Suspected OB stars near the andromeda nebula

An investigation of suspected OB stars on plates of the Schmidt telescope of Karl Schwarzschild Observatory Tautenburg gave the following results: I. There exists a sharp boundary of the M 31 disk. For distances larger than R = 30 kpc from the centre no OB stars of the Andromeda galaxy could be found. 2. The isolated OB stars in the outer regions of M 31 fit into the spiral structure. 3. The suspected OB stars outside M 31 (R>30 kpc) in all probability belong to our own galaxy. It is to be expected that they partly are blue horizontal branch stars of extreme population II, partly white dwarfs rather far left of the black body line in the two colour diagram.     

The ratio of total to selective absorption in the Carina OB2 association

Several previous studies in and around the Great Carina nebula (NGC 3372) have strongly indicated an abnormal interstellar extinction law with a high ratio of total to selective absorptionR. In the present study, newUBV photometric data and accurate MK spectral-types of stars in the region of the Carina OB2 association are used to show that (1) Car OB2 is a genuine stellar association located at a distance of 3.2 kpc, and (2) the interstellar extinction law seems to be normal throughout most of the region. A representative value ofR = A _v/E(B – V) = 3.0 is derived for Car OB2 from the variable extinction method.Visiting Astronomer, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, operated by AURA, Inc. under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

Galactic Rotation Based on OB Stars from the Gaia DR2 Catalogue

We have studied a sample containing ~6000 OB stars with proper motions and trigonometric parallaxes from the Gaia DR2 catalogue. The following parameters of the angular velocity of Galactic rotation have been found: Ω₀ = 29.70 ± 0.11 km s^-1 kpc^-1, Ω'₀ = -4.035 ± 0.031 km s^-1 kpc^-2, and Ω ₀ = 0.620 ± 0.014 km s^-1 kpc^-3. The circular rotation velocity of the solar neighborhood around the Galactic center is V₀ = 238 ± 5 km s^-1 for the adopted Galactocentric distance of the Sun R₀ = 8.0 ± 0.15 kpc. The amplitudes of the tangential and radial velocity perturbations produced by the spiral density wave are f_θ = 4.4 ± 1.4 kms^-1 and f_R = 5.1 ± 1.2 kms^-1, respectively; the perturbation wavelengths are λ_θ = 1.9 ± 0.5 kpc and λ_R = 2.1 ± 0.5 kpc for the adopted four-armed spiral pattern. The Sun's phase in the spiral density wave is χ_⊙ = -178° ± 12°.

     

Excess line broadening in various objects- a case for weak magnetic effects

I present updated compilations of both observational data and theoretical predictions concerning excess line width and sizes in astrophysical bodies. After removing two well-known broadening mechanisms (thermal width and width due to large scale motions such as expansion), I analyse statistically the excess line widthW _excess. The excess line width shows a changing behavior with object sizeR, of the formW _excess ~R ^q. Taking all objects together, I find thatq = 0.55 with s.d. = 0.05. This resultextends previous studies to cover 5 decades in sizes, from 0.01 pc up to 1000 pc. Taking only objects withR < 1 pc, I find thatq = 0.7 with s.d.=0.1, while taking only objects withR > 1 pc givesq = 0.5 with s.d.=0.1; thus a steeper (not flatter) value ofq at smallR may be possible. Previous claims to derive a law for objects of sizesR > 1 kpc are discussed, in relation to the problem of removing obvious large scale motions from the observed line width. Thus several models with predictedq values between 0 and 1 can be eliminated, and the remaining ones could allow weak magnetic effects on the line widths.     

Search for Optical Identifications in the 5C3-Radio Survey II. Statistical Treatment and Results

On plates of the large Schmidt-telescope of Karl-Schwarzschild-Observatory Tautenburg, taken by F. BÖRNGEN, 139 radio sources of the ₅C₃ area were inspected for possible identifications with optical objects. The results are published in paper I and in the appendix of the present paper II. A detailed analysis of these objects showed a relatively large number of about 65 real identifications up to the utmost plate limit B ≈ 21^m.7, which corresponds to an identification rate of about 47%. The individual reliability of each possible optical identification is estimated (table 6). Apparently the identified objects (see tables 4 and 6) are galaxies, “blue” and “neutral” quasars, and one H II-region of the Andromeda nebula. It is of great cosmological interest that no “red” quasars could be found.     

Periodic pattern in the residual-velocity field of OB associations

An analysis of the residual-velocity field of OB associations within 3 kpc of the Sun has revealed periodic variations in the radial residual velocities along the Galactic radius vector with a typical scale length of λ = 2.0 ± 0.2 kpc and a mean amplitude of f _R = 7 ± 1 km s^?1. The fact that the radial residual velocities of almost all OB associations in rich stellar-gas complexes are directed toward the Galactic center suggests that the solar neighborhood under consideration is within the corotation radius. The azimuthal-velocity field exhibits a distinct periodic pattern in the 0°<l<180° region, where the mean azimuthal-velocity amplitude is f _θ = 6 ± 2 km s^?1. There is no periodic pattern of the azimuthal-velocity field in the 180°<l<360° region. The locations of the Cygnus arm, as well as the Perseus arm, inferred from an analysis of the radial-and azimuthal-velocity fields coincide. The periodic patterns of the residual-velocity fields of Cepheids and OB associations share many common features.     

Outer pseudoring in the galaxy

The kinematics of the Sagittarius (R = 5.7 kpc),Carina (R = 6.5 kpc), Cygnus (R = 6.8 kpc), and Perseus (R = 8.2 kpc) arms suggests the existence of two spiral patterns in the Galaxy that rotate with different speeds. The inner spiral pattern that is represented by the Sagittarius arm rotates with the speed of the bar, Ω_b = 60 ± 5 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹, while the outer spiral pattern that includes the Carina, Cygnus, and Perseus arms rotates with a lower speed, Ω_s = 12–22 km s⁻¹ kpc⁻¹.The existence of an outer slow tightly wound spiral pattern and an inner fast spiral pattern can be explained by numerically simulating the dynamics of outer pseudorings. The outer Lindblad resonance of the bar must be located between the Sagittarius and Carina arms. The Cygnus arm appears as a connecting link between the fast and slow spiral patterns.     

Molecular Clouds Toward a New OB Association in Pup-CMa

We have mapped 16 molecular clouds toward a new OB association in the Pup-CMa region to derive their physical properties. The observations were carried out in the ¹²CO (J = 1 – 0) line with the Southern millimetre-wave Telescope at Cerro Tololo, Chile. Distances have been determined kinematically using the rotation curve of Brand with R_⊙ = 8.5 kpc and V_⊙ = 220 km/s. Masses have been derived adopting a CO luminosity to H₂ conversion factor X = 3.8 . 10²⁰ molecules cm^-2 (K km/s)^-1. The observed mean radial velocity of the clouds is comparable with the mean radial velocity of stars composing an OB association in Pup-CMa; it is in favor of the close connection of clouds with these stars. __________ Published in Astrofizika, Vol. 48, No. 4, pp. 491–501 (October–December, 2005).     

Estimation of the solar galactocentric distance and galactic rotation velocity from near-solar-circle objects

We have tested the method of determining the solar Galactocentric distance R ₀ and Galactic rotation velocity V ₀ modified by Sofue et al. using near-solar-circle objects. The motion of objects relative to the local standard of rest has been properly taken into account. We show that when such young objects as star-forming regions or Cepheids are analyzed, allowance for the perturbations produced by the Galactic spiral density wave improves the statistical significance of the estimates. The estimate of R ₀ = 7.25 ± 0.32 kpc has been obtained from 19 star-forming regions. The following estimates have been obtained from a sample of 14 Cepheids (with pulsation periods P > 5 ^d ): R ₀ = 7.66 ± 0.36 kpc and V ₀ = 267 ± 17 km s^?1. We consider the influence of the adopted Oort constant A and the character of stellar proper motions (Hipparcos or UCAC4). The following estimates have been obtained from a sample of 18 Cepheids with stellar proper motions from the UCAC4 catalog: R ₀ = 7.64 ± 0.32 kpc and V ₀ = 217 ± 11 km s^?1.     

The distance to the Galactic center determined by OB stars

The OB stars are concentrated near the Galactic plane and should permit a determination of the distance to the Galactic center. van Leeuwen’s new reduction of the Hipparcos catalog provides, after 824 Gould belt stars have been excluded, 6288 OB stars out to 1 kpc and Westin’s compilation an additional 112 stars between 1 kpc and 3 kpc. The reduction model involves 14 unknowns: the Oort A and B constants, the distance to the Galactic center R ₀, 2 second-order partial derivatives, the 3 components of solar motion, a K term, a first order partial derivative for motion perpendicular to the Galactic plane, a second-order partial for acceleration perpendicular to the plane, two terms for a possible expansion of the OB stars, and a C constant. The model is nonlinear, and the unknowns are calculated by use the simplex algorithm for nonlinear adjustment applied to 14313 equations of condition, 12694 in proper motion and 1619 in radial velocity. Various solutions were tried: an L₁ solution, a least squares solution with modest (2.7 %) trim of the data, and two robust least squares solutions (biweight and Welsch weighting) with more extreme trimming. The Welsch solution seems to give the best results and calculates a distance to the Galactic center 6.72±0.39 kpc. Statistical tests show that the data are homogeneous, that the reduction model seems adequate and conforms with the assumptions used in its derivation, and that the post-fit residuals are random. Inclusion of more terms, such as streaming motion induced by Galactic density waves, degrades the solution.     

Space distribution and metallicities of globular clusters: the distance to the galactic centre

The system of globular clusters in the Galaxy is used in order to locate the position of the galactic centre and, consequently, to determine the galacto-centric distance of the Sun,R ₀. The space distribution and metallicities of the whole sample of known globular clusters are taken into account, and the obtained results indicate that 8.6 >R ₀ (kpc) > 6.4. Analysis of a selected sample of clusters further suggests thatR ₀ = 7.6 ± 0.4 kpc.     

Variations of the interstellar extinction law within the nearest kiloparsec

Multicolor photometry from the Tycho-2 and 2MASS catalogues for 11 990 OB and 30 671 K-type red giant branch stars is used to detect systematic large-scale variations of the interstellar extinction law within the nearest kiloparsec. The characteristic of the extinction law, the total-to-selective extinction ratio Rv, which also characterizes the size and other properties of interstellar dust grains, has been calculated for various regions of space by the extinction law extrapolation method. The results for the two classes of stars agree: the standard deviation of the “red giants minus OB” Rv differences within 500 pc of the Sun is 0.2. The detected Rv variations between 2.2 and 4.4 not only manifest themselves in individual clouds but also span the entire space near the Sun, following Galactic structures. In the Local Bubble within about 100 pc of the Sun, Rv has a minimum. In the inner part of the Gould Belt and at high Galactic latitudes, at a distance of about 150 pc from the Sun, Rv reaches a maximum and then decreases to its minimum in the outer part of the Belt and other directions at a distance of about 500 pc from the Sun, returning to its mean values far from the Sun. The detected maximum of Rv at high Galactic latitudes is important when allowance is made for the interstellar extinction toward extragalactic objects. In addition, a monotonic increase in Rv by 0.3 per kpc toward the Galactic center has been found near the Galactic equator. It is consistent with the result obtained by Zasowski et al. (2009) for much of the Galaxy. Ignoring the Rv variations and traditionally using a single value for the entire space must lead to systematic errors in the calculated distances reaching 10%.     

The distribution of bright OB stars in the Canis Major–Puppis–Vela region of the Milky Way

The picture of the young stellar groups in the Canis Major–Puppis–Vela (215°< l <275°) section of the Milky Way is studied and updated utilizing uvbyβ photometry of intrinsically luminous OB stars. We use all data from the literature to create a sample with 98 per cent completeness to 9.5 mag.
The very dense low reddened OB association CMa OB1 is confirmed at a distance of 0.99 (±0.05 s.e. ) kpc. Towards Puppis the brightest intrinsically luminous stars do not reveal Pup OB1 and Pup OB2. In the same direction, we separate two small groups, previously related to the association surrounding NGC 2439 at 3.5–4.5 kpc. The first one contains four highly reddened B-type supergiants situated in front of the cluster at 1.03 (±0.14 s.e.) kpc – much closer to the Sun than has been estimated before. The second one lies north-west from the cluster at 3.2 (±0.23 s.e.) kpc according to our estimate. In the direction to Vela, the bright OB stars are apparently embedded in a dust cloud and spread out between 0.3 and 2.5 kpc, forming clumps over this distance range.
In general, the prominent apparent young structures delineated by the brightest intrinsically luminous OB stars in the directions of Canis Major and Vela are some 20–25 per cent closer to the Sun than has previously been thought. This is in agreement with the Hipparcos results for the Galactic OB associations, and is highly likely to be caused by the overestimation of the spectroscopic distances used in the previous studies.     

The spiral structure in the inner parts of the Galaxy

The spiral structure of the inner parts of the Galaxy is studied using 21 cm line data and stellar data. To study the neutral hydrogen distribution in the galactic layer a parameter =(dV/dr) proportional to the mean densities is calculated using a first approximation for the velocity gradients due to differential rotation.The obtained distribution (R, Z) shows spiral features completely consistent with the early star distribution and with the Hii regions. The corrugation effect of the galactic layer is observed in all the studied zones in neutral hydrogen and in the distribution of the OB stars in the Carina zone.The pattern obtained indicates four spiral arms for the inner parts of the Galaxy, three of which are identified also in the stellar data (arms -I, -II, and -III) and the more distant -IV in Hii regions.The local arm according to the stellar data of Kilkennyet al. forms a feature completely similar to the arms -I and -II and there are no indications that this arm is a special material branch between two main spiral arms as has been supposed in order to conciliate the neutral hydrogen pattern with the stellar distribution.The pitch angles for the spiral arms are approximately 13°–17°.The observed wave form distribution of the hydrogen cloud layer is completely consistent with the theoretical predictions of Nelson (1976) but there are no indications of such an effect in the intercloud hydrogen. The corrugated cloud layer has a width of 100 pc, a wave amplitude of 70 pc, and a wavelength which grows with the galactic center distance (approx. 2 kpc in the zones next to the galactic nucleus and 2.6–3.0 kpc in the zones next to the Sun). To each wavelength correspond two spiral arms. The spiral features in our Galaxy show characteristics quite similar to the features in the Andromeda nebula, not only in the component materials (neutral hydrogen, Hii regions and possibly also dust and stars) but also in their kinematics.     

A uvbyβ photometric analysis of the Monoceros star‐forming field

This investigation presents a new analysis of the spatial distribution of the bright early‐type stars in the field of Northern Monoceros. A database of all O–B9 stars with available uvbyβ photometry is collated and a homogeneous distance scale is established for the clusters and layers of field stars. We provide revised distances for NGC 2264 and NGC 2244 of 833±38 (s.e.) pc and 1585±60 (s.e.) pc, respectively. We present arguments that there might be substructures in the clusters projected along the line of sight. According to the present sample the classical Mon OB2 association at 1.6 kpc is represented by a relatively compact group at 1.26 kpc in the vicinity of NGC 2244 and a layer of massive stars located between 1.5 and 3 kpc (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

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°.     

The gradient of the brightest star age and density across the spiral arm S4 in the Andromeda galaxy

On a plate obtained with the 2-m RC telescope at the Bulgarian National Observatory about 1400 stars in the spiral arm S4 of the Andromeda galaxy were measured. The limit of completeness is 20 _. ^m 2 (B magnitudes). In the central part of S4 (Figure 3) a pronounced gradient of star luminosity and density is found (Figures 6 and 7a). Here the stars become fainter at about 2 ^m and their surface density decreases tenfold at the distance 1 kpc from the inner edge of the arm. We have interpreted the decline of star maximum brightness from this edge as age gradient and have evaluated from it the velocity of star formation propagation across the arm, which is about 60 km s^–1. If the Andromeda galaxy has trailing spiral arms and the pitch angle of S4 is about 25° in its central part, the pattern velocity p7–14 km s^–1 kpc^–1. This value is close to that obtained earlier with the help of the Cepheids in the same part of S4 (Efremov, 1980). The absence of a pronounced asymmetry in the star distribution across the arm in the OB82 region may be connected with the position of the strongest dust lanes in front of the stellar spiral arm here. We have stressed that in one part of the same spiral arm there may be a pronounced age gradient, and there may be no such gradient in the near-by one. In spite of the known difficulties in understanding the structure of the Andromeda galaxy it is possible to draw some conclusions which are important for the theory of spiral arms. The detailed investigations of the nearest galaxies are, therefore, most useful for understanding the spiral structure nature.     

Kinematics of the Galaxy from OB Stars with Data from the Gaia DR2 Catalogue

We have selected and analyzed a sample of OB stars with known line-of-sight velocities determined through ground-based observations and with trigonometric parallaxes and propermotions from the Gaia DR2 catalogue. Some of the stars in our sample have distance estimates made from calcium lines. A direct comparison with the trigonometric distance scale has shown that the calcium distance scale should be reduced by 13%. The following parameters of the Galactic rotation curve have been determined from 495 OB stars with relative parallax errors less than 30%: (U, V,W)_⊙ = (8.16, 11.19, 8.55)± (0.48, 0.56, 0.48) km s^?1, Ω₀ = 28.92 ± 0.39 km s^?1 kpc^?1, Ω'₀ = ?4.087 ± 0.083 km s^?1 kpc^?2, and Ω″ ₀ = 0.703 ± 0.067 km s?1 kpc^?3, where the circular velocity of the local standard of rest is V0 = 231 ± 5 km s^?1 (for the adopted R₀ = 8.0 ± 0.15 kpc). The parameters of the Galactic spiral density wave have been found from the series of radial, V_R, residual tangential, ΔV_circ, and vertical, W, velocities of OB stars by applying a periodogram analysis. The amplitudes of the radial, tangential, and vertical velocity perturbations are f_R = 7.1± 0.3 km s^?1, f_θ = 6.5 ± 0.4 km s^?1, and f_W = 4.8± 0.8 km s^?1, respectively; the perturbation wavelengths are λ_R = 3.3 ± 0.1 kpc, λ_θ = 2.3 ± 0.2 kpc, and λ_W = 2.6 ± 0.5 kpc; and the Sun’s radial phase in the spiral density wave is (χ_⊙)_R = ?135? ± 5?, (χ_⊙)θ = ?123? ± 8?, and (χ_⊙)_W = ?132? ± 21? for the adopted four-armed spiral pattern.     

Photometric observations of the central star of the planetary nebula NGC 2346 in 1991/1992

Photoelectric UBV observations of the central star of the planetary nebula NGC 2346 obtained during 60 nights between October 1991 and February 1992 are presented (Tables 1 and 2). Four minima have been stated and can be interpreted in terms of occulting dust clouds, probably representing dense condensations of the planetary nebula. We derived R = A_V/E_B—V = 4.0.