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Shocked Clouds in the Vela Supernova Remnant
Unusually strong high-excitation C I has been detected in 11 lines ofsight through the Vela supernova remnant (SNR) by means of UV absorptionline studies of IUE data. Most of these lines of sight lie near thewestern edge of the bright X-ray region of the SNR in a spatiallydistinct band approximately 1° by 4° oriented approximatelynorth-south. The high-excitation C I (denoted C I* and C I**) isinterpreted as evidence of a complex of shocked dense clouds interactingwith the SNR, because of the high pressures indicated in this region. Tofurther analyze the properties of this region of enhanced C I* and CI**, we present new HIRES-processed IRAS data of the entire Vela SNR. Atemperature map calculated from the HIRES IRAS data, based on atwo-component dust model, reveals the signature of hot dust at severallocations in the SNR. The hot dust is anticorrelated spatially withX-ray emission, as would be expected for a dusty medium interacting witha shock wave. The regions of hot dust are strongly correlated withoptical filaments, supporting a scenario of dense clouds interior to theSNR that have been shocked and are now cooling behind the supernovablast wave. With few exceptions, the lines of sight to the stronghigh-excitation C I pass through regions of hot dust and opticalfilaments. Possible mechanisms for the production of the unexpectedlylarge columns of high-excitation C I are discussed. Dense clouds on theback western hemisphere of the remnant may explain the relatively lowX-ray emission in the western portion of the Vela SNR due to the slowerforward shock velocity in regions where the shock has encountered thedense clouds. An alternate explanation for the presence of ground-stateand excited-state neutrals, as well as ionized species, along the sameline of sight is a magnetic precursor that heats and compresses the gasahead of the shock.
| Spectroscopy and Time Variability of Absorption Lines in the Direction of the Vela Supernova Remnant
We present high-resolution (R~75,000), high signal-to-noise (S/N~100) CaII λ3933.663 and Na I λλ5889.951, 5895.924 spectraof 68 stars in the direction of the Vela supernova remnant. The spectracomprise the most complete high-resolution, high S/N optical survey ofearly-type stars in this region of the sky. A subset of the sight lineshas been observed at multiple epochs, 1993/1994 and 1996. Of the 13stars observed twice, seven have spectra revealing changes in theequivalent width and/or velocity structure of lines, most of which arisefrom remnant gas. Such time variability has been reported previously forthe sight lines toward HD 72089 and HD 72997 by Danks & Sembach andfor HD 72127 by Hobbs and coworkers. We have confirmed the ongoing timevariability of these spectra and present new evidence of variability inthe spectra of HD 73658, HD 74455, HD 75309, and HD 75821. We havetabulated Na I and Ca II absorption-line information for the sight linesin our sample to serve as a benchmark for further investigations of thedynamics and evolution of the Vela SNR. Based on observations obtainedat the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile.
| The Distance to the VELA Supernova Remnant
We have obtained high-resolution Ca II and Na I absorption-line spectratoward 68 OB stars in the direction of the Vela supernova remnant. Thestars lie at distances of 190-2800 pc as determined by Hipparcos andspectroscopic parallax estimations. The presence of high-velocityabsorption attributable to the remnant along some of the sight linesconstrains the remnant distance to 250+/-30 pc. This distance isconsistent with several recent investigations that suggest that thecanonical remnant distance of 500 pc is too large.
| 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.
| Bright blue stars in VELA observed with the 'Glazar' space telescope
Seventy-one stars brighter than about 9 m have been detected at 1640 Ain the Vela region with the space telescope Glazar. It is shown thatmost of the detected stars belong to a B-type stellar association at adistance of 460 pc and to two OB stellar associations at distances of1100 pc and 1700 pc. The existence of B-type stellar association at adistance of 110 pc is suspected. A new O-type star cluster, which is apossible nucleus of the OB stellar association at 1700 pc, has beendetected. The distribution of the absorbing matter in the observed areais studied. We presume that the stars HD 75 063 and 76 534 are probablyembedded in a circumstellar dust shell. All observed stars, includingthose with unknown spectra, are early type stars.
| An Einstein Observatory SAO-based catalog of B-type stars
About 4000 X-ray images obtained with the Einstein Observatory are usedto measure the 0.16-4.0 keV emission from 1545 B-type SAO stars fallingin the about 10 percent of the sky surveyed with the IPC. Seventy-fourdetected X-ray sources with B-type stars are identified, and it isestimated that no more than 15 can be misidentified. Upper limits to theX-ray emission of the remaining stars are presented. In addition tosummarizing the X-ray measurements and giving other relevant opticaldata, the present extensive catalog discusses the reduction process andanalyzes selection effects associated with both SAO catalog completenessand IPC target selection procedures. It is concluded that X-rayemission, at the level of Lx not less than 10 exp 30 ergs/s, is quitecommon in B stars of early spectral types (B0-B3), regardless ofluminosity class, but that emission, at the same level, becomes lesscommon, or nonexistent, in later B-type stars.
| High-resolution IUE observations of interstellar absorption lines in the VELA supernova remnant
Ultraviolet spectra of 45 stars in the vicinity of the Vela supernovaremnant were recorded by the short-wavelength echelle spectrographaboard the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE). Over one-third ofthe stars show interstellar absorption lines at large radial velocities(greater than 60 km/s). The mapping of these high-velocity components inthe sky suggests the motions are chaotic, rather than from a coherentexpansion of the remnant material. In accord with earlier conclusionsfrom Copernicus data, the gas at high velocity exhibits higher thannormal ionization and shows substantially less depletion of nonvolatileelements than normal interstellar material at low velocities. Relativelystrong lines from neutral carbon in the two excited fine-structurestates indicate that the neutral clouds within the remnant have hadtheir pressures enhanced by the passage of the blast wave from thesupernova. Also, the remnant seems to show a significant enhancement inthe abundances of low-velocity Si IV, C IV, and N V over those found inthe general interstellar medium.
| The VELA star cloud. II - Early-type stars and long-period Cepheids near the VELA pulsar
Intermediate band, H-beta and RI observations of some 200 stars andthree Cepheids in a small region centered on the Vela pulsar have shownthe presence of additional members of the Vela sheet (450 pc), as wellas two more distant associations, Vel OB1 (800 pc) and Vel OB2 (1800pc). Vel OB2, which may be only some 5-million yr old, probably containsSW (23.4 d), RZ (20.4 d), and SX (19.6 d) Vel. All three Cepheids havean overabundance of metals, relative to the sun, if the photometricindices are abundance dependent only. The luminosities of the threeCepheids, plus AH Vel in the Vela sheet and two other southern Cepheidsdiscussed previously, all based on an independent photometric luminositycalibration, do not indicate a need for a major revision of the zeropoint of the period-luminosity relation.
| Spectral types for early-type stars observed by SKYLAB
MK spectral types are presented for 246 early-type stars observed withthe S-019 ultraviolet stellar astronomy experiment on Skylab. K-linetypes are also given where applicable, and various peculiar stars areidentified. The peculiar stars include five silicon stars, a shell star,a helium-rich star, a silicon-strontium star, a chromium-europium star,and two marginal metallic-line stars.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Vela |
| Right ascension: | 08h41m34.90s |
| Declination: | -44°59'30.9" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 6.678 |
| Distance: | 401.606 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -12.9 |
| Proper motion Dec: | 10.7 |
| B-T magnitude: | 6.552 |
| V-T magnitude: | 6.668 |
Catalogs and designations:
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INHABITED SKY
