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A high-resolution spectroscopy survey of β Cephei pulsations in bright stars
We present a study of absorption line-profile variations in early-B typenear-main-sequence stars without emission lines. We have surveyed atotal of 171 bright stars using the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOTSA),William Herschel Telescope (ING) and Coudé Auxiliary Telescope(ESO). Our sample contains 75% of all O9.5-B2.5 III-V non-emission-linestars brighter than 5.5 mag. We obtained high signal-to-noise,high-resolution spectra of the SiIII λ4560 triplet - for 125stars of our sample we obtained more than one spectrum - and examinedthese for pulsational-like line-profile variations and/or structure. Weconclude that about half of our sample stars show evidence forline-profile variations (LPV). We find evidence for LPV in about 65% ofour sample stars brighter than V=5.5. For stars with rotationalbroadening V sin i 100 km s-1, we find evidence for LPVin about 75% of the cases. We argue that it is likely that these LPV areof pulsational origin, and that hence more than half of thesolar-neighbourhood O9.5-B2.5 III-V stars is pulsating in modes that canbe detected with high-resolution spectroscopy. We detected LPV in 64stars previously unknown to be pulsators, and label these stars as newβ Cep candidates. We conclude that there is no obvious differencein incidence of (pulsational) LPV for early-B type near-main-sequencestars in binaries or in OB associations, with respect to single fieldstars.
| Neutral carbon and CO emission in the core and the halo of dark cloud Barnard 5
Aims.The physical conditions and chemical structure in the dark cloud ofBarnard 5 and its surrounding atomic halo is studied.The impact of the halo on the line emission emerging from the molecularcloud is investigated.Methods.We present observations of the [CI]^3P1→ ^3P0 transition of neutral carbon and the low-J transitionsof 12CO and 13CO. The CO maps extend from the core(Av 7) to the northern cloud edge and into the halo(Av 1). They are complemented by deeply integrated [CI]spectra made along a 1D cut of similar extent. Escape probability andphoton-dominated region (PDR) models are employed to interpret theobservations.Results.12CO and 13CO are detected inthe cloud and the halo, while [CI] is detected only toward the molecularcloud. This occurs even though the neutral carbon column density is5 times larger than the CO column density in the halo, but it canbe understood in terms of excitation. The [CI] excitation is governed bycollisions even at the low halo densities, while the CO excitation isdominated by the absorption of line photons emitted by the nearbymolecular cloud. The upper limit on the neutral carbon column density inthe halo is 6× 1015 cm-2. The PDR studiesshow that even small column densities of H2 and CO, such as those in theB5 halo, can significantly change the [CI] and COline emission (pre-shielding). Since this effect decreases the [CI]intensity and increases the CO intensity, the largest impact is notedfor the [CI]/CO line ratios. For the B5 cloud, a PDRmodel with a molecular hydrogen column density of ~6×1019 cm-2 in the halo matches the observed [CI]/COline ratios best. Models with no pre-shielding, in contrast, suggesthigh gas densities that are in conflict with independently deriveddensities. The PDR models with a χ<1 demonstrate that the [CI]/COratios cannot be attributed solely to a reduced FUV field.
| Evolution of interacting binaries with a B type primary at birth
We revisited the analytical expression for the mass ratio distributionfor non-evolved binaries with a B type primary. Selection effectsgoverning the observations were taken into account in order to comparetheory with observations. Theory was optimized so as to fit best withthe observed q-distribution of SB1s and SB2s. The accuracy of thistheoretical mass ratio distribution function is severely hindered by theuncertainties on the observations. We present a library of evolutionarycomputations for binaries with a B type primary at birth. Some liberalcomputations including loss of mass and angular momentum during binaryevolution are added to an extensive grid of conservative calculations.Our computations are compared statistically to the observeddistributions of orbital periods and mass ratios of Algols. ConservativeRoche Lobe Over Flow (RLOF) reproduces the observed distribution oforbital periods but fails to explain the observed mass ratios in therange q in [0.4-1]. In order to obtain a better fit the binaries have tolose a significant amount of matter, without losing much angularmomentum.
| Interstellar Ca II Line Intensities and the Distances of the OB stars
We show that the equivalent widths of the well-known interstellar Ca IIH and K lines can be used to determine the distances to OB stars in ourGalaxy. The equivalent widths, measured in the spectra of 147 early-typestars, are strongly related to the Hipparcos parallaxes of thoseobjects. The lines fitted to the parallax-equivalent width data aregiven by the formulae π=1/[2.78EW(K)+95] and π=1/[4.58EW(H)+102],where π is in arcseconds and EW is in milliangstroms. The form of theformulae, yielding a finite parallax even for zero absorption, showsthat space within ~100 pc of the Sun contains very little Ca II, whichis in agreement with the known dimensions of the Local Bubble. Using CaII lines for distance determination does not require the knowledge ofthe absolute magnitude of the object; it is thus well suited for targetsfor which the absolute calibration is either not precise (OBsupergiants) or not available at all (peculiar objects). We alsodemonstrate that neither the reddening E(B-V) nor the equivalent widthsof interstellar K I and CH lines are suitable candidates for distanceestimation, their relation with parallaxes being far less tight than forCa II.
| Observed Orbital Eccentricities
For 391 spectroscopic and visual binaries with known orbital elementsand having B0-F0 IV or V primaries, we collected the derivedeccentricities. As has been found by others, those binaries with periodsof a few days have been circularized. However, those with periods up toabout 1000 or more days show reduced eccentricities that asymptoticallyapproach a mean value of 0.5 for the longest periods. For those binarieswith periods greater than 1000 days their distribution of eccentricitiesis flat from 0 to nearly 1, indicating that in the formation of binariesthere is no preferential eccentricity. The binaries with intermediateperiods (10-100 days) lack highly eccentric orbits.
| Herbig Ae/Be Stars in nearby OB Associations
We have carried out a study of the early-type stars in nearby OBassociations spanning an age range of ~3-16 Myr, with the aim ofdetermining the fraction of stars that belong to the Herbig Ae/Be class.We studied the B, A, and F stars in the nearby (<=500 pc) OBassociations Upper Scorpius, Perseus OB2, Lacerta OB1, and Orion OB1,with membership determined from Hipparcos data. We also included in ourstudy the early-type stars in the Trumpler 37 cluster, part of the CepOB2 association. We obtained spectra for 440 Hipparcos stars in theseassociations, from which we determined accurate spectral types, visualextinctions, effective temperatures, luminosities and masses, usingHipparcos photometry. Using colors corrected for reddening, we find thatthe Herbig Ae/Be stars and the classical Be (CBe) stars occupy clearlydifferent regions in the JHK diagram. Thus, we use the location on theJHK diagram, as well as the presence of emission lines and of strong 12μm flux relative to the visual, to identify the Herbig Ae/Be stars inthe associations. We find that the Herbig Ae/Be stars constitute a smallfraction of the early-type stellar population even in the youngerassociations. Comparing the data from associations with different agesand assuming that the near-infrared excess in the Herbig Ae/Be starsarises from optically thick dusty inner disks, we determined theevolution of the inner disk frequency with age. We find that the innerdisk frequency in the age range 3-10 Myr in intermediate-mass stars islower than that in the low-mass stars (<1 Msolar) inparticular, it is a factor of ~10 lower at ~3 Myr. This indicates thatthe timescales for disk evolution are much shorter in theintermediate-mass stars, which could be a consequence of more efficientmechanisms of inner disk dispersal (viscous evolution, dust growth, andsettling toward the midplane).
| B Star Rotational Velocities in h and χ Persei: A Probe of Initial Conditions during the Star Formation Epoch?
Projected rotational velocities (vsini) have been measured for 216 B0-B9stars in the rich, dense h and χ Persei double cluster and comparedwith the distribution of rotational velocities for a sample of fieldstars having comparable ages (t~12-15 Myr) and masses (M~4-15Msolar). For stars that are relatively little evolved fromtheir initial locations on the zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) (those withmasses M~4-5 Msolar), the mean vsini measured for the h andχ Per sample is slightly more than 2 times larger than the meandetermined for field stars of comparable mass, and the cluster and fieldvsini distributions differ with a high degree of significance. Forsomewhat more evolved stars with masses in the range 5-9Msolar, the mean vsini in h and χ Per is 1.5 times thatof the field; the vsini distributions differ as well, but with a lowerdegree of statistical significance. For stars that have evolvedsignificantly from the ZAMS and are approaching the hydrogen exhaustionphase (those with masses in the range 9-15 Msolar), thecluster and field star means and distributions are only slightlydifferent. We argue that both the higher rotation rates and the patternof rotation speeds as a function of mass that differentiatemain-sequence B stars in h and χ Per from their field analogs werelikely imprinted during the star formation process rather than a resultof angular momentum evolution over the 12-15 Myr cluster lifetime. Wespeculate that these differences may reflect the effects of the higheraccretion rates that theory suggests are characteristic of regions thatgive birth to dense clusters, namely, (1) higher initial rotationspeeds; (2) higher initial radii along the stellar birth line, resultingin greater spin-up between the birth line and the ZAMS; and (3) a morepronounced maximum in the birth line radius-mass relationship thatresults in differentially greater spin-up for stars that become mid- tolate-B stars on the ZAMS.
| The VLT-FLAMES survey of massive stars: Observations in the Galactic clusters NGC 3293, NGC 4755 and NGC 6611
We introduce a new survey of massive stars in the Galaxy and theMagellanic Clouds using the Fibre Large Array Multi-Element Spectrograph(FLAMES) instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). Here we presentobservations of 269 Galactic stars with the FLAMES-Giraffe Spectrograph(R ≃ 25 000), in fields centered on the open clusters NGC 3293,NGC 4755 and NGC 6611. These data are supplemented by a further 50targets observed with the Fibre-Fed Extended Range Optical Spectrograph(FEROS, R = 48 000). Following a description of our scientificmotivations and target selection criteria, the data reduction methodsare described; of critical importance the FLAMES reduction pipeline isfound to yield spectra that are in excellent agreement with lessautomated methods. Spectral classifications and radial velocitymeasurements are presented for each star, with particular attention paidto morphological peculiarities and evidence of binarity. Theseobservations represent a significant increase in the known spectralcontent of NGC 3293 and NGC 4755, and will serve as standards againstwhich our subsequent FLAMES observations in the Magellanic Clouds willbe compared.
| Correlations between diffuse interstellar bands and atomic lines
We present and discuss correlations between strengths of the well-known,strong interstellar atomic lines of KI and CaII, and four selected,strong unidentified diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs): 5780, 5797, 5850and 6614. In order to analyse a homogeneous sample of echellehigh-resolution spectra it has been chosen to use measurements fromTerskol Observatory in Northern Caucasus plus a selected number ofhigher resolution observations performed using other instruments. Wedemonstrate that the strength of certain DIBs correlate well withneutral potassium lines and to a much lower degree with ionized calciumlines. This fact suggests that the degree of irradiation of a cloud withUV photons, capable to ionize interstellar atoms, plays a crucial rolein the formation/maintenance of certain molecular species: possiblecarriers of DIBs.
| Tidal Effects in Binaries of Various Periods
We found in the published literature the rotational velocities for 162B0-B9.5, 152 A0-A5, and 86 A6-F0 stars, all of luminosity classes V orIV, that are in spectroscopic or visual binaries with known orbitalelements. The data show that stars in binaries with periods of less thanabout 4 days have synchronized rotational and orbital motions. Stars inbinaries with periods of more than about 500 days have the samerotational velocities as single stars. However, the primaries inbinaries with periods of between 4 and 500 days have substantiallysmaller rotational velocities than single stars, implying that they havelost one-third to two-thirds of their angular momentum, presumablybecause of tidal interactions. The angular momentum losses increase withdecreasing binary separations or periods and increase with increasingage or decreasing mass.
| Observations of Star-Forming Regions with the Midcourse Space Experiment
We have imaged seven nearby star-forming regions, the Rosette Nebula,the Orion Nebula, W3, the Pleiades, G300.2-16.8, S263, and G159.6-18.5,with the Spatial Infrared Imaging Telescope on the Midcourse SpaceExperiment (MSX) satellite at 18" resolution at 8.3, 12.1, 14.7, and21.3 μm. The large angular scale of the regions imaged (~7.2-50deg2) makes these data unique in terms of the combination ofsize and resolution. In addition to the star-forming regions, twocirrus-free fields (MSXBG 160 and MSXBG 161) and a field near the southGalactic pole (MSXBG 239) were also imaged. Point sources have beenextracted from each region, resulting in the identification over 500 newsources (i.e., no identified counterparts at other wavelengths), as wellas over 1300 with prior identifications. The extended emission from thestar-forming regions is described, and prominent structures areidentified, particularly in W3 and Orion. The Rosette Nebula isdiscussed in detail. The bulk of the mid-infrared emission is consistentwith that of photon-dominated regions, including the elephant trunkcomplex. The central clump, however, and a line of site toward thenorthern edge of the cavity show significantly redder colors than therest of the Rosette complex.
| Radial velocities of early-type stars in the Perseus OB2 association
We present radial velocities for 29 B- and A-type stars in the field ofthe nearby association Perseus OB2. The velocities are derived fromspectra obtained with AURELIE, via cross correlation with radialvelocity standards matched as closely as possible in spectral type. Theresulting accuracy is ~ 2-3 km s-1. We use thesemeasurements, together with published values for a few other early-typestars, to study membership of the association. The mean radial velocity(and measured velocity dispersion) of Per OB2 is 23.5 +/- 3.9 kms-1, and lies ~ 15 km s-1 away from the meanvelocity of the local disk field stars. We identify a number ofinterlopers in the list of possible late-B- and A-type members which wasbased on Hipparcos parallaxes and proper motions, and discuss thecolour-magnitude diagram of the association.Based on observations made at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence (CNRS),France.
| Interferometric Observations of the H II Region Around xi Per
Not Available
| Rotational Velocities of B Stars
We measured the projected rotational velocities of 1092 northern B starslisted in the Bright Star Catalogue (BSC) and calibrated them againstthe 1975 Slettebak et al. system. We found that the published values ofB dwarfs in the BSC average 27% higher than those standards. Only 0.3%of the stars have rotational velocities in excess of two-thirds of thebreakup velocities, and the mean velocity is only 25% of breakup,implying that impending breakup is not a significant factor in reducingrotational velocities. For the B8-B9.5 III-V stars the bimodaldistribution in V can be explained by a set of slowly rotating Ap starsand a set of rapidly rotating normal stars. For the B0-B5 III-V starsthat include very few peculiar stars, the distributions in V are notbimodal. Are the low rotational velocities of B stars due to theoccurrence of frequent low-mass companions, planets, or disks? Therotational velocities of giants originating from late B dwarfs areconsistent with their conservation of angular momentum in shells.However, we are puzzled by why the giants that originate from the earlyB dwarfs, despite having 3 times greater radii, have nearly the samerotational velocities. We find that all B-type primaries in binarieswith periods less than 2.4 days have synchronized rotational and orbitalmotions; those with periods between 2.4 and 5.0 days are rotating withina factor 2 of synchronization or are ``nearly synchronized.'' Thecorresponding period ranges for A-type stars are 4.9 and 10.5 days, ortwice as large. We found that the rotational velocities of the primariesare synchronized earlier than their orbits are circularized. The maximumorbital period for circularized B binaries is 1.5 days and for Abinaries is 2.5 days. For stars of various ages from 107.5 to1010.2 yr the maximum circularized periods are a smoothexponential function of age.
| Speckle Interferometry at the US Naval Observatory. VIII.
The results of 2044 speckle interferometric observations of doublestars, made with the 26 inch (66 cm) refractor of the US NavalObservatory, are presented. Each speckle interferometric observation ofa system represents a combination of over a thousand short-exposureimages. These observations are averaged into 1399 mean positions andrange in separation from 0.16" to 14.97", with a mean separation of2.51". This is the eighth in a series of papers presenting measuresobtained with this system and covers the period 2001 March 18 through2001 December 30.
| Photometric Monitoring of Bright Be Stars. IV. 1996-1999
We report long-term UBV observations of 15 bright, active Be stars,namely: X Persei, EW Canis Majoris, θ Coronae Borealis, 4 (V839)Herculis, 88 (V744) Herculis, 66 (V2048) Ophiuchi, NW Serpentis, CXDraconis, 12 (V395) Vulpeculae, 28 (V1624) Cygni, QR Vulpeculae, 59(V832) Cygni, EW Lacertae, ο Andromedae, and KX Andromedae. Theobservations were made in 1996-1999 through the Automatic PhotometricTelescope Service in Arizona and through the American Association ofVariable Star Observers (AAVSO) photoelectric photometry program andhave been added to a database extending back 20 years. We describe thestars' recent behavior and also comment on the long-term behavior ofsome of them. They vary photometrically on timescales ranging from abouta day to many years.
| Interstellar CO towards X Persei (HD 24534) - II. Two-component model
The observations made by the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS)aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) of molecular CO in absorbing gastowards X Persei are reported. The two-component statistical equilibriummodel incorporating radiative excitation of CO by line emission at thesame velocity that originates in nearby molecular clouds has been usedto reproduce high-resolution GHRS spectra. Earlier analysis indicatesthat the cloud has a complex structure and at least a two-componentmodel should be used to obtain accurate results. The spectra obtainedfrom the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) were used tocomplement GHRS data and constrain the space of possible solutions. Thenew oscillator strengths recommended by Eidelsberg et al. for A-X bandshave been used. The results show that one of the components may beattributed to the Perseus OB2 molecular cloud, and the other componentto an extension of the Taurus dark cloud. The total CO column densityN(CO)=(1.0+/-0.2)×1016cm-2 has beendetermined. According to the results about 85per cent of the observed CObelongs to an extension of the Taurus dark cloud. The CO radiation thatoriginates in nearby molecular clouds may be the dominant excitationmechanism of the observed CO. The early results of 13CO lineanalysis indicate a 13CO/12CO ratio of about 40.
| Interstellar CO towards X Persei (HD 24534) - I. One-component model
Data on molecular CO in absorbing gas towards X Per, from theInternational Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) and the echelle mode of theGoddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) aboard the Hubble SpaceTelescope, are reported. A statistical equilibrium model is used torecreate equivalent widths of CO bands and reproduce high-resolutionGHRS spectra. The CO column densityN(CO)=(1.0+/-0.2)x1016cm-2] is determined by theapproximation of observed GHRS high-resolution spectra. The result isrepeated using equivalent widths of CO bands (the IUE and GHRS data).The cloud pressure (Pk~2500+/-500Kcm-3) and full width athalf-maximum (FWHM) of the line profile of the cloud(ΔV=1.6+/-0.2kms-1) are obtained by approximation ofGHRS spectra. Synthetic spectra are created and compared with GHRSspectra. The data show that the cloud has more complex structure, and atleast a two-component approximation should be used to obtain moreaccurate results.
| The Perseus B5 Molecular Cloud Halo: Measurements of Pressure, Temperature, and Composition
We present GHRS observations of interstellar C I and CO toward threestars located in the direction of the Perseus region near the B5molecular cloud and discuss these together with published results from afourth sight line. The column densities of the three fine-structurelevels of C I are used together with ground-based optical data andpublished ultraviolet data to yield several properties of the gas alongthe stellar sight lines. The selected stars probe gas located in theneutral envelope surrounding the dense molecular cloud. The gas pressureis tightly constrained by our observations, yielding a value of ~2200 Kcm^-3 in the vicinity of B5, somewhat higher than in the surroundinginterstellar medium. We also present estimates of the kinetictemperature, based on observations of H_2 and C_2, yielding 20-60 K inthe vicinity of B5. Together with the pressure determination, thisimplies a local gas density of 35-100 cm^-3, very close to that whichwould be implied by the observed H_2 column density assuming a fillingfactor of unity. This result provides additional support to the notionthat the gas is part of an extensive, uniform gaseous halo surroundingthe B5 cloud. The combination of temperature and pressure suggests thatthe diffuse gas may be part of a general outflow from the densemolecular cloud.
| On the Expansion of Stellar Association Per OB2
Not Available
| A HIPPARCOS Census of the Nearby OB Associations
A comprehensive census of the stellar content of the OB associationswithin 1 kpc from the Sun is presented, based on Hipparcos positions,proper motions, and parallaxes. It is a key part of a long-term projectto study the formation, structure, and evolution of nearby young stellargroups and related star-forming regions. OB associations are unbound``moving groups,'' which can be detected kinematically because of theirsmall internal velocity dispersion. The nearby associations have a largeextent on the sky, which traditionally has limited astrometricmembership determination to bright stars (V<~6 mag), with spectraltypes earlier than ~B5. The Hipparcos measurements allow a majorimprovement in this situation. Moving groups are identified in theHipparcos Catalog by combining de Bruijne's refurbished convergent pointmethod with the ``Spaghetti method'' of Hoogerwerf & Aguilar.Astrometric members are listed for 12 young stellar groups, out to adistance of ~650 pc. These are the three subgroups Upper Scorpius, UpperCentaurus Lupus, and Lower Centaurus Crux of Sco OB2, as well as VelOB2, Tr 10, Col 121, Per OB2, alpha Persei (Per OB3), Cas-Tau, Lac OB1,Cep OB2, and a new group in Cepheus, designated as Cep OB6. Theselection procedure corrects the list of previously known astrometricand photometric B- and A-type members in these groups and identifiesmany new members, including a significant number of F stars, as well asevolved stars, e.g., the Wolf-Rayet stars gamma^2 Vel (WR 11) in Vel OB2and EZ CMa (WR 6) in Col 121, and the classical Cepheid delta Cep in CepOB6. Membership probabilities are given for all selected stars. MonteCarlo simulations are used to estimate the expected number of interloperfield stars. In the nearest associations, notably in Sco OB2, thelater-type members include T Tauri objects and other stars in the finalpre-main-sequence phase. This provides a firm link between the classicalhigh-mass stellar content and ongoing low-mass star formation. Detailedstudies of these 12 groups, and their relation to the surroundinginterstellar medium, will be presented elsewhere. Astrometric evidencefor moving groups in the fields of R CrA, CMa OB1, Mon OB1, Ori OB1, CamOB1, Cep OB3, Cep OB4, Cyg OB4, Cyg OB7, and Sct OB2, is inconclusive.OB associations do exist in many of these regions, but they are eitherat distances beyond ~500 pc where the Hipparcos parallaxes are oflimited use, or they have unfavorable kinematics, so that the groupproper motion does not distinguish it from the field stars in theGalactic disk. The mean distances of the well-established groups aresystematically smaller than the pre-Hipparcos photometric estimates.While part of this may be caused by the improved membership lists, arecalibration of the upper main sequence in the Hertzsprung-Russelldiagram may be called for. The mean motions display a systematicpattern, which is discussed in relation to the Gould Belt. Six of the 12detected moving groups do not appear in the classical list of nearby OBassociations. This is sometimes caused by the absence of O stars, but inother cases a previously known open cluster turns out to be (part of) anextended OB association. The number of unbound young stellar groups inthe solar neighborhood may be significantly larger than thoughtpreviously.
| The nature of visual components in 82 multiple systems.
Not Available
| Multi-color Polarimetry of the Dust Disk Candidate BD+31 degrees 643
The tentative detection of a dust disk around the main-sequence star BD+31 deg643 was recently announced by Kalas & Jewitt and representsonly the second such object ever to be imaged. Here, we presentmultiband visual polarimetry of this object. Our single-aperturepolarimetry also strongly suggests the presence of a disk. We find thatthe poles of the disk are oriented parallel to the polarization of themajority of background sources in the region and, hence, probably to themagnetic field in the cloud, as would be expected from star formationtheory. The polarization observed toward BD +31 deg643 can be modeled asa combination of Rayleigh scattering from material in the polar regionsof the disk and a term due to the disk itself.
| Rotational Excitation of CO in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium: Effects of Line Emission from Dense Molecular Clouds
We discuss a somewhat neglected interstellar rotational excitationmechanism that may be significant for CO in diffuse gas (n_{{tot}}<=300 cm-3). Where such gas is found in the vicinity of adense interstellar cloud, we show that molecular excitation in thediffuse gas may be dominated by spectral line photons emitted by thedenser material. We illustrate the mechanism analytically for a simpletwo-level case and present the numerical results from a multilevelcalculation. In all six of six sight lines that we analyze, it isplausible that the observed rotational excitation results from radiativeexcitation, so there is no compelling evidence that collisions play animportant role. Therefore, densities derived under the assumption ofpurely collisional excitation would give incorrect (too large) values.Line-of-sight analyses of CO excitation can be (and have been)misinterpreted because of neglect of this contribution to radiativeexcitation. Similar situations can arise whenever there is a smallcontinuum opacity and a large contrast of gas density within, or around,an interstellar cloud. It is a situation in which the often-used Sobolev(or large-scale velocity gradient) approximation simply does not apply.
| MSC - a catalogue of physical multiple stars
The MSC catalogue contains data on 612 physical multiple stars ofmultiplicity 3 to 7 which are hierarchical with few exceptions. Orbitalperiods, angular separations and mass ratios are estimated for eachsub-system. Orbital elements are given when available. The catalogue canbe accessed through CDS (Strasbourg). Half of the systems are within 100pc from the Sun. The comparison of the periods of close and widesub-systems reveals that there is no preferred period ratio and allpossible combinations of periods are found. The distribution of thelogarithms of short periods is bimodal, probably due to observationalselection. In 82\% of triple stars the close sub-system is related tothe primary of a wide pair. However, the analysis of mass ratiodistribution gives some support to the idea that component masses areindependently selected from the Salpeter mass function. Orbits of wideand close sub-systems are not always coplanar, although thecorresponding orbital angular momentum vectors do show a weak tendencyof alignment. Some observational programs based on the MSC aresuggested. Tables 2 and 3 are only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Rotational Velocity Determinations for 164 Be and B Stars
Rotational velocities, v sin i, have been obtained for 96 Be and 68normal B stars by measurements of the FWHM of the He I lambda-4471 line(for spectral types B0-B4.5) and Mg II lambda-4481 (for types B5-B9.5).The consistency of various published sources is examined. (SECTION:Stars)
| A Catalogue of Correlations Between Eclipsing Binaries and Other Categories of Double Stars
Among the 9110 stars in The Bright Star Catalogue, there are 225eclipsing or ellipsoidal variables. A search has been made for these incatalogues of spectroscopic binaries, visual double or multiple stars,speckle interferometry, occulation binaries, and galatic clusters. Themajority of the photometric binaries are also members of groups ofhigher multiplicity. The variables are in systems ranging from one to 91stars, five on the average. 199 are either spectroscopic binaries (SB)or stars with variable radial velocity, with orbital periods known for160. Photometric periods are lacking for 48 while SB periods areavailable for 23 of these. Observers with photoelectric equipment areencouraged to plan observations to test if the SB periods are consistentwith photometric data. Observers are likewise encouraged to examinethose stars for which the photometric and SB periods appear to beinconsistent. Parallaxes are available for 86 of the stars, 41 of themindicating distances nearer than 50 parsecs.
| The ROSAT all-sky survey catalogue of optically bright OB-type stars.
For the detailed statistical analysis of the X-ray emission of hot starswe selected all stars of spectral type O and B listed in the Yale BrightStar Catalogue and searched for them in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey. Inthis paper we describe the selection and preparation of the data andpresent a compilation of the derived X-ray data for a complete sample ofbright OB stars.
| Mesures et decouvertes d'etoiles doubles effectuees a la lunette de 50cm de l'Observatoire de Nice. Measures and discoveries of visual double stars made with the 50cm refractor at the Nice Observatory.
Measures and discoveries of visual double stars made at the Observatoirede la Cote d'Azur at Nice, between 1988 and 1994, with the 50cmrefractor equipped with a filar micrometer and electronic recordingdevice. The programs proposed by J. Dommanget involve the complement ofthe C.C.D.M. (resolving problems of identification of double stars andof coherency in the Index) and the INput CAtalog Hipparcos (resolutionof ambiguities on the binarity and on the position of certain doublestars which have seldom or never been observed again from the epoch ortheir discovery). The author has discovered three new binaries: JCT1,JCT2 and JCT3.
| Two partially overlapping clouds of different optical properties in the Perseus OB2 association.
The paper considers the properties of H I clouds seen in front of thetwo "arms" of the giant CO complex observed in Perseus (Per OB2association - see Fig. 1). The clouds observed towards both "arms" showstriking differences in the pattern of interstellar absorptions: theshapes of the extinction curves derived from vacuum-UV photometric andspectroscopic data, the strength ratio of the two major diffuseinterstellar bands: 5780 and 5797 and, probably in the strengths ofmolecular features. The diffuse band ratio which varies across the PerOB2 association suggests, together with the varying widths of sodiumlines, that two, partially overlapping clouds, differing strongly in theoptical properties, are situated towards the aggregate. Only towards oneof the "arms" we observe the absorption features of simple, interstellarmolecules such as CN or CH. The results suggest that at least theperipheral layers of giant molecular clouds, giving birth to OBassociations, are not well-mixed, containing thus H I clouds ofdifferent provenience. The hypothesis that giant clouds are formed bygathering diffuse interstellar clouds gets support.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Persée |
| Right ascension: | 03h47m52.60s |
| Declination: | +33°36'00.0" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 6.57 |
| Distance: | 380.228 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | 2.7 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -11.5 |
| B-T magnitude: | 6.698 |
| V-T magnitude: | 6.684 |
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