Be phenomenon in open clusters: results from a survey of emission-line stars in young open clusters

Emission-line stars in young open clusters are identified to study their properties, as a function of age, spectral type and evolutionary state. 207 open star clusters were observed using the slitless spectroscopy method and 157 emission stars were identified in 42 clusters. We have found 54 new emission-line stars in 24 open clusters, out of which 19 clusters are found to house emission stars for the first time. About 20 per cent clusters harbour emission stars. The fraction of clusters housing emission stars is maximum in both the 0–10 and 20–30 Myr age bin (∼40 per cent each). Most of the emission stars in our survey belong to Classical Be class (∼92 per cent) while a few are Herbig Be stars (∼6 per cent) and Herbig Ae stars (∼2 per cent). The youngest clusters to have Classical Be stars are IC 1590, NGC 637 and 1624 (all 4 Myr old) while NGC 6756 (125–150 Myr) is the oldest cluster to have Classical Be stars. The Classical Be stars are located all along the main sequence (MS) in the optical colour–magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of clusters of all ages, which indicates that the Be phenomenon is unlikely due to core contraction near the turn-off. The distribution of Classical Be stars as a function of spectral type shows peaks at B1–B2 and B6–B7 spectral types. The Be star fraction [N(Be)/N(B+Be)] is found to be less than 10 per cent for most of the clusters and NGC 2345 is found to have the largest fraction (∼26 per cent). Our results indicate there could be two mechanisms responsible for the Classical Be phenomenon. Some are born Classical Be stars (fast rotators), as indicated by their presence in clusters younger than 10 Myr. Some stars evolve to Classical Be stars, within the MS lifetime, as indicated by the enhancement in the fraction of clusters with Classical Be stars in the 20–30 Myr age bin.     

Models of forbidden line emission profiles from axisymmetric stellar winds

A number of strong infrared forbidden lines have been observed in several evolved Wolf–Rayet (WR) star winds, and these are important for deriving metal abundances and testing stellar evolution models. In addition, because these optically thin lines form at large radius in the wind, their resolved profiles carry an imprint of the asymptotic structure of the wind flow. This work presents model forbidden line profile shapes formed in axisymmetric winds. It is well known that an optically thin emission line formed in a spherical wind expanding at constant velocity yields a flat-topped emission profile shape. Simulated forbidden lines are produced for a model stellar wind with an axisymmetric density distribution that treats the latitudinal ionization self-consistently and examines the influence of the ion stage on the profile shape. The resulting line profiles are symmetric about line centre. Within a given atomic species, profile shapes can vary between centrally peaked, doubly peaked, and approximately flat-topped in appearance depending on the ion stage (relative to the dominant ion) and viewing inclination. Although application to WR star winds is emphasized, the concepts are also relevant to other classes of hot stars such as luminous blue variables and Be/B[e] stars.     

A high-frequency radio continuum study of massive young stellar objects

We present high-resolution observations made with the Very Large Array (VLA) in its A configuration at frequencies between 5 and 43 GHz of a sample of five massive young stellar objects (YSOs): Lk Hα101, NGC 2024-IRS2, S106-IR, W75N and S140-IRS1. The resolution varied from 0.04 arcsec (at 43 GHz) to 0.5 arcsec (at 5 GHz), corresponding to a linear resolution as high as 17 au for our nearest source. A MERLIN observation of S106-IR at 23 GHz with 0.03-arcsec resolution is also presented. S106-IR and S140-IRS1 are elongated at 43 GHz perpendicular to their large-scale bipolar outflows. This confirms the equatorial wind picture for these sources seen previously in MERLIN 5-GHz observations. The other sources are marginally resolved at 43 GHz. The spectral indices we derive for the sources in our sample range from +0.2 to +0.8, generally consistent with ionized stellar winds. We have modelled our sources as uniform, isothermal spherical winds, with Lk Hα101 and NGC 2024-IRS2 yielding the best fits. However, in all cases our fits give wind temperatures of only 2000–5000 K, much less than the effective temperatures of main-sequence stars of the same luminosity, a result which is likely due to the clumpy nature of the winds.     

Line profile variability of OB stars: Pulsation,rotation, clumps and magnetic fields

The variability of line profiles in spectra of bright OB stars has been studied.We obtain more than 1000 high quality spectra of δ Ori A, λ Ori A, α Cam, 19 Cep, ι Her, ρ Leo and other target stars. We revealed the line profile microvariability of small amplitude (0.5–3% in the adjacent continuum units) for all observed stars. For most stars only cyclic components of the line profile variability (LPV) at the time scales from hours to days were detected. These components seem to be connected with both the non-radial pulsations (NRP) and rotation line profile modulation. In the spectra of δ Ori A and λ Ori A we found the evidences of the stochastic LPV in spectra, probably connected with the small clumps in the stellar wind. On the basis of recent observations we discuss the origin of the magnetic field of early-type stars. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Are many pulsars processed in binary systems?

A detailed statistical analysis of pulsarcurrent is presented. The conclusions reached are the following: (1) The birthrate of pulsars is about one in 75 ± 15 years. (2) There is evidence forinjection of pulsars into the population of solitary pulsars. Such an injection is particularly pronounced in the magnetic field range 12 < logB < 12.6. (3) This is interpreted as due torecycled pulsars being released into the population. (4) We tentatively conclude that as much as 10 – 15% of all pulsars may have been born and processed in binary systems.     

Protodiscs around hot magnetic rotator stars

We develop equations and obtain solutions for the structure and evolution of a protodisc region that is initially formed with no radial motion and super-Keplerian rotation speed when wind material from a hot rotating star is channelled towards its equatorial plane by a dipole-type magnetic field. Its temperature is around 10⁷ K because of shock heating and the inflow of wind material causes its equatorial density to increase with time. The centrifugal force and thermal pressure increase relative to the magnetic force and material escapes at its outer edge. The protodisc region of a uniformly rotating star has almost uniform rotation and will shrink radially unless some instability intervenes. In a star with angular velocity increasing along its surface towards the equator, the angular velocity of the protodisc region decreases radially outwards and magnetorotational instability (MRI) can occur within a few hours or days. Viscosity resulting from MRI will readjust the angular velocity distribution of the protodisc material and may assist in the formation of a quasi-steady disc. Thus, the centrifugal breakout found in numerical simulations for uniformly rotating stars does not imply that quasi-steady discs with slow outflow cannot form around magnetic rotator stars with solar-type differential rotation.     

A potential new method for determining the temperature of cool stars

We present high-resolution  ( R = 90 000)  mid-infrared spectra of M dwarfs. The mid-infrared region of the spectra of cool low-mass stars contains pure rotational water vapour transitions that may provide us with a new methodology in the determination of the effective temperatures for low-mass stars. We identify and assign water transitions in these spectra and determine how sensitive each pure rotational water transition is to small (25 K) changes in effective temperature. We find that, of the 36 confirmed and assigned pure rotational water transitions, at least 10 should be sensitive enough to be used as temperature indicators.     

Surface trapping and leakage of low-frequency g modes in rotating early-type stars – II. Global analysis

A global analysis of the surface trapping of low-frequency non-radial g modes in rotating early-type stars is undertaken within the Cowling, adiabatic and traditional approximations. The dimensionless pulsation equations governing these modes are reviewed, and the boundary conditions necessary for solution of the equations are considered; in particular, an outer mechanical boundary condition, which does not enforce complete wave trapping at the stellar surface, is derived and discussed in detail. The pulsation equations are solved for a 7-M_⊙ model star over a range of rotation rates, using a numerical approach.
The results of the calculations confirm the findings of the preceding paper in the series: modes with eigenfrequencies below a cut-off cannot be fully trapped within the star, and exhibit leakage in the form of outwardly propagating waves at the surface. The damping rates resulting from leakage are calculated for such 'virtual' modes, and found to be appreciably larger than typical growth rates associated with opacity-driven pulsation. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the surface perturbations generated by virtual modes are significantly changed from those caused by fully trapped modes; the latter result suggests differences in the line-profile variations exhibited by these two types of mode.
The findings are discussed in the context of the 53 Per, SPB and pulsating Be classes of variable star. Whilst wave leakage will probably not occur for overstable g modes in the 53 Per and slowly rotating SPB stars, the adoption of the new outer mechanical boundary condition may still affect the pulsational stability of these systems. Wave leakage for overstable modes remains a possibility in Be stars and the more rapidly rotating SPB stars.     

Excitation and visibility of slow modes in rotating B-type stars

We use the traditional approximation to describe oscillations with frequencies comparable to the angular rotation rate. Validity of this approximation in application to main-sequence B stars is discussed. Numerical results regarding mode stability and visibility are presented for a model of the Be star HD 163868. For this object, Walker et al. detected a record number of mode frequencies using data from the small space telescope MOST . Our interpretation of these data differs from that of Walker et al. In particular, we interpret peaks in the lowest frequency range as retrograde g modes. We find instability in a large number of modes that remain undetectable because of unfavourable aspect and/or effect of cancellation. There is no clear preference to excitation of prograde modes.     

Spectral analysis of water vapour in cool stars

M-star spectra, at wavelengths beyond 1.35 μm, are dominated by water vapour, yet terrestrial water vapour makes it notoriously difficult to obtain accurate measurement from ground-based observations. We have used the short-wavelength spectrometer on the Infrared Space Observatory at four wavelength settings to cover the  2.5–3.0 μm  region for a range of M stars. The observations show a good match with previous ground-based observations and with synthetic spectra based on the Partridge & Schwenke line list, although not with the SCAN line list. We have used a least-squared minimization technique to systematically find best-fitting parameters for the sample of stars. The temperatures that we find indicate a relatively hot temperature scale for M dwarfs. We consider that this could be a consequence of problems with the Partridge & Schwenke line list which leads to synthetic spectra predicting water bands that are too strong for a given temperature. Such problems need to be solved in the next generation of water vapour line lists, which will extend the calculation of water vapour to higher energy levels with the good convergence necessary for reliable modelling of hot water vapour. Then water bands can assume their natural role as the primary tool for the spectroscopic analysis of M stars.