Analysis of peculiarities of the stellar velocity field in the solar neighborhood

Based on a new version of the Hipparcos catalogue and an updated Geneva-Copenhagen survey of F and G dwarfs, we analyze the space velocity field of ≈17 000 single stars in the solar neighborhood. The main known clumps, streams, and branches (Pleiades, Hyades, Sirius, Coma Berenices, Hercules, Wolf 630-α Ceti, and Arcturus) have been identified using various approaches. The evolution of the space velocity field for F and G dwarfs has been traced as a function of the stellar age. We have managed to confirm the existence of the recently discovered KFR08 stream. We have found 19 Hipparcos stars, candidates for membership in the KFR08 stream, and obtained an isochrone age estimate for the stream, 13 Gyr. The mean stellar ages of the Wolf 630-α Ceti and Hercules streams are shown to be comparable, 4–6 Gyr. No significant differences in the metallicities of stars belonging to these streams have been found. This is an argument for the hypothesis that these streams owe their origin to a common mechanism.     

A Catalogue of Galaxies within 10 MPC

A catalogue is given of the 179 known galaxies within 10 Mpc. The inclusion of a galaxy depends on its redshift (v₀ ≤ 500 km s⁻¹) or, in the case of 7 dwarf galaxies, on the fact that their distances are known to be small. The catalogue contains in addition 52 more distant galaxies with v₀ ≤ 500 km s⁻¹: 50 are bona fide Virgo cluster members and 2 are members of the Leo group. Positions, types, absorption-corrected luminosities, and velocities are given for the catalogue galaxies. The catalogue is believed to be nearly complete for galaxies brighter than ∽ – 18^m.5, but it contains also many considerably fainter galaxies. The galaxies within 10 Mpc form the Local Group with 28 members and seven additional groups with a total of 92 known members. 59 galaxies (33%) do not seem to belong to any group.     

A catalogue of high-speed plasma streams in the solar wind

A catalogue of 346 well defined high-speed plasma streams detected in solar wind observations 1964–75 is presented. The data base for the study is the compilation of interplanetary plasma/magnetic field data prepared by J. King. It is believed that the catalogue may be found useful for studies of various solar-interplanetary and solar-terrestrial phenomena.Proceedings of the 14th ESLAB Symposium on Physics of Solar Variations, 16–19 September 1980, Scheveningen, The Netherlands.     

Candidate red clump giants in the PPMX catalogue

This paper presents the RCGP catalogue of more than 0.5 million candidate red clump stars with the limiting magnitude K _s = 9.5 ^m . These stars are selected from the PPMX catalogue as the most probable red clump members by analyzing the color-reduced proper motion diagrams built from the proper motions given in PPMX and J, K _s -photometry given in the 2MASS catalogue. Reddening of the selected stars is used to find extinction in the K _s -band and to consider it in the further analysis. The two-dimensional galactic rotation model generalized by Ogorodnikov is used to investigate the tangential velocity field of the selected red clump members, most of which are thin disk stars located within 1.5 kpc from the sun. The values of kinematic parameters and solar components are determined as a function of stellar heights above the galactic equatorial plane and their heliocentric distances.     

Comparison of the four catalogues by pairs,the Hipparcos,new Hipparcos,EOC‐2 and IL,by using μδ for the common 1120 stars

We present comparison results of our Independent Latitude (IL) catalogue of μ_δ determinations for 1120 bright stars with the Hipparcos, new Hipparcos and Earth Orientation Catalogue (EOC‐2) values. Also, we took into consideration the EOC3 and EOC4 (recent versions of EOC catalogues). Our μ_δ values are based on zenith telescope observations from seven Independent Latitude (IL) observatories. The IL measures are spanning a time baseline of up to 90 years which is the key advantage to the accurate determination of μ_δ. The short interval of the Hipparcos satellite observations is a disadvantage for a good accuracy of stellar proper motion, especially in the case of double and multiple stars. For this reason many astrometric catalogues have appeared after the publication of the Hipparcos including our IL catalogue. These catalogues are an appropriate combination of the Hipparcos satellite and ground‐based data which yields more accurate stellar coordinates and/or their proper motions. Among various types of ground‐based observations the latitude and universal time variations obtained from several million observations of stars reduced to the Hipparcos reference system were used for this purpose. These observations were obtained during almost the entire last century and were originally used to determine the Earth Orientation Parameters. It is also possible to use these data in the inverse task of checking the accuracy of stellar coordinates and/or their proper motions listed in the Hipparcos Catalogue. Such latitude and universal time variations data are the basis of the EOC and IL catalogues. In this paper, we computed the differences in μ_δ values between pairs of catalogues and analyzed the results to characterize the μ_δ errors for the four catalogues with a special focus on our IL catalogue. The standard errors of μ_δ for IL stars observed over more than 20 years are mostly smaller than or equal to the Hipparcos errors, and close to the accuracy level of the EOC‐2 (EOC‐3, EOC‐4) and the new Hipparcos. The resulting investigations of errors of differences of μ_δ, show that all four catalogues have relatively small random and systematic errors which are close to each other meaning that the corresponding μ_δ values have a high accuracy. Our sample also contains detected double and multiple stars for which the effects of the orbital and proper motions are difficult to separate. The differences of μ_δ values for these stars generally exceed those obtained for single stars. Also, these discrepancies could be attributed to effect of possible, still unrecognized, astrometric binaries. These investigations about the proper motions and double stars are in line with the activity of the IAU Working Group on Astrometry by Small Ground‐Based Telescopes. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Collisionless deceleration of fast electron streams in the solar coronal plasma

The collisionless deceleration of electron streams responsible for type IIIb bursts has been investigated. For this the difference between the mean velocities of electron streams at plasma levels corresponding to 25 and 12.5 MHz, on one hand, at 12.5 and 6.25 MHz, on the other hand, is estimated. The mean velocity of electron streams between these levels is determined by the time delay in the moments of arrival of radio bursts from these levels. The distance between plasma levels is determined under the assumption that the (statistical) mean velocity of sources of the diffusive type III bursts is constant and equal toc/3 at all considered levels of the solar corona.It is shown that under this assumption the electron streams with the initial velocities of the order of 0.4–0.8c undergo a sufficient deceleration which is characterized by a decrease in their mean velocity by 15–17% between plasma levels at 25 to 6.25 MHz. The stream deceleration becomes more essential with the growth of the initial velocity of the stream. On the other hand, the deceleration disappears when the initial velocity of the stream is of the order of 0.35c. This critical velocityV _s ^* - 0.35c is assumed to define a boundary between two different expansion regimes of fast electrons moving in the solar corona. In the first regime (V _s >V _s ^* ) the induced scattering of plasma waves produces energy losses of the streams. A decrease in the velocities of streams up to the value of the order of 0.35c is due to these losses. In the second regime (V _s -V _s ^* ) a quasilinear expansion of streams is realized. In this case the energy losses of the streams are almost absent.     

An extension of the Planck galaxy cluster catalogue

We present a catalogue of galaxy clusters detected in the Planck all-sky Compton parameter maps and identified using data from the WISE and SDSS surveys. The catalogue comprises about 3000 clusters in the SDSS fields. We expect the completeness of this catalogue to be high for clusters with masses larger than M ₅₀₀ ≈ 3 × 10¹⁴ M _⊙, located at redshifts z < 0.7. At redshifts above z ≈ 0.4, the catalogue contains approximately an order of magnitude more clusters than the 2nd Planck Catalogue of Sunyaev-Zeldovich sources in the same fields of the sky. This catalogue can be used for identification of massive galaxy clusters in future large cluster surveys, such as the SRG/eROSITA all-sky X-ray survey.     

Far infrared emission from three new planetary nebulae

As dust emission in the far infrared (FIR) is a characteristic property of planetary nebulae we searched the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) point-source catalogue for confirmatory evidence on the two new possible planetary nebulae S 68 and 248 - 5 identified by Fesen, Gull & Heckathorn (1983) and the high-excitation planetary nebula 76 + 36 detected by Sanduleak (1983). We identify the nebulae 248 - 5 and 76 + 36 with IRAS sources 07404 - 3240 and 17125 + 4919, respectively and have determined their dust temperature, total FIR emission and optical depth. We also set a lower limit ranging in value from 1.2 × 10^-6 to 3.7 × 10^-5 forM _dust /M _bd of the nebula 248 - 5 depending on whether its grain material is silicate or graphite. S 68 could not be identified with an IRAS source.     

Error analysis of proper motions in decination obtained for 807 Hipparcos stars from PZT observations over many decades

After publication of the Hipparcos catalogue (in 1997), a few new astrometric catalogues have appeared (TYCHO‐2, ARIHIP, etc.), as a good combination of the Hipparcos satellite and ground‐based data, to get more accurate coordinates and proper motions of stars than the Hipparcos catalogue ones. There are also investigations on improving the Hipparcos coordinates and proper motions by using the astrometric observations of latitude and universal time variations (via observed stars referred to Hipparcos catalogue), together with Hipparcos data, carried out during the last few years. These kind of ground‐based data were collected at the end of the last century by J. Vondrák. There are about 4.4 million optical observations made worldwide at 33 observatories and with 47 instruments during 1899.7–1992.0; our Belgrade visual zenith telescope data (for the period 1949.0‐1986.0) were included. First of all, these data were used to determine the Earth Orientation Parameters – EOP, but they are also useful for the opposite task – to check the accuracy of coordinates and proper motions of Hipparcos stars which were observed from the ground over many decades. Here, we use the latitude part of ten Photographic Zenith Tubes – PZT data (more than 0.9 million observations made at 6 observatories during the time interval 1915.8–1992.0), and combine them with the Hipparcos catalogue ones, with suitable weights, in order to check the proper motions in declination for 807 common PZT/Hipparcos stars (and to construct the PZT catalogue of μ_δ for 807 stars). Our standard errors in proper motions in declination of these stars are less than or equal to the Hipparcos ones for 423 stars. The mean value of standard errors of 313 stars observed over more than 20 years by PZT is 0.40 mas/yr. This is 53% of 0.75 mas/yr (the suitable value from the Hipparcos catalogue). We used the Least Squares Method – LSM with the linear model. Our results are in good agreement with the Earth Orientation Catalogue – EOC‐2 and the new Hipparcos ones. The main steps of the method and the investigations of systematic errors in determined proper motions (the proper motion differences with respect to the Hipparcos values, the EOC‐2 ones and the new Hipparcos ones, as a function of α, δ, and magnitude) are presented here. A comparison of the four catalogues by pairs shows that there is no significant relationship between the differences of their μ_δ values and magnitudes and color indices of the common 807 stars. All catalogues have relatively small random and systematic errors which are close to each other. However, the comparison shows that our formal errors are too small. They are underestimated by a factor of nearly 1.7 (for EOC‐2, it is 2.0) if we take the new Hipparcos (or Hipparcos) data as reference (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Systematic Errors of High–Precision Photometric Catalogues

A very accurate imitation of Hipparcos and Tycho Hp, B _T, andV _T magnitudes was made using W, B, V, R magnitudes from the Tien Shan photometric catalogue. The calculated magnitudes were compared to the observed ones. It is shown that there are systematic differences between calculated and observed magnitudes. The systematic errors are supposed to be bound up with the sky scanning procedure on the Hipparcos satellite. Polynomials in powers of coordinates have been proposed to take into account the systematic errors. 6558 stars have been found to be appropriate high-precision photometric standards. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Possible meteoroid streams associated with (69230) Hermes and 2002 SY50

The orbits of (69230) Hermes and 2002 SY₅₀ are similar and the Earth approaches both of them twice: at the end of October the local orbital minimum distances are smaller than 0.007 AU, and at the end of April the distances are smaller than 0.04 AU. This gives us opportunities to observe the meteors associated with these asteroids. Using the geocentric parameters of the orbital close encounters (the theoretical radiants) and our D _N distance function (Valsecchi et al. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 304 (1999) 743), we searched for meteoroids originated by Hermes and 2002 SY₅₀. A search among 1830 good quality photographic meteors gave negative results: we found no meteor dynamically similar to Hermes or 2002 SY₅₀. In a second search, done in a set of 62150 radio meteors, we applied two methods (M1, M2) and in both cases we found two streams; the streams found with the M1 method had 43 and 30 members, those found with the M2 method had 39 and 14 members. However, these results do not look convincing, due to the small number of common members in the corresponding streams. We therefore conclude that amongst the IAU meteors used in our search there are no compact streams associated with Hermes and 2002 SY₅₀.     

Neue Bestimmungen der Präzession nach dem Prinzip der Maximalmenge von Sternen ohne meßbare Eigenbewegung

The principle of the maximum set of stars without proper motions (μ = 0) requires that the corrections of the precession be specified so that the number of the stars “without proper motion” (practically μ < 0″.10) becomes a maximum. These stars are named the “Träger” (carriers) of the non-rotating coordinate system. The method avoids any hypothesis about the distribution of the proper motions and hence does not use the method of least squares. The procedure algorithmized in the FORTRAN language and computed on a UNIVAC 1108 is based on the geometric means of a regular sequence of numbers of stars within concentric circles around the position μ = 0 with growing radius in a rightangle coordinate system with the axes μαcos δ and μδ. The main concept is the “zero-point density” D in the defining equation (13). The inequality (15) is the main relation of the method, where r is the radius of a circle-neighbourhood of the position μ = 0. The main part of the procedure in praxi and the algorithm are described in section 5. In sections 6, 7 and 8 the method is applied to the proper motions of the catalogue FK₄, then to the proper motions of the catalogue N₃₀ and finally to a third catalogue, which consists of the proper motions of N₃₀ reduced to the system of FK₄ (N₃₀ → FK₄). The main result lies in table 4 of section 9. With regard to the accuracy as well as to the number of the “Träger” (carriers) of the coordinate system free of rotation the results from (N₃₀ → FK₄) have the following implications: the corrections of lunisolar precession Δp₁ = +0″.97 ± 0″.04 per century; the correction of the motion of equinox Δp₂ = Δλ + Δc = +1″.10 ± 0″.04 per century. For the motion of equinox Δp₂ = Δλ + Δc = +1″.10 ± 0″.04 per century. For the purpose of investigations of motions of stars these corrections correspond to the corrections (21) of the proper motions of N₃₀ → FK₄. The new method has the advantage also, that fewer than half of the stars of a catalogue can influence the result (table 6).     

Meteoroid Stream Searching: The Use of the Vectorial Elements

In this initial study, we propose a new distance function D _V involving heliocentric vectorial orbital elements. The function measures differences between: the orbital energies, the angular momentums vectors and the Laplace vectors. In comparison with the widely used D _SH criterion of Southworth and Hawkins, D _D criterion of Drummond and their hybrid D _H by Jopek, the new function contains one invariant with respect to the principal secular perturbation: the orbital energy. The new function proved to be useful in the classification amongst the IAU2003 meteoroids which we searched for streams by D _V function and also using D _SH and D _N -function given by Valsecchi et al. For major streams, the results agree very well. For minor, and near-ecliptical streams the results sometimes differ markedly.     

Statistical properties of spectroscopic binary stars

As part of a study of the mass-ratio distribution of spectroscopic binary stars, the statistical properties of the systems in theEighth Catalogue of the Orbital Elements of Spectroscopic Binary Stars, compiled by Battenet al. (1989), are investigated.Histograms are presented of the distributions of various parameters of the systems in the catalogue as a whole, and compared to those of the previous edition.Histograms of binaries of various spectral types are presented. It is noted that the early-type binaries in the catalogue have on average higher radial-velocity amplitudes, shorter periods, and smaller semi-major axes than late-type binaries. Late-type binaries have relatively more eccentric orbits. Whether the differences noticed between the early- and late-type binaries have any significance with respect to the population of binary stars in the Galaxy is not clear, because it is very hard to assess the extent to which the catalogue is a statistically representative and complete sample.The distribution of semi-major axesa ₁ sini varies considerably among different subsamples.The mass-ratio distribution of single-lined spectroscopic binaries is, for all (sub-)samples, characterized by a decrease in the number of systems according to a power law asq1, forq=M _sec/M _prim>0.25.The mass-ratio distribution of double-lined spectroscopic binaries (SBII) is, for all (sub-)samples but one, characterized by an increase in numbers according to a power law, asq1. The exception to this general behaviour is the sample of SBII systems with magnitudesm5 ^m , which has its maximum atq0.65.The distributions are presented as they are, without corrections for selection effects.     

Dependence of kinematics on the age of stars in the solar neighborhood

The variations of kinematic parameters with age are considered for a sample of 15 402 thin-disk O-F stars with accurate ??, ??, ??, and ?? > 3 mas from the Hipparcos catalogue and radial velocities from the PCRV catalogue. The ages have been calculated from the positions of the stars on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram relative to the isochrones from the Padova database by taking into account the extinction from the previously constructed 3D analytical model and extinction coefficient R _V from the 3D map of its variations. Smooth, mutually reconciled variations of the velocity dispersions ??(U), ??(V), ??(W), solar motion components U _??, V _??, W _??, Ogorodnikov-Milne model parameters, Oort constants, and vertex deviation l _xy consistent with all of the extraneous results for which the stellar ages were determined have been found. The velocity dispersion variations are well fitted by power laws the deviations from which are explained by the influence of predominantly radial stellar streams: Sirius, Hyades, ?? Cet/Wolf 630, and Hercules. The accuracy of determining the solar motion relative to the local standard of rest is shown to be fundamentally limited due to these variations of stellar kinematics. The deviations of our results from those of Dehnen and Binney (1998), the Geneva-Copenhagen survey of dwarfs, and the Besan con model of the Galaxy are explained by the use of PCRV radial velocities with corrected systematic errors.     

On separation of major meteoroid streams from the sporadic background

The paper deals with a search for chosen photographic meteoroid streams compiled from the IAU Meteor Data Center Lund catalogue from which less than 2% of the orbits had to be removed due to internal inconsistency among the orbit parameters. Additional 35 orbits were removed due to extremely high hyperbolic velocities. The final set consists of 3411 orbits. Members of the Quadrantids, Lyrids, Perseids and Geminids were searched for, firstly, by a stream-search procedure utilizing the Southworth-HawkinsD-criterion. This choice, as a rule, represents the most abundant filament of the stream. Secondly, rate distribution histograms ofD were divided into region of shower meteors and region of sporadic background meteors. The searched database with a relatively low abundance of sporadic meteors in the analyzed periods simplified this choice, and followingly, fitting the obtained values by means of power and exponential functions, the limitingD _s for particular showers were derived. The derivedD _s appears as the optimum value, as for higherD, the number of sporadic meteors included in the stream sample increases more rapidly than the number of additional shower meteors, and for smallerD, the number of shower meteors decreases quicker than the number of omitted sporadic meteors. The following counts of shower meteorsN and limitingD _s were found: Quadrantids (39, 0.22), Lyrids (11, 0.15), Perseids (595, 0.53) and Geminids (224, 0.32). Efficiency of the procedure was tested comparing the number of sporadic meteors in the region of radiant area and the neighbouring regions of the same size.     

Neutralization and stabilization of particle streams in the corona and type III radio bursts

The processes by which streams of charged particles become charge and current neutralized in the corona are investigated. It is shown that a large amplitude plasma wave, which is related to precursor phenomenon in type III bursts and possibly plasma radiation from type IV bursts, will be excited at the head of the stream. The energy extracted from the stream to produce this plasma wave is computed and used to set conservative upper limits on the densities of possible excitors for type III bursts. For electron streams the density n _s < 10^–5 n _e, where n _e is the density of the background plasma. For proton streams n _s < 1.8 × 10^–2 n _e. The energy extracted from the stream is also used to set upper limits on the lifetimes of relativistic electrons stored in the corona and it is concluded that for n _e > 10² cm^–3 this loss must be taken into account. Since electron streams cannot produce their own stabilizing ionacoustic waves because they would violate the condition n _s < 10^–5 n _e, other mechanisms for producing ion-acoustic waves in the corona are examined. Another stabilization mechanism due to velocity inhomogeneity is investigated.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

Kinematics of Hot Subdwarfs from the Gaia DR2 Catalogue

We have studied the kinematic properties of the candidates for hot subdwarfs (HSDs) selected by Geier et al. from theGaiaDR2 catalogue. We have used a total of 12 515 stars with relative trigonometric parallax errors less than 30%. The HSDs are shown to have different kinematics, depending on their positions on the celestial sphere. For example, the sample of low-latitude (|b| < 20°) HSDs rotates around the Galactic center with a linear velocity V0 = 221 ± 5 km s^?1. This suggests that they belong to the Galactic thin disk. At the same time, they lag behind the local standard of rest by ΔV_☉ ~ 16 km s^?1 due to the asymmetric drift. The high-latitude (|b| ≥ 20°) HSDs rotate with a considerably lower velocity, V_☉ = 168 ^± 6 km s^?1. Their lagging behind the local standard of rest is already ΔV_☉ ～ 40 km s^?1. Based on the entire sample of 12 515 HSDs, we have found a positive rotation around the x axis significantly differing from zero with an angular velocity ω₁ = 1.36±0.24 km s^?1 kpc^?1. We have studied the samples of HSDs that are complete within r < 1.5 kpc. Based on them, we have traced the evolution of the parameters of the residual velocity ellipsoid as a function of both latitude |b| and coordinate |z|. The following vertical disk scale heights have been found: h = 180 ± 6 and 290 ± 10 pc from the low- and high-latitude HSDs, respectively. A new estimate of the local stellar density Σ_out = 53 ± 4 M☉ kpc^?2 has been obtained for z_out = 0.56 kpc from the high-latitude HSDs.

     

Modulation of circumstellar extinction in a young binary system with a low-mass companion in a noncoplanar orbit

We consider a model of cyclic brightness variations in a young star with a low-mass (q = M ₂/M ₁ ≤ 0.1) companion that accretes matter from the remnants of a protostellar cloud (circumbinary disk). We assume that the orbit of the companion is circular and that its plane does not coincide with the disk plane. We have computed grids of hydrodynamic models for such a binary by the SPH method based on which we have investigated the circumstellar extinction variations produced by the streams of matter and density waves excited in the circumbinary disk by the orbital motion of the companion. We show that, depending on the inclination and orientation of the binary’s line of nodes relative to the observer, the brightness of the primary component can undergo various (in shape and depth) oscillations with a period equal to the orbital one. In contrast to the models with coplanar circular orbits, the accretion rate onto the components of a binary with a noncoplanar orbit depends on the orbital phase. The results of our computations can be used to study the cyclic activity of UX Ori stars and young eclipsing binaries with anomalously long eclipses.     

Clusters and groups of galaxies in the 2dF galaxy redshift survey: A new catalogue

We create a new catalogue of groups and clusters, applying the friends‐of‐friends method to the 2dF GRS final release. We investigate various selection effects due to the use of a magnitude limited sample. For this purpose we follow the changes in group sizes and mean galaxy number densities within groups when shifting nearby observed groups to larger distances. We study the distribution of sizes of dark matter haloes in N ‐body simulations and compare properties of these haloes and the 2dF groups. We show that at large distances from the observer luminous and intrinsically greater groups dominate, but in these groups only very bright members are seen, which form compact cores of the groups. These two effects almost cancel each other, so that the mean sizes and densities of groups do not change considerably with distance. Our final sample contains 10750 groups in the Northern part, and 14465 groups in the Southern part of the 2dF survey with membership N _gal ≥ 2. We estimate the total luminosities of our groups, correcting for group members fainter than the observational limit of the survey. The cluster catalogue is available at our web‐site ( http://www.aai.ee/∼maret/2dfgr.html ). (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)