counterparts. Out of the 1207sources classified as variable 767 (63.5%) were identified with stars,118 (9.8%) are of extragalactic origin, 10 (0.8%) are identified withother sources and 312 (25.8%) could not uniquely be identified withentries in optical catalogs. We give a statistical analysis of thevariable X-ray population and present some outstanding examples of X-rayvariability detected in the ROSAT all-sky survey. Most prominent amongthese sources are white dwarfs, apparently single, yet neverthelessshowing periodic variability. Many flares from hitherto unrecognisedflare stars have been detected as well as long term variability in theBL Lac 1E1757.7+7034.The complete version of Table 7 is 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/403/247
| Doppler imaging of stellar surface structure. XIX. The solar-type components of the close binary sigma2 Coronae Borealis
We present the first Doppler image for both stellar components of theF9+G0 ZAMS binary sigma 2 CrB and found evidence for thecoexistence of cool and warm spots on both stars. Cool spots appearmainly at polar or high latitudes while a confined equatorial warm beltappears on the trailing hemisphere of each of the two stars with respectto the orbital motion. We also present an update of the TempMap imagingcode that allows us to solve the stellar surface temperaturedistribution on both binary components simultaneously, includingphotometric input. Several test reconstructions are performed todemonstrate its reliability and robustness. Our new orbital solutionresults in very precise masses for both components - good to 0.4% - andconfirms the spectral classifications of F9 and G0 for the primary andsecondary, respectively. The visual component, sigma 1 CrB,seems to be G4 rather than G0. All three components are on or very closeto the ZAMS which is also confirmed by the relatively high lithiumabundance of about twenty times the solar abundance. Photometric lightvariations are detected with a period of 1.157+/- 0.002 days that weinterpret to be the rotation period of both binary components. A 0\fm04dimming in y together with a reddening of 0\fm01 in b-y during the year2000 suggests a long-term spot variability compatible with a period ofat least 260 days.
| CCD measurements of visual double stars made with the 74 cm and 50 cm refractors of the Nice Observatory (2nd series)
We present 619 measurements of 606 visual double stars made by CCDimaging from 1996 to 1999 with the 74 cm and 50 cm refractors of theNice observatory. Angular separation, position angle and magnitudedifference are given. Magnitude differences estimated from CCD imagesare compared with magnitude differences given in the Hipparcos catalog.The residuals in angular separation and position angle are computed forbinaries with known orbit. Table 2 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/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/378/954
| RBSC-NVSS Sample. I. Radio and Optical Identifications of a Complete Sample of 1556 Bright X-Ray Sources
We cross-identified the ROSAT Bright Source Catalog (RBSC) and the NRAOVLA Sky Survey (NVSS) to construct the RBSC-NVSS sample of the brightestX-ray sources (>=0.1 counts s-1~10-12 ergscm-2 s-1 in the 0.1-2.4 keV band) that are alsoradio sources (S>=2.5 mJy at 1.4 GHz) in the 7.8 sr of extragalacticsky with |b|>15deg and δ>-40deg. Thesky density of NVSS sources is low enough that they can be reliablyidentified with RBSC sources having rms positional uncertainties>=10". We used the more accurate radio positions to make reliableX-ray/radio/optical identifications down to the POSS plate limits. Weobtained optical spectra for many of the bright identifications lackingpublished redshifts. The resulting X-ray/radio sample is unique in itssize (1557 objects), composition (a mixture of nearly normal galaxies,Seyfert galaxies, quasars, and clusters), and low average redshift[~0.1].
| 71 Tauri: Hyades Enigma Resolved?
71 Tauri (HD 28052; F0 IV-V) is an enigmatic object for two reasons: (1)it is the second brightest X-ray source in the Hyades, yet early F starsas a rule are not strong coronal emitters; and (2) it lies a magnitudeabove the cluster main sequence, but radial velocity studies and speckleimaging suggest that it is single. Recently, long-slit ultravioletspectra of the star, obtained with the Space Telescope ImagingSpectrograph (STIS), serendipitously have revealed the presence of astellar companion at a distance of 0.1" directly south of the primary.The companion is seen only in its far-UV chromospheric emission lines.The nature of this object cannot be determined from our STIS spectraalone, but its high emission levels are most readily explained if it isa close binary of coronally active dG/dK stars. The presence of thesecondary can account for the striking X-ray properties of 71 Tau butnot its unusual location in the cluster color-magnitude diagram. It isconceivable that the primary itself is a close double of nearly equalstars, making 71 Tau a possible quadruple system. The alternative-that71 Tau is ~150 Myr older than other members of the Hyades, approachingthe end of core hydrogen burning for a 2 Msolar star-wouldchallenge the presumed synchrony of star formation in the cluster.
| High excitation emission lines in binary systems with roundchroms
An unexpected empirical fact, a dependence of the observed luminositiesin high excitation emission lines - 1240 NV, 1400 SiIV, 1550 CIV, 1640HeII - on the intercomponent distance a of RS CVn type close binarysystems, is revealed. It is assumed that those high excitation emissionlines are generated most probably in a cone-like region between theLagrangian point L_1 and the surface of the primary component of thesystem. The behavior of high excitation emission lines at various phasesof the eclipse in the case of two binary systems, SX Cas and 22 Vul,indicates the possibility of existence of such a `Lagrangian cone' inthe structure of common chromospheres - roundchroms - of close binarysystems as a main source of generation of high excitation emissionlines.
| The ROSAT Bright Survey: II. Catalogue of all high-galactic latitude RASS sources with PSPC countrate CR > 0.2 s-1
We present a summary of an identification program of the more than 2000X-ray sources detected during the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (Voges et al.1999) at high galactic latitude, |b| > 30degr , with countrate above0.2 s-1. This program, termed the ROSAT Bright Survey RBS, isto more than 99.5% complete. A sub-sample of 931 sources with countrateabove 0.2 s-1 in the hard spectral band between 0.5 and 2.0keV is to 100% identified. The total survey area comprises 20391deg2 at a flux limit of 2.4 x 10-12 ergcm-2 s-1 in the 0.5 - 2.0 keV band. About 1500sources of the complete sample could be identified by correlating theRBS with SIMBAD and the NED. The remaining ~ 500 sources were identifiedby low-resolution optical spectroscopy and CCD imaging utilizingtelescopes at La Silla, Calar Alto, Zelenchukskaya and Mauna Kea. Apartfrom completely untouched sources, catalogued clusters and galaxieswithout published redshift as well as catalogued galaxies with unusualhigh X-ray luminosity were included in the spectroscopic identificationprogram. Details of the observations with an on-line presentation of thefinding charts and the optical spectra will be published separately.Here we summarize our identifications in a table which contains opticaland X-ray information for each source. As a result we present the mostmassive complete sample of X-ray selected AGNs with a total of 669members and a well populated X-ray selected sample of 302 clusters ofgalaxies with redshifts up to 0.70. Three fields studied by us remainwithout optical counterpart (RBS0378, RBS1223, RBS1556). While the firstis a possible X-ray transient, the two latter are isolated neutron starcandidates (Motch et al. 1999, Schwope et al. 1999).
| CCD Observations of Visual Double and Multiple Stars at the Belgrade Observatory
The author presents her CCD measurements of 105 double and multiplestars performed with a ST-6 camera on the Belgrade Large Refractor(Zeiss 65/1055 cm).
| The FIRST Unbiased Survey for Radio Stars
Comparison of the VLA FIRST survey with various catalogs of bright starsallows an examination of the prevalence of stellar radio emissionindependent of optical selection criteria. This FIRST unbiased surveyfor radio stars covers nearly 5000 deg^2 of the northern sky to a fluxdensity limit of 0.7 mJy at 20 cm. Using astrometric catalogs thatinclude proper-motion information, we have detected 26 stellar radiosources, doubling the number of such objects previously known in thisregion of high-latitude sky. We also show that, in the absence of goodproper motions, even the 1" precision of the FIRST positions isinsufficient to avoid crippling chance coincidence rates. We calculatethe fraction of radio detections as a function of stellar magnitude andshow that, when proper motions from the Guide Star Catalog II becomeavailable, the number of stellar radio source detections should increasefourfold.
| Inclination of the Orbital Planes of Visual Binaries
The inclination of the orbital planes of 78 visual binaries with knownorbits with respect to the galactic was examined. No double stargroupings were found having approximately equal orientation of theirorbital planes. Viewed the orbital plane north poles there are morebinary systems with counterclockwise motion than those moving clockwise.
| An Optical Atlas of Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) Sources
The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) has been detecting EUV sourcessince its launch in June 1992. Positions of 540 sources have been madeavailable to the community by the EUVE team. We have extracted 7' X 7'images centered on these 540 EUVE sources from the Space TelescopeScience Institute digitized sky archives. We present these images asmosaic finder charts to aid observers trying to identify EUVE sources,or to characterize known sources. (SECTION: Atlases)
| The structure of roundchroms in close binary systems
The determination of common chromospheres - roundchroms - for 32 closebinary systems, all of RS CVn type, is described; the main parameters ofthese roundchroms - volumes, electron concentrations and masses, areestimated. Three types of roundchroms are established according to theirstructure. The empirical relationship between their electronconcentration n_e and intercomponent distance a - n_e = K a^-0.80,discovered earlier, is confirmed by data for over fifty close binarysystems. This law holds promise for the determination of component radiiof close binary systems and some parameters of their roundchroms.
| The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Stellar Spectral Atlas
We present an atlas of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectra of 95 brightstellar sources observed between 1992 July and 1996 June with theExtreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) spectrometers. These data are takenin the short- (SW; 70-190 Angstroms), medium- (MW; 140-380 Angstroms),and long-wavelength bandpasses (LW; 280-760 Angstroms) at roughly 0.5,1, and 2 Angstroms resolution, respectively. We describe thespectrometers and detail the procedure used to reduce the observationaldata to spectra. The atlas is grouped by the type of source: O-A stars,F-M stars, white dwarfs, and cataclysmic variables. We present a briefoverview of the general nature and EUV spectral distribution of eachgroup and present accompanying notes and individual spectra for eachsource. We show selected F-M sources in more detail with identificationsof the brightest spectral lines illustrating the characteristics of theEUV spectra of stars of various temperatures. The current study is themost complete compilation to date of aggregate spectra of bright EUVstellar sources.
| An All-Sky Catalog of Faint Extreme Ultraviolet Sources
We present a list of 534 objects detected jointly in the ExtremeUltraviolet Explorer (EUVE) 100 Angstroms all-sky survey and in theROSAT X-Ray Telescope 0.25 keV band. The joint selection criterionpermits use of a low count rate threshold in each survey. This lowthreshold is roughly 60% of the threshold used in the previous EUVEall-sky surveys, and 166 of the objects listed here are new EUV sources,appearing in neither the Second EUVE Source Catalog nor the ROSAT WideField Camera Second Catalog. The spatial distribution of this all-skycatalog shows three features: an enhanced concentration of objects inUrsa Major, where the Galactic integrated H I column reaches its globalminimum; an enhanced concentration in the third quadrant of the Galaxy(lII from 180 deg to 270 deg) including the Canis Major tunnel, whereparticularly low H I columns are found to distances beyond 200 pc; and aparticularly low number of faint objects in the direction of the fourthquadrant of the Galaxy, where nearby intervening H I columns areappreciable. Of particular interest is the composition of the 166detections not previously reported in any EUV catalog. We offerpreliminary identifications for 105 of these sources. By far the mostnumerous (81) of the identifications are late-type stars (F, G, K, M),while 18 are other stellar types, only five are white dwarfs (WDs), andnone are extragalactic. The paucity of WDs and extragalactic objects maybe explained by a strong horizon effect wherein interstellar absorptionstrongly limits the effective new-source search volume and, thereby,selectively favors low-luminosity nearby sources over more luminous butdistant objects.
| Accurate Positions for Radio Stars as Determined from CCD Observations in the Extragalactic Reference Frame.
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1997AJ....114.1679S&db_key=AST
| CCD measurements of double and multiple stars in Belgrade
The CCD measurements for 123 double stars with ST-6 camera attached tothe Zeiss 65/1055 cm Refractor of the Belgrade Observatory arecommunicated. Table 1 only available in electronic form, Table 2 also inelectronic form at CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html}}
| Radio stars for linking celestial reference frames
Radio stars play a key role in establishing the link between opticalreference frames and the conventional celestial reference frame based onextragalactic radio sources. The relevant astrometric, astrophysical andradio quantities are compiled of 66 cardinal radio stars currentlysuited to frame connection and maintenance of the link. The catalogueentries are supplied with ample bibliographical codes and annotationsfor easy data retrieval. The catalogue is available electronically atthe CDS via anonymous ftp 130.79.128.5 and viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Doppler imaging of stellar surface structure. IV. The rapidly-rotating G5III-IV star HD 112313 = IN Comae.
We present the first Doppler image of the rapidly-rotating G5 giant inthe unusual IN Comae triple system. Our average image from threespectral regions and two continuum color indices shows mostly low tohigh latitude features but not a prominent polar cap-like spot. Aparameter study of the stellar and atomic input quantities aims tobetter quantify the reliability of our Doppler image. A time series of330 high-precision Stroemgren by and Johnson V measurements in 1996 showonly one real photometric period (5.913+/-0.005days) that we interpretto be the rotation period of the G5 giant. We found no evidence for the0.25-day period claimed earlier by Kuczawska & Mikolajewski(1993AcA....43..445K). Optical spectra of several activity indicatorsare presented and discussed. IN Comae exhibits an unusual broad Hαemission line and a central absorption feature. This profile shape isalso seen for the CaII infrared-triplet lines as well as for the sodiumdoublet and the HeI D_3_ line. No LiI 6707.8 line is present. New radialvelocity measurements from our red-wavelength spectra do not indicate ashort-period binary but would be consistent with the G5 star being theouter, third component of this triple system.
| The Second Extreme-Ultraviolet Explorer Source Catalog
We present the second catalog of extreme-ultraviolet objects detected bythe Extreme-Ultraviolet Explorer. The data include (1) all-sky surveydetections from the initial 6 month scanner-survey phase, (2) additionalscanner detections made subsequently during specially programmedobservations designed to fill in low-exposure sky areas of the initialsurvey, (3) sources detected with deep-survey-telescope observationsalong the ecliptic, (4) objects detected by the scanner telescopesduring targeted spectroscopy observations, and ( 3) other observations.We adopt an innovative source detection method that separates the usuallikelihood function into two parts: an intensity diagnostic and aprofile diagnostic. These diagnostics allow each candidate detection tobe tested separately for both signal-to-noise ratio and conformance withthe known instrumental point-spread function. We discuss the dependenceof the false-alarm rate and the survey's completeness on the survey'ssensitivity threshold. We provide three lists of the EUV sourcesdetected: the all-sky survey detections, the deep-survey detections, andsources detected during other phases of the mission. Each list givespositions and intensities in each wave band. The total number of objectslisted is 734. For approximately 65% of these we also provide plausibleoptical, UV, radio, and/or X-ray identifications.
| Optical positions of radio emitting stars.
In order to contribute to the alignment of the radio and opticalreference frames, 50 stars with confirmed radio emission and publishedradio positions were observed by astrographical means. Additionally, twoconfirmed radio-stars of fainter magnitude were observed using a CCDdirect camera with a long focus, large aperture telescope. Thereductions are made relative to four catalogues: the Carlsberg MeridianCatalogue #4, the International Reference Stars Catalogue, the Positionsand Proper Motion Catalogue and the Astrographical Catalogue ofReference Stars. The best results were obtained with the CAMC catalogue.The plate error of a radio star position is 0.07" for both rightascension and declination, rising to 0.10"-0.20" for bright stars. Tenof the program stars are not in the HIPPARCOS Input Catalogue and 12 donot belong to any of the major reference catalogues used. As soon as theHIPPARCOS results become available, its reference stars already measuredin the plates will enable us to get positions for those 10 radio starsin the HIPPARCOS system.
| Optical positions and proper motions of radio stars obtained at Shanghai Observatory.
The optical positions of 15 radio stars were obtained with the type IIphotoelectric astrolabe and the Danjon astrolabe(OPL No. 14) at ShanghaiObservatory from 1980 to 1981. The observational positions and theproper motions of these radio stars in FK5 are given.
| The effect of eccentricity on three-body orbital stability criteria and its importance for triple star systems
Previous investigations of prograde three-body hierarchical systems witheccentric orbits do not give consistent results. The problem isre-examined for mass configurations particularly important in triplestar systems. It is found that, for systems with binaries moving oncircular orbits, the regions of stability expand slightly in size forlarge mass ratios and contract slightly for small mass ratios as theeccentricity of the outer mass is increased. Comparison of the systemswith their retrograde counterparts indicates that the retrograde are themore stable systems. Increasing the eccentricity of the binary canreduce stability significantly for small outer-body eccentricities andincrease it for large values, but makes little difference forintermediate eccentricities. The analytical c^2 H criterion mirrors thesame general behaviour in the prograde cases, but is not found to be agood quantitative indicator of orbital stability when eccentric orbitsare present, unlike the situation found by Donnison & Mikulskis whenall the orbits are circular. Actual triple star systems with visualbinary components (visual triples) are compared with the criticalcondition for stability for both prograde and retrograde configurations,and are found to be within the stable region regardless of whether theyare prograde or retrograde. It is also found that retrogradeconfigurations tend to be the more stable when the binary eccentricityis small, while for systems with both large binary and outer-bodyeccentricities the prograde configurations are the more stable. Triplesystems with spectroscopic binaries (spectroscopic-visual triples) areshown to lie well within the limits of stability for prograde andretrograde configurations.
| Comparison of radio and optical positions of radio stars
A comparison between radio and optical positions of radio stars ispresented. Eighty-eight optical minus radio differences from 56 starsare considered. To produce this comparison with high precision, acatalog was compiled based on the Carlsberg Meridian Catalogues Nos. 4,5, and 6, and on a catalog of 221 radio stars observed with the Bordeauxautomatic meridian circle. Most of the radio positions are from the VeryLarge Array (VLA) facilities. The overall average differences lead to atie between the radio and optical frames at the level of 30milliarcseconds. Also the relative orientation between the two frames isexamined and is found to coincide within the limit of errors. Finally,it is found that different morphological types of radio stars give riseto different levels of agreement between the radio and optical systems.
| Detection of an X-ray flare on the low-activity G 8 III-type giant β Boo.
We present ROSAT observations of an X-ray flare on the G8III-type giantβ Boo, which seems to be the first known flare on a single,low-activity, late-type giant. The flare occured on 8 August 1993. ThePSPC count rate increased within ~5 minutes nearly by a factor of 10.Most of the decay phase could be traced, before the observation intervalended. We derive plasma temperatures and emission measures for both thequiescent and the flare phases, and determine the integrated X-rayenergy release of the flare to be =~1.7x10^32^erg. The flare can bemodeled by the quasi-static cooling loop approximation, andcharacteristic loop properties like plasma density, flaring volume andloop length are estimated. In comparison to well studied solar andstellar flares, the β Boo flare seems to be similar to solarcompact flares or their counterparts in M-type dwarfs, although theemission measure and energy release are much larger than in the Sun. Thepossibility of an undetected M-type dwarf companion of β Boo beinga source of the flare is discussed.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Nördliche Krone |
| Right ascension: | 16h14m40.80s |
| Declination: | +33°51'31.0" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 5.64 |
| Distance: | 21.687 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -265.4 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -83.9 |
| B-T magnitude: | 6.262 |
| V-T magnitude: | 5.62 |
Catalogs and designations:
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