The <Emphasis Type="Italic">r</Emphasis>-Process in the region of transuranium elements and the contribution of fission products to the nucleosynthesis of nuclei with <Emphasis Type="Italic">A</Emphasis> ≤ 130

We discuss the influence of nuclear masses and mass distributions of fission products on the formation of heavy elements at the final stages of the r-process recycled through fission on long duration timescales. The fission recycling is of great importance in an environment with a high density of free neutrons (e.g., in neutron star merger scenarios), when the r-process duration is long enough for most of the seed nuclei to be transformed into actinoids. The fission products of transuranium elements are again drawn into the r-process to produce the abundance curve beyond the iron peak. In this case, to explain the abundances of the A ～ 130 peak elements, not only the nuclear masses, fission barriers, and reaction rates, but also the fission product mass distribution must be predicted. Our r-process calculations using new nuclear masses and fission barriers and reaction rates based on them have shown that the simple two-fission-fragment model used previously in r-process calculations cannot describe adequately the position of the second peak in the observed abundance curve. We show that agreement between calculations and observations can be achieved only when we properly consider the mass distribution of fission products by taking into account the emission of instantaneous fission neutrons.     

Fission and the <Emphasis Type="Italic">r</Emphasis>-process: The rates of induced and delayed fission

The most recent fission-barrier calculations based on improved mass formulas indicate that the adopted values are underestimated. We analyze the dependence of the fission rates on the fission barrier and show that an increase in the fission barriers leads not so much to a decrease in the importance of fission as to the possible synthesis of heavier elements in the r-process. The rates of induced fission of most isotopes with Z>80 at astrophysical energies have been calculated for the first time for fission barriers obtained from different theoretical models.     

Chemical composition of high proper-motion stars based on short-wavelength optical spectra

The results of spectroscopic observations made with the NES echelle spectrograph of the 6-m BTA telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the wavelength interval of 3550–5100 Å with a spectral resolution of R≥50000 are used to determine the fundamental parameters and atmospheric abundances of more than 20 chemical elements including heavy s- and r-process elements from Sr to Dy for a total of 14 metal-poor G-K-type stars. The abundances of Mg, Al, Sr, and Ba were calculated with non-LTE line-formation effects accounted for. The inferred overabundance of europium with respect to iron agrees with the results obtained for the stars of similar metallicity. The chemical composition of the star BD+80°245 located far from the Galactic plane is typical of stars of the accreted halo: this star exhibits, in addition to the over-deficiency of α-process elements, also the over-deficiency of the γ-process element Ba: [Ba/Fe]= ?1.46. The kinematical parameters and chemical composition imply that the stars studied belong to different Galactic populations. The abundance of the long-living element Th relative to that of the r-process element Eu is determined for six stars using the synthetic-spectrum method.     

What path the <Emphasis Type="Italic">r</Emphasis>-process takes: Extreme cases and comparison with observations

The concept of the r-process path is considered from the standpoint of a dynamic model. Rapid nucleosynthesis is shown to proceed not along certain preferential lines called the r-process paths but in the region of nuclei bounded on the one side by the existing nuclei and on the other side by nuclei upon reaching which the r-process enters a cooling phase. This view is shown to account for the main heavy-element abundance patterns.     

Spectroscopy of the W Virginis star V1 (K 307 ) in the globular cluster M12

High-resolution CCD spectra have been obtained for the first time for the W Virginis star V1 (K 307) in the globular cluster M12 and its closest neighbor K 307b (m _pg=14^m; the angular distance from the W Vir star is δ<1 arcsec). We determined the fundamental parameters (T _eff=5600 K, logg=1.3, and T _eff=4200 K, logg=1.0 for the W Vir star and the neighboring star, respectively) and their detailed chemical composition. The derived metallicities of the two stars ([Fe/H]=?1.27 and ?1.22 relative to the solar value) are in good agreement with the metallicities of other cluster members. Changed CNO abundances were found in the atmosphere of the W Vir star: a small carbon overabundance, [C/Fe]=+0.30 dex, and a large nitrogen overabundance, [N/Fe]=+1.15 dex, with oxygen being underabundant, [O/Fe]≈?0.2 dex. The C/O ratio is ≥1. Na and the α-process elements Mg, Al, Si, Ca, and Ti are variously enhanced with respect to iron. We found an enhanced abundance of s-process metals relative to iron: [X/Fe]=+0.34 for Y, Zr, and Ba. The overabundance of the heavier metals La, Ce, and Nd with respect to iron is larger: [X/Fe]=+0.49. The largest overabundance was found for the r-process element europium, [Eu/Fe]=+0.82. The spectrum of the W Vir star exhibits the Hα and Hβ absorption-emission profiles and the He I λ5876 Å emission line, which are traditionally interpreted as a result of shock passage in the atmosphere. However, the radial velocities determined from absorption and emission features are in conflict with the formation pattern of a strong shock. The high luminosity log L/L _⊙ = 2.98, the chemica peculiarities, and the spectral peculiarity are consistent with the post-AGB evolution in the instability strip. The pattern of relative elemental abundances [X/Fe]in the atmosphere of the neighboring star K 307b is solar. Statistically significant differences were found only for sodium and α-process elements: the mean overabundance of light metals is [X/Fe]=+0.35.     

Spectroscopic studies of yellow supergiants in the Cepheid instability strip

High-resolution spectra of nine yellow nonvariable supergiants (NVSs) located within the canonical Cepheid instability strip from Sandage and Tammann (1969) (α Aqr, ? Leo, μ Per, ω Gem, BD+60 2532, HD 172365, HD 187299, HD 190113, and HD 200102) were taken with the 1-m Zeiss and 6-m BTA telescopes at the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the 1990s. These have been used to determine the atmospheric parameters, chemical composition, radial velocities, reddenings, luminosities, distances, and radii. The spectroscopic estimates of T _eff and the luminosities determined from the Hipparcos parallaxes have shown eight of the nine program NVSs on the T _eff?log(L/L _⊙) diagram to be outside the canonical Cepheid instability strip. When the edges of the Cepheid instability strip from Bono et al. (2000) are used, out of the NVSs from the list on the diagram one is within the Cepheid instability strip but closer to the red edge, two are at the red edge, three are beyond the red edge, two are at the blue edge, and one is beyond the blue edge. The evolutionary masses of the objects have been estimated. The abundances of α-elements, r- and s-process elements for all program objects have turned out to be nearly solar. The СNO, Na, Mg, and Al abundance estimates have shown that eight of the nine NVSs from the list have already passed the first dredge-up. Judging by the abundances of the key elements and its position on the T _eff?log(L/L _⊙) diagram, the lithium-rich supergiant HD 172365 is at the post-main-sequence evolutionary stage of gravitational helium core contraction and moves toward the first crossing of the Cepheid instability strip. The star ? Leo should be assigned to bright supergiants, while HD 187299 and HD 190113 may have already passed the second dredge-up and move to the asymptotic branch.     

New spectroscopic observations of the post-AGB star V354 Lac = IRAS 22272+5435

The strongest absorption features with the lower-level excitation potentials χ _low < 1 eV are found to be split in the high-resolution optical spectra of the post-AGB star V354 Lac taken in 2007–2008 with the 6-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Main parameters, T _eff =5650 K, log g=0.2, ξ _t =5.0 km/s, and the abundances of 22 chemical elements in the star’s atmosphere are found. The overabundance of the s-process chemical elements (Ba, La, Ce, Nd) in the star’s atmosphere is partly due to the splitting of strong lines of the ions of thesemetals. The peculiarities of the spectrum in the wavelength interval containing the LiI λ 6707 Å line can be naturally explained only by taking the overabundances of the CeII and SmII heavy-metal ions into account. The best agreement with the synthetic spectrum is achieved assuming ?(LiI)=2.0, ?(CeII)=3.2, and ?(SmII)=2.7. The velocity field both in the atmosphere and in the circumstellar envelope of V354 Lac remained stationary throughout the last 15 years of our observations.     

Weak <Emphasis Type="Italic">r</Emphasis>-process component as a result of the neutrino interaction with the helium shell of a supernova

Possibilities for the development of an r-process in the helium shell of a supernova under the action of free neutrons appearing as a result of inelastic neutrino scattering by ⁴He nuclei are investigated. The conditions in the outer part of the helium shell in metal-poor stars are shown to be favorable for the reproduction of a weak r-process component.     

The evolutionary status of the semiregular variable QY Sge

Repeated spectroscopic observations made with the 6-m telescope of SAO RAS yielded new data on the radial-velocity variability of the anomalous yellow supergiant QY Sge. The strongest and most peculiar feature in its spectrum is the complex profile of NaI D lines, which contains a narrow and a very wide emission components. The wide emission component can be seen to extend from ?170 to +120 km/s, and at its central part it is cut by an absorption feature, which, in turn, is split into two subcomponents by a narrow (16 km/s at r=2.5) emission peak. An analysis of all the Vr values leads us to adopt for the star a systemic velocity of V_r=?21.1 km/s, which corresponds to the position of the narrow emission component of NaI. The locations of emission-line features of NaI D lines are invariable, which point to their formation in regions that are external to the supergiant’s photosphere. Differential line shifts of about 10 km/s are revealed. Emission in the Hα line is weaker than in NaI D lines, it fills the photospheric absorption almost completely. The absorption lines in the spectrum of QY Sge have a substantial width of FWHM ≈ 45 km/s. The method of model atmospheres is used to determine the following parameters: the effective temperature T _eff =6250±150 K, surface gravity l _{g g}=2.0±0.2, and microturbulence velocity ξ _t =4.5±0.5 km/s. The chemical composition of the atmosphere differs only slightly from the solar composition: the metallicity of the star is found to be somewhat higher than the solar metallicity with an average overabundance of iron-peak elements of [Met/H]_⊙=+0.20. The star is found to be slightly overabundant in carbon and nitrogen, [C/Fe]=+0.25, [N/Fe]=+0.27. The α-process elements Mg, Si, and Ca are slightly overabundant, on the average by [α/H]_⊙=+0.12, and sulfur overabundance is higher, [S/α]=+0.29. The strong overabundance of sodium, [Na/Fe]=+0.75, is likely to be due to the dredge-up of the matter processed in the NeNa cycle. Heavy elements of the s-process are underabundant relative to the Sun. On the whole, the observed properties of QY Sge do not give grounds for including this star into the group of RCrB or RVTau-type objects.     

A Comprehensive Study of 94 Open Clusters Based on the Data from IPHAS,GAIA DR2, and Other Sky Surveys

We determine the color excesses, photometric distances, ages, astrometric parallaxes and proper motions for 94 open clusters in the northern part of the Milky Way. We estimate the color excesses and photometric distances based on the data from IPHAS photometric survey of the northern Galactic plane using individual total-to-selective extinction ratios R_r = A_r/E_r?i for each cluster computed via the color-difference method based on IPHAS r, i, and Hα-band, 2MASS J-, H-, and K_s-band, WISE W1-band, and Pan-STARRS i-, z-, and y-band data. The inferred R_r values vary significantly from cluster to cluster spanning the R_r = 3.1–5.2 interval with a mean and standard deviation equal to 〈R_r〉 = 3.99 and σR_r = 0.34, respectively.We identified cluster members using (1) absolute proper motions determined from individual-epoch positions of stars retrieved from IPHAS, 2MASS,URAT1, ALLWISE,UCAC5, and Gaia DR1 catalogs and positions of stars on individual Palomar Sky Survey plates reconstructed based on the data provided in USNO-B1.0 catalog and (2) absolute proper motions provided in Gaia DR2 catalog, and computed the averageGaia DR2 trigonometric parallaxes and propermotions of the clusters. Themean formal error of the inferred astrometric parallaxes of clusters is of about 7 μas, however, a comparison of astrometric and photometric parallaxes of our cluster sample implies that Gaia DR2 parallaxes are, on the average, systematically underestimated by 45 ± 9 μas. This result agrees with estimates obtained by other authors using other objects. At the same time, we find our photometric distance scale to be correct within the quoted errors (the inferred correction factor is equal to unity to within a standard error of 0.025).     

The matter in the Big-Bang model is dust and not any arbitrary perfect fluid!

We consider a spherically symmetric general relativistic perfect fluid in its comoving frame. It is found that, by integrating the local energy momentum conservation equation, a general form of g ₀₀ can be obtained. During this study, we get a cue that an adiabatically evolving uniform density isolated sphere having ρ(r,t)=ρ ₀(t), should comprise “dust” having p ₀(t)=0; as recently suggested by Durgapal and Fuloria (J. Mod. Phys. 1:143, 2010) In fact, we offer here an independent proof to this effect. But much more importantly, we find that for the homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) metric having p(r,t)=p ₀(t) and ρ(r,t)=ρ ₀(t), \(g_{00} = e^{-2p_{0}/(p_{0} +\rho_{0})}\). But in general relativity (GR), one can choose an arbitrary t→t _?=f(t) without any loss of generality, and thus set g ₀₀(t _?)=1. And since pressure is a scalar, this implies that p ₀(t _?)=p ₀(t)=0 in the Big-Bang model based on the FRW metric. This result gets confirmed by the fact the homogeneous dust metric having p(r,t)=p ₀(t)=0 and ρ(r,t)=ρ ₀(t) and the FRW metric are exactly identical. In other words, both the cases correspond to the same Einstein tensor \(G^{a}_{b}\) because they intrinsically have the same energy momentum tensor \(T^{a}_{b}=\operatorname {diag}[\rho_{0}(t), 0,0, 0]\).     

Evolutionary status and chemical composition of the atmosphere of the spectroscopic and speckle interferometric binary HD 10009

HD 10009 is a spectroscopic and speckle interferometric binary with almost identical solar-type components. It was studied via speckle interferometry using the 6-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences and had its spectrophotometry performed in the 3500–9600 Å wavelength interval with the 2-m telescope of the Terskol Branch of the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences. A detailed analysis of the atmosphere of the primary component (component 1) of the binary yielded the abundances of some of the elements. The luminosities and temperatures of the components are found to be L ₁= 2.9 L _⊙, L ₂= 1.0 L _⊙ and T _eff1=6017 K, T _eff2=5930 K, respectively. The iron abundance is [Fe]=?0.27±0.05. Our results make it possible to assess the evolutionary status of the system. The binary is 7.9 Gyr old and the primary component is close to become a red giant, whereas the secondary component is still in the hydrogen-burning stage near the main sequence.     

Correlation function of quasars from SDSS DR3

We calculate the parameters of the two-point correlation function of quasars w(r) = (r _c /r) ^γ on the basis of the SDSS DR3 data. The correlation functions are first determined from projected distances with the use of a special technique for compiling randomized catalogs. Next the parameters of the spatial correlation function are obtained with the assumption of local isotropy. For the quasars with redshifts z = 0.8–2.1, we obtained the estimates γ = 1.76 ± 0.14, r _c = 6.60 ± 0.85 h ^?1 Mpc in the comoving distance range 2–30 Mpc and γ = 1.90 ± 0.11, r _c = 6.95±0.57 h ^?1 Mpc in the range 2–50 Mpc. These estimates agree, within the limits of errors, with the estimates obtained for the redshifts 0.4 < z < 2.1. The original catalog shows some deficit of pairs with separations less than 1 Mpc.     

A Catalog of Isolated Galaxy Pairs Limited to Absolute Magnitude -18.5 Drawn from HyperLEDA Database

The present paper is devoted to the construction of a catalog of isolated galaxy pairs extracted from the HyperLEDA extragalactic database. The radial velocities of the galaxies in the pairs are in the range [3000, 16000] km s^?1. In order to get an unbiased pair catalog as complete as possible, we have limited the absolute magnitude of the galaxies to M ≤ ?18.5. The criteria used to define the isolated galaxy pairs are the following: 1) velocity criterion: radial velocity difference between the pair members ΔV < 500 kms^?1; 2) interdistance criterion: projected distance between the members r_p < 1 Mpc; 3) reciprocity criterion: each member is the closest galaxy to the other one, which excludes multiplets; 4) isolation criterion: we define a pair as isolated if the ratio ρ = r₃/r_p of the projected distance of the pair to its closest galaxy (this one having a velocity difference lower than 500 km s^?1 with respect to the pair) and the members projected interdistance r_p is larger than 2.5.We have searched for these closest galaxies first in HyperLEDA M-limited source catalog, then in the full one.We have managed not to suppress the small number of pairs having close-by but faint dwarf galaxy companions. The galaxy pair catalog lists the value of ρ for each isolated pair. This method allows the user of the catalog to select any isolation level (beyond the chosen limit ρ > 2.5). Our final catalog contains 13 114 galaxy pairs, of which 57% are fairly isolated withρ > 5, and 30% are highly isolated with ρ ≥ 10.     

Photometric observations of Cepheids from the ASAS-3 catalog: Photoelectric <Emphasis Type="Italic">BV I</Emphasis><Subscript>c</Subscript> observations of 46 low-amplitude Cepheids

From December 2006 to January 2008, we performed 1699 BV I _c observations for 46 low-amplitude Cepheids discovered in the course of the ASAS project using the 76-cm telescope of the South-African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). We provide the tables of observations and V light and B-V and V-I _c color curves. These new observations, along with data from the ASAS-3 catalog, have been used to improve the elements of the light variations. Our data allow the number of known Galactic low-amplitude Cepheids to be almost doubled. This makes it possible to increase the number of distance indicators suitable for studying the structure of the inner Galactic arms by almost 15%.     

Stellar velocity dispersion and mass estimation for galactic disks

Available velocity dispersion estimates for the old stellar population of galactic disks at galactocentric distances r?2L (where L is the photometric radial scale length of the disk) are used to determine the threshold local surface density of disks that are stable against gravitational perturbations. The mass of the disk M_d calculated under the assumption of its marginal stability is compared with the total mass M_t and luminosity L _B of the galaxy within r=4L. We corroborate the conclusion that a substantial fraction of the mass in galaxies is probably located in their dark halos. The ratio of the radial velocity dispersion to the circular velocity increases along the sequence of galactic color indices and decreases from the early to late morphological types. For most of the galaxies with large color indices (B–V)₀>0.75, which mainly belong to the S0 type, the velocity dispersion exceeds significantly the threshold value required for the disk to be stable. The reverse situation is true for spiral galaxies: the ratios M_d/L_B for these agree well with those expected for evolving stellar systems with the observed color indices. This suggests that the disks of spiral galaxies underwent no significant dynamical heating after they reached a quasi-equilibrium stable state.     

Detection of heavy-metal lines in the spectrum of the circumstellar envelope of a post-AGB star

Splitting of the strongest absorption lines with a lower-level excitation potential χ _low < 1 eV has been detected for the first time in the optical spectra of the post-AGB star V354 Lac obtained with a spectral resolution R = 60 000 at the 6-m BTA telescope. Analysis of the kinematics shows that the short-wavelength component of the split line originates in the star’s thick gas-dust envelope. Disregarding the splitting of strong lines when the chemical composition is calculated leads to overestimated overabundances of s-process elements (Ba, La, Ce, Nd) in the stellar atmosphere. The profiles of strong absorption lines have been found to be variable. The available radial-velocity data suggest the absence of any changes in the velocity field in the atmosphere and circumstellar envelope of V354 Lac over 15 years of its observations.     

Supermassive black hole in an elliptical galaxy: Accretion of a hot gas with a low but finite angular momentum

The accretion of hot slowly rotating gas onto a supermassive black hole is considered. The important case where the velocities of turbulent pulsations at the Bondi radius r _B are low, compared to the speed of sound c _s, is studied. Turbulence is probably responsible for the appearance of random average rotation. Although the angular momentum at r _B is low, it gives rise to the centrifugal barrier at a depth r _c = l ² /GM _BH ? r _B, that hinders supersonic accretion. The numerical solution of the problem of hot gas accretion with finite angular momentum is found taking into account electron thermal conductivity and bremsstrahlung energy losses of two temperature plasma for density and temperature near Bondi radius similar to observed in M87 galaxy. The saturation of the Spitzer thermal conductivity was also taken into account. The parameters of the saturated electron thermal conductivity were chosen similar to the parameters used in the numerical simulations of interaction of the strong laser beam radiation with plasma targets. These parameters are confirmed in the experiments. It is shown that joint action of electron thermal conductivity and free-free radiation leads to the effective cooling of accreting plasma and formation of the subsonic settling of accreting gas above the zone of a centrifugal barrier. A toroidal condensation and a hollow funnel that separates the torus from the black hole emerge near the barrier. The barrier divides the flow into two regions: (1) the settling zone with slow subKeplerian rotation and (2) the zone with rapid supersonic nearly Keplerian rotation. Existence of the centrifugal barrier leads to significant decrease of the accretion rate ? in comparison with the critical Bondi solution for γ = 5/3 for the same values of density and temperature of the hot gas near Bondi radius. Shear instabilities in the torus and related friction cause the gas to spread slowly along spirals in the equatorial plane in two directions.As a result, outer (r > r _c) and inner (r < r _c) disks are formed. The gas enters the immediate neighborhood of the black hole or the zone of the internal ADAF flow along the accretion disk (r < r _c). Since the angular momentum is conserved, the outer disk removes outward an excess of angular momentum along with part of the matter falling into the torus. It is possible, that such outer Keplerian disk was observed by Hubble Space Telescope around the nucleus of the M87 galaxy in the optical emission lines. We discuss shortly the characteristic times during which the accretion of the gas with developed turbulence should lead to the changes in the orientation of the torus, accretion disk and, possibly, of the jet.     

Region of anomalous compression under Bondi-Hoyle accretion

We investigate the properties of an axisymmetric gas flow without angular momentum onto a small compact object, in particular, on a Schwarzschild black hole in the supersonic region; the velocity of the object itself is assumed to be low compared to the speed of sound at infinity. First of all, we show that the streamlines intersect (i.e., a caustic is formed) on the symmetry axis at a certain distance r _x from the center on the front side if the pressure is ignored. The characteristic radial size of the region in which the streamlines emerging from the sonic surface at an angle no larger than θ₀ to the axis intersect is Δr = r _x θ ₀ ² /3. To refine the flow structure in this region, we have numerically computed the system without ignoring the pressure in the adiabatic approximation. We have estimated the parameters of the inferred region with anomalously high matter temperature and density accompanied by anomalously high energy release.     

On Errors in Constructing the Polarization Phase Dependences for Solar System Bodies

In astrophysical studies of Solar System bodies, the measured values of the linear polarization degree P_obs and the position angle of the polarization plane θ are usually considered relative to the plane orthogonal to the scattering plane; and the resulting quantities are designated as P_r and θ_r, respectively. Parameters of the phase curve of polarization P_r = f(α) serve for determining the physical characteristics of grains composing the regolith surfaces of such bodies as, for example, the Moon, Mercury, asteroids, and planetary satellites, or the polydisperse media, such as cometary comae and tails. In this paper it has been shown that the error in the polarization degree grows \({\sigma _{{P_r}}}\) due to the error \({\sigma _{{\theta _{obs}}}}\) in determining the position angle. The interrelations between these errors were obtained, and the conditions, under which the values of the linear polarization degree P_r relative to the orthogonal system can be used to analyze the phase dependences of polarization, were formulated.