Circumstellar envelopes and disks of pre-main sequence stars

The current state of knowledge about circumstellar matter of young stellar objects is briefly reviewed. It appears that some very young stars yet to accrete substantial amounts of mass may be seen through their dusty infalling envelopes even at optical wavelengths, because of the presence of holes or large departures from spherical symmetry in the envelopes. The evidence for this picture is summarized in the context of one wellstudied young star, HL Tau, indicating that much of the large-scale structure originally identified as a rotating disk is probably a flattened infalling envelope. Departures from spherical symmetry in protostellar clouds are likely to lead to quite flattened structures once collapse gets under way, further suggesting that infall in large-scale toroids may be a general feature of low-mass star formation. The best kinematic evidence for Keplerian disk rotation comes from optical and near-infrared high-resolution spectroscopy of the innermost regions of circumstellar disks. Disk masses are uncertain but are likely to be at least the order of minimum mass solar nebula models, if not much larger.     

The loss of magnetic flux from pre-main sequence stars

For the case ofn planets, we derive Lagrange's secular planetary equations in terms of the Poincaré canonical variables, using the Jacobi-Radau set of origins, and referring to a common fixed plane.     

Using 2MASS to detect main sequence companions to subdwarf B stars

We explore the binary fraction of subdwarf B (sdB) stars by using the Two Micron All Sky Survey to search for main sequence companions. We have convolved Kurucz models with appropriate filter bandpasses to examine how various combinations separate single sdB stars from sdB+MS binaries. We notice that the 2MASS magnitude limits greatly increase the fraction of inferred sdB+MS binaries and examine a magnitude-limited sample appropriate for single sdB stars.     

Matching the frequency spectrum of pre-main sequence stars by means of standard and rotating models

We applied the aton evolutionary code to the computation of detailed grids of standard (non-rotating) and rotating pre-main sequence (PMS) models and computed their adiabatic oscillation spectra, with the aim of exploring the seismic properties of young stars. As, until now, only a few frequencies have been determined for ∼40 PMS stars, the way of approaching the interpretation of the oscillations is not unique. We adopt a method similar to the matching mode method by Guenther and Brown making use, when necessary, also of our rotating evolutionary code to compute the models for PMS stars. The method is described by a preliminary application to the frequency spectrum of two PMS stars (85 and 278) in the young open cluster NGC 6530. For the Star 85, we confirm with self-consistent rotating models, previous interpretation of the data, attributing three close frequencies to the mode   n = 4, l = 1  and   m = 0  , +1 and −1. For the Star 278, we find a different fit for the frequencies, corresponding to a model within the original error box of the star, and dispute the possibility that this star has a T _eff much cooler that the red boundary of the radial instability strip.     

The detection of binary companions to subdwarf B stars

Intermediate dispersion spectroscopy of a sample of 40 hot subdwarf B stars between 5500 and 9000Å has been obtained. The sample includes a large fraction of targets which have been studied photometrically. Seven targets show strong lines arising from the infrared Ca  ii triplet, the unequivocal signature of a cool companion. The positive Ca  ii identifications include known photometric binaries and new targets; all are associated with a photometric red excess. Assuming a canonical value for the subdwarf luminosity, all of the detected companions are overluminous compared with the main sequence. The detection procedure indicates an improved and more secure method for the measurement of the binary frequency of hot subdwarfs.     

The effect of screening factors and thermonuclear reaction rates in the pre-main sequence evolution of low mass stars

In understanding the nucleosynthesis of the elements in stars, one of the most important quantities is the reaction rate and it must be evaluated in terms of the stellar temperature T, and its determination involves the knowledge of the excitation function σ(E) of the specific nuclear reaction leading to the final nucleus. In this paper, the effect of thermonuclear reaction rates to the pre-main sequence evolution of low mass stars having masses 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 and 1M_⊙ are studied by using our modified Stellar Evolutionary Program.     

New brown dwarf companions to dM(e) stars

We present new astrometric and spectroscopic data to confirm two new M/L dwarf systems, G124‐62 and LHS5166, and discuss the nature of a third system (LP261‐75). Age and thus mass determinations of the L dwarf companions are discussed based on various activity‐age relationships of the M dwarf primaries. This publication will update the list of widely separated substellar companions to nearby stars. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Hα and HeI emission in the jets of pre-main sequence stars – implications for the heating mechanisms

Jets and winds in pre-main sequence (PMS) stars are often heated and ionized, and understanding their heating mechanism is desired to compare UV-to-IR spectral signatures with models and thus investigate their driving mechanism. We review our results of long-slit spectroscopy and spectro-astrometry for He I 1.083 μm and Hα emission, and investigate the heating mechanisms in the jet in the outer (>10 AU) and inner (<10 AU) regions, respectively.     

The fraction of solar-type stars having stellar or massive nonstellar companions

The results of the survey for multiplicity by Abt and Levy are used to estimate the fraction of solar-type stars having close companions more massive than 0.01 solar masses. Current knowledge of the multiplicity characteristics of solar-type stars does not require that the fraction be nearly unity.     

Infrared excess in Wolf-Rayet stars

On the basis of continuum energy distributions in the wavelength region 3200–11 000 Å, effective temperature for 14 Wolf-Rayet stars are estimated by comparing with Kurucz (1979) model atmospheres. The continuum energy distribution curve shows strong infrared excess emissions above of 5000 Å in every star.     

Infrared observations of symbiotic stars

Near infrared measurements in the J, H and K bands have been carried out for a number of symbiotic stars with the 1.5 m telescope at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory (RAO). A comparison with the earlier observations shows that the S-type symbiotic stars do not have any significant variation in the infrared flux over the past five years. However a small variation ∼ 0.3 magnitude in the infrared flux has been detected for CH Cygni. The observations of HM Sagittae show large decreases in the infrared flux compared to the previous measurements. The variability in the infrared fluxes of both these objects could be attributed to a variation in the temperature due to the cooling of the dust shell. The variability observed for V1016 Cygni is found consistent with the previous measurements.     

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.     

Infrared photometry of AGB stars

The goal of this article is to show that, if one avoids star forming regions, mass-losing AGB stars can generally be selected from the data that will be provided by the near-infrared surveys which are presently considered. Also, if IRAS data are available, the separation between carbon-rich and oxygen-rich stars can be operated by their positions in infrared colour diagrams. In extragalactic systems, red supergiants can be discriminated from AGB stars by their luminosities.based on observations obtained with the ESO 1-m telescope     

A spectral differential approach to characterizing low‐mass companions to late‐type stars

In this paper, we develop a spectral differential technique with which the dynamical mass of low‐mass companions can be found. This method aims at discovering close companions to late‐type stars by removing the stellar spectrum through a subtraction of spectra obtained at different orbital phases and discovering the companion spectrum in the difference spectrum in which the companion lines appear twice (positive and negative signal). The resulting radial velocity difference of these two signals provides the true mass of the companion, if the orbital solution for the radial velocities of the primary is known. We select the CO line region in the K band for our study, because it provides a favourable star‐to‐companion brightness ratio for our test case GJ 1046, an M2V dwarf with a low‐mass companion that most likely is a brown dwarf. Furthermore, these lines remain largely unblended in the difference spectrum so that the radial velocity amplitude of the companion can be measured directly. Only if the companion rotates rapidly and has a small radial velocity due to a high mass, does blending occur for all lines so that our approach fails. We also consider activity of the host star, and show that the companion difference flux can be expected to have larger amplitude than the residual signal from the active star so that stellar activity does not inhibit the determination of the companion mass. In addition to determining the companion mass, we restore the single companion spectrum from the difference spectrum using singular value decomposition. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A long-term UBVRI photometric study of the pre-main sequence star V350 Cep

Results from UBVRI optical photometric observations of the pre-main sequence star V350 Cep during the period 2004-2014 are presented.The star was discovered in 1977 due to its remarkable increase in brightness by more than 5 mag(R).In previous studies,V350 Cep was considered to be a potential FUor or EXor eruptive variable.Our data suggest that during the period of observations the star maintains its maximum brightness with low amplitude photometric variations.Our conclusion is that V350 Cep was probably an intermediate object between FUors and EXors,similar to V1647 0ri.     

PEGASE, an infrared interferometer to study stellar environments and low mass companions around nearby stars

PEGASE is a mission dedicated to the exploration of the environment (including habitable zone) of young and solar-type stars (particularly those in the DARWIN catalogue) and the observation of low mass companions around nearby stars. It is a space interferometer project composed of three free flying spacecraft, respectively featuring two 40 cm siderostats and a beam combiner working in the visible and near infrared. It has been proposed to ESA as an answer to the first “Cosmic Vision” call for proposals, as an M mission. The concept also enables full-scale demonstration of space nulling interferometry operation for DARWIN.