Rotation curve of the Galactic outer disk derived from radial velocities and UCAC3 proper motions of carbon stars

The availability of astrometric data and radial velocities of carbon stars near the Galactic plane enables us to investigate the kinematics of the Milky Way,especially the rotation curve.The recently published Third U.S.Naval Observatory CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC3) provides the opportunity to test this problem using three-dimensional velocity in order to obtain more reliable rotation curves.We intend to study the Galactic rotation curve up to 15 kpc using the radial velocities and proper motions of carbon stars.The motivation for using UCAC3 is to provide high precision proper motions which have hardly been used in determining the rotation velocity of tracers.Seventy-four carbon stars and carbon-rich Mira variables toward the anti-center direction (90°＜(e)＜ 270°,|b| ＜ 6°) are picked up from the literature then matched with UCAC3 carbon star candidates to obtain their proper motions.A rigorous geometrical method is employed to compute the rotation velocity of each object.Taking carbon stars as tracers,we find a fiat rotation curve of 210 ± 12kms-1assuming/to = 8.0 kpc for the gaiactocentric distance and V0 = 220 km s-1 for the rotation velocity of the Sun.Due to the uncertainties of distances,the rotation velocities are more dispersed if tangential velocities enter the calculation,compared to those derived from radial velocities only.However,the whole rotation curve shows coherence with previous results.Increasing observation and study of carbon stars would be desirable in order to provide more homogeneous data for the kinematical study of the Galactic disk.     

Galactic kinematics from a sample of young massive stars

Based on published sources, we have created a kinematic database on 220 massive (> 10 M _⊙) young Galactic star systems located within ≤3 kpc of the Sun. Out of them, ≈100 objects are spectroscopic binary and multiple star systems whose components are massive OB stars; the remaining objects are massive Hipparcos B stars with parallax errors of no more than 10%. Based on the entire sample, we have constructed the Galactic rotation curve, determined the circular rotation velocity of the solar neighborhood around the Galactic center at R ₀ = 8kpc, V ₀ = 259±16 km s^?1, and obtained the following spiral density wave parameters: the amplitudes of the radial and azimuthal velocity perturbations f _R = ?10.8 ± 1.2 km s^?1 and f _θ = 7.9 ± 1.3 km s^?1, respectively; the pitch angle for a two-armed spiral pattern i = ?6.0° ± 0.4°, with the wavelength of the spiral density wave near the Sun being λ = 2.6 ± 0.2 kpc; and the radial phase of the Sun in χ _⊙ = ?120° ± 4°. We show that such peculiarities of the Gould Belt as the local expansion of the system, the velocity ellipsoid vertex deviation, and the significant additional rotation can be explained in terms of the density wave theory. All these effects decrease noticeably once the influence of the spiral density wave on the velocities of nearby stars has been taken into account. The influence of Gould Belt stars on the Galactic parameter estimates has also been revealed. Eliminating them from the kinematic equations has led to the following new values of the spiral density wave parameters: f _θ = 2.9 ± 2.1 km s^?1 and χ _⊙ = ?104° ± 6°.     

Computations of radial velocities for O-type stars

From the study of the spectra of eighteen O-type stars can be argued that a large Compton redshift is present, that could be due to the scattering of the light of these stars in the surrounding envelopes of interstellar matter. The new values of radial velocities, obtained for the above-quoted stars by means of a formula which takes into account the generalized Compton effect, are inconsistent with the values given in the stellar catalogue.     

Computations of radial velocities for O- and B-type stars

We give the computations of radial velocities and generalized Compton effects in the spectra of the O stars HD 108, HD 151804, HD 152408, HD 148937, and of the B stars HD 41117, HD 152236, Wray 977, and in the spectrum of YY Orionis.     

exofit: orbital parameters of extrasolar planets from radial velocities

Retrieval of orbital parameters of extrasolar planets poses considerable statistical challenges. Due to sparse sampling, measurement errors, parameters degeneracy and modelling limitations, there are no unique values of basic parameters, such as period and eccentricity. Here, we estimate the orbital parameters from radial velocity data in a Bayesian framework by utilizing Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations with the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm. We follow a methodology recently proposed by Gregory and Ford. Our implementation of MCMC is based on the object-oriented approach outlined by Graves. We make our resulting code, exofit , publicly available with this paper. It can search for either one or two planets as illustrated on mock data. As an example we re-analysed the orbital solution of companions to HD 187085 and HD 159868 from the published radial velocity data. We confirm the degeneracy reported for orbital parameters of the companion to HD 187085, and show that a low-eccentricity orbit is more probable for this planet. For HD 159868, we obtained slightly different orbital solution and a relatively high 'noise' factor indicating the presence of an unaccounted signal in the radial velocity data. exofit is designed in such a way that it can be extended for a variety of probability models, including different Bayesian priors.     

High precision radial velocities of southern solar-type stars by cross-correlation

A system for obtaining high-precision radial velocities of solar-type stars by spectral cross-correlation has been established at the Mt John University Observatory. The use of a fibre-feed between the telescope and échelle spectrograph has enabled a stability such that we can achieve a precision of better than 50 m s^–1.A programme of radial-velocity observations of 29 southern solar-type stars—of which two are IAU radial velocity standard stars—is under way with the prime objective being a search for low-mass companions to the stars. Ten further IAU radial-velocity standard stars are also being monitored.     

Long,accurate time series measurements of radial velocities of solar-type stars

We have been measuring changes in the radial velocities (RV's) of solar-type stars to search for gravitational perturbations by planets. We transmit violet starlight through a Fabry-Perot etalon interferometer and sense changes in Doppler shift from changes in the fluxes of light on the slopes of stellar absorption lines. Our data now span 6 years. Our observations of the Sun showed earlier that both our technique and the profiles of solar photospheric violet absorption lines can be stable enough to reveal planetary perturbations. We now carry this validation to the spectra of other near-solar-type stars. Annual averages of our RV's of Draconis and Virginis are stable to ±6 m s^–1. The slope of our five-year series of RV's of Bootis A is consistent with the star's well-determined visual astrometric orbit about Bootis B. The Fabry-Perot technique of Doppler shift measurement is fully capable of detecting perturbations due to planets with masses and orbits similar to those of Jupiter.Paper presented at the Conference onPlanetary Systems: Formation, Evolution, and Detection held 7–10 December, 1992 at CalTech, Pasadena, California, U.S.A.     

Astrophysical supplements to the ASCC‐2.5: Ia. Radial velocities of ∼55000 stars and mean radial velocities of 516 Galactic open clusters and associations

We present the 2nd version of the Catalogue of Radial Velocities with Astrometric Data (CRVAD‐2). This is the result of the cross‐identification of stars from the All‐Sky Compiled Catalogue of 2.5 Million Stars (ASCC‐2.5) with the General Catalogue of Radial Velocities and with other recently published radial velocity lists and catalogues. The CRVAD‐2 includes accurate J2000 equatorial coordinates, proper motions and trigonometric parallaxes in the Hipparcos system, B, V photometry in the Johnson system, spectral types, radial velocities (RVs), multiplicity and variability flags for 54907 ASCC‐2.5 stars. We have used the CRVAD‐2 for a new determination of mean RVs of 363 open clusters and stellar associations considering their established members from proper motions and photometry in the ASCC‐2.5. For 330 clusters and associations we compiled previously published mean RVs from the literature, critically reviewed and partly revised them. The resulting Catalogue of Radial Velocities of Open Clusters and Associations (CRVOCA) contains about 460 open clusters and about 60 stellar associations in the Solar neighbourhood. These numbers still represent less than 30% of the total number of about 1820 objects currently known in the Galaxy. The mean RVs of young clusters are generally better known than those of older ones. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Galactic distribution of WR stars

The recent VIIth Catalogue of Galactic Wolf-Rayet Stars lists 227 Population I WR stars, comprising 127 WN, 87 WC, 10 WN/WC and 3 WO stars. Additional discoveries bring the census to 234 WR stars. A re-determination of the optical photometric distances and the galactic distribution of WR stars shows in the solar neighbourhood a projected surface density of 2.7 WR stars per kpc², a N _WC/N _WN number ratio of 1.3, and a WR binary frequency of 40 %.The galactocentric distance (R _WR) distribution per subtype showsR _WN and R _WC decreasing with WN and WC subtypes. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Absolute parameters of young stars:PU Pup

We present combined photometric and spectroscopic analyses of the southern binary star PU Pup.High-resolution spectra of this system were taken at the Universit...     

Galactic rotation curve from the space velocities of selected masers

Based on currently available observations of 28 maser sources in 25 star-forming regions with measured trigonometric parallaxes, proper motions, and radial velocities, we have constructed the rotation curve of the Galaxy. Taking different distances to the Galactic center R ₀, we have estimated the peculiar velocity of the Sun, the angular velocity of Galactic rotation, and its three derivatives. For R ₀ = 8 kpc, we have found the circular velocity of the Sun to be V ₀ = 243 ± 16 km s⁻¹, which corresponds to a revolution period of 202 ± 10 Myr. We have obtained the Oort constants A = 16.9 ± 1.2 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹ and B = −13.5 ± 1.4 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹. Our simulation of the influence of a spiral density wave has shown that the peculiar velocity of the Sun with respect to the local standard of rest and the component (V _⊙)_LSR depend significantly on the Sun’s phase in the spiral wave.     

Jets from young stars

Most stars produce spectacular jets during their formation. There are thousands of young stars within 500 pc of the Sun and many power jets. Thus protostellar jets may be the most common type of collimated astrophysical outflow. Shocks powered by outflows excite many emission lines, exhibit a rich variety of structure, and motions with velocities ranging from 50 to over 500 km s⁻¹. Due to their relative proximity, proper motions and structural changes can be observed in less than a year. I review the general properties of protostellar jets, summarize some results from recent narrow-band imaging surveys of entire clouds, discuss irradiated jets, and end with some comments concerning outflows from high-mass young stellar objects. Protostellar outflows are ideal laboratories for the exploration of the jet physics.     

Galactic orbits of Hipparcos stars: Classification of stars

The Galactic orbits of 27 440 stars of all classes with accurate coordinates and parallaxes of more than 3 mas from the Hipparcos catalogue, proper motions from the Tycho-2 catalogue, and radial velocities from the Pulkovo Compilation of Radial Velocities (PCRV) are analyzed. The sample obtained is much more representative than the Geneva-Copenhagen survey and other studies of Galactic orbits in the solar neighborhood. An estimation of the influence of systematic errors in the velocities on orbital parameters shows that the errors of the proper motions due to the duplicity of stars are tangible only in the statistics of orbital parameters for very small samples, while the errors of the radial velocities are noticeable in the statistics of orbital parameters for halo stars. Therefore, previous studies of halo orbits may be erroneous. The distribution of stars in selection-free regions of the multidimensional space of orbital parameters, dereddened colors, and absolute magnitudes is considered. Owing to the large number of stars and the high accuracy of PCRV radial velocities, nonuniformities of this distribution (apart from the well-known dynamical streams) have been found. Stars with their peri- and apogalacticons in the disk, perigalacticons in the bulge and apogalacticons in the disk, perigalacticons in the bulge and apogalacticons in the halo, and perigalacticons in the disk and apogalacticons in the halo have been identified. Thus, the bulge and the halo are inhomogeneous structures, each consisting of at least two populations. The radius of the bulge has been determined: 2 kpc.     

Galactic structure from the Two Micron Galactic Survey

The Two Micron Galactic Survey (TMGS) is the most sensitive large scale point source near infrared survey of the Galactic Plane yet attempted. The Galactic plane has been drift-scanned in several regions over the areas -5° <l < 30°, |b | 15° and 30° <l < 180°, |b | 5°. The survey is complete in the areas covered to magnitudem _k = +9.8. So far, a total area of 255 square degrees has been mapped and 500000 objects have been detected, the majority of these in the Galactic plane and with no visible counterparts. In this contribution we use data from the TMGS to probe the star distribution within the Galactic disk.     

Infrared velocities of carbon stars

We present CS(J = 1 0) observations of the high density gas in a sample of eleven star forming regions with molecular or optical outflows. The sources of this sample cover a wide range of physical sizes. All these sources had been previously mapped in NH₃ (1,1) with similar angular resolution. In all the sources of this sample CS emission was detected, indicating a global correlation between the emissions traced by the CS and the NH₃ molecules. However, the detailed characteristics of these two emissions (e.g., the extent and the location of the emission peak) show, in general, significant differences in the sources which are well resolved by the beam. As a general trend, the emission traced by the NH₃ molecule appears as compact clumps which engulf an outflow activity center. In contrast, the emission traced by the CS molecule, usually more extended, appears as a background which connects different outflow activity centers associated with each NH₃ clump.     

CH stars at high Galactic latitudes

High-velocity outflows from supermassive black holes have been invoked to explain the recent identification of strong absorption features in the hard X-ray spectra of several quasars. Here, Monte Carlo radiative transfer calculations are performed to synthesize X-ray spectra from models of such flows. It is found that simple, parametric biconical outflow models with plausible choices for the wind parameters predict spectra that are in good qualitative agreement with observations in the 2–10 keV band. The influence on the spectrum of both the mass-loss rate and opening angle of the flow are considered: the latter is important since photon leakage plays a significant role in establishing an ionization gradient within the flow, a useful discriminant between spherical and conical outflow for this and other applications. Particular attention is given to the bright quasar PG 1211+143 for which constraints on the outflow geometry and mass-loss rate are discussed subject to the limitations of the currently available observational data.     

Radial velocities andDDO, BV photometry of Henry Draper G5-M stars near the North Galactic Pole

Radial velocities are given for some 900 stars within 15‡ of the North Galactic Pole, including almost all such stars classified G5 or later in theHenry Draper Catalogue. Luminosities, two-dimensional spectral classes, composition indices, and distances are derived for the majority of the sample throughDDO andBV photometry. More than half of the stars are classified as G5-K5 giants: they show a clear relationship between composition and velocity dispersion for the two Galactic componentsV andW, and a less well-defined trend forU. Four abundance groups exhibit characteristics which imply association with, respectively, the thick disk, old thin disk, young thin disk, and Roman’s “4150” group. The sample is contained within l kpc of the Galactic plane, and no trends with distance are evident.     

HST UV measurements of wind structure and velocities in Local Group OB stars

Archival HST FOS and GHRS data sets have been used to collect ultraviolet evidence for large- and small-scale stellar wind structure in extragalactic Local Group OB stars (i.e. SMC, LMC including R136, M31, M33 and NGC 6822). By comparison with previous studies of Galactic OB stars, wind activity is principally diagnosed in individual spectrograms via the presence of 'narrow absorption components' and saturated 'black' absorption troughs in the resonance line doublets. Their characteristics broadly suggest that these stars share the same physical mechanisms for perturbing the winds as those that act in Galactic stars. Both of these spectral indicators are also used to provide reliable measures of wind terminal velocities. These velocities are directly compared with previously published Galactic values, without reliance on model profile fitting. Relative to Galactic OB stars, the most discrepant terminal velocities (and wind line profiles) result from main-sequence early O-type stars in the SMC.