Analysis of photometric light curves solution for massive contact OB binary stars. LY Aurigae,BH Centauri,SV Centauri

We searched for signs of the presence of circumstellar gaseous matter in photometric data for massive contact early-type binaries by analyzing residual curves (the dependence of the difference between the observed and theoretical brightness variations on the orbital-period phase) for three such stars. The residual curves make it possible to estimate the influence of gas in the common envelope on the observed light curves for different phase intervals and to qualitatively describe the character of the distortion of the light from the system’s components. Changes of the residual curves from filter to filter indicate varying conditions in the circumstellar matter. Changes of the residual curves from one observation epoch to another indicate varying conditions in the circumstellar matter. We compared the residual curves obtained for different photometric bands and epochs via a correlation analysis. The distortion of light from the components of LY Aurigae in the ultraviolet differs from that in the visual. The distortion of light from the components of SV Centauri is appreciable, but not selective, and does not vary in time, while the distortion of light from BH Centauri possesses a strong selective component. A comparison of the radii computed for the components of BH Centauri and SV Centauri shows that the gas distribution near these binaries varies in time.     

A new classification scheme for T Tauri light curves

Based on many years of observational data from a photometric database on young stars, we propose a new classification scheme for the light curves of classical T Tauri stars. Our analysis of master light-curve shapes for 28 classical T Tauri stars is used to distinguish up to five light-curve types. The proposed scheme suggests a qualitative interpretation in terms of interaction of the central star with its circumstellar accretion disk.     

Multicolor photoelectric WBVR observations of the close binary system HZ Her = Her X-1 in 1986–1988. Method and observations

We present results of four-color (WBVR) photoelectric observations of the close binary HZ Her = Her X-1 in 1986–1988. As a rule, the duration of the observations exceeded two 35-day X-ray orbital periods in the 1986–1988 observing seasons. The accuracy and length of the photoelectric observations facilitated multi-faceted studies, which enabled us to define several fine photometric effects in the light curves of the binary more precisely and attempt to interpret them in a model for the matter flow from the optical component to the accretion disk around the neutron star. This model provides a satisfactory explanation for the inhomogeneity of the gas flow and “hot spot,” as well as the existence of distinct “splashes” moving in their own Keplerian orbits around the outer parts of the Keplerian disk. We present series of light curves for all the observing seasons, as well as color-color diagrams that reflect the physics of various photometric effects. The transformation coefficients for each of the instrumental systems for the three observatories at which the observations were carried out are given. Atmospheric extinction was taken into account duringmulti-color observations of the object, with subsequent correction for atmospheric effects with accuracies ranging from 0.003 ^m to 0.005 ^m for air masses up to M(z) = 2.     

On the reconstruction of the surface structure of the spotted stars

We have developed and tested a light-curve inversion technique for photometric mapping of spotted stars. The surface of a spotted star is partitioned into small area elements, over which a search is carried out for the intensity distribution providing the best agreement between the observed and model light curves within a specified uncertainty. We have tested mapping techniques based on the use of both a single light curve and several light curves obtained in different photometric bands. Surface reconstruction artifacts due to the ill-posed nature of the problem have been identified.     

Photometric activity of UX Ori stars and related objects in the near infrared and visual. BF Ori, CQ Tau, WW Vul, and SV Cep

We have analyzed the activity of four UX Ori stars in the near-IR (JHKL) and visual (V) using the results of long-term photometric observations. For comparison, we also obtained IR (JHKLM) photometric observations of two visually quiet young stars of close spectral types (AB Aur and HD 190073). For the photometrically most active UX Ori stars BF Ori, CQ Tau, and WW Vul, the Algol-like declines of brightness in the visual, which are due to sporadic enhancements of the circumstellar extinction, are also observed (with decreasing amplitude) in the IR bands. A strict correlation between the V and J brightness variations is observed for all the stars except for SV Cep. For some of the UX Ori stars, a strong correlation between the visual and IR activity is observed up to L, where the main contribution to the emission is made by circumstellar dust. In the case of SV Cep, the visual variability is not correlated with the variability of the IR fluxes. On one occasion, a clear anti-correlation was even observed: a shallow, but prolonged decrease of the visual brightness was accompanied by an increase in the IR fluxes. This indicates that circumstellar clouds themselves can become powerful sources of IR emission. Our results provide evidence that the photometric activity of UX Ori stars is a consequence of instability of the deepest layers of their gas-dust accretion disks. In some cases (SV Cep), fluctuations of the density in this region are global, in the sense that they occur along a significant part of the circle marking the inner boundary of the dust disk. It is interesting that AB Aur, which is the quietest in the visual, appeared to be the most active in the IR. In contrast to UX Ori stars, the amplitude of its brightness variations increases from the J to the M band. It follows from analysis of the IR colors of this star that their variability cannot be described by models in which the variable IR emission has a temperature close to the sublimation temperature of silicate grains (about 1500 K). This means that the photometric activity of AB Aur must be due to both the dust and gas components of the circumstellar disk.     

Physical Parameters of the Eclipsing System V2647 Cyg

Astronomy Reports - The first high-accuracy CCD UBV RI (RI)C light curves of the recently discovered eclipsing binary V2647 Cyg = GSC 3612 1565 ( ) have been obtained. The photometric light curves...     

The intermediate-age pre-cataclysmic variables SDSS J172406+562003 and RE J2013+4002

We have analyzed the physical status of the pre-cataclysmic variables SDSSJ172406+562003 and RE J2013+4002, which have evolved after their common-envelope stage a time t = 10⁶?10⁷ years. Spectroscopy and photometry of these systems were performed with the 6-m and 1-m telescopes of the Special Astrophysical Observatory. We demonstrate that emission lines in the spectra were formed solely by the reflection of radiation emitted by the white dwarfs on the surfaces of their cool companions, under conditions close to local thermodynamic equilibrium. These effects are also responsible for most of the objects?? photometric variability amplitude. However, comparing the light curves of SDSS 172406 from different epochs, we find aperiodic brightness variations, probably due to spottedness of the surface of the secondary. Jointly analyzing the spectra, radial-velocity curves, and light curves of the pre-cataclysmic variables and modeling the reflection effects, we have derived their fundamental parameters. We demonstrate that the secondaries in these systems are consistent with evolutionary models for main-sequence stars and do not have the luminosity excesses characteristic of cool stars in young pre-cataclysmic variables.     

The photopolarimetric activity and circumstellar environment of the T Tauri star CO Ori

We present the results of simultaneous UBVRI photometry and polarimetry of the classical T Tauri star CO Ori carried out at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory during the 18 years between 1986 and 2004. We show that the variations of linear polarization accompanying the star’s brightness variations follow the law characteristic of UX Ori stars. This suggests that the brightness variations of the star are mainly due to changes of the circumstellar extinction due to non-uniform structure of the circumstellar environment, and to an “optimal” orientation of the circumstellar gas and dust disk relative to the observer, whose line of sight crosses the gas and dust atmosphere of the disk. We determine the star’s intrinsic polarization due to scattering of light in the circumstellar disk. The polarization position angle indicates the orientation of the disk’s symmetry axis in the plane of the sky. Our analysis of an archival light curve for CO Ori confirms the existence of a many-year cycle of photometric activity, suspected by us earlier. The refined period of this cycle is 12.4 years. The existence of such activity cycles of UX Ori stars testifies to considerable deviations of their circumstellar disks from axial symmetry, a reflection of either stellar binarity or the commencement of the process of planetary formation.     

The accretion activity of the Ae Herbig star CQ Tau

Results of spectral observations of the isolated Ae Herbig star CQ Tau obtained in 1995–1998 in the H_α line and near the sodium resonance doublet are presented, together with simultaneous photometric monitoring of the star. CQ Tau is a member of the family of young UX Ori stars with nonperiodic Algol-like brightness decreases. The star is surrounded by an accretion disk, in which its emission-line spectrum and part of its absorption-line spectrum are formed. The strong variability of the H_α, D NaI, and HeI 5876 Å lines testifies that the gaseous disk is appreciably inhomogeneous in both the radial and azimuthal directions. This inhomogeneity probably results from uneven feeding by the circumstellar material from the peripheral regions of the circumstellar disk. Over the four years of observations, we observed the star in deep minima three times (ΔV～2). On these nights, an increase in the H_α equivalent width followed the decrease in radiation flux. In the two deepest minima, the normally two-component line profile had only a single component with a nearly symmetrical profile. This behavior of the H_α line is in good agreement with the results of numerical modeling of Algol-like minima and can be used to estimate the parameters of the dust clouds eclipsing the star and inner accretion disk. These estimates suggest that the circumstellar dust clouds can approach very close to the star and be sublimated there.     

Photometric and polarimetric activity of the Herbig Ae star VX Cas

We present the results of our simultaneous photometric and polarimetric observations of the Herbig Ae/Be star VX Cas acquired in 1987–2001. The star belongs to the UX Ori subtype of young variable stars and exhibits a rather low level of photometric activity: only six Algol-like minima with amplitudes ΔV>1^m were recorded in 15 years of observations. Two of these minima, in 1998 and 2001, were the deepest in the history of the star’s photometric studies, with V amplitudes of about 2^m. In each case, the dimming was accompanied by an increase in the linear polarization in agreement with the law expected for variable circumstellar extinction. The highest V polarization was about 5%. Observations of VX Cas in the deep minima revealed a turnover of the color tracks, typical of stars of this type and due to an increased contribution from radiation scattered in the circumstellar disk. We separated the observed polarization of VX Cas into interstellar (P_is) and intrinsic (P_in) components. Their position angles differ by approximately 60°, with P_is dominating in the bright state and P_in dominating during the deep minima. The competition of these two polarization components leads to changes in both the degree and position angle of the polarization during the star’s brightness variations. Generally speaking, in terms of the behavior of the brightness, color indices, and linear polarization, VX Cas is similar to other UX Ori stars studied by us earlier. A number of episodes of photometric and polarimetric activity suggest that, in their motion along highly eccentric orbits, circumstellar gas and dust clouds can enter the close vicinity of the star (and be disrupted there).     

月球Reiner Gamma漩涡地区物质的光度行为及分类

月球漩涡是月球表面具有磁场异常和光度异常的独特地质特征,其成因目前仍存在争议。本文以典型的Reiner Gamma漩涡为例,利用LROC WAC观测数据,建立该地区主要地质单元(明亮斑纹、暗带和周边月海)的光度模型。研究表明,除光谱特性外,漩涡地区各地质单元的光度行为可作为物质分类的重要依据。Reiner Gamma漩涡地区的明亮斑纹与暗带和周边月海的光度特性完全不同,其异常光度行为(相函数参数)可能与漩涡的强水平方向磁场存在关联。暗带与周边月海的亮度和光谱特性相近,但具有明显不同的相函数参数,其光度行为介于周边月海和明亮斑纹之间,表明它们的月壤物理特性存在差异。     

大地电磁测深二维地形影响及其校正方法研究

采用有限元法实现ＭＴ二维模型的正演模拟,将地形条件下的二维地电模型的ＭＴ响应分解为地形引起的畸变场和与测点高程位置有关的稳定场两部分进行分析。用有限元法模拟二维地形条件下地电结构的ＭＴ 响应和纯地形的ＭＴ响应,采用比值法消除地形引起的干扰场,然后,将消除地形影响后的视电阻率值通过延拓方法获水平地形条件下二维地电结构的视电阻率分布,完善大地电磁测深视电阻率曲线的地形校正。     

Search for and study of hot circumstellar dust envelopes

Long-term (1984–2008) JHKLM photometry for 254 objects is presented. The observations were carried out in the standard JHKLM photometric system using an original method and a modern IR photometer designed and built at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute. Our program of studies included searches for and studies of relatively hot circumstellar dust envelopes. The most important results obtained using these observations include the following. We have detected relatively hot dust envelopes in a number of objects for the first time, including the RCB star UV Cas, RX Cas, several classical symbiotic stars, etc. A model has been calculated for the dust envelope of FG Sge, which formed around the star as a result of several successive cycles of dust condensation beginning in Autumn 1992. Several dust-condensation episodes have been traced in the envelopes of symbiotic systems (CH Cyg, V1016 Cyg, HM Sge, etc.), as well as the role of the hot component in the formation of the dust envelopes. We have established from variations of the IR emission that the cool components in the symbiotic novae V1016 Cyg and HM Sge, and possibly CH Cyg, are Miras. The binarity of V1016 Cyg and HM Sge has also been firmly established. The variability of a whole series of object has been studied, including the stellar components of close binary systems and several dozen Mira and semi-regular variables. The ellipsoidality of the components in the RX Cas system (a prototype W Ser star) and the cool component in the symbiotic systems CI Cyg and BF Cyg has been firmly established. We have obtained the first IR light curve for the eclipsing system V444 Cyg (WN5+O6), and determined the wavelength dependence of the obtained parameters of the WN5 star. Analysis of the IR light curves of several novae indicate the condensation of dust envelopes in the transition periods of Cygnus 1992, Aquila 1993, and Aquila 1995. The IR light curve of R CrB has been obtained over a long period and analyzed. IR observations of the nova-like variable V4334 Sgr have been carried out over four years, over which the star passed through four stages during its motion along its post-AGB evolutionary track; the star’s bolometric flux and optical depth of its dust envelope have been estimated, and the structure and mass of the dust layer determined. We have analyzed the IR variability of the symbiotic star V407 Cyg over 14 years, and found its cool component to be a Mira with a period of 745 days. The observed pulsations and trend are associated with the luminosity and temperature variations of the Mira, as well as the optical depth of the dust envelope. The size of the dust grains and mass-loss rate of the Mira have been determined. We have obtained JHKL light curves for the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151 over 23 years. The IR brightness of the galaxy grew from 1985 through 1996 (by ∼0.9 ^m at 1.25 μm, ∼1 ^m at 1.65 μm, ∼1.1 ^m at 2.2 μm, and ∼1.3 ^m at 3.5 μm), while the galaxy simultaneously reddened. The “cool” variable source in NGC 4151 was still in the active state in 1998, although its luminosity had decreased by approximately 15%–20%. If the “cool” component of the variable source in this galaxy is a dust envelope heated by the central “hot” source, it should be optically thin to the radiation of this source: its mean optical depth is in the range 0.05–0.15. Emission from dust particles heated to temperatures of 600–800 K was observed in the near IR at a distance of several parsecs from the nucleus during the period of activity in 1995–1998; the inferred mass of emitting dust was 5–20 M _⊙. In 1994–2003, we observed a tendency for NGC 4151 to become bluer at 1.25–1.65 μm while simultaneously reddening at 2.2–3.5 μm. Beginning in Autumn 2000, the galaxy began to emerge from a minimum, which lasted from March 2000 through April 2001 in the IR; a flare of the galactic nucleus was observed and followed in detail in the IR in this same period. We confirm the IR variability of the nucleus of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068, which can be located in various stages of activity. The variability of NGC 1068 is associated with a complex source. A periodic component has been detected in the J brightness variations of the oxygen Mira V2108 Oph; we have shown that this star is immersed in a fairly dense dust envelope, and have calculated amodel for this envelope. We have calculated an (axially symmetrical) dust-envelope model for the carbon semi-regular variable RWLMi with a density distribution characteristic for the “superwind” stage. This envelope model is able to reproduce the observed fluxes over the entire observable spectrum, and displays a good agreement with the observational data. The three hot supergiants V482 Cas, QZ Sge, and HD 338926 may be variable in the IR. Long-term photometry of eight planetary nebulae in the near IR (1.25–5 μm) has enabled us to firmly establish the IR brightness and color variability of these nebulae on time scales from several tens of days to six-to-eight years. We have analyzed long-term JK photometry of the X-ray binary Cyg X-1 (V1357 Cyg). Periodicity with a characteristic time scale of ∼11.5 years is visible in the JK brightness variations of Cyg X-1 in 1984–2007, possibly due to periodic variations of the temperature, radius and luminosity of the optical component of the binary with P ∼11.5 yr. Fourteen-year IR light curves of five RV Tau stars (R Sge, RV Tau, AC Her, V Vul, and R Sct) and the yellow supergiant and protoplanetary-nebula candidate V1027 Cyg have been analyzed. A spherically symmetrical dust-envelope model has been calculated for V1027 Cyg.     

Large-scale fluctuations in the number density of galaxies in independent surveys of deep fields

New arguments supporting the reality of large-scale fluctuations in the density of the visible matter in deep galaxy surveys are presented. A statistical analysis of the radial distributions of galaxies in the COSMOS and HDF-N deep fields is presented. Independent spectral and photometric surveys exist for each field, carried out in different wavelength ranges and using different observing methods. Catalogs of photometric redshifts in the optical (COSMOS-Zphot) and infrared (UltraVISTA) were used for the COSMOS field in the redshift interval 0.1 < z < 3.5, as well as the zCOSMOS (10kZ) spectroscopic survey and the XMM-COSMOS and ALHAMBRA-F4 photometric redshift surveys. The HDFN-Zphot and ALHAMBRA-F5 catalogs of photometric redshifts were used for the HDF-N field. The Pearson correlation coefficient for the fluctuations in the numbers of galaxies obtained for independent surveys of the same deep field reaches R = 0.70 ± 0.16. The presence of this positive correlation supports the reality of fluctuations in the density of visible matter with sizes of up to 1000 Mpc and amplitudes of up to 20% at redshifts z ~ 2. The absence of correlations between the fluctuations in different fields (the correlation coefficient between COSMOS and HDF-N is R = ?0.20 ± 0.31) testifies to the independence of structures visible in different directions on the celestial sphere. This also indicates an absence of any influence from universal systematic errors (such as “spectral voids”), which could imitate the detection of correlated structures.     

Exoplanet Transients: Possible Variations in the Limb-Darkening Coefficients of Eclipsed Stars at Short Time Intervals

Astronomy Reports - The interpretation of high-precision transit light curves of binary systems with exoplanets Kepler-5b, Kepler-6b, and Kepler-7b is performed for three different epochs. It has...     

Photometric activity of UX orionis stars and related objects in the near infrared and optical: CO Ori,RR Tau,UX Ori,and VV Ser

This paper continues a study of the photometric activity of UX Ori stars in the optical and near-infrared (JHKLM bands) initiated in 2000. For comparison, the list of program stars contains two Herbig Ae stars that are photometrically quiet in the optical: MWC480 andHD179218. Fadings ofUXOri stars in the optical (V band) due to sporadic increases of the circumstellar extinction are also observed in the infrared (IR), but with decreasing amplitude. Two stars, RR Tau and UX Ori, displayed photometric events when V -band fadings were accompanied by an increase in IR fluxes. Among the two Herbig Ae stars that are photometrically quiet in the optical, MWC 480 proved to be fairly active in the IR. Unlike the UX Ori stars, the variation amplitude of MWC 480 increases from the J band to the M band. In the course of the observations, no deep fadings in the IR bands were detected. This indicates that eclipses of the program stars have a local nature, and are due to extinction variations in the innermost regions of the circumstellar disks. The results presented testify to an important role of the alignment of the circumstellar disks relative to the direction towards the observer in determining the observed IR variability of young stars.     

Interpretation of light curves of IP Peg in a model with shockless interaction between the gas stream and disk

We have analyzed light curves of the eclipsing cataclysmic variable IP Peg. A model with a shockless interaction between the gaseous stream and disk (i.e., an elliptical disk with a “hot line”) can describe the main characteristic features of the light curve of the interacting close binary better than a classical model with a “hot spot” at the outer boundary of a circular accretion disk. In particular, the hot-line model can reproduce the luminosity increase observed at phases ?～0.1–0.2 and ?～0.5–0.6, which is not possible in the standard hot-spot model. The advantages of the hot-line model are particularly striking for the IR light curves of IP Peg: the discrepancy χ² between the theoretical and observed light curves is 49 for the model with a shockless interaction between the gaseous stream and disk, and 2681 for the standard hot-spot model.     

Photometric period and rotational brightness modulation of V833 Tau

Photometric data covering 1994–2009, obtained at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory or retrieved from the ASAS and SuperWASP catalogs, were used to analyze the brightness variations of the rapidly rotating star V833 Tau, whose activity level is close to saturation. Combined with previously published results, these data represent for the first time all stages in the development of the star’s 19- year activity cycle. The photometric period and rotational-modulation amplitude for different epochs are determined, and the qualitative pattern of the spots is considered. The photometric period is close to the orbital period, but always exceeds it, indicating that surface inhomogeneities are located far from the equatorial plane. With the high spottedness of the star, reaching 28% at the cycle maximum, the rotationalmodulation amplitude is 0.05?0.1 ^m , and increases during the growth and decline phases of the 19-year cycle. The rotational modulation is due to spots with higher latitudes than in the case of the Sun, and concentrating on active longitudes.     

Analyzing the brightness distributions of the components of eclipsing variables using precise photometric data

We present the results of numerical simulations aimed at studying ways to analyze the brightness distributions of eclipsing-binary components from the high-precision photometric data that will be provided by the planned specialized orbital COROT and Kepler missions. We consider a simple model of an eclipsing binary with spherical components in circular orbits, with a linear limb-darkening law. We fit the light curves using a non-linear model with limb-darkening coefficients, as well as without placing stringent constraints on the shapes of the distributions. Our estimates demonstrate that, if the uncertainties in the measured light curves become as low as 10^?4 (a factor of ten better than the precision of ground-based photometry), the limb-darkening coefficients can be found with a relative uncertainty of 0.01. The uncertainties of the restored brightness distributions across the stellar disks are approximately the same.     

Spectral types of four binaries based on photometric observations

We present results of photometric and spectroscopic observations of four close binaries with subdwarf B components: PG 0918+029, PG 1000+408, PG 1116+301, PG 0001+275. We discovered that PG 1000+408 is a close binary, with the most probable orbital period being P _orb = 1.041145 day. Based on a comparison of the observed light curves at selected orbital phases and theoretical predictions for their variations, all the systems are classified as doubly degenerate binaries with low-luminosity white-dwarf secondaries.