X-ray Spectroscopy of Active Stars with ASCA and BeppoSAX

We discuss representative cases of X-ray spectra of active stars obtained with ASCA and BeppoSAX. We focus in particular on our own observations of the RS CVn binaries γ And and UX Ari, of the BY Dra eclipsing binary HD9770, and of the young stars AB Dor and HD35850. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Nainital-Cape Survey: A search for variability in Ap and Am stars

The “Nainital-Cape Survey” program for searching photometric variability in chemically peculiar (CP) stars was initiated in 1997 at ARIES, Nainital. We present here the results obtained to date. The Am stars HD 98851, HD 102480, HD 13079 and HD 113878 were discovered to exhibit δ Scuti type variability. Photometric variability was also discovered in HD 13038, for which the type of peculiarity and variability is not fully explained. The null results of this survey are also presented and discussed.     

NIR Properties of the UCM Star-Forming Galaxies

We present results from a spectroscopic survey of Paβ & Brγ emission in a sample of T Tauri stars, mostly in the Taurus-Auriga complex. Velocity resolved spectra (Δv ∼ 15 km s^-1) show that, of the 41 stars observed in Paβ emission, 34% display IPC redshifted absorptions, while, of the 29 stars observed in Brγ emission, 21% display IPC redshifted absorptions. The lines are broad (FWHM ∼ 200 km s^-1) and lack blueshifted absorptions. These observations are consistent with the near infrared hydrogen lines forming predominantly in infalling material, as suggested by magnetospheric accretion column models. Radiative transfer calculations of the Paβ and Brγ line profiles in a very simplified, spherically symmetric situation are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars as Tracers of Star Formation Histories: the GAIA Context

We discuss a possible use of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars for tracing star formation histories on the Galactic and extragalactic distance scales with the ESA's astrometric space mission GAIA. Extensive numerical simulations demonstrate that metallicities (Δ [M/H] ≲ 0.3) can be obtained for the AGB stars with GAIA up to the distances of ∼ 200 kpc, if no interstellar extinction is present. Reliable population ages can be also obtained from the AGB stars if their T _eff are constrained precisely. We show that precise effective temperatures can be obtained by fitting observed spectral energy distributions of the AGB stars with theoretical fluxes calculated from the synthetic spectra. A combination of the derived effective temperatures with the bolometric luminosities allows to derive precise population ages for a wide range of ages and metallicities over the large distance scales. This demonstrates that AGB stars can be employed very effectively for tracing star formation histories with GAIA, allowing to refine the global evolutionary scenarios of stellar populations in the Milky Way and the galaxies beyond. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Pregalactic nucleosynthesis

We discuss the behavior of density fluctuations in an expanding universe and show that these should lead to the early formation of pregalactic hydrogen-helium stars of several hundred to several thousand solar masses. These stars flood the universe with radiation having a color temperature ≳10⁵ K; this terminates star formation but permits galaxy formation to continue. About 10⁻² of the mass of the galaxies is converted into heavy elements by pregalactic nucleosynthesis, with an error factor of a few.     

Stellar sources in the isogal inner galactic bulge field (l=0°,b= − 1°)

ISOGAL is a survey at 7 and 15 μm with ISOCAM of the inner galactic disk and bulge of our Galaxy. The survey covers ∼ 22 deg² in selected areas of the centrall = ±30 degree of the inner Galaxy. In this paper, we report the study of a small ISOGAL field in the inner galactic bulge (l = 0°,b = −1°, area = 0.033deg²). Using the multicolor nearinfrared data (IJK_s) of DENIS (DEep Near Infrared Southern Sky Survey) and mid-infrared ISOGAL data, we discuss the nature of the ISOGAL sources. The various color-color and color-magnitude diagrams are discussed in the paper. While most of the detected sources are red giants (RGB tip stars), a few of them show an excess in J-K_s and K_s-[15] colors with respect to the red giant sequence. Most of them are probably AGB stars with large mass-loss rates.     

Flip-Flops as Observational Signatures of Different Dynamo Modes in Cool Stars

Cool, rapidly rotating stars exhibit enhanced magnetic activity with cyclic behavior on various time scales. In particular, the longitude of the dominant activity region switches quasi-periodically by 180^∘, which is known as the “flip-flop” phenomenon. In the present paper we introduce a new approach for the interpretation of stellar cycles based on light curve modeling with dipole and quadrupole dynamo modes. We discuss the observational signatures of different combinations of the dynamo modes. The proposed simple model is able to reproduce the basic properties of long-term photometric behavior of active stars and allows us to study different mechanisms resulting in flip-flops.     

ISO-SWS Spectra of AGB Stars

In this contribution, we present a few highlights of the guaranteed time program to observe AGB stars with differing chemical compositions and mass loss rates using ISO¹ SWS. We briefly discuss C₂H₂ absorption in C-stars and O-rich stars with the 13 μm dust emission. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Common Proper Motion Search for Faint Companions Around Early-Type Field Stars – Progress Report

The multiplicity of early-type stars is still not well established. The derived binary fraction is different for individual star forming regions, suggesting a connection with the age and the environment conditions. The few studies that have investigated this connection do not provide conclusive results. To fill in this gap, we started the first detailed adaptive-optic-assisted imaging survey of early-type field stars to derive their multiplicity in a homogeneous way. The sample has been extracted from the Hipparcos Catalog and consists of 341 BA-type stars within ∼300 pc from the Sun. We report the current status of the survey and describe a Monte-Carlo simulation that estimates the completeness of our companion detection.     

First Byurakan Spectral Sky Survey. Stars of late spectral types. −11° ≤ δ ≤ −7° belt

A 10th list of late-type M and C stars found on plates of the First Byurakan Spectral Sky Survey in the − 11° ≤ δ ≤ − 7° belt with an area of about 1070 deg² is given. The list contains data on 169 red stars, 117 of which were found for the first time: 8 are new C stars, 3 are Cstar candidates, 104 are M stars, 1 is either an M or an S star, and 1 object on the survey plate cannot be classified. Of the 117 objects, 47 are unidentified IRAS sources. A statistical analysis of the objects that are and are not identified with IRAS sources shows that the identified stars are, with a high probability, brighter and have relatively more massive envelopes. Two stars were found to have fairly large brightness variability (with an amplitude of at least 6^m.O). Gasdust shells are assumed to exist around nine of the IRAS sources. The equatorial coordinates, spectral types, and stellar magnitudes, determined on Palomar E maps, are given for the selected objects. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 41. No. 4, pp. 545–559, October–December, 1998.     

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.     

Evolution of massive binary stars in the LMC and its implications for radio pulsar population

The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of the Large Magellanic Cloud compiled recently by Fitzpatrick & Garmany (1990) shows that there are a number of supergiant stars immediately redward of the main sequence although theoretical models of massive stars with normal hydrogen abundance predict that the region 4.5 ≤ logT _eff ≤ 4.3 should be un-populated (“gap”). Supergiants having surface enrichment of helium acquired for example from a previous phase of accretion from a binary companion, however, evolve in a way so that the evolved models and observed data are consistent — an observation first made by Tuchman & Wheeler (1990). We compare the available optical data on OB supergiants with computed evolutionary tracks of massive stars of metallicity relevant to the LMC with and without helium-enriched envelopes and conclude that a large fraction (≈ 60 per cent) of supergiant stars may occur in binaries. As these less evolved binaries will later evolve into massive X-ray binaries, the observed number and orbital period distribution of the latter can constrain the evolutionary scenarios of the supergiant binaries. The distributions of post main sequence binaries and closely related systems like WR + O stars are bimodal-consisting of close and wide binaries in which the latter type is numerically dominating. When the primary star explodes as a supernova leaving behind a neutron star, the system receives a kick and in some cases can lead to runaway O-stars. We calculate the expected space velocity distribution for these systems. After the second supernova explosion, the binaries in most cases, will be disrupted leading to two runaway neutron stars. In between the two explosions, the first born neutron star’s spin evolution will be affected by accretion of mass from the companion star. We determine the steady-state spin and radio luminosity distributions of single pulsars born from the massive stars under some simple assumptions. Due to their great distance, only the brightest radio pulsars may be detected in a flux-limited survey of the LMC. A small but significant number of observable single radio pulsars arising out of the disrupted massive binaries may appear in the short spin period range. Most pulsars will have a low velocity of ejection and therefore may cluster around the OB associations in the LMC.     

Instabilities in rotating relativistic stars driven by viscosity

We investigate the instability driven by viscosity in rotating relativistic stars by means of an iterative approach. We focus on polytropic rotating equilibrium stars and impose an m=2 perturbation in the lapse. We vary both the stiffness of the equation of state and the compactness of the star to study these factors on the critical value T/W for the instability. For a rigidly rotating star, the criterion T/W, where T is the rotational kinetic energy and W the gravitational binding energy, mainly depends on the compactness of the star and takes values around 0.13–0.16, which slightly differ from that of Newtonian incompressible stars (∼0.14). For differentially rotating stars, the critical value of T/W is found to span the range 0.17–0.25. The value is significantly larger than in the rigidly rotating case with the same compactness of the star. Finally we discuss the possibility of detecting gravitational waves from viscosity-driven instabilities using ground-based interferometers.      

Radio-Loud and Radio-Quiet Gamma-Ray Pulsars from the Galaxy and the Gould Belt

We present results of a population synthesis study of radio-loud and radio-quiet γ-ray pulsars from the Galactic plane and the Gould Belt. The simulation includes the Parkes multibeam pulsar survey, realistic beam geometries for radio and γ-ray emission from neutron stars and the new electron density model of Cordes and Lazio. Normalizing to the number of radio pulsars observed by a set of nine radio surveys, the simulation suggests a neutron star birth rate of 1.4 neutron stars per century in the Galactic plane. In addition, the simulation predicts 19 radio-loud and 7 radio-quiet γ-ray pulsars from the plane that EGRET should have observed as point sources. Assuming that during the last 5 Myr the Gould Belt produced 100 neutron stars, only 10 of these would be observed as radio pulsars with three radio-loud and four radio-quiet γ-ray pulsars observed by EGRET. These results are in general agreement with the recent number of about 25 EGRET error boxes that contain Parkes radio pulsars. Since the Gould Belt pulsars are relatively close by, the selection of EGRET radio-quiet γ-ray pulsars strongly favors large impact angles, β, in the viewing geometry where the off-beam emission from curvature radiation provides the γ-ray flux. Therefore, the simulated EGRET radio-quiet γ-ray pulsars, being young and nearby, most closely reflect the current shape of the Gould Belt suggesting that such sources may significantly contribute to the EGRET unidentified γ-ray sources correlated with the Gould Belt.     

Recent advances in modeling stellar interiors

Advances in stellar interior modeling are being driven by new data from large-scale surveys and high-precision photometric and spectroscopic observations. Here we focus on single stars in normal evolutionary phases; we will not discuss the many advances in modeling star formation, interacting binaries, supernovae, or neutron stars. We review briefly: (1) updates to input physics of stellar models; (2) progress in two and three-dimensional evolution and hydrodynamic models; (3) insights from oscillation data used to infer stellar interior structure and validate model predictions (asteroseismology). We close by highlighting a few outstanding problems, e.g., the driving mechanisms for hybrid γ Dor/δ Sct star pulsations, the cause of giant eruptions seen in luminous blue variables such as η Car and P Cyg, and the solar abundance problem.     

Galactic evolution of 7LI: observational clues for models

Different stellar sources may have contributed to the ⁷Li enrichmentof the Galaxy: type-II supernovae, novae, and AGB stars. In the latter case, the interplay between the Hot Bottom Burning (HBB) process (via the Cameron-Fowler mechanism) and a very high mass-loss rate before the evolution off the AGB (the so-called ‘superwind’ phase), can lead to a significant production of ⁷Li from low- and intermediate-mass AGB stars (Travaglio et al., 2001). We have now undertaken an observational campaign aimed at constraining our stellar and Galactic models, with a twofold goal: (i) to assemble a compilation of high-resolution spectra of Galactic, unevolved (i.e. dwarfs), warm(spectral type F) stars, in a selected metallicity range (-1.0 ≤>[Fe/H] ≤ -0.3), using the ESO 1.5m telescope and the FEROS spectrograph; (ii) to carry out a Li survey among a sample of selected AGB stars, to investigate the possible correlation between⁷Li abundance (when detected) and mass-loss rate. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Luminosities of FBS late type M stars

A catalog of 995 C and late M type stars is compiled from the First Byurakan Survey of the sky (FBS). The question of effectively separating giants and dwarfs among the stars of spectral class M is examined using data from this catalog, the 2MASS survey, and a number of other catalogs. This has made it possible to determine the luminosity class of 846 class M stars from the FBS survey. In the sample of FBS late M stars, 187 are dwarfs and 659 are giants. The sample of FBS late M stars is compared statistically with the set of known samples of type M stars. The subsample of FBS M-giants is proved to be similar to Stephenson’s standard sample of M-giants. A detailed statistical analysis of these two samples is carried out. __________ Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 50, No. 4, pp. 589–602 (November 2007).     

Changing stellar activity cycles

We investigated continuous long-term photometric datasets of thirteen active stars, Ca II variability of one single mainsequence star, and 10.7 cm radio data of the Sun, with simple Fourier- and time-frequency analysis. The data reflect the strength of the activity manifested in magnetic spots. All studied stars show multiple (2 to 4) cycles of different lengths. The time-frequency analysis reveals, that in several cases of the sample one or two of the cycles exhibit continuous changes (increase or decrease). For four stars (V711 Tau, IL Hya, HK Lac, HD 100180) and for the Sun we find that the cycle length changes are strong, amounting to 10–50% during the observed time intervals. The cycle lengths are generally longer for stars with longer rotational periods. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Searching for possible siblings of the sun from a common cluster based on stellar space velocities

We propose a kinematic approach to searching for the stars that could be formed with the Sun in a common “parent” open cluster. The approach consists in preselecting suitable candidates by the closeness of their space velocities to the solar velocity and analyzing the parameters of their encounters with the solar orbit in the past in a time interval comparable to the lifetime of stars. We consider stars from the Hipparcos catalog with available radial velocities. The Galactic orbits of stars have been constructed in the Allen-Santillan potential by taking into account the perturbations from the spiral density wave. We show that two stars, HIP 87382 and HIP 47399, are of considerable interest in our problem. Their orbits oscillate near the solar orbit with an amplitude of ≈250 pc; there are short-term close encounters to distances <10 pc. Both stars have an evolutionary status and metallicity similar to the solar ones.     

Hydrodynamics of Supernova Evolution in the Winds of Massive Stars

Core-Collapse supernovae arise from stars greater than 8 M_⊙. These stars lose a considerable amount of mass during their lifetime, which accumulates around the star forming wind-blown bubbles. Upon the death of the star in a spectacular explosion, the resulting SN shock wave will interact with this modified medium. We study the evolution of the shock wave, and investigate the properties of this interaction. We concentrate on the evolution of the SN shock wave in the medium around a 35 solar mass star. We discuss the hydrodynamics of the resulting interaction, the formation and growth of instabilities, and deviations from sphericity.