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Bright OB stars in the Galaxy. III. Constraints on the radial stratification of the clumping factor in hot star winds from a combined Hα, IR and radio analysis
Context: .Recent results strongly challenge the canonical picture ofmassive star winds: various evidence indicates that currently acceptedmass-loss rates, {dot M}, may need to be revised downwards, by factorsextending to one magnitude or even more. This is because the mostcommonly used mass-loss diagnostics are affected by "clumping"(small-scale density inhomogeneities), influencing our interpretation ofobserved spectra and fluxes. Aims: .Such downward revisions wouldhave dramatic consequences for the evolution of, and feedback from,massive stars, and thus robust determinations of the clumping propertiesand mass-loss rates are urgently needed. We present a first attemptconcerning this objective, by means of constraining the radialstratification of the so-called clumping factor. Methods: .To thisend, we have analyzed a sample of 19 Galactic O-type supergiants/giants,by combining our own and archival data for Hα, IR, mm and radiofluxes, and using approximate methods, calibrated to more sophisticatedmodels. Clumping has been included into our analysis in the"conventional" way, by assuming the inter-clump matter to be void.Because (almost) all our diagnostics depends on the square of density,we cannot derive absolute clumping factors, but only factors normalizedto a certain minimum. Results: .This minimum was usually found tobe located in the outermost, radio-emitting region, i.e., the radiomass-loss rates are the lowest ones, compared to {dot M} derived fromHα and the IR. The radio rates agree well with those predicted bytheory, but are only upper limits, due to unknown clumping in the outerwind. Hα turned out to be a useful tool to derive the clumpingproperties inside r < 3{ldots}5 Rstar. Our most importantresult concerns a (physical) difference between denser and thinnerwinds: for denser winds, the innermost region is more strongly clumpedthan the outermost one (with a normalized clumping factor of 4.1± 1.4), whereas thinner winds have similar clumping properties inthe inner and outer regions. Conclusions: .Our findings arecompared with theoretical predictions, and the implications arediscussed in detail, by assuming different scenarios regarding the stillunknown clumping properties of the outer wind.
| Isolated, Massive Supergiants near the Galactic Center
We have carried out a pilot project to assess the feasibility of usingradio, infrared, and X-ray emission to identify young, massive starslocated between 1 and 25 pc from the Galactic center. We first comparedcatalogs compiled from the VLA, Chandra, and 2MASS. We identified twomassive, young stars: the previously identified star that is associatedwith the radio H II region H2 and a newly identified star that we referto as CXOGC J174516.1-290315. The infrared spectra of both stars exhibitvery strong Brγ and He I lines and resemble those of massivesupergiants that have evolved off of the main sequence but not yetreached the Wolf-Rayet phase. We estimate that each star has abolometric luminosity >~106 Lsolar. These twostars are also associated with bright mid-infrared sources from the MSXsurvey, although the origin of this emission is uncertain. Likewise, thedetection of these two sources in X-rays is surprising because stars atsimilar evolutionary states are not uniformly bright X-ray sources.Therefore, we suggest that both stars are in binary systems that containeither OB stars whose winds collide with those of the luminoussupergiants or compact objects that are accreting from the winds of thesupergiants. We also identify X-ray emission from a nitrogen-typeWolf-Rayet star and place upper limits on the X-ray luminosities ofthree more evolved, massive stars that previously have been identifiedbetween 1 and 25 pc from Sgr A*. Finally, we briefly discuss theimplications that future searches for young stars will have for ourunderstanding of the recent history of star formation near the Galacticcenter.
| The Discordance of Mass-Loss Estimates for Galactic O-Type Stars
We have determined accurate values of the product of the mass-loss rateand the ion fraction of P+4, M˙q(P+4), for asample of 40 Galactic O-type stars by fitting stellar wind profiles toobservations of the P V resonance doublet obtained with FUSE, ORFEUSBEFS, and Copernicus. When P+4 is the dominant ion in thewind [i.e., 0.5<~q(P+4)<=1], M˙q(P+4)approximates the mass-loss rate to within a factor of <~2. Theorypredicts that P+4 is the dominant ion in the winds of O7-O9.7stars, although an empirical estimator suggests that the range O4-O7 maybe more appropriate. However, we find that the mass-loss rates obtainedfrom P V wind profiles are systematically smaller than those obtainedfrom fits to Hα emission profiles or radio free-free emission bymedian factors of ~130 (if P+4 is dominant between O7 andO9.7) or ~20 (if P+4 is dominant between O4 and O7). Thesediscordant measurements can be reconciled if the winds of O stars in therelevant temperature range are strongly clumped on small spatial scales.We use a simplified two-component model to investigate the volumefilling factors of the denser regions. This clumping implies thatmass-loss rates determined from ``ρ2'' diagnostics havebeen systematically overestimated by factors of 10 or more, at least fora subset of O stars. Reductions in the mass-loss rates of this size haveimportant implications for the evolution of massive stars andquantitative estimates of the feedback that hot-star winds provide totheir interstellar environments.
| Interstellar Ca II Line Intensities and the Distances of the OB stars
We show that the equivalent widths of the well-known interstellar Ca IIH and K lines can be used to determine the distances to OB stars in ourGalaxy. The equivalent widths, measured in the spectra of 147 early-typestars, are strongly related to the Hipparcos parallaxes of thoseobjects. The lines fitted to the parallax-equivalent width data aregiven by the formulae π=1/[2.78EW(K)+95] and π=1/[4.58EW(H)+102],where π is in arcseconds and EW is in milliangstroms. The form of theformulae, yielding a finite parallax even for zero absorption, showsthat space within ~100 pc of the Sun contains very little Ca II, whichis in agreement with the known dimensions of the Local Bubble. Using CaII lines for distance determination does not require the knowledge ofthe absolute magnitude of the object; it is thus well suited for targetsfor which the absolute calibration is either not precise (OBsupergiants) or not available at all (peculiar objects). We alsodemonstrate that neither the reddening E(B-V) nor the equivalent widthsof interstellar K I and CH lines are suitable candidates for distanceestimation, their relation with parallaxes being far less tight than forCa II.
| Bright OB stars in the Galaxy. II. Wind variability in O supergiants as traced by Hα
We investigate the line-profile variability (lpv) of Hα for alarge sample of O-type supergiants (15 objects between O4 and O9.7), inan objective, statistically rigorous manner. We employed the TemporalVariance Spectrum (TVS) analysis, developed for the case of photosphericabsorption lines and modified by us to take into account the effects ofwind emission. By means of a comparative analysis we place constraintson the properties of this variability - quantified in terms of a meanand a newly defined fractional amplitude of deviations - as a functionof stellar and wind parameters. The results of our analysis show thatall the stars in the sample show evidence of significant lpv inHα, mostly dominated by processes in the wind. The variationsoccur between zero and 0.3 v_&infy; (i.e., below 1.5 R_star ), in goodagreement with results from similar studies. A comparison between theobservations and corresponding line-profile simulations indicates thatfor stars with intermediate wind densities the properties of theHα variability can be explained by simple models consisting ofcoherent or broken shells (blobs) uniformly distributed over the windvolume, with an intrinsic scatter in the maximum density contrast ofabout a factor of two. For stars at lower and higher wind densities, onthe other hand, we found certain inconsistencies between theobservations and our predictions, most importantly concerning the meanamplitude and the symmetry properties of the TVS. This disagreementmight be explained by the presence of coherent large-scale structures,partly confined in a volume close to the star. Interpreted in terms of avariable mass-loss rate, the observed variations of Hα indicatechanges of ±4% with respect to the mean value of dot M for starswith stronger winds and of ± 16% for stars with weaker winds. Theeffect of these variations on the corresponding wind momenta is ratherinsignificant (less than 0.16 dex), increasing only the local scatterwithout affecting the Wind Momentum Luminosity Relationship.
| On the massive stellar population of the super star cluster Westerlund 1
We present new spectroscopic and photometric observations of the youngGalactic open cluster Westerlund 1 (Wd 1) that reveala unique population of massive evolved stars. We identify ~200 clustermembers and present spectroscopic classifications for ~25% of these. Wefind that all stars so classified are unambiguously post-Main Sequenceobjects, consistent with an apparent lack of an identifiable MainSequence in our photometric data to V 20. We are able to identifyrich populations of Wolf Rayet stars, OB supergiants and short livedtransitional objects. Of these, the latter group consists of both hot(Luminous Blue Variable and extreme B supergiant) and cool (YellowHypergiant and Red Supergiant) objects - we find that half the knownGalactic population of YHGs resides within Wd 1. We obtain a meanV-MV ~ 25 mag from the cluster Yellow Hypergiants, implying aMain Sequence turnoff at or below MV =-5 (O7 V or later).Based solely on the masses inferred for the 53 spectroscopicallyclassified stars, we determine an absolute minimum mass of ~1.5 ×10^3~Mȯ for Wd 1. However, considering the completephotometrically and spectroscopically selected cluster population andadopting a Kroupa IMF we infer a likely mass for Wd 1 of~10^5~Mȯ, noting that inevitable source confusion andincompleteness are likely to render this an underestimate. As such, Wd 1is the most massive compact young cluster yet identified in the LocalGroup, with a mass exceeding that of Galactic Centre clusters such asthe Arches and Quintuplet. Indeed, the luminosity, inferred mass andcompact nature of Wd 1 are comparable with those of Super Star Clusters- previously identified only in external galaxies - and is consistentwith expectations for a Globular Cluster progenitor.
| 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 Effective Temperatures of Hot Stars. II. The Early-O Types
We derived the stellar parameters of a sample of Galactic early-O typestars by analyzing their UV and far-UV spectra from the Far UltravioletSpectroscopic Explorer (905-1187 Å), the International UltravioletExplorer, the Hubble Space Telescope STIS, and the Orbiting andRetrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer (1200-2000Å). The data have been modeled with spherical, hydrodynamic,line-blanketed, non-LTE synthetic spectra computed with the WM-BASICcode. We obtain effective temperatures ranging fromTeff=41,000 to 39,000 K for the O3-O4 dwarf stars andTeff=37,500 K for the only supergiant of the sample (O4If+). Our values are lower than those from previous empiricalcalibrations for early-O types by up to 20%. The derived luminosities ofthe dwarf stars are also lower by 6%-12% however, the luminosity of thesupergiant is in agreement with previous calibrations within the errorbars. Our results extend the trend found for later O types in a previouswork by Bianchi & Garcia.Based on observations with the NASA-CNES-CSA FUSE, which is operated byThe Johns Hopkins University under NASA contract NAS5-32985, on IUEobservations from the MAST and INES archives and on MAST archival datafrom the HST and the ORFEUS mission.
| 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 study of RV in Galactic O stars from the 2MASS catalogue
We present new measurements of the interstellar reddening parameterRV=AV/E(B-V) towards 185 O stars, using J, H,Ks photometry from the 2MASS project. The results arecombined with data from the literature of 95 stars where RVhas been derived with the same technique, 22 of which in common with ourpresent sample from the 2MASS project catalogue. The averageRV from these 258 O stars is of 3.19 +/- 0.50. All objectswhose RV departs from this value by more than 2 sigma havebeen recognized. Ten objects have RV higher than this valueand two lower. It is found that anomalous RV can scarcely beassociated with anomalies in the general interstellar medium, e.g. withdifferent behaviour in different spiral arms. They are clearly linked tolocal cloud effect. In the Cygnus region RV values follow thebehaviour of the general interstellar medium, while in the Carina arm,in spite of the relatively larger distance, local cloud effects prevail.An explanation for this is suggested. The relatively few stars of oursample whose Hipparcos parallaxes are reliable, are found to havedistances systematically smaller than the distances derived by thespectroscopic parallaxes. We argue that this effect is consistent withthe recently claimed discovery of grey extinction towards OB stars.This publication makes use of data products from the Two Micron All SkySurvey (2MASS), which is a joint project of the University ofMassachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center/CaliforniaInstitute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration and the National Science Foundation.Tables 1 and 2 are 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/410/905
| 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.
| Massive Stars in the Arches Cluster
We present and use new spectra and narrowband images, along withpreviously published broadband images, of stars in the Arches cluster toextract photometry, astrometry, equivalent width, and velocityinformation. The data are interpreted with a wind/atmosphere code todetermine stellar temperatures, luminosities, mass-loss rates, andabundances. We have doubled the number of known emission-line stars, andwe have also made the first spectroscopic identification of the mainsequence for any population in the Galactic center. We conclude that themost massive stars are bona fide Wolf-Rayet (W-R) stars; are some of themost massive stars known, havingMinit>100Msolar and have prodigious winds,M>10-5 Msolar yr-1, that areenriched with helium and nitrogen; with these identifications, theArches cluster contains about 5% of all known W-R stars in the Galaxy.We find an upper limit to the velocity dispersion of 22 kms-1, implying an upper limit to the cluster mass of7×104 Msolar within a radius of 0.23 pc; wealso estimate the bulk heliocentric velocity of the cluster to bevcluster,solar~+95 km s-1. Taken together, theseresults suggest that the Arches cluster was formed in a short, butmassive, burst of star formation about 2.5+/-0.5 Myr ago, from amolecular cloud that is no longer present. The cluster happens to beapproaching and ionizing the surface of a background molecular cloud,thus producing the thermal arched filaments. We estimate that thecluster produces 4×1051 ionizing photonss-1, more than enough to account for the observed thermalradio flux from the nearby cloud, 3×1049 ionizingphotons s-1. Commensurately, it produces 107.8Lsolar in total luminosity, providing the heating source forthe nearby molecular cloud, Lcloud~107Lsolar. These interactions between a cluster of hot stars anda wayward molecular cloud are similar to those seen in the``Quintuplet/Sickle'' region. The small spread of formation times forthe known young clusters in the Galactic center and the relative lack ofintermediate-age stars(τage=107.0-107.3 yr) suggest thatthe Galactic center has recently been host to a burst of star formation.Finally, we have made new identifications of near-infrared sources thatare counterparts to recently identified X-ray and radio sources. Basedon observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained atthe Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by theAssociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASAcontract NAS5-26555.
| The ISO-SWS post-helium atlas of near-infrared stellar spectra
We present an atlas of near-infrared spectra (2.36 mu m-4.1 mu m) of ~300 stars at moderate resolution (lambda /delta lambda ~ 1500-2000). Thespectra were recorded using the Short-Wavelength Spectrometer aboard theInfrared Space Observatory (ISO-SWS). The bulk of the observations wereperformed during a dedicated observation campaign after the liquidhelium depletion of the ISO satellite, the so-called post-heliumprogramme. This programme was aimed at extending the MK-classificationto the near-infrared. Therefore the programme covers a large range ofspectral types and luminosity classes. The 2.36 mu m-4.05 mu m region isa valuable spectral probe for both hot and cool stars. H I lines(Bracket, Pfund and Humphreys series), He I and He II lines, atomiclines and molecular lines (CO, H2O, NH, OH, SiO, HCN,C2H2, ...) are sensitive to temperature, gravityand/or the nature of the outer layers of the stellar atmosphere(outflows, hot circumstellar discs, etc.). Another objective of theprogramme was to construct a homogeneous dataset of near-infraredstellar spectra that can be used for population synthesis studies ofgalaxies. At near-infrared wavelengths these objects emit the integratedlight of all stars in the system. In this paper we present the datasetof post-helium spectra completed with observations obtained during thenominal operations of the ISO-SWS. We discuss the calibration of the SWSdata obtained after the liquid helium boil-off and the data reduction.We also give a first qualitative overview of how the spectral featuresin this wavelength range change with spectral type. The dataset isscrutinised in two papers on the quantitative classification ofnear-infrared spectra of early-type stars ({Lenorzer} et al.\cite{lenorzer:2002a}) and late-type stars (Vandenbussche et al., inprep). Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instrumentsfunded by ESA Members States (especially the PI countries France,Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and with theparticipation of ISAS and NASA. The full atlas is available inelectronic form at www.edpsciences.org Table 1 is only available inelectronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?/A+A/390/1033
| A revised HRD for individual components of binary systems from BaSeL BVRI synthetic photometry. Influence of interstellar extinction and stellar rotation
Johnson BVRI photometric data for individual components of binarysystems have been provided by ten Brummelaar et al. (\cite{Brummelaar}).This is essential because non-interacting binaries can be considered astwo single stars and therefore play a critical role in testing andcalibrating single-star stellar evolution sets of isochrones and theimplicit theory. While they derived the effective temperature (T_eff)from their estimated spectral type, we infer metallicity-dependent T_efffrom a minimizing method fitting the B-V, V-R and V-I colours. For thispurpose, a grid of 621 600 flux distributions were computed from theBasel Stellar Library (BaSeL 2.2) of model-atmosphere spectra, and theirtheoretical colours compared with the observed photometry. The BaSeLcolours show a very good agreement with the BVRI metallicity-dependentempirical calibrations of Alonso et al. (\cite{Alonso}), with thetemperatures being different by 3+/-3% in the range 4000-8000 K fordwarf stars. Before deriving the metallicity-dependent T_eff from theBaSeL models, we paid particular attention to the influence of reddeningand stellar rotation. We inferred the reddening from two differentmethods: (i) the MExcessNg code v1.1 (Méndez & van Altena\cite{Mendez}) and (ii) neutral hydrogen column density data. Acomparison of both methods shows a good agreement for the sample locatedinside a local sphere of ~ 500 pc, but we point out a few directionswhere the MExcess model overestimates the E(B-V) colour excess.Influence of stellar rotation on the BVRI colours can be neglectedexcept for 5 stars with large v sin i, the maximum effect on temperaturebeing less than 5%. Our final determinations provide effectivetemperature estimates for each component. They are in good agreementwith previous spectroscopic determinations available for a few primarycomponents, and with ten Brummelaar et al. below ~ 10 000 K.Nevertheless, we obtain an increasing disagreement with theirtemperatures beyond 10 000 K. Finally, we provide a revisedHertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD) for the systems with the moreaccurately determined temperatures.
| An atlas of 2.4 to 4.1 mu m ISO/SWS spectra of early-type stars
We present an atlas of spectra of O- and B-type stars, obtained with theShort Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS) during the Post-Helium program ofthe Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). This program is aimed at extendingthe Morgan & Keenan classification scheme into the near-infrared.Later type stars will be discussed in a separate publication. Theobservations consist of 57 SWS Post-Helium spectra from 2.4 to 4.1 μm, supplemented with 10 spectra acquired during the nominal mission witha similar observational setting. For B-type stars, this sample providesample spectral coverage in terms of subtype and luminosity class. ForO-type stars, the ISO sample is coarse and therefore is complementedwith 8 UKIRT Larcmin -band observations. In terms of the presence ofdiagnostic lines, the Larcmin -band is likely the most promising of thenear-infrared atmospheric windows for the study of the physicalproperties of B stars. Specifically, this wavelength interval containsthe Bralpha , Pfgamma , and other Pfund lines which are probes ofspectral type, luminosity class and mass loss. Here, we present simpleempirical methods based on the lines present in the 2.4 to 4.1 mu minterval that allow the determination of i) the spectral type of Bdwarfs and giants to within two subtypes; ii) the luminosity class of Bstars to within two classes; iii) the mass-loss rate of O stars and Bsupergiants to within 0.25 dex. Based on observations with ISO, an ESAproject with instruments funded by ESA Member States (especially the PIcountries: France, Germany, The Netherlands and the UK) and with theparticipation of ISAS and NASA. The appendix is only available inelectronic form at the 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/384/473
| Research Note Nice Observatory CCD measurements of visual double stars (3rd series)
We present the measurements of 58 visual double stars made in 1999 and2000 with the 50 cm refractor of the Nice Observatory and attached CCDcamera, using an algorithm based on the adjustment of a tridimensionalmathematical surface (Table 1). 2 new binaries discovered by Hipparcoswere measured.
| Classification and properties of UV extinction curves
The catalog of Savage et al. (\cite{ref27}) reporting colour excesses of1415 stars from ANS photometry offers the opportunity to deeplyinvestigate the characteristics of UV extinction curves which differfrom the standard extinction of the diffuse interstellar medium. To thisaim we have selected a sample of 252 curves, which have been comparedwith the relations derived by Cardelli et al. (\cite{ref4}; CCM in thefollowing) for a variety of R_V values in the range 2.4-5 and have beenclassified as normal if they fit at least one of the CCM curves oranomalous otherwise. We find that normal curves with small R_V are justas numerous as those with large R_V. The anomalous objects are arrangedinto two groups according to the strength of the bump at 0.217 mu . Fora given value of c_2 this increases along the sequence: type Aanomalous, normals and type B anomalous, suggesting that this sequenceshould correspond to an increase of the amount of small grains along thesightline. Considerations concerning the environmental characteristicsindicate that the anomalous behaviour is not necessarily tied to theexistence of dense gas clouds along the line of sight.
| Binary Star Differential Photometry Using the Adaptive Optics System at Mount Wilson Observatory
We present photometric and astrometric results for 36 binary systemsobserved with the natural guide star adaptive optics system of the MountWilson Institute on the 100 inch (2.5 m) Hooker Telescope. Themeasurements consist of differential photometry in U, B, V, R, and Ifilters along with astrometry of the relative positions of systemcomponents. Magnitude differences were combined with absolute photometryfound in the literature of the combined light for systems to obtainapparent magnitudes for the individual components at standardbandpasses, which in turn led to color determinations and spectraltypes. The combination of these results with Hipparcos parallaxmeasurements yielded absolute magnitudes and allowed us to plot thecomponents on an H-R diagram. To further examine the reliability andself-consistency of these data, we also estimated system masses from thespectral types. Based on observations made at Mount Wilson Observatory,operated by the Mount Wilson Institute under an agreement with theCarnegie Institution of Washington.
| Two-colour photometry for 9473 components of close Hipparcos double and multiple stars
Using observations obtained with the Tycho instrument of the ESAHipparcos satellite, a two-colour photometry is produced for componentsof more than 7 000 Hipparcos double and multiple stars with angularseparations 0.1 to 2.5 arcsec. We publish 9473 components of 5173systems with separations above 0.3 arcsec. The majority of them did nothave Tycho photometry in the Hipparcos catalogue. The magnitudes arederived in the Tycho B_T and V_T passbands, similar to the Johnsonpassbands. Photometrically resolved components of the binaries withstatistically significant trigonometric parallaxes can be put on an HRdiagram, the majority of them for the first time. Based on observationsmade with the ESA Hipparcos satellite.
| High resolution spectroscopy over lambda lambda 8500-8750 Å for GAIA. I. Mapping the MKK classification system
We present an Echelle+CCD high resolution spectroscopic atlas (0.25Ä/pix dispersion, 0.43 Ä FWHM resolution and 20 000 resolvingpower) mapping the MKK classification system over the interval lambdalambda 8500-8750 Ä. The wavelength interval is remarkably free fromtelluric lines and it is centered on the near-IR triplet of Ca II, thehead of hydrogen Paschen series and several strong metallic lines. Thespectra of 131 stars of types between O4 and M8 and luminosity classes Ithrough V are included in the atlas. Special care was put in maintainingthe highest instrumental homogeneity over the whole set of data. Thecapability to derive accurate MKK spectral types from high resolutionobservations over the interval lambda lambda 8500-8750 Ä isdiscussed. The observations have been performed as part of an evaluationstudy of possible spectroscopic performances for the astrometric missionGAIA planned by ESA. Tables~3 and 4 are 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/ Abstract.html}\fnmsep\thanks{ Thespectra of the stars listed in Table~2 are also available in electronicform at the CDS or via the personal HomePagehttp://ulisse.pd.astro.it/Astro/Atlases/}\fnmsep\thanks{ Figures 3--28are only available in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.com
| The Ionization in the Winds of O Stars and the Determination of Mass-Loss Rates from Ultraviolet Lines
Empirical ionization fractions of C IV, N V, Si IV, and empiricalionization plus excitation fractions of C III* and N iv^* in the windsof 34 O stars and one B star have been derived. We combine the mass-lossrates derived from radio measurements and Hα with the line fittingof ultraviolet resonance lines and subordinate lines using the Sobolevplus exact integration (SEI) method. The dependence of the empiricalionization fractions, q, on the stellar effective temperature and on themean wind density is discussed. This sets constraints for the models ofionization in the winds of hot stars. The ionization and excitationfractions can be expressed in terms of an empirical radiationtemperature. This radiation temperature scales with T_eff, and we deriveempirical relations for T_rad as a function of T_eff. The radiationtemperatures are on the order of 0.5-0.9 T_eff, with significantdifferences between the ions. The derived relations between theionization fractions and the stellar parameters have an uncertainty of0.2 dex forSi IV, N V, and C iii^*, and about 0.26 dex for N iv^*. For CIV, we can only derive an expression for the mean ionization fraction inthe wind if the mass-loss rate is small, M<10^-6 M_solar yr^-1,because the C IV lines are usually saturated for higher mass-loss rates.The resulting expressions for T_rad can be used to derive the mass-lossrates from studies of ultraviolet P Cygni profiles in the range ofstellar parameters studied here: 30,000 K<~T_eff<~50,500 K,5.2<~logL/L_*<~6.4, and -7.5 M_solar<~logM<~-4.6 M_solaryr^-1. An accuracy of about a factor of 2 or better can be reached,depending on the lines that are used and the accuracy of the line fitsand the stellar parameters. The Si IV lines give the most reliablemass-loss rates, because the abundance is about the same for all Ostars, the lines saturate only for high mass-loss rates, the doubletlines only partly overlap, and the mass-loss rate is proportional to thesquare root of the column density. The radiation temperature of N Vshows a surprisingly strict relation with T_eff, with a scatter of onlyDeltaT_rad/T_eff=0.01. The mass-loss rate cannot be derived from the N Vlines, because the column density of the N V ions in the wind isindependent of M. A consistency check and a test of the method for thestars HD 14749 and HD 190429 show that the mass-loss rate derived fromthe UV lines with the ionization fractions of this paper agree very wellwith the mass-loss rate derived from new radio flux measurements.
| 1-m spectroscopy of normal OB stars
We have obtained spectra of 70 normal OB stars in the near-IR I(1-μm) band. The strongest features are those due to lines of thehydrogen Paschen series and neutral and ionized helium, which are, forthe most part, in absorption. The information content in this spectralrange is sufficient for only a rough classification of hot stars into`early O', `late O' and `B' types. Curiously, the leading He i tripletline, He i λ1.0830 μm, is usually not detectable, although ina few stars it is in emission; its behaviour generally correlates withthe leading helium singlet line, He i λ 2.058 μ m. These twofeatures appear to be present in emission only in stars with extremes ofmass loss or wind extension.
| Catalogue of H-alpha emission stars in the Northern Milky Way
The ``Catalogue of Stars in the Northern Milky Way Having H-alpha inEmission" appears in Abhandlungen aus der Hamburger Sternwarte, Band XIin the year 1997. It contains 4174 stars, range {32degr <= l() II< 214degr , -10degr < b() II < +10degr } having the Hαline in emission. HBH stars and stars of further 99 lists taken from theliterature till the end of 1994 were included in the catalogue. We givethe cross-identification of stars from all lists used. The catalogue isalso available in the Centre de Données, Strasbourg ftp130.79.128.5 or http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr and at the HamburgObservatory via internet.
| 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.
| Radio observations of stellar winds from early type stars
Fifteen O and B supergiants have been observed with the Very Large Array(VLA) at 4.85, 8.45, and 14.95 GHz in order to make a detailedcomparative study of the mass loss rates evaluated from Hα andradio continuum observations and reveal and quantify possible departuresfrom standard wind conditions. We detected 12 sources, 7 of which forthe first time, thus increasing by 30% the total number of detections ofOB supergiants in the northern sky. Radio spectral slopes indicate thatthe radio emission is mainly of thermal origin in all objects with oneexception (HD 190603) out of the 12 detections. Our results demonstratethe value of using Hα for mass loss rate determinations,especially for stars that are too distant or too faint to be detectedwith radio techniques. The relationship dot {M} - L for supergiantsturns out to be appreciably flatter than commonly reported, i.e. log{dot {M}} =3D (1.25\pmm0.30) log {L}. Based on observations with theVery Large Array. The VLA is a facility of the National Radio AstronomyObservatory which is operated by the Associated Universities Inc. undercooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.
| 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.
| Physical parameters of multiple systems like the Trapezium of early spectral types, derived from uvby-beta photometry. II.
Not Available
| MSC - a catalogue of physical multiple stars
The MSC catalogue contains data on 612 physical multiple stars ofmultiplicity 3 to 7 which are hierarchical with few exceptions. Orbitalperiods, angular separations and mass ratios are estimated for eachsub-system. Orbital elements are given when available. The catalogue canbe accessed through CDS (Strasbourg). Half of the systems are within 100pc from the Sun. The comparison of the periods of close and widesub-systems reveals that there is no preferred period ratio and allpossible combinations of periods are found. The distribution of thelogarithms of short periods is bimodal, probably due to observationalselection. In 82\% of triple stars the close sub-system is related tothe primary of a wide pair. However, the analysis of mass ratiodistribution gives some support to the idea that component masses areindependently selected from the Salpeter mass function. Orbits of wideand close sub-systems are not always coplanar, although thecorresponding orbital angular momentum vectors do show a weak tendencyof alignment. Some observational programs based on the MSC aresuggested. Tables 2 and 3 are only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| H-Band Spectroscopic Classification of OB Stars
We present a new spectroscopic classification for OB stars based onH-band (1.5 \mic \ to 1.8 \mic) observations of a sample of stars withoptical spectral types. Our initial sample of nine stars demonstratesthat the combination of He 1 1.7002 \mic \ and H Brackett seriesabsorption can be used to determine spectral types for stars between ~O4 and B7 (to within ~ +/- 2 sub-types). We find that the Brackettseries exhibits luminosity effects similar to the Balmer series for theB stars. This classification scheme will be useful in studies ofoptically obscured high mass star forming regions. In addition, wepresent spectra for the OB stars near 1.1 \mic \ and 1.3 \mic \ whichmay be of use in analyzing their atmospheres and winds.
| Catalogue of stars in the northern Milky Way having H-alpha in emission
Not Available
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Κύκνος |
| Right ascension: | 20h03m29.40s |
| Declination: | +36°01'30.0" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 7.077 |
| Distance: | 33333.333 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -10.7 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -4.3 |
| B-T magnitude: | 7.201 |
| V-T magnitude: | 7.088 |
Catalogs and designations:
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INHABITED SKY
