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The Variation of Magnesium Depletion with Line-of-Sight Conditions
In this paper we report on the gas-phase abundance of singly ionizedmagnesium (Mg II) in 44 lines of sight, using data from the Hubble SpaceTelescope (HST). We measure Mg II column densities by analyzing medium-and high-resolution archival Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS)spectra of the 1240 Å doublet of Mg II. We find that Mg IIdepletion is correlated with many line-of-sight parameters [e.g.,f(H2), EB-V, EB-V/r, AV, andAV/r] in addition to the well-known correlation with. These parameters should be more directly relatedto dust content and thus have more physical significance with regard tothe depletion of elements such as magnesium. We examine the significanceof these additional correlations as compared to the known correlationbetween Mg II depletion and . While none of thecorrelations are better predictors of Mg II depletion than, some are statistically significant even assumingfixed . We discuss the ranges over which thesecorrelations are valid, their strength at fixed ,and physical interpretations.
| New Insights on Interstellar Gas-Phase Iron
In this paper we report on the gas-phase abundance of singly ionizediron (Fe II) for 51 lines of sight, using data from FUSE. Fe II columndensities are derived by measuring the equivalent widths of several UVabsorption lines and subsequently fitting those to a curve of growth.Our derivation of Fe II column densities and abundances creates thelargest sample of iron abundances in moderately to highly reddened linesof sight explored with FUSE, lines of sight that are on average morereddened than lines of sight in previous Copernicus studies. We presentthree major results. First, we observe the well-established correlationbetween iron depletion and and also find trendsbetween iron depletion and other line-of-sight parameters [e.g.,f(H2), EB-V, and AV], and we examinethe significance of these trends. Of note, a few of our lines of sightprobe larger densities than previously explored and we do not seesignificantly enhanced depletion effects. Second, we present twodetections of an extremely weak Fe II line at 1901.773 Å in thearchival STIS spectra of two lines of sight (HD 24534 and HD 93222). Wecompare these detections to the column densities derived through FUSEspectra and comment on the line's f-value and utility for future studiesof Fe II. Finally, we present strong anecdotal evidence that the Fe IIf-values derived empirically through FUSE data are more accurate thanprevious values that have been theoretically calculated, with theprobable exception of f1112.
| The Interstellar N/O Abundance Ratio: Evidence for Local Infall?
Sensitive measurements of the interstellar gas-phase oxygen abundancehave revealed a slight oxygen deficiency (~15%) toward stars within 500pc of the Sun as compared to more distant sight lines. Recent FUSEobservations of the interstellar gas-phase nitrogen abundance indicatelarger variations, but no trends with distance were reported due to thesignificant measurement uncertainties for many sight lines. Byconsidering only the highest quality (>=5 σ) N/O abundancemeasurements, we find an intriguing trend in the interstellar N/O ratiowith distance. Toward the seven stars within ~500 pc of the Sun, theweighted mean N/O ratio is 0.217 +/- 0.011, while for the six starsfarther away the weighted mean value (N/O = 0.142 +/- 0.008) iscuriously consistent with the current solar value (N/O =0.138+0.20-0.18). It is difficult to imagine ascenario invoking environmental (e.g., dust depletion or ionization)variations alone that explains this abundance anomaly. Is the enhancednitrogen abundance localized to the solar neighborhood or evidence of amore widespread phenomenon? If it is localized, then recent infall oflow-metallicity gas in the solar neighborhood may be the bestexplanation. Otherwise, the N/O variations may be best explained bylarge-scale differences in the interstellar mixing processes for AGBstars and Type II supernovae.Based on data obtained by the NASA-CNES-CSA Far UltravioletSpectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) mission operated by the Johns HopkinsUniversity. Financial support to US participants has been provided byNASA contract NAS5-32985.
| Can single O stars produce non-thermal radio emission?
We present a model for the non-thermal radio emission from presumablysingle O stars, in terms of synchrotron emission from relativisticelectrons accelerated in wind-embedded shocks. These shocks areassociated with an unstable, chaotic wind. The main improvement withrespect to earlier models is the inclusion of the radial dependence ofthe shock velocity jump and compression ratio, based on one-dimensionaltime-dependent hydrodynamical simulations. The decrease of the velocityjump and the compression ratio as a function of radius produces arapidly decreasing synchrotron emissivity. This effectively prohibitsthe models from reproducing the spectral shape of the observednon-thermal radio emission. We investigate a number of “escaperoutes” by which the hydrodynamical predictions might bereconciled with the radio observations. We find that the observedspectral shape can be reproduced by a slower decline of the compressionratio and the velocity jump, by the re-acceleration of electrons in manyshocks or by adopting a lower mass-loss rate. However, none of theseescape routes are physically plausible. In particular, re-accelerationby feeding an electron distribution through a number of shocks, is incontradiction with current hydrodynamical simulations. Thesehydrodynamical simulations have their limitations, most notably the useof one-dimensionality. At present, it is not feasible to performtwo-dimensional simulations of the wind out to the distances requiredfor synchrotron-emission models. Based on the current hydrodynamicmodels, we suspect that the observed non-thermal radio emission from Ostars cannot be explained by wind-embedded shocks associated with theinstability of the line-driving mechanism. The most likely alternativemechanism is synchrotron emission from colliding winds. That would implythat all O stars with non-thermal radio emission should be members ofbinary or multiple systems.
| Radio Detection of Colliding Wind Binaries
Four massive, early-type stars, three of which are confirmed binaries,have been observed with the Australia Telescope Compact Array at 1.4,2.4, 4.8, and 8.6 GHz. The earliest star cataloged so far, HD 93129A,was also observed at 17.8 and 24.5 GHz. Here we present an analysis ofthe spectra as well as the structure of the stellar systems. All fourspectra show clear evidence of non-thermal emission, indicative of abinary system with a colliding wind region. We discuss the magneticfield of the emitting region of HD 93129A and make predictions on theradiation at high energies. Archive X-ray observations towards thetarget sources are also investigated and interpreted in the light of thenon-thermal emission detected.
| Phosphorus in the diffuse interstellar medium
We present FUSE and HST/STIS measurements of the P ii column densitytoward Galactic stars. We analyzed P ii through the profile fitting ofthe unsaturated λ1125 and λ1533 lines and derived columndensities integrated along the sightlines as well as in individualresolved components. We find that phosphorus is not depleted along thosesightlines sampling the diffuse neutral gas. We also investigate thecorrelation existing between P ii and O i column densities and find thatthere is no differential depletion between these two specie.Furthermore, the ratio N(P ii)/N(O i) is consistent with the solar P/Ovalue, implying that P ii and O i coexist in the same gaseous phase andare likely to evolve in parallel. We argue that phosphorus, as traced byP ii, is an excellent neutral oxygen tracer in various physicalenvironments, except when ionization corrections are a significantissue. Thus, P ii lines (observable with FUSE, HST/STIS, or withVLT/UVES for the QSO sightlines) are particularly useful as a proxy forO i lines when these are saturated or blended.
| The origin of massive O-type field stars: II. Field O stars as runaways
In two papers we try to confirm that all Galactic high-mass stars areformed in a cluster environment, by excluding that O-type stars found inthe Galactic field actually formed there. In de Wit et al. (2004) wepresented deep K-band imaging of 5 arcmin fields centred on 43 massiveO-type field stars that revealed that the large majority of theseobjects are single objects. In this contribution we explore thepossibility that the field O stars are dynamically ejected from youngclusters, by investigating their peculiar space velocity distribution,their distance from the Galactic plane, and their spatial vicinity toknown young stellar clusters. We (re-)identify 22 field O-type stars ascandidate runaway OB-stars. The statistics show that 4 ± 2% ofall O-type stars with V<8m can be considered as formedoutside a cluster environment. Most are spectroscopically singleobjects, some are visual binaries. The derived percentage for O-typestars that form isolated in the field based on our statistical analysesis in agreement with what is expected from calculations adopting auniversal cluster richness distribution with power index of β= 1.7,assuming that the cluster richness distribution is continuous down tothe smallest clusters containing one single star.
| Investigating the Mechanism for the Formation of Nitrous Oxide [N2O(X 1Σ+)] in Extraterrestrial Ices
The formation of nitrous oxide, N2O(X1Σ+), in interstellar space and in ices onPluto and Triton has been experimentally investigated. A molecularnitrogen (N2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) ice mixturewas irradiated at 10 K with 5 keV electrons to simulate the electronicinteraction effects of Galactic cosmic-ray bombardment ofextraterrestrial ice samples over a time of 5×106 yr.By monitoring the experiment with a Fourier transform infraredspectrometer on line and in situ, the temporal evolution of the 2235cm-1 absorption band of nitrous oxide was found to followpseudo-first-order kinetics. This indicates that the mechanism offormation is most likely a reaction between ground-state molecularnitrogen, N2(X 1Σ+g),and an oxygen atom, either in the ground state (3P) or in thefirst electronically excited state (1D), within the matrixcage through an addition of the oxygen atom to a nonbonding electronpair on the nitrogen molecule. The observation of nitrous oxide togetherwith the kinetics and dynamics studies investigated in this paperunderline the role of nonequilibrium processes in low-temperature icematrices, aid in the understanding of chemical reaction pathways thatexist in extraterrestrial ices, and assist a prospective identificationof nitrous oxide on the surfaces of Pluto and Triton.
| Analysis of the Physical Properties of the N2 c' 1Σ+u(0)-X 1Σ+g(0) Transition
A high-resolution, 33 mÅ (FWHM), optically thin emission study ofthe N2 c' 1Σ+u(0)-X1Σ+g(0) band transition has beenperformed with electron impact at 100 eV. Recently measured lineoscillator strengths and lifetimes have been examined by comparing modelspectra with the observed emission. Good agreement between model anddata indicates consistency between the measured lifetimes and oscillatorstrengths. Predissociation yields for various Jj levels areestimated. The calculated predissociation yield is in the range 0.2-0.5for Jj=4-23 and negligible for Jj=0-2.
| Discovery of Interstellar N2
Molecular nitrogen (N2) is the most abundant molecule in theEarth's atmosphere and in the less chemically-processed atmosphere ofTitan. N2 is also of considerable interest for studies of theinterstellar medium because both models of steady-state gas-phasechemistry (Viala 1986) and millimeter wave observations ofN2H+ (Womack, Ziurys, & Wyckoff 1992) predictthat N2 should be the dominant nitrogen-bearing molecule ininterstellar space. Until now, the search for interstellar N2has been unsuccessful.We report on Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) observationsof the first detection of interstellar N2 toward themoderately-reddened star HD 124314 (Knauth et al. 2004). The observedfractional abundance of N2/H2 = 3.3 ×10-7 is almost two orders of magnitude larger than expectedfrom models of interstellar nitrogen chemistry for diffuse clouds, butis also less than expected from dark cloud chemistry predictions. Inaddition, we present preliminary analysis of high signal-to-noise dataon 20 Aql yields x(N2) ≤ 4.7 × 10-8,which is surprisingly low given that 20 Aql has a factor-of-4 higher CNabundance. There appears to be an anti-correlation between N2and CN: Is this anti-correlation caused by differences in thepredictions of diffuse and dark cloud chemistry? Further observations ofinterstellar N2 are required to fully understand theimplications for interstellar nitrogen chemistry.This work is based on data obtained for the Guaranteed Time Team by theNASA-CNES-CSA FUSE mission. Financial support has been provided by NASAcontract NAS5-32985.
| On the Hipparcos parallaxes of O stars
We compare the absolute visual magnitude of the majority of bright Ostars in the sky as predicted from their spectral type with the absolutemagnitude calculated from their apparent magnitude and the Hipparcosparallax. We find that many stars appear to be much fainter thanexpected, up to five magnitudes. We find no evidence for a correlationbetween magnitude differences and the stellar rotational velocity assuggested for OB stars by Lamers et al. (1997, A&A, 325, L25), whosesmall sample of stars is partly included in ours. Instead, by means of asimulation we show how these differences arise naturally from the largedistances at which O stars are located, and the level of precision ofthe parallax measurements achieved by Hipparcos. Straightforwardlyderiving a distance from the Hipparcos parallax yields reliable resultsfor one or two O stars only. We discuss several types of bias reportedin the literature in connection with parallax samples (Lutz-Kelker,Malmquist) and investigate how they affect the O star sample. Inaddition, we test three absolute magnitude calibrations from theliterature (Schmidt-Kaler et al. 1982, Landolt-Börnstein; Howarth& Prinja 1989, ApJS, 69, 527; Vacca et al. 1996, ApJ, 460, 914) andfind that they are consistent with the Hipparcos measurements. AlthoughO stars conform nicely to the simulation, we notice that some B stars inthe sample of \citeauthor{La97} have a magnitude difference larger thanexpected.
| The origin of massive O-type field stars. I. A search for clusters
We present a study aimed at clarifying the birthplace for 43 massiveO-type field stars. In this first paper we present the observationalpart: a search for stellar clusters near the target stars. We derivestellar density maps at two different resolving scales, viz. 0.25pc and 1.0 pc from NTT and TNG imaging and the 2MASS catalogue.These scales are typical for cluster sizes. The main result is that thelarge majority of the O-type field population are isolated stars: only12% (5 out of 43) of the O-type field stars is found to harbour asmall-scale stellar cluster. We review the literature and aim atcharacterizing the stellar field of each O-type field star with theemphasis on star formation and the presence of known young stellarclusters. An analysis of the result of this paper and a discussion ofthe O-type field population as products of a dynamical ejection event ispresented in an accompanying paper.Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory,Chile, and at the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) operated onthe island of La Palma by the Centro Galileo Galilei of the CNAA(Consorzio Nazionale per l'Astronomia e l'Astrofisica) at the SpanishObservatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisicade Canarias.Table 2 and Figs. 4 to 17 are available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.org
| The interstellar N2 abundance towards HD 124314 from far-ultraviolet observations
The abundance of interstellar molecular nitrogen (N2) is ofconsiderable importance: models of steady-state gas-phase interstellarchemistry, together with millimetre-wavelength observations ofinterstellar N2H+ in dense molecular cloudspredict that N2 should be the most abundant nitrogen-bearingmolecule in the interstellar medium. Previous attempts to detectN2 absorption in the far-ultraviolet or infrared (icefeatures) have hitherto been unsuccessful. Here we report the detectionof interstellar N2 at far-ultraviolet wavelengths towards themoderately reddened star HD 124314 in the constellation of Centaurus.The N2 column density is larger than expected from models ofdiffuse clouds and significantly smaller than expected for densemolecular clouds. Moreover, the N2 abundance does not explainthe observed variations in the abundance of atomic nitrogen (NI) towardshigh-column-density sightlines, implying that the models of nitrogenchemistry in the interstellar medium are incomplete.
| A Galactic O Star Catalog
We have produced a catalog of 378 Galactic O stars with accuratespectral classifications that is complete for V<8 but includes manyfainter stars. The catalog provides cross-identifications with othersources; coordinates (obtained in most cases from Tycho-2 data);astrometric distances for 24 of the nearest stars; optical (Tycho-2,Johnson, and Strömgren) and NIR photometry; group membership,runaway character, and multiplicity information; and a Web-based versionwith links to on-line services.
| A Compact Array imaging survey of southern bright-rimmed clouds
We have carried out a radio-wavelength imaging survey of 45bright-rimmed clouds (BRCs), using the Australia Telescope Compact Arrayto characterise the physical properties in their ionised boundarylayers. We detected radio emission from a total of 25 clouds and using acombination of Digitised Sky Survey and mid-infrared MSX 8 \mum imagesclassified the emission into that associated with the ionised cloudrims, that associated with embedded possible massive YSOs and thatunlikely to be associated with the clouds at all. A total of 18 cloudsdisplay radio emission clearly associated with the cloud rim and wedetermine the ionising photon flux illuminating these clouds and theelectron density and pressure of their ionised boundary layers. Using aglobal estimate for the interior molecular pressure of these clouds weshow that the majority are likely to be in pressure equilibrium andhence are currently being shocked by photoionisation-induced shocks. Weidentify those clouds where the predicted ionising photon flux isinconsistent with that derived from the observations and show thateither the spectral types of the stars illuminating the BRCs are earlierthan previously thought or that there must be additional ionisingsources within the HII regions. Finally, we identify the radio sourcesembedded within the clouds with infrared stellar clusters and show thatthey contain late O and early B-type stars, demonstrating that a numberof BRCs are intimately involved with high to intermediate-mass starformation.Full Figs. \ref{fig:images} and \ref{fig:sfo86dss} are only available inelectronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org
| Potential Variations in the Interstellar N I Abundance
We present Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) and SpaceTelescope Imaging Spectrograph observations of the weak interstellar N Iλ1160 doublet toward 17 high-density sight lines[N(Htot)>=1021 cm-2]. When combinedwith published data, our results reveal variations in the fractional N Iabundance showing a systematic deficiency at large N(Htot).At the FUSE resolution (~20 km s-1), the effects ofunresolved saturation cannot be conclusively ruled out, although O Iλ1356 shows little evidence of saturation. We investigated thepossibility that the N I variability is due to the formation ofN2 in our mostly dense regions. The 0-0 band of thec'41Σ+u-X1Σ+gtransition of N2 at 958 Å should be easily detected inour FUSE data; for 10 of the denser sight lines, N2 is notobserved at a sensitivity level of a few times 1014cm-2. The observed N I variations are suggestive of anincomplete understanding of nitrogen chemistry.Based on observations made with the NASA-CNES-CSA Far UltravioletSpectroscopic Explorer, which is operated for NASA by the Johns HopkinsUniversity under NASA contract NAS 5-32985, and the NASA/ESA HubbleSpace Telescope, obtained from the Multimission Archive at the SpaceTelescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association ofUniversities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under the NASA contractNAS 5-26555.
| Oxygen Gas-Phase Abundance Revisited
We present new measurements of the interstellar gas-phase oxygenabundance along the sight lines toward 19 early-type Galactic stars atan average distance of 2.6 kpc. We derive O I column densities fromHubble Space Telescope/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (HST/STIS)observations of the weak 1355 Å intersystem transition. We derivetotal hydrogen column densities [N(HI)+2N(H2)] using HST/STISobservations of Lyα and Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer(FUSE) observations of molecular hydrogen. The molecular hydrogencontent of these sight lines ranges fromf(H2)=2N(H2)/[N(HI)+2N(H2)]=0.03 to0.47. The average of6.3×1021 cm-2 mag-1 with astandard deviation of 15% is consistent with previous surveys. The meanoxygen abundance along these sight lines, which probe a wide range ofGalactic environments in the distant interstellar medium, is106 (O/H)gas=408+/-13 (1 σ in the mean). Wesee no evidence for decreasing gas-phase oxygen abundance withincreasing molecular hydrogen fraction, and the relative constancy of(O/H)gas suggests that the component of dust containing theoxygen is not readily destroyed. We estimate that, if 60% of the dustgrains are resilient against destruction by shocks, the distantinterstellar total oxygen abundance can be reconciliated with the solarvalue derived from the most recent measurements of 106(O/H)gassolar=517+/-58 (1 σ). We note thatthe smaller oxygen abundances derived for the interstellar gas within500 pc or from nearby B star surveys are consistent with a localelemental deficit.
| The total-to-selective extinction ratio determined from near IR photometry of OB stars
The paper presents an extensive list of the total to selectiveextinction ratios R calculated from the infrared magnitudes of 597 O andB stars using the extrapolation method. The IR magnitudes of these starswere taken from the literature. The IR colour excesses are determinedwith the aid of "artificial standards" - Wegner (1994). The individualand mean values of total to selective extinction ratios R differ in mostcases from the average value R=3.10 +/-0.05 - Wegner (1993) in differentOB associations. The relation between total to selective extinctionratios R determined in this paper and those calculated using the "methodof variable extinction" and the Cardelli et al. (1989) formulae isdiscussed. The R values presented in this paper can be used to determineindividual absolute magnitudes of reddened OB stars with knowntrigonometric parallaxes.
| The Distribution of Thermal Pressures in the Interstellar Medium from a Survey of C I Fine-Structure Excitation
We used the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) with itssmallest entrance aperture (0.03" wide slit) and highest resolutionechelle gratings (E140H and E230H) to record the interstellar absorptionfeatures for 10 different multiplets of neutral carbon at a resolvingpower of λ/Δλ=200,000 in the UV spectra of 21early-type stars. Our objective was to measure the amount of C I in eachof its three fine-structure levels of the ground electronic state, sothat we could determine the thermal pressures in the absorbing gas andhow much they vary in different regions. Our observations areprincipally along directions out to several kiloparsecs in the Galacticplane near longitudes l=120deg and 300°, with the moredistant stars penetrating nearby portions of the Perseus andSagittarius-Carina arms of the Galaxy. We devised a special analysistechnique to decipher the overlapping absorption features in thedifferent multiplets, each with different arrangements of the closelyspaced transitions. In order to derive internally consistent results forall multiplets, we found that we had to modify the relative transitionf-values in a way that made generally weak transitions stronger thanamounts indicated in the current literature. We compared our measuredrelative populations of the excited fine-structure levels to thoseexpected from equilibria calculated with collisional rate constants forvarious densities, temperatures, and compositions. The median thermalpressure for our entire sample was p/k=2240 cm-3 K, orslightly higher if the representative temperatures of the material aremuch above or below a most favorable temperature of 40 K for theexcitation of the first excited level at a given pressure. For gas thatis moving outside the range of radial velocities permitted bydifferential Galactic rotation between us and the targets, about 15% ofthe C I indicates a thermal pressure p/k>5000 cm-3 K. Forgas within the allowed velocities, this fraction is only 1.5%. Thiscontrast reveals a relationship between pressure enhancements and thekinematics of the gas. Regardless of velocity, we usually can registerthe presence of a very small proportion of the gas that seems to be atp/k>~105 cm-3 K. We interpret these ubiquitouswisps of high-pressure material to arise either from small-scale densityenhancements created by converging flows in a turbulent medium or fromwarm turbulent boundary layers on the surfaces of dense clouds movingthrough an intercloud medium. For turbulent compression, our C Iexcitations indicate that the barytropic indexγeff>~0.90 must apply if the unperturbed gas startsout with representative densities and temperatures n=10 cm-3and T=100 K. This value for γeff is larger than thatexpected for interstellar material that remains in thermal equilibriumafter it is compressed from the same initial n and T. However, ifregions of enhanced pressure reach a size smaller than ~0.01 pc, thedynamical time starts to become shorter than the cooling time, andγeff should start to approach the adiabatic valuecp/cv=5/3. Some of the excited C I may arise fromthe target stars' H II regions or by the effects of optical pumping fromthe submillimeter line radiation emitted by them. We argue that thesecontributions are small, and our comparisons of the velocities ofstrongly excited C I to those of excited Si II seem to support thisoutlook. For six stars in the survey, absorption features frominterstellar excited O I could be detected at velocities slightlyshifted from the persistent features of telluric origin. These O I* andO I** features were especially strong in the spectra of HD 93843 and HD210839, the same stars that show exceptionally large C I excitations. Inappendices of this paper, we present evidence that (1) the wavelengthresolving power of STIS in the E14OH mode is indeed about 200,000, and(2) the telluric O I* and O I** features exhibit some evidence formacroscopic motions, since their broadenings are in excess of thatexpected for thermal Doppler broadening at an exospheric temperatureT=1000 K. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescopeobtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated bythe Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., underNASA contract NAS 5-26555.
| Mass loss rate determination of southern OB stars
A sample of OB stars (eleven Of, one O and one B supergiant) has beensurveyed with the Australia Telescope Compact Array at 4.8 and 8.64 GHzwith a resolution of ~ 2 arcsec-4 arcsec. Five stars were detected;three of them have negative spectral indices, consistent withnon-thermal emission, and two have positive indices. The thermalradiation from HD 150135 and HD 163181 can be explained as coming froman optically thick ionized stellar wind. The non-thermal radiation fromCD-47deg 4551, HD 124314 and HD 150136 possibly comes fromstrong shocks in the wind itself and/or in the wind colliding region ifthe stars have a massive early-type companion. The percentage ofnon-thermal emitters among detected O stars has increased up to ~ 50%.The Of star HD 124314 clearly shows flux density variations. Mass lossrates (or upper limits) were derived for all the observed stars and theresults compared with non-radio measurements and theoreticalpredictions.
| Observations of OB-stars at the former Leiden Southern Station
About 700 stars, mostly OB-stars, were observed by the author at theformer Leiden Southern Station at Hartebeespoortdam, South Africa, inthe observing seasons 1965, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1978. Observationswere made in the five channels of the Walraven photometric system. Dueto weathering of the telescope mirror the W channel gave no reliableresults for the faintest stars (m = 11 mag); in these cases the U-Wcolour index is not given. The change in sensitivity in the V channel,supposedly having occurred in 1968, was not recognised. Table~5 is onlyavailable in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/369/527
| Molecular Clouds and Star Formation in the Southern H II Regions
We have carried out extensive 13CO(J = 1-0) observationstoward 23 southern H II regions associated with bright-rimmed clouds. Intotal, 95 molecular clouds have been identified to be associated withthe H II regions. Among the 95, 57 clouds \ are found to be associatedwith 204 IRAS point sources which are candidates for young stellarobjects. There is a significant increase of star-formation efficiency onthe side facing to the H II regions; the luminosity-to-mass ratio,defined as the ratio of the stellar luminosity to the molecular cloudmass, is higher by an order of magnitude on the near side of the H II \regions than that on the far side. This indicates that molecular gasfacing to the H II regions is more actively forming massive s\ tarswhose luminosity is >~ 103 LO . In addition, the numberdensity of the IRAS point sources increases by a factor of 2 on the nearside of the H II regions compared with on the far side. These resultsstrongly suggest that the active formation of massive stars on the nearside of the H II regions is due to the effects of the H II regions, suchas the compression of molecular material by the ionization/shock fronts.For the whole Galaxy, we estimate that the present star-formation rateunder such effects is at least 0.2-0.4 MO yr-1, correspondingto a few 10% by mass.
| Unidentified 3EG gamma-ray sources at low galactic latitudes
We present a study on the possible association of unidentified gamma-ray sources in the Third EGRET (3EG) catalog with different types ofgalactic objects such as Wolf-Rayet and Of stars, supernova remnants(SNRs), and OB associations (considered as pulsar tracers). We have madeuse of numerical simulations of galactic populations of gamma -ray pointsources in order to determine the statistical significance of thepositional coincidences. New constraints on pure chance association arepresented for SNRs and OB associations. There is overwhelmingstatistical support for the hypothesis that some SNRs are gamma -raysources (we obtain probabilities of pure chance association <10(-5)). OB star associations present higher, but still negligibleprobabilities (<10(-3) ). It is also shown that although massivestars present just marginally significant correlation with 3EG sources,there is a posteriori support for at least three candidates.
| Five-colour photometry of OB-stars in the Southern Hemisphere
Observations of OB-stars, made in 1959 and 1960 at the Leiden SouthernStation near Hartebeespoortdam, South Africa, with the VBLUW photometerattached to the 90 cm light-collector, are given in this paper. They arecompared with photometry obtained by \cite[Graham (1968),]{gra68}\cite[Walraven & Walraven (1977),]{wal77} \cite[Lub & Pel(1977)]{lub77} and \cite[Van Genderen et al. (1984).]{gen84} Formulaefor the transformation of the present observations to those of\cite[Walraven & Walraven (1977)]{wal77} and \cite[Lub & Pel(1977)]{lub77} are given. Table 4 is only available in electronic format the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) orvia http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| UBV beta Database for Case-Hamburg Northern and Southern Luminous Stars
A database of photoelectric UBV beta photometry for stars listed in theCase-Hamburg northern and southern Milky Way luminous stars surveys hasbeen compiled from the original research literature. Consisting of over16,000 observations of some 7300 stars from over 500 sources, thisdatabase constitutes the most complete compilation of such photometryavailable for intrinsically luminous stars around the Galactic plane.Over 5000 stars listed in the Case-Hamburg surveys still lackfundamental photometric data.
| ICCD speckle observations of binary stars. XIX - an astrometric/spectroscopic survey of O stars
We present the results of a speckle interferometric survey made with theCHARA speckle camera and 4 m class telescopes of Galactic O-type starswith V less than 8. We can detect with the speckle camera binaries inthe angular separation range 0.035-1.5 arcsec with delta M less than 3,and we have discovered 15 binaries among 227 O-type systems. We combinedour results on visual binaries with measurements of wider pairs from theWashington Double Star Catalog and fainter pairs from the HipparcosCatalog, and we made a literature survey of the spectroscopic binariesamong the sample. We then investigated the overall binary frequency ofthe sample and the orbital characteristics of the known binaries.Binaries are common among O stars in clusters and associations but lessso among field and especially runaway stars. There are many triplesystems among the speckle binaries, and we discuss their possible rolein the ejection of stars from clusters. The period distribution of thebinaries is bimodal in log P, but we suggest that binaries with periodsof years and decades may eventually be found to fill the gap. The massratio distribution of the visual binaries increases toward lower massratios, but low mass ratio companions are rare among close,spectroscopic binaries. We present distributions of the eccentricity andlongitude of periastron for spectroscopic binaries with ellipticalorbits, and we find strong evidence of a bias in the longitude ofperiastron distribution.
| A Radial Velocity Database for Stephenson-Sanduleak Southern Luminous Stars
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1997AJ....113..823R&db_key=AST
| Cross-correlation characteristics of OB stars from IUE spectroscopy
We present a catalogue of homogeneous measures of the linewidthparameter, v_esin i, for 373 O-type stars and early B supergiants(including the separate components of 25 binary and three triplesystems), produced by cross-correlating high-resolution,short-wavelength IUE spectra against a `template' spectrum of tauSco. Wealso tabulate terminal velocities. There are no O supergiants in oursample with v_esin i<65 km s^-1, and only one supergiant earlier thanB5 has v_esin i<50 km s^-1, confirming that an important linebroadening mechanism in addition to rotation must be present in theseobjects. A calibration of the area under the cross-correlation peakagainst spectral type is used to obtain estimates of continuum intensityratios of the components in 28 spectroscopically binary or multiplesystems. At least seven SB2 systems show evidence for the `Struve-Sahadeeffect', a systematic variation in relative line strength as a functionof orbital phase. The stellar wind profiles of the most rapid rotator inour sample, the O9III:n* star HD 191423 (v_esin i=436km s^-1), show itto have a `wind-compressed disc' similar to that of HD 93521; this starand other rapid rotators are good candidates for studies of non-radialpulsation.
| Projected Rotational Velocities of O-Type Stars
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1996ApJ...463..737P&db_key=AST
| H-beta Photometry of Southern Luminous Stars
H-beta photometry for 116 stars listed in Stephenson and Sanduleak's(1971) catalog of _Luminous Stars in the Southern Milky Way_ isreported. The vast majority of these objects are O and B-type stars; afew are A, F, or Wolf-Rayet stars. A systematic difference of on theorder of 30 mmag between the present results and those of otherinvestigators is noted. (SECTION: Stars)
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Zentaur |
| Right ascension: | 14h15m01.62s |
| Declination: | -61°42'24.6" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 6.862 |
| Distance: | 709.22 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -8.4 |
| Proper motion Dec: | 3.1 |
| B-T magnitude: | 7.026 |
| V-T magnitude: | 6.876 |
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INHABITED SKY
