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The distance and structure of the Coalsack. I - Photometric data
The results of UBV and H-beta photometry for 284 stars of spectral typesB to F located in the area of the dark cloud Coalsack are presented.Most of the present stars are brighter than 10.0 mag and are classifiedin the MK system of Houk and Cowley (1975). For each star, the bestvalues for the extinction and distance modulus are provided, withtypical estimated errors of + or - 0.08 mag for the extinction and + or- 0.32 mag for the distance modulus. Possible misclassifications andspectral peculiarities are noted for several of the stars.
| The Southern Coalsack - Extinction and distance
H-beta and uvby photometric observations are reported for 236 stars oftypes B, A, and F in the region of the Southern Coalsack. Data obtainedwith the 50-cm Stromgren Automatic Telescope at ESO are presented inextensive tables, graphs, and maps and characterized in detail. Threedistinct structures are identified: (1) a nearby region (d less than 200pc) dominated by stars in front of the Coalsack, with evidence of a verydiffuse feature; (2) an intermediate region (d = 200-1100 pc) with starsreddened by Coalsack dust and/or the ISM behind it; and (3) a distantregion (d = 1.1-3.0 kpc) in which the reddening of 22 early B starsimplies a color-excess lower limit of E(b-y) = 0.230 mag, consistentwith a 10,000-solar-mass cloud at d = 1.2 kpc. The average upper-limitdistance to the main Coalsack components is estimated as 180 + or - 26pc, with some material possibly as near as 120 pc.
| Stromgren and H-beta photometry of stars earlier than G0 in the Southern Coalsack direction
Four-color and H-beta photometry have been obtained for 236 starsearlier than G0 in order to study the color excess distribution in theSouthern Coalsack direction. The beta histogram of the stars reveals arelative absence of stars in the range of A4 to A9. The (b-y)distribution for B-type stars suggests the existence of three differenttypes of stars located at different distances.
| Preferred frequency for interstellar communications
It is suggested that the 4829.659-MHz line frequency of the1(11)-to-1(10) rotational transition of formaldehyde is a plausiblefrequency to monitor for the purpose of detecting interstellarcommunications. The formaldehyde line is of interest because, as aresult of the antimaser effect, it exhibits a very low excitationtemperature. The background radiation temperature in the direction ofdark clouds is below the 3 K background temperature; the backgroundnoise temperature, lowered approximately 1 K, is lower than at any otherfrequency band.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Centaurus |
| Right ascension: | 13h07m44.15s |
| Declination: | -64°00'42.6" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 9.131 |
| Proper motion RA: | -42.3 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -17.1 |
| B-T magnitude: | 9.653 |
| V-T magnitude: | 9.175 |
Catalogs and designations:
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INHABITED SKY
