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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.
| 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.
| 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.
| Astrometric orbits of SB^9 stars
Hipparcos Intermediate Astrometric Data (IAD) have been used to deriveastrometric orbital elements for spectroscopic binaries from the newlyreleased Ninth Catalogue of Spectroscopic Binary Orbits(SB^9). This endeavour is justified by the fact that (i) theastrometric orbital motion is often difficult to detect without theprior knowledge of the spectroscopic orbital elements, and (ii) suchknowledge was not available at the time of the construction of theHipparcos Catalogue for the spectroscopic binaries which were recentlyadded to the SB^9 catalogue. Among the 1374 binaries fromSB^9 which have an HIP entry (excluding binaries with visualcompanions, or DMSA/C in the Double and Multiple Stars Annex), 282 havedetectable orbital astrometric motion (at the 5% significance level).Among those, only 70 have astrometric orbital elements that are reliablydetermined (according to specific statistical tests), and for the firsttime for 20 systems. This represents a 8.5% increase of the number ofastrometric systems with known orbital elements (The Double and MultipleSystems Annex contains 235 of those DMSA/O systems). The detection ofthe astrometric orbital motion when the Hipparcos IAD are supplementedby the spectroscopic orbital elements is close to 100% for binaries withonly one visible component, provided that the period is in the 50-1000 drange and the parallax is >5 mas. This result is an interestingtestbed to guide the choice of algorithms and statistical tests to beused in the search for astrometric binaries during the forthcoming ESAGaia mission. Finally, orbital inclinations provided by the presentanalysis have been used to derive several astrophysical quantities. Forinstance, 29 among the 70 systems with reliable astrometric orbitalelements involve main sequence stars for which the companion mass couldbe derived. Some interesting conclusions may be drawn from this new setof stellar masses, like the enigmatic nature of the companion to theHyades F dwarf HIP 20935. This system has a mass ratio of 0.98 but thecompanion remains elusive.
| Heavy Element Abundances in Late-B and Early-A Stars. I. Co-Added IUE Spectra of HgMn Stars
Very heavy elements (Pt, Au, Hg, Tl, and Bi) are found to be enhanced inthe atmospheres of the chemically peculiar stars of the upper mainsequence by up to a million times the solar system levels. Suchenhancements are believed to result from atmospheric dynamics (i.e.,diffusion) rather than scenarios that dredge up nuclear-processedmaterial to the surface or transfer processed material between binarycompanions. However, the theoretical framework needs to be furtherconstrained by observations beyond the realm of the spectral types forwhich such abundance enhancements are observed at optical wavelengths.The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite collected spectraof bright stars for which chemical peculiarities have been derived fromground-based data. For several elements the abundance enhancements haveonly been recently measured using Hubble Space Telescope data and havetherefore not yet been exploited in the IUE data. We have initiated aprogram to analyze IUE high-dispersion spectra to more fullycharacterize the pattern of very heavy element enhancement for manymercury-manganese (HgMn) stars and to potentially extend the spectralclass (effective temperature) boundaries over which these abundanceanomalies are known to exist. The abundances of very heavy elements inchemically normal B and A-type stars provide a base level that may becompared with the solar system abundances. These early spectral typestars may therefore reveal clues for galactic chemical evolution studiessince they were formed at a later epoch than the Sun in the history ofthe Galaxy. This first paper presents the motivation for the analyses tofollow, outlines our spectral co-addition technique for IUE spectra, anddiscusses the choice of model atmospheres and the synthetic spectrumprocedures, while initiating the study by highlighting the abundance ofgold in several HgMn stars.
| 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.
| Catalogue of averaged stellar effective magnetic fields. I. Chemically peculiar A and B type stars
This paper presents the catalogue and the method of determination ofaveraged quadratic effective magnetic fields < B_e > for 596 mainsequence and giant stars. The catalogue is based on measurements of thestellar effective (or mean longitudinal) magnetic field strengths B_e,which were compiled from the existing literature.We analysed the properties of 352 chemically peculiar A and B stars inthe catalogue, including Am, ApSi, He-weak, He-rich, HgMn, ApSrCrEu, andall ApSr type stars. We have found that the number distribution of allchemically peculiar (CP) stars vs. averaged magnetic field strength isdescribed by a decreasing exponential function. Relations of this typehold also for stars of all the analysed subclasses of chemicalpeculiarity. The exponential form of the above distribution function canbreak down below about 100 G, the latter value representingapproximately the resolution of our analysis for A type stars.Table A.1 and its references are only available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/407/631 and Tables 3 to 9are only available in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org
| On the elemental abundance and isotopic mixture of mercury in HgMn stars
Optical region spectra of 31 HgMn stars have been studied for theabundance and isotope mixture of mercury. In the course of theinvestigation the lines Hg I lambda 4358 and Hg Ii lambda lambda3984,6149 have been studied, with abundances established for all threelines in several HgMn stars. The mercury isotope mixture has beendetermined from high resolution spectra of the lambda 3984 line.Possible signs of an ionization anomaly have been detected by thecomparison of the abundance derived from the Hg I line and the Hg Iilines in seven of the observed HgMn stars. A possible correlation of themercury abundance with Teff has been detected. Possible signsof a weak anticorrelation of the manganese and mercury abundance in HgMnstars have been found, which could be interpreted as a sign ofinhomogeneous surface distribution of these elements. For a number ofthe HgMn stars in this study the mercury abundance and isotope mixtureare reported for the first time.
| On the relationship between the mercury-manganese stars and the metallic-lined stars
An HR diagram indicating the positions of the HgMn and the Am starsanalyzed by the senior author and his collaborators shows that thecoolest HgMn stars and the hottest Am stars are found on the samestellar evolutionary tracks and hence the former must evolve into thelater. The explanation of the dividing line between these two types ofnonmagnetic chemically peculiar stars where the Hg abundances suddenlychange their degree of overabundance is a major test of the theorieswhich try to explain the anomalous abundances of such stars. Some otherimportant relationships are found which can also serve as tests oftheories which purport to explain the properties of these stars.
| 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.
| Rotational velocities of A-type stars in the northern hemisphere. II. Measurement of v sin i
This work is the second part of the set of measurements of v sin i forA-type stars, begun by Royer et al. (\cite{Ror_02a}). Spectra of 249 B8to F2-type stars brighter than V=7 have been collected at Observatoirede Haute-Provence (OHP). Fourier transforms of several line profiles inthe range 4200-4600 Å are used to derive v sin i from thefrequency of the first zero. Statistical analysis of the sampleindicates that measurement error mainly depends on v sin i and thisrelative error of the rotational velocity is found to be about 5% onaverage. The systematic shift with respect to standard values fromSlettebak et al. (\cite{Slk_75}), previously found in the first paper,is here confirmed. Comparisons with data from the literature agree withour findings: v sin i values from Slettebak et al. are underestimatedand the relation between both scales follows a linear law ensuremath vsin inew = 1.03 v sin iold+7.7. Finally, thesedata are combined with those from the previous paper (Royer et al.\cite{Ror_02a}), together with the catalogue of Abt & Morrell(\cite{AbtMol95}). The resulting sample includes some 2150 stars withhomogenized rotational velocities. Based on observations made atObservatoire de Haute Provence (CNRS), France. Tables \ref{results} and\ref{merging} are only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.125.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/393/897
| A highly sensitive search for magnetic fields in B, A and F stars
Circular spectropolarimetric observations of 74 stars were obtained inan attempt to detect magnetic fields via the longitudinal Zeeman effectin their spectral lines. The sample observed includes 22 normal B, A andF stars, four emission-line B and A stars, 25 Am stars, 10 HgMn stars,two lambda Boo stars and 11 magnetic Ap stars. Using the Least-SquaresDeconvolution multi-line analysis approach (Donati et al.\cite{donati97etal}), high precision Stokes I and V mean signatures wereextracted from each spectrum. We find absolutely no evidence formagnetic fields in the normal, Am and HgMn stars, with upper limits onlongitudinal field measurements usually considerably smaller than anypreviously obtained for these objects. We conclude that if any magneticfields exist in the photospheres of these stars, these fields are notordered as in the magnetic Ap stars, nor do they resemble the fields ofactive late-type stars. We also detect for the first time a field in theA2pSr star HD 108945 and make new precise measurements of longitudinalfields in five previously known magnetic Ap stars, but do not detectfields in five other stars classified as Ap SrCrEu. We also report newresults for several binary systems, including a new vsin i for therapidly rotating secondary of the Am-delta Del SB2 HD 110951. Based onobservations obtained using the MuSiCoS spectropolarimeter on theBernard Lyot telescope, l'Observatoire du Pic du Midi, France.
| The presence of Nd and Pr in HgMn stars
Optical region spectra for a number of upper main sequence chemicallypeculiar (CP) stars have been observed to study singly and doublyionized praseodymium and neodymium lines. In order to improve existingatomic data of these elements, laboratory measurements have been carriedout with the Lund VUV Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS). From thesemeasurements wavelengths and hyperfine structure (hfs) have been studiedfor selected Pr Ii, Pr Iii and Nd Iii lines of astrophysical interest.Radiative lifetimes for some excited states of Pr Ii have beendetermined with the aid of laser spectroscopy at the Lund Laser Center(LLC) and have been combined with branching fractions measured in thelaboratory to calculate gf values for some of the stronger optical linesof Pr Ii. With the aid of the derived gf values and laboratorymeasurements of the hfs, a praseodymium abundance was derived fromselected Pr Ii lines in the spectrum of the Am star 32 Aqr. Thisabundance was used to derive astrophysical gf values for selected Pr Iiilines in 32 Aqr, and these gf values were used to get a praseodymiumabundance for the HgMn star HR 7775. The praseodymium abundance in HR7775 was then utilized to derive astrophysical gf values for allobservable Pr Iii lines in this star. The neodymium abundance, derivedfrom unblended lines of Nd Ii in HR 7775, has been utilized to establishastrophysical gf values for observed Nd Iii lines in the optical regionof this star. Selected Pr Iii and Nd Iii lines have been identified andstudied in a number of HgMn stars and three hot Am stars. Thepraseodymium and neodymium abundance change rapidly from an approximate1-1.2 dex enhancement for the hot Am stars to 1.5-3 dex enhancement forthe cool HgMn stars, indicating a well-defined boundary between the hotAm and HgMn stars in the vicinity of 10 500 K. The enhancement ofpraseodymium and neodymium in Am and HgMn stars may be explained bydiffusive processes active in the stellar atmosphere, while the observeddiscontinuity might be explained by a thin hydrogen convection zonethought to be present for the Am stars, but absent in the HgMn stars.The absence of a convection zone would cause the diffused elements togather higher in the atmosphere of HgMn stars compared to Am stars, andexplain the observed increase in abundance.
| An elemental abundance analysis of the mercury manganese star HD 29647
The sharp-lined mercury manganese (HgMn) star HD 29647, which is locatedbehind the outer envelope of the Taurus Molecular Cloud 1, is ofinterest for both its stellar properties and its utility as a probe ofinterstellar gas and dust along its line of sight. In this paper wereview the properties of the star, summarize its line identificationsand present an abundance analysis based on spectrograms obtained at theMcDonald Observatory and the Observatoire de Haute-Provence. This starhas elemental abundances similar to those of other HgMn stars exceptthat its He/H ratio is closer to solar, possibly indicating a young age,and that it, like HR 7775, is overabundant in selected elementsincluding the rare earths. The stellar radial velocity, unfortunately,closely matches that of the foreground cloud.
| Elemental abundance analyses with DAO spectrograms. XXV. The superficially normal B and A stars alpha Draconis, tau Herculis, gamma Lyrae, and HR 7926
Elemental abundances analyses of the superfically normal B and A starsalpha Dra (A0 III), tau Her (B5 IV), gamma Lyr (B9 III), and HR 7926 (B8II-III) are performed consistent with previous studies of this seriesusing spectrograms obtained with Reticon and CCD detectors. Comparisonsof the first two analyses with those of the same stars performed earlierin this series which used mostly coadded photographic plates show thegeneral consistency of the derived elemental abundances. A slightincrease in the adopted effective temperature produces a correspondingincrease in the derived abundances. In these stars the He/H ratios arefound to be close to solar. Except for gamma Lyr the metals show for themost part marginally subsolar abundance values. But this star has Al,Ca, Sc, and Sr abundances that are substantially underabundant as wellas other underabundant values. Table 5 is only available in electronicform at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5)or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/371/1078
| Elemental abundance analyses with DAO spectrograms. XXIV. The Mercury Manganese stars upsilon Her, phi Her, and HR 7018
Elemental abundances analyses are performed for the Mercury-Manganesestars upsilon Her, phi Her, and HR 7018 consistent with previous studiesof this series using spectrograms obtained with Reticon and CCDdetectors. Comparisons of the first two analyses with those performedusing coadded photographic plates show the general consistency of thederived elemental abundances. For upsilon Her and for phi Her,abundances were newly found for O, and for Al, V, Zn, and Ce,respectively. HR 7018 is discovered to be a single-lined spectroscopicbinary. Its Sc abundance is the smallest of any class member withderived abundances and its Sr abundance the largest of any known HgMnstar. A correlation analysis of the most complete abundance sets for 20HgMn stars shows that the abundances of some elements are correlatedwith one another and some are functions of the stellar effectivetemperature. Table 6 is only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/367/597
| Catalogue of Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (CADARS) - Third edition - Comments and statistics
The Catalogue, available at the Centre de Données Stellaires deStrasbourg, consists of 13 573 records concerning the results obtainedfrom different methods for 7778 stars, reported in the literature. Thefollowing data are listed for each star: identifications, apparentmagnitude, spectral type, apparent diameter in arcsec, absolute radiusin solar units, method of determination, reference, remarks. Commentsand statistics obtained from CADARS are given. The Catalogue isavailable 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/qcar?J/A+A/367/521
| Research Note Hipparcos photometry: The least variable stars
The data known as the Hipparcos Photometry obtained with the Hipparcossatellite have been investigated to find those stars which are leastvariable. Such stars are excellent candidates to serve as standards forphotometric systems. Their spectral types suggest in which parts of theHR diagrams stars are most constant. In some cases these values stronglyindicate that previous ground based studies claiming photometricvariability are incorrect or that the level of stellar activity haschanged. Table 2 is only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/367/297
| The proper motions of fundamental stars. I. 1535 stars from the Basic FK5
A direct combination of the positions given in the HIPPARCOS cataloguewith astrometric ground-based catalogues having epochs later than 1939allows us to obtain new proper motions for the 1535 stars of the BasicFK5. The results are presented as the catalogue Proper Motions ofFundamental Stars (PMFS), Part I. The median precision of the propermotions is 0.5 mas/year for mu alpha cos delta and 0.7mas/year for mu delta . The non-linear motions of thephotocentres of a few hundred astrometric binaries are separated intotheir linear and elliptic motions. Since the PMFS proper motions do notinclude the information given by the proper motions from othercatalogues (HIPPARCOS, FK5, FK6, etc.) this catalogue can be used as anindependent source of the proper motions of the fundamental stars.Catalogue (Table 3) is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strastg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/365/222
| Neon abundances in normal late-B and mercury-manganese stars
We make new non-local thermodynamic equilibrium calculations to deducethe abundances of neon from visible-region echelle spectra of selectedNei lines in seven normal stars and 20HgMn stars. We find that the beststrong blend-free Ne line that can be used at the lower end of theeffective temperature Teff range is λ6402, althoughseveral other potentially useful Nei lines are found in the red regionof the spectra of these stars. The mean neon abundance in the normalstars (logA=8.10) is in excellent agreement with the standard abundanceof neon (8.08). However, in HgMn stars neon is almost universallyunderabundant, ranging from marginal deficits of 0.1-0.3dex tounderabundances of an order of magnitude or more. In many cases, thelines are so weak that only upper limits can be established. The mostextreme example found is υ Her with an underabundance of at least1.5dex. These underabundances are qualitatively expected from radiativeacceleration calculations, which show that Ne has a very small radiativeacceleration in the photosphere, and that it is expected to undergogravitational settling if the mixing processes are sufficiently weak andthere is no strong stellar wind. According to theoretical predictions,the low Ne abundances place an important constraint on the intensity ofsuch stellar winds, which must be less than10-14Msolaryr-1 if they arenon-turbulent.
| Accuracy of radial-velocity measurements for early-type stars. II. Investigations of spectrum mismatch from high-resolution observations
The accuracy with which radial velocities of early-type stars can bemeasured is limited in practice by the existence of asymmetricaldifferences between object and template spectrum, constituting``spectrum mismatch''. Our studies of the magnitude of spectrum-mismatcherrors, commenced in Paper I (Verschueren et al. \cite{VDG99}) on thebasis of synthetic spectra having different attributes of effectivetemperature (Teff and {log g}, are continued here in acomplementary approach that employs observed spectra. From over 60de-archived observations we derive accurate wavelength scales for thespectra of 16 dwarfs of spectral types B8-F7, and examine the results ofcross-correlating the spectra against different (observed) templatespectra. We also test the effects of (a) truncating the spectra atdifferent levels below the continuum, (b) adding rotational broadeningto enforce a visual match of line-width between object and template, (c)applying rotational broadening to exacerbate a rotational mismatch, and(d) neglecting the presence of faint companion spectra. We alsocross-correlate pairs of spectra such that the differences between theirTeff are minimal. We conclude that it will be possible tomeasure radial velocities to an accuracy considerably better than 1 kms-1 for slowly-rotating stars in the range of spectral typesexamined, and a careful discussion of the nature and sources of therandom and systematic errors that become significant in work of thisnature enables us to specify conditions that are important for achievingsuch accuracy routinely. We find that both rotational broadening, andthe star-to-star variations in line strengths that are so prevelantamong A-type spectra, can give rise to more deleterious mismatch shifts(RV errors) than do differences in Teff alone, even for DeltaTeff as great as 300-400 K. By intercomparing the resultsgiven by wide regions of spectrum ( ~ 800 Å) with those obtainedby isolating small groups of features in very narrow windows ( ~ 30Å), we have been able to designate a window near lambda 4570Åthat should be particularly reliable for high-accuracy results,and we propose further studies at very high S/N ratio in that specificwindow to complement and extend the results of the present paper.
| On the effective temperatures, surface gravities, and optical region fluxes of the CP stars
We determined effective temperatures and surface gravities for 17magnetic Chemically Peculiar (mCP) stars by comparing optical regionspectrophotometry and Hγ profiles with the predictions of ATLAS9model atmospheres. Although solar composition models can fit the energydistributions of the normal and many Mercury-Manganese stars, theycannot match the optical energy distributions of the mCP stars,especially the lambda 5200 broad, continuum regions. The role ofmetallicity and microturbulence to provide appropriate energydistributions which fit those observed for the mCP stars isinvestigated. Using metal-rich models with the opacity distributionfunctions for microturbulent velocities of 4 and 8 km s-1,their lambda 5200 broad, continuum features are often fit as part ofthis process. For some stars it is impossible to fit simultaneously boththis feature and the line blanketing in the Hγ region. Thissuggests that this continuum feature is produced by elements other thanthose which contribute most of the general line blanketing. A systematicdifference in the temperatures found by the photometric andspectrophotometric approaches is discovered for the hotter mCP stars. Aninvestigation of 10 Mercury-Manganese stars shows a similar effect. Thismay be due to the photospheric compositions becoming less solar withincreasing temperature.
| Oxygen 6156-8 Angstroms Triplet in Chemically Peculiar Stars of the Upper Main Sequence: Do HgMn Stars Show an Oxygen Anomaly?
An extensive spectrum-fitting analysis in the lambda ~ 6150 Angstromsregion was performed for forty late-B and A chemically peculiar (HgMn,Ap, Am, weak-lined) and normal stars of the upper main sequence, inorder to quantitatively establish the abundance of oxygen from the O I6156-8 triplet and to study its behavior/anomaly for each peculiaritygroup, where special attention was paid to HgMn-type stars. Magnetic Apvariables (Si or SrCrEu type) generally show a remarkably large oxygendepletion (by ~ -1.6 dex to ~ -0.4 dex relative to the solar abundance),and classical Am stars also show a clear underabundance (by ~ -0.6 dexon the average). In contrast, the oxygen abundance in HgMn stars,exhibiting only a mild deficiency relative to the Sun typically by ~0.3-0.4 dex, is not markedly different from the tendency of normalstars, also showing a subsolar abundance ([O/H] =~ -0.2). In view of therecent observational implication that the present solar oxygen abundanceis enriched by ~ 0.2-0.3 dex relative to the interstellar gas (fromwhich young stars are formed), and thus unsuitable for the comparisonstandard, we concluded that the extent of the average O-deficiency inHgMn stars is appreciably reduced down to only ~ 0.1-0.2 dex (i.e., notmuch different from the initial composition), which contrasts with theirwell-known drastically large N-depletion. Yet, as can be seen from thedelicate and tight O vs. Fe anticorrelation, this marginal deficiencyshould be real, and thus some physical process simultaneously producingO-depletion/Fe-enrichment must have actually worked in the atmosphere ofHgMn stars.
| Manganese abundances in mercury-manganese stars
We use exact curve-of-growth analysis and spectral synthesis to deducethe abundance of Mn from high signal-to-noise ratio visible-regionechelle spectra of selected Mn i and MnII lines in 24 HgMn stars. Theresults are compared with the Mn abundances derived from UV resonancelines by Smith & Dworetsky. We find excellent agreement for severalunblended Mn lines and confirm the temperature dependence of the Mnabundance found by Smith & Dworetsky. The MnII lines at lambdalambda 4206 and 4326 are much stronger than one would predict from themean Mn abundances. The lack of agreement is greatest for stars with thestrongest MnII lines. Using ad hoc multicomponent fits to the profilesof sharp-lined stars, we show that most of the discrepancies can beexplained by hyperfine structure that desaturates the lines, with fullwidths of the order of 0.06-0.09 A.
| Differential UBV photometry of two CP3 stars: 11 Her and 6 Her
Differential UBV photometry of two CP3 stars 11 Her and 6 Her ispresented. The effort is focused on 7832 period reported by Rakosch andFiedler (1978) for 11 Her. However, the observations from the seasonJanuary 1991 - September 1993 can not confirm suggested period.Moreover, 6 Her seems to be constant within 0.01 mag. as well.
| The 74th Special Name-list of Variable Stars
We present the Name-list introducing GCVS names for 3153 variable starsdiscovered by the Hipparcos mission.
| Mercury Elemental and Isotopic Abundances in Mercury-Manganese Stars
Hg II abundances have been determined for 42 mercury-manganese (HgMn)stars by fitting synthetic spectra to observed spectra of the 3984Å Hg II line. Twenty of the stars had lines sharp enough to allowtheir Hg isotopic abundance mixes to be estimated. The Hg abundance isreported for more HgMn stars here than in any other single work. Nocorrelation was found between Hg II abundance and T_eff or the meancentral wavelength of HgMn lambda3984 stars. The mean central wavelengthof lambda3984 , an indicator of the Hg isotopic mix, is looselycorrelated with T_eff: stars with primarily heavy Hg isotopes tend to becooler, although one star, 46 Aql, has almost pure ^204Hg and T_eff inabout the middle of the temperature range for HgMn stars. We find thatthere is no evidence that any of the HgMn stars have ^196Hg or ^198Hg.For the very sharp-lined stars, the ^204Hg abundance decreases withincreasing T_eff. No correlation is seen between the mean centralwavelength and the surface gravity. No correlation was found between theprojected rotational velocity and the Hg II abundance or the centralwavelength of lambda3984, although this result may be biased by theselection of stars with low reported vsini. Hg I lambda4358 was measuredat high spectral resolution for seven HgMn stars. The isotopic shiftsare too small, and the hyperfine components are too weak to allowunambiguous isotopic abundance ratios to be found. Hg I abundancescorrelate fairly well with Hg II abundances. Some of the Hg isotopicmixtures are difficult to explain using only diffusion. HR 7245 hasapproximately equal abundances of ^199Hg, ^200Hg, ^202Hg, and ^204Hg butvery little ^201Hg, and 11 Per has Hg that is mostly ^199Hg and ^204Hg.Calculations show that hyperfine splitting of ^201Hg changes theradiative forces it feels compared with other isotopes, which may alterdiffusion of that isotope enough to explain its absence in HR 7245, butwe have found no possible explanation for the Hg isotopic mix found in11 Per. These are the first very high resolution measurements of Hg IIlambda3984 for HR 7245 and 11 Per. Although diffusion may be acting inHgMn stars, either there are one or more other mechanisms acting to helpproduce the overabundances and isotopic mixtures seen or ourunderstanding of diffusion is lacking on some important point.
| Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy Constraints on Open and Flat-Lambda Cold Dark Matter Cosmogonies from UCSB South Pole, ARGO, MAX, White Dish, and SUZIE Data
We use combinations of 10 small-scale cosmic microwave backgroundanisotropy data sets from the UCSB South Pole 1994, ARGO, MAX 4 and 5,White Dish, and SuZIE experiments to constrain cosmogonies. We consideropen and spatially flat-Lambda cold dark matter cosmogonies withnonrelativistic mass density parameter Omega_0 in the range 0.1-1,baryonic mass density parameter Omega_B in the range 0.005-0.029 h^-2,and age of the universe t_0 in the range 10-20 Gyr. Marginalizing overall parameters but Omega_0, the combined data favor a Omega_0~=1 (1)open (flat-Lambda) model. Excluding the smallest angular scale SuZIEdata, an Omega_0~=0.3 (1) open (flat-Lambda) model is favored.Considering only multifrequency data with error bars consistent withsample variance and noise considerations, i.e., the South Pole 1994 Kaband, the MAX 4 iota Draconis, and the MAX 5 HR5127 data, anOmega_0~=0.1 (1) open (flat-Lambda) model is favored. For both open andflat-Lambda models and for all three combinations of data sets, aftermarginalizing over all other parameters, a lower Omega_Bh^2 (~0.005) oryounger (t_0~10 Gyr) universe is favored. However, the data do not ruleout other values of Omega_0 in the flat-Lambda model and other values ofOmega_Bh^2 in both models. At 2 sigma confidence, model normalizationsdeduced from the small-scale data are consistent with those derived fromthe Differential Microwave Radiometer data. We emphasize that since weconsider only a small number of data sets, these results are tentative.
| A Second Catalog of Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 Filter Photometry: Ultraviolet Photometry of 614 Stars
Ultraviolet photometry from the Wisconsin Experiment Package on theOrbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 (OAO 2) is presented for 614 stars.Previously unpublished magnitudes from 12 filter bandpasses withwavelengths ranging from 1330 to 4250 Å have been placed on thewhite dwarf model atmosphere absolute flux scale. The fluxes wereconverted to magnitudes using V=0 for F(V)=3.46x10^-9 ergs cm^-2 s^-1Å^-1, or m_lambda=-2.5logF_lambda-21.15. This second catalogeffectively doubles the amount of OAO 2 photometry available in theliterature and includes many objects too bright to be observed withmodern space observatories.
| Speckle Interferometry of New and Problem HIPPARCOS Binaries
The ESA Hipparcos satellite made measurements of over 12,000 doublestars and discovered 3406 new systems. In addition to these, 4706entries in the Hipparcos Catalogue correspond to double star solutionsthat did not provide the classical parameters of separation and positionangle (rho,theta) but were the so-called problem stars, flagged ``G,''``O,'' ``V,'' or ``X'' (field H59 of the main catalog). An additionalsubset of 6981 entries were treated as single objects but classified byHipparcos as ``suspected nonsingle'' (flag ``S'' in field H61), thusyielding a total of 11,687 ``problem stars.'' Of the many ground-basedtechniques for the study of double stars, probably the one with thegreatest potential for exploration of these new and problem Hipparcosbinaries is speckle interferometry. Results are presented from aninspection of 848 new and problem Hipparcos binaries, using botharchival and new speckle observations obtained with the USNO and CHARAspeckle cameras.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Hercule |
| Right ascension: | 16h08m46.20s |
| Declination: | +44°56'06.0" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 4.26 |
| Distance: | 70.077 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -28 |
| Proper motion Dec: | 39.8 |
| B-T magnitude: | 4.155 |
| V-T magnitude: | 4.216 |
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INHABITED SKY
