New runaway OB stars with HIPPARCOS
A Monte Carlo method for detection of runaway OB stars fromobservational data is proposed. 61 runaway OB star candidates have beendetected by an analysis of Hipparcos proper motions. The peculiartangential and total transverse velocities have been determined forthese stars. A list of the detected runaway star candidates ispresented. The evidence of a discrepancy between photometric andparallactic distances of runaway OB star candidates is presented.
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Young Stars far from the Galactic Plane: Runaways from Clusters
Quite recently, a significant number of OB stars far from the galacticplane have been found, situated at z-distances ranging from severalhundreds of pc to several kpc. The short lifetimes of these stars poseproblems for their interpretation in terms of the standard picture ofstar formation. Different mechanisms have been put forward to explainthe existence of these stars, either within the conventional view, orpostulating star formation in the galactic halo itself. These mechanismsrange from arguing that they are misidentified evolved or abnormalstars, to postulating powerful ejection mechanisms for young disk stars;in situ formation also admits several variants. We have collected fromthe literature a list of young stars far from the plane, for which theevidence of youth seems convincing. We discuss two possible formationmechanisms for these stars: ejection from the plane as the result ofdynamical evolution of small clusters (Poveda et al. 1967) and in situformation, via induced shocks created by spiral density waves (Martos etal. 1999). We compute galactic orbits for these stars, and identify thestars that could be explained by one or the other mechanism. We findthat about 90 percent of the stars can be accounted for by the clusterejection mechanism, that is, they can be regarded as runaway stars inthe galactic halo.
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A New Measurement of the Average Far-Ultraviolet Extinction Curve
We have measured the extinction curve in the far-ultraviolet wavelengthregion of (900-1200 Å) using spectra obtained with the BerkeleyEUV/FUV spectrometer during the ORFEUS I and the ORFEUS II (Orbiting andRetrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer) missions in 1993and 1996. From the complete sample of early-type stars observed duringthese missions, we have selected pairs of stars with the same spectraltype but different reddenings to measure the differential FUVextinction. We model the effects of molecular hydrogen absorption andexclude affected regions of the spectrum to determine the extinctionfrom dust alone. We minimize errors from inaccuracies in the catalogedspectral types of the stars by making our own determinations of spectraltypes based on their IUE spectra. We find substantial scatter in thecurves of individual star pairs and present a detailed examination ofthe uncertainties and their effects on each extinction curve. We findthat, given the potentially large uncertainties inherent in using thepair method at FUV wavelengths, a careful analysis of measurementuncertainties is critical to assessing the true dust extinction. Wepresent a new measurement of the average far-ultraviolet extinctioncurve to the Lyman limit; our new measurement is consistent with anextrapolation of the standard extinction curve of Savage & Mathis.
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ORFEUS II echelle spectra: The scale height of interstellar O VI in the halo
FUV high resolution spectra of 18 stars, particularly chosen to observethe interstellar medium (ISM), were obtained during the secondORFEUS-SPAS free flight space shuttle mission in December 1996. Amongthese were 6 objects with a distance to the galactic plane larger than 1kpc, one SMC and 4 LMC stars. This selction of targets is part of theORFEUS program to explore the galactic halo. As the most importanttracer of the hot gas we analyzed the stronger component of theimportant O vi\ doublet in all our ISM spectra. We found an average N(Ovi)x sin |b| of ~ 3.5 x 10(14) cm(-2) on the lines of sight to the 4 LMCstars. Assuming an exponential distribution of O vi\ we calculated amidplane density n0 of 2.07(+0.26}_{-0.24) x 10(-8) cm(-3)and a scale height h0 of 5.50(+2.37}_{-2.09) kpc.
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Supplementary southern standards for UBV(RI)c photometry
We present UBV(RI)c photometry for 80 southern red and blue stars foruse as additional standards. The data are tied to the Johnson UBV andCousins (RI)c systems and extend the range of the available stars forcolor equation determination, especially in (U-B) for blue stars and(V-R) and (V-I) for red stars. Comparisons with published data are madeand particularly good agreement is found with Bessell for the red(Gliese) stars.
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Coronal Gas in the Halo. II. ORFEUS Observations of Galactic Halo Stars
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1996ApJ...465..296H&db_key=AST
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Star Formation in the Galactic Halo
Not Available
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The origin of distant B-type stars in the galactic halo
Model atmosphere analyses of seven high-latitude faint blue stars revealthem to be normal Population I objects at typical z-distances of 4 kpcor more. A comparison of the stellar ages with the time that would berequired to reach their present locations following ejection from thedisk shows that the four objects, PB 5418, TS 195, TS 308, and PHL 2018could have formed in the disk. The most likely ejection mechanismappears to be close gravitational encounters within stellar clusters, inagreement with previous results (Conlon et al., 1990). The kinematics ofthe remaining three stars (SB 357, BD - 15 deg 115, and BD - 2 deg 3766)are further investigated, together with those of five high-latitudeB-type stars that appear to have formed in the halo, to establish ifdisk ejection is possible. For three stars (SB 357, PG 0832 + 676, andBD - 15 deg 115), star formation in the halo is the only feasibleexplanation.
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The runaway nature of distant early-type stars in the galactic halo
The kinematics of a sample of 32 distant halo B-stars with masses in therange 3-21 solar masses are investigated using the current 'runawaystar' hypotheses to establish if they belong to this group of stars.Whether postmass transfer secondaries in evolved massive close binariescan be normal low mass B-stars is discussed, but support for this ideais not found. Thus it appears that the lower mass stars could not havebeen ejected out of the disk as a result of supernova explosions inmassive close binaries, while the higher mass objects do not in generalreveal a binary nature as expected from this theory. The results ofrecent N-body simulations of the purely dynamical ejection of runawaystars from young galactic star clusters are in excellent agreement withthe observations. Thus it appears that these halo stars are the mostdistant subgroup of OB runaways produced by cluster ejection yetobserved.
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Runaway stars from young star clusters containing initial binaries. II - A mass spectrum and a binary energy spectrum
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1990AJ.....99..608L&db_key=AST
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Broad-band photometry of selected southern ultraviolet-bright stars.
Not Available
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The kinematics of Milky Way halo gas. I - Observations of low-ionization species
Ultraviolet interstellar line day observed with the IUE toward 70 halostars and four extragalactic sight lines are analyzed in a study of thelarge-scale kinematic properties of the Milky Way halo gas. The motionsof the low-ionization gas is focused on. Large systematic velocities arefound, and a pronounced asymmetry in the absorption characteristics ofhalo gas toward the Galactic poles is indicated. In the north,substantial amounts of material are falling toward the disk atvelocities up to about 120 km/s in the most extreme case. Toward thesouth, low-ionization material shows no extreme or systematic motions.
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Interstellar CA II absorption toward early-type stars at high Galactic latitudes
New high resolution AAT and INT observations of the Ca II 3933 Åinterstellar line towards nine early-type stars at high galacticlatitudes are presented. These are combined with the authors' earlierAAT data to investigate the distribution of Ca II in the galactic halo.A comparison of these results with Ca II equivalent widths forextragalactic sightlines implies that there is a significant amount ofthis ion out to z ≅ 1 kpc, but not much beyond z ≅ 2 kpc. Nocoincident high velocity Ca II absorption is detected in the spectra ofstars near known high velocity clouds (HVC). Although this may indicatethat the HVCs are either at greater distances than the stars or haveangular extents smaller than the separations of the stellar and HVCsightlines, it is also possible that they are nearby but contain toolittle Ca II to produce an observable absorption line.
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Observations of early-type stars at high galactic latitudes
Using equivalent widths and line profiles measured from high resolutionAAT spectra in conjunction with model atmosphere calculations, it isshown that a sample of eleven high galactic latitude early-type starsare normal, distant objects. Stellar velocities in the z-directiondetermined from the spectra, coupled with the galactic gravitationalfield g(z), allow the times the stars would have taken to reach theirpresent positions if they were ejected from the disc to be derived. Acomparison of these times with the evolutionary ages indicate that atleast four of the stars have been formed in situ, possibly from galacticfountain material.
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The galactic reddening law - The evidence from uvby-beta photometry of B stars
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1985A&A...142..189T&db_key=AST
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A survey of ultraviolet objects
An all-sky survey of ultraviolet objects is presented together with astatistical analysis that leads to the conclusion that there is asignificantly higher population of hot subdwarfs lying below themain-sequence than hitherto thought. The distribution of all ultravioletobjects, main sequence ultraviolet objects, and MK unclassifiedultraviolet objects are shown in galactic coordinates, and the absolutemagnitudes and color-color diagrams for these groups are presented.Scale heights are derived, giving values similar to planetary nebulaefor the hottest groups.
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A study of interstellar absorption at high galactic latitudes. I - Highly ionized gas
IUE interstellar absorption line data for C IV, Si IV, N V and Fe II, ina sample of 24 distant, early-type stars at high galactic latitudes, areanalyzed with other published results in order to study the distributionand physical conditions of highly ionized gas in the halo of the Galaxy.The C IV and Si IV lines, which are detected in front of approximatelytwo-thirds of the stars observed, are significantly stronger that thoseobserved in the spectra of disk stars of similar spectral types, andtheir velocities show no correlation with the velocities of thebackground stars. The observed variation of the column densities of C(3+) and Si (3+) with distance z from the plane is consistent with thesuggested existence of a Galactic transition layer between cool gas inthe disk and outer halo regions at temperatures greater than thoseobservable with IUE. Attention is drawn to the fact that the observed C(3+)/Si (3+) ratio may be a characteristic signature of hot gas ingalactic halos.
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On the apparent normality of O and B stars far from the galactic plane
Results of a search for subluminosity or other peculiarities in thespectra of apparently normal OB stars located at large distances fromthe galactic plane are presented. Photographic spectrograms werecompared for stars of type B5 and earlier located within 0.5 kpc of andfurther than 1.5 kpc from the galactic plane, and for three subdwarfstars. Values of the projected axial rotation, surface gravity, absolutemagnitude and the strengths of certain He I and Balmer lines determinedfor both groups of OB stars are found to be similar, and distinct fromthe spectral characteristics of the subdwarfs. The results suggest that,unless the normality of the distant OB stars is illusory, either OBstars can be formed outside the galactic plane, or a mechanism mustexist to eject them from the plane with large velocities, unless theirmain sequence lifetimes are substantially longer than currentlybelieved.
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Four-colour and H beta photometry of southern B stars at high galactic latitudes
Four-color and H beta photometry has been obtained for 105 early-type HDstars with galactic latitudes less than -45 deg. They are mostly late Bstars of luminosity class V to III. Two new Am stars and several Ap orBp stars are detected photometrically. Absolute magnitudes aredetermined from the photometry and from MK types where available. Theinterstellar reddening of many of the more distant stars is very small,suggesting either the existence of undetected peculiar stars in thesample or that there are areas of effectively zero reddening at highsouthern galactic latitudes.
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