Optical observations of flare stars in the galaxy

Observations of flare stars in the galaxy are considered. UV Ceti type stars in the solar vicinity and flare stars is star clusters and associations have almost the same properties. The differences between them are connected with the age. Flare stars are one of the richest populations in the galaxy. The evolutionary path for all flare stars is the same.Published in Astrofizika, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 501–507, October–December, 1995.     

Flares of red dwarf stars and the galactic X-ray background

The mean density of the UV Cet-type flare stars in the solar neighbourhood is estimated. If differences of activity levels on different flare stars are taken into account, their summary flare activity is equivalent to 0.03 YZ CMi's flare activity per cubic parsec or to 4×10²⁶ erg s^–1 pc^–3 in U-passband. From the X-ray flare observation on YZ CMi of 19.10.74 we estimate the luminosity of stellar flares in soft and intermediate X-ray. The ratio of X-ray to optical radiation for stellar flares is close to the respective ratio for strong solar chromospheric flares. It is shown the set of red-dwarf flare stars has all essential features of an ensemble of discrete X-ray sources to represent the galactic diffuse X-ray background.     

Spectral observations of red dwarfs II. New observations of flare stars in the Pleiades cluster region

We studied the spectra of 24 flare stars of the Pleiades cluster region obtained on the 2.6m telescope of the Byurakan observatory in the years 1986–1989. From the spectral indices of titanium oxide (TiO) and other chemical elements of the stars investigated we determined their spectral classes and luminosities (absolute visual stellar magnitudes). The agreement of these moduli of the stars with the distance modulus of the Pleiades cluster confirms that 21 of them belong to the cluster. Only three of them (FSP 169, FSP 377, and FSP 435) are possibly not members of the cluster. This indicates that the flare activity of a star is a reliable criterion for its membership in a nearby stellar system (cluster or association).Translated fromAstrofizika, Vol. 37, No. 4, 1994.     

Method for the determination of the distribution function for the mean frequency of supernova explosions

A method is suggested for the determination of the distribution function for the mean frequency of supernova explosions, which is similar to the Ambartsumian method for the determination of the distribution function for the mean flare frequency of flare stars. This method has not been applied because of the lack of the required data.Translated fromAstrofizika, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 561–566, November, 1996.     

Flare event statistics on UV Ceti-type stars

A statistical study of 228 flares on the three UV Ceti-type stars, i.e., YZ CMi, AD Leo, and EV Lac, is presented. Observations were gathered by Ichimura and Shimizu over a total monitoring time of 907 hours distributed over 18 years (1971 to 1988). Period analysis of flare activity was performed, and no periodicity was detected on the three stars for either the flare number rate or the energy rate in time-scales ranging from a year up to 14 years. Average colour of flares at peak was (U-B)=–0.98±0.17 and (B-V)=0.05±0.13. Cumulative number distributions of flare event time-integrated energies were solved by a least-squares method on a log-log plot for a power-law function to get both the constant of and the gradient , which were found to be similar among the three stars. The gradient showed that rare large flare events radiate most of the energy released by all the flare events in the monitoring time. The flare number rate and energy rate are similar if the power-law distributions are extended up to a specific maximum energy. In reality, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test showed that the observed cumulative number distributions of flare event energy were not necessarily a power-law function. The monte-Carlo simulation, however, indicates that the monitoring time and/or the patrol observation time interval may not be long enough to get the average flare number rate and energy rate, especially at the upper energy limits which are statistically unreliable.     

Time distribution of flare events on UV Cet stars

A statistical analysis of the flare data on three UV Cet stars obtained at Catania Observatory in the indicated periods-UV Cet (1968–1976), EQ Peg (1969–1975) and YZ CMi (1968–1976)-is presented. The distributions of the four variables (i) , the time elapsed from the start of a continuous observation interval to the occurrence of the first flare; (ii) , the time interval between consecutive flares; (iii)k, the number of flares occurring in time intervals of given duration; (iv) , the ratio between the number of flares observed in each continuous observing interval to that expected for a Poisson process, indicate that the flares of the three stars considered are not randomly distributed in time.     

New Hα objects in dark nebulae. I.

Results of a search for new H objects in the Cepheus region are presented. The observations on which the search was based were made in 1979 and 1985 at the 40 Schmidt telescope of the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory with a 4° objective prism. Of the 80 emission stars detected, 68 are new. Most of them are fainter than the sun in absolute magnitude. A large fraction of the emission stars discovered may be flare stars as well as T Tau and Herbig Ae/Be stars.Translated fromAstrofizika, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 57–65, January–March, 1996.     

Theories of gamma-ray burst sources

A review of recent theoretical work on gamma-ray bursts is given. The emphasis is put on the localization of sources. It is concluded that sources of gamma-ray bursts must be either old Population I or Population II objects with a mechanism implying that the sources are not too far from the galactic plane. According to this conclusion the more relevant models are probably flare stars or accretion on old neutron stars, radiation of the gravitational energy of the accretion, or thermonuclear explosions.Paper presented at the Symposium on Cosmic Gamma-Ray Bursts, held at Toulouse, France, 26–29 November, 1979.     

Color indices of hydrogen gas

Theoretical values are determined for the color indices U-B, B-V, V-R, and R-I of the radiation of a plane layer of hot hydrogen gas at temperatures from 10,000 to 100,000K and for various optical thicknesses. Two cases are examined: an isothermal medium and a layer, one surface of which is heated by an external energy flux. Diffuse radiation of the layer is taken into account. Tables and diagrams of the color indices are given. Possible applications to flare stars and quasars are discussed.Translated fromAstrofizika, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 251–262, April–June, 1996.     

Critical comments on G. A. Gurzadyan's papers on flare stars

Conclusions The observations of flares of UV Ceti stars give direct evidence for the existence in these eruptive processes of fast electrons.The photometric, colorimetric, and x-ray characteristics of the flares of the red dwarf stars which are regarded by Gurzadyan as observational confirmations of the fast-electron hypothesis are in reality not such confirmations.Independent data — colorimetric, infrared, and x-ray properties of the flares of UV Ceti stars — demonstrate the incorrectness of Gurzadyan's idea, according to which all manifestations of the activity of flare stars are due ultimately to only Compton radiation and nonthermal bremsstrahlung of fast electrons.Crimean Astrophysical Observatory. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 375–381, April–June, 1980.     

Investigation of flare stars in the pleiades by the method of stellar tracks. I

Observations of the Pleiades cluster by the method of stellar tracks, carried out on the 40-inch Schmidt telescope of Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory, have resulted in the detection of 49 flares from 38 stars, 17 of which were not previously known to be flare stars. It is shown that for bright stars (U ≤ 16.0) the detection of flares in observations by the method of stellar tracks is at least three times more efficient than for observations by the method of stellar chains. Another advantage of the first method is that one can detect brief flares that last less than 6 min. The visual stellar magnitude at the minimum for the brightest of the flare stars that we found is 11.92. This raised the upper luminosity limit of known flare stars in the Pleiades by 0.21 magnitude. A comparison of the expected number of bright flare stars in the Pleiades with the number of all bright members of the cluster (falling in the range from V ≈ 12.0 toV ≈16.0) suggested that all these stars evidently must be flare stars. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 351–358, July–September, 1999.     

Some results of the cooperative photometric observations of the UV Cet-type flare stars in the years 1967–71

The list of the cooperative photometric observations of the UV Cet-type flare stars that have been organized during the years 1967 to 1971 by the Working Group on Flare Stars of the IAU Commission 27 is given. The completeness and reliability of the data obtained are evaluated by comparing simultaneous observations at different observatories. the statistical analysis of the UV Cet, YZ CMi, EV Lac and AD Leo flares observed in the B-band is carried out. The flare energy spectrum in the energy range where observational selection effects are small is found to be d lnv/d lnE _B=–1.4 to –1.9,v is an occurrence of flares with radiation energy ofE _B. The total flares' radiation is equal to 1.7%, 1.2%, 0.3% and 0.4% of the quiet radiation in the B-band of the stars listed, and the main part of this total radiation is due to the strongest flares. Distributions of flare rise times (t _r) and of rates of flare absolute luminosity increase (d² E _B/dt _r ²Ë _r) are considered; these parameters of flare are independent statistically for all stars studied. Correlation coefficientsr (E _B,t _r) andr (E _B,r(E _B,Ë _r)) are rather small except r (E _B,t _r)=0.86 for the AD Leo flares. Contradictory conclusions on temporal distribution of flares infered by different investigators are noted.     

Trapezium systems containing T tauri stars

The results of a spectroscopic investigation of four stars comprising a Trapezium system in the nebula Sh 155 are presented. The stars have a number of emission lines typical of red emission stars and T Tau stars. This system is one of the 13 systems which we have found in the Palomar atlas. It is shown that all of these systems are members of OB associations.Translated fromAstrofizika, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 17–24, January–March, 1995.     

Reconstruction of the Three-Dimensional Density Distribution of Flare Stars in the Pleiades

This paper deals with the determination of the three-dimensional distribution of flare stars in the Pleiades cluster. For this purpose a one-dimensional distribution is first constructed from the observed two-dimensional distribution of the stars. It is shown that reliable construction of one dimensioned distribution requires solution of the Abel equation. The last one used to determine the dependence of the true three-dimensional distribution of the density of flare stars on distance from the center of the cluster. This reveals a spherical layer of width 0.5 pc (2.8 R 3.5 pc) with a deficit in the number of flare stars. A profile of the three-dimensional density distribution of flare stars is constructed in the region of deficit. The characteristics of this region are described.     

Distribution of luminous blue stars in M33

M₃₃ luminous stars with M_V ≲ -7 and U--B < o are selected in this paper. The spatial distribution of the stars shows a good agrement with the associations and HII regions. However HII regions are absent in the three youngest associations in M₃₃ (t ≈ 5 ÷ 7 × 10yr). It is supposed that the true distance modulus of M₃₃ derived from the brightest blue stars is 24.2. An age gradient across the arms is absent. The spiral arms outlined by the luminous stars differ form those in M₃₁. They are diffuse and wide. The multiarm features of M₃₃ support the stochastic self-propagating model.     

Flare stars: Postflare behaviour of emission lines

The problem of the postflare behaviour of chromospheric emission lines in UV Cet-type flare stars is considered. It is shown that the postflare behaviours of different emission lines differ essentially from one another. In particular, the intensity of hydrogen and helium lines must be greatest at flare peak in continuum, while the intensities of 2800 Mg_II and H and K Ca_II lines reach their maximum magnitudes in the intermediate period between two flares. Theoretical postflare light curves are derived for the most important chromospheric lines: helium, hydrogen ionized magnesium and calcium (Figures 8, 9, 11, and 16). The definite regularities in sequence of these light curves are established (Figure 17). Methods of obtaining the mass concentration,n _*, in the chromospheres of flare stars based on the analysis of hydrogen and calcium light curves are elaborated. Values ofn _* obtained for a group of UV Cet-type flare stars are listed in Table VII. The conditions of the intensification of emission lines during the flare are examined, as is the possibility of the existence of an empirical relationship between chromospheric concentration,n _* and flare frequency,f _U .     

Determination of the age of stellar aggregates and flare stars of the galactic field

On the basis of the relationship between the age and the magnitude of the maximal flare amplitude in flare stars found previously by the author we propose a method of determining the age of aggregates. Using new observational data relative to flares in U and B we determine the age of the Cyg T1 association (3.4 · 10 ⁶ years), which differs only slightly from an earlier estimate. We give estimated upper bounds for the ages of some flare stars in the solar neighborhood: UV Ceti, EV Lac, AD Leo, EG Peg, and YZ CMi, and also for seven flare stars of the galactic field. It follows from these results that the ages vary noticeably.Translated fromAstrofizika, Vol. 38, No. 3, 1995.     

The Stark effect in stellar flares

The formation of the Stark wings of hydrogen lines is considered on the basis of theoretical models of flares in type UV Cetus stars. It is shown that, under certain conditions (depending on the power of the beam of charged particles and their energy spectrum), very broad wings may be formed, extending 20 and more angstroms from the center of the line. Observations of such wings may provide valuable information concerning the energy spectra of the particles inducing the flare.Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 33–44, January–March, 1995.     

Large Magellanic Cloud loop nebulae and their stellar contents

Linear correlations between the diameter log of ring-shaped nebulae and the total number logN of embedded stars for two absolute magnitude levels of –2^m and +2^m for the LMC have been found. This shows that less luminous stars are also contributing towards the illumination of the nebulae. A method for the determination of relative ages of these loop nebulae is described.Based on observations collected at the Boyden Observatory, Bloemfontein, South Africa and the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile.     

Spectrophotometric study of Be stars

A large sample of Be stars has been studied spectrophotometrically in the visible region. The continuum energy distribution data for 23 Be stars included in the list of Harmanecet al. (1983) are presented and discussed in the wavelength range 3200 Å–8000 Å. For 15 Be stars the observations reported in the present work are new. By comparing the observed continua with models, the effective temperatures of these stars have been estimated. It is found that, in general, Be stars have lower effective temperature than the corresponding normal B stars. The present study shows that the early-Be stars (B0–B5) possess near-ultraviolet and near-infrared excess emissions more frequently than the late-Be stars (B5–B9). The seven new Be stars are detected to show pole-on characteristics.