SCUBA photometry of candidate Vega-like sources

New SCUBA measurements at millimetre wavelengths are presented for a sample of Vega-like stars. Six stars were detected, while sensitive upper limits were obtained for a further 11 sources. Most of the sample selected from a recent catalogue of Vega-like stars have infrared excesses similar to those of the prototype Vega-like stars α Lyr and α PsA. Their IR–submm spectral indices are steep, indicating that the submm emission from the discs is dominated by grains which are smaller than the wavelength of observation and that only small grains exist in those dusty discs. HD 98800 has an IR–submillimetre spectral index of less than two, which suggests that grains have grown to more than 0.3 mm in size. Hipparcos parallax data for HD 42137 and HD 123160 suggest that these two stars are giants rather than dwarfs, similar to the situation previously found for HD 233517. Dust masses, or upper limits, were derived for the sample; these indicate that most of the sources do not have as much dust as Herbig Ae/Be or T Tauri stars, but are likely to have dust masses comparable to those of the prototype Vega-like stars.     

A near-infrared survey of IRAS sources in the South Galactic Cap

The paper describes the JHK colours of late-type stars which were investigated as part of a survey of South Galactic Cap (b < -30°) IRAS sources selected on the basis of their 12/25µm flux ratios as high mass-loss candidates. Near-infrared two-colour diagrams provide an effective technique for distinguishing between various groups of late-type stars. Such diagrams are also useful in indicating which stars are likely to be peculiar and worthy of more detailed study. The late-type stars isolated by this survey comprise: 61 Mira variables (3 of which are carbon stars with very thick shells), 3 young stellar objects, 4 interacting binaries, 2 semi-regular carbon variables and 154 oxygen-rich giants.     

Optical, infrared and millimetre-wave properties of Vega-like systems – IV. Observations of a new sample of candidate Vega-like sources

Photometric observations at optical and near-infrared wavelengths are presented for members of a new sample of candidate Vega-like systems, or main sequence stars with excess infrared emission due to circumstellar dust. The observations are combined with IRAS fluxes to define the spectral energy distributions of the sources. Most of the sources show only photospheric emission at near-IR wavelengths, indicating a lack of hot (∼1000 K) dust. Mid-infrared spectra are presented for four sources from the sample. One of them, HD 150193, shows strong silicate emission, while another, HD 176363, was not detected. The spectra of two stars from our previous sample of Vega-like sources both show UIR-band emission, attributed to hydrocarbon materials. Detailed comparisons of the optical and IRAS positions suggest that in some cases the IRAS source is not physically associated with the visible star. Alternative associations are suggested for several of these sources. Fractional excess luminosities are derived from the observed spectral energy distributions. The values found are comparable to those measured previously for other Vega-like sources.     

New m stars in the vicinity of dark nebulae. I

The results of a spectroscopic survey of late-type M stars in three regions of dark nebulae are given. The observations were made on the 1-m Schmidt telescope of Byurakan Observatory with a 4° preobjective prism. A method of detecting late-type M giants is developed on the basis of the presence of TiO absorption bands in their spectra. The area of the regions studied is 48 sq. deg. We found 96 new late-type M stars, 22 of which exhibited brightness variability during our observations and are new variable stars. The limiting magnitude on the plates obtained in red light is 16^m.0, which enables us to state confidently that all late-type M stars (starting with M4) brighter than R = 15^m.0 have been detected. Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 595–607, October-December, 1997.     

Rosat observations of pleiades flare stars

The X-ray data of a sample of 104 flare stars (FSs) in the Pleiades cluster region obtained by Stauffer et al. [1] on the basis of deep ROSAT PSPC observations are analyzed. If we divide the X-ray emission detected in late-type stars of the Pleiades cluster into FSs and non-FSs, we find that X-ray luminosities of stars of both groups can be considered as coming from the same parent population. Moreover, in order to classify stars in a sample of 23 late-type Pleiades stars of unknown nature discriminant analysis in a four-dimensional parameter space (log (L_x, log (L_x/L_bol), and ROSAT hardness ratios HR1 and HR2) has been used. It can be shown that the majority of these stars (16) are very likely FSs rather than non-FSs. Published in Astrofizika, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 545–557, October-December, 1997.     

Inner radii of dust shells and stellar diameters obtained by an infrared stellar interferometer at 11 micron wavelength

Visibility data and analyses are discussed for 16 late-type stars observed with the Infrared Spatial Interferometer (ISI) of the University of California, Berkeley.     

Change in the activity character of the coronae of low-mass stars of various spectral types

We study the dependence of the coronal activity index on the stellar rotation velocity. This question has been considered previously for 824 late-type stars on the basis of a consolidated catalogue of soft X-ray fluxes. We carry out a more refined analysis separately for G, K, and M dwarfs. Two modes of activity are clearly identified in them. The first is the saturation mode, is characteristic of young stars, and is virtually independent of their rotation. The second refers to the solar-type activity whose level strongly depends on the rotation period. We show that the transition from one mode to the other occurs at rotation periods of 1.1, 3.3, and 7.2 days for stars of spectral types G2, K4, and M3, respectively. In light of the discovery of superflares on G and K stars from the Kepler spacecraft, the question arises as to what distinguishes these objects from the remaining active late-type stars. We analyze the positions of superflare stars relative to the remaining stars observed by Kepler on the “amplitude of rotational brightness modulation (ARM)—rotation period” diagram. The ARM reflects the relative spots area on a star and characterizes the activity level in the entire atmosphere. G and K superflare stars are shown to be basically rapidly rotating young objects, but some of them belong to the stars with the solar type of activity.     

Spectroscopic research with the Hartebeesthoek radio telescope

Research into star-forming regions, evolved HII regions, late-type stars with circumstellar dust shells and comet Halley using spectroscopic observations made with the Hartebeesthoek radio telescope is reviewed.     

Zeeman-Doppler imaging of late-type stars: The surface magnetic field of II Peg

Late-type stars in general possess complicated magnetic surface fields which makes their detection and in particular their modeling and reconstruction challenging. In this work we present a new Zeeman-Doppler imaging code which is especially designed for the application to late-type stars. This code uses a new multi-line cross-correlation technique by means of a principal component analysis to extract and enhance the quality of individual polarized line profiles. It implements the full polarized radiative transfer equation and uses an inversion strategy that can incorporate prior knowledge based on solar analogies. Moreover, our code utilizes a new regularization scheme which is based on local maximum entropy to allow a more appropriate reproduction of complex surface fields as those expected for late-type stars. In a first application we present Zeeman-Doppler images of II Pegasi which reveal a surprisingly large scale surface structure with one predominant (unipolar) magnetic longitude which is mainly radially oriented. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The absence of apparent correlations between iras and optical spectral features of late-type stars

The spectral signatures of circumstellar dust shells (CS) of late-type stars cannot be tied in a simple manner to their optical spectral features. The spectral indices of featureless low-resolution spectrometer (LRS) spectra of K and early-M (M0-M5) stars are consistent with that of the Rayleigh-Jeans law and those of late-M (M6 and later) stars tend to have lower values showing CS radiation. There is no correlation observed between the optical sub-type and the 10 m emission strength for M stars. The absence of a simple relationship is also evident for C stars where the temperature and abundance indices show no correlation with the 11 m emission strength. The sample is confined to the IRC stars identified with accurate spectra observed by the LRS of IRAS. The IRC stars are the whole sky survey done with the 2 m band, where late-type stars are bright and interstellar extinction is one-tenth of the visual colour band.     

不同类别分子区域中的CO辐射巡测

用紫金山天文台青海观测站13．7米毫米波望远镜新安装的3毫米系统,对一组包括大质量恒星形成区、稠密云核、Bok球、主序前发射线星和演化晚期恒星的源进行了12COJ＝1－0的辐射搜寻．结果在不同质量恒星形成区域全部测到了12CO辐射,并发现了大的线宽、红和蓝的线翼、线心速度变化及多重辐射的特征,表明相应源可能具有双极喷流,存在膨胀、旋转或多核斑结构．有两个演化晚期星中已观测到了12COJ＝1－0谱线,说明其具有较浓厚的拱星气体包层．     

晚型星的磁场与软X射线相关性

本文讨论了晚型星的磁场强度与ＲＯＳＡＴ软Ｘ射线的相关性,用四种模型拟合了ＲＯＳＡＴ的观测结果,讨论了各种模型的优缺点,同时发现单星的星冕温度与磁场强度的相关性很好．因此可以认为磁场是晚型星星冕很重要的加热机制．由处理ＲＯＳＡＴ数据得到的星冕温度,可估计晚型星表面的磁场强度．     

The role of the magnetic field in gas-dust coupling in late-type stellar winds

We show that the existence of anchored magnetic loops in the envelopes of evolved late-type stars would guarantee that the grains in radiatively driven winds would remain well-coupled to the neutral gas.     

Late-type members of young stellar kinematic groups – I. Single stars

This is the first paper of a series aimed at studying the properties of late-type members of young stellar kinematic groups. We concentrate our study on classical young moving groups such as the Local Association (Pleiades moving group,     , IC 2391 supercluster (35 Myr), Ursa Major group (Sirius supercluster, 300 Myr), and Hyades supercluster (600 Myr), as well as on recently identified groups such as the Castor moving group (200 Myr). In this paper we compile a preliminary list of single late-type possible members of some of these young stellar kinematic groups. Stars are selected from previously established members of stellar kinematic groups based on photometric and kinematic properties as well as from candidates based on other criteria such as their level of chromospheric activity, rotation rate and lithium abundance. Precise measurements of proper motions and parallaxes taken from the Hipparcos Catalogue, as well as from the Tycho-2 Catalogue, and published radial velocity measurements are used to calculate the Galactic space motions ( U , V , W ) and to apply Eggen's kinematic criteria in order to determine the membership of the selected stars to the different groups. Additional criteria using age-dating methods for late-type stars will be applied in forthcoming papers of this series. A further study of the list of stars compiled here could lead to a better understanding of the chromospheric activity and their age evolution, as well as of the star formation history in the solar neighbourhood. In addition, these stars are also potential search targets for direct imaging detection of substellar companions.     

Distribution of SiO and OH Maser Stars in the Galactic Plane

The observational results of the Nobeyama 45-m SiO maser survey and the Arecibo 305-m OH maser survey are assembled for an analysis of the distribution and kinematics of late-type stars in the Galactic plane.It is found that neither SiO maser stars nor OH maser stars show any concentration to the spiral arms,which imply that they do not belong to the arm population and quite possibly they are low-mass stars in late stage of evolution.A rotational curve is also derived for these objects and a few features which may be real are discussed and compared with those derived from planetary nebulae and AGB stars.     

激变变星及相关天体的H_α与近红外电离钙三重线的光谱分析

给出了1997年4月15日至17日在北京天文台用2．16m望远镜卡焦光谱仪观测获得的6颗激变变星（ABBoo;UXUMa,TCrBAHHer,ZCam和V426Oph）及3颗相关天体（UMa3,EGUMa和Leo3）的CCD光谱,并同时拍摄了5颗晚型星（3Dra,Vir,Leo,34Boo和36Corn）的CCD光谱,作为晚型星参考谱．测量了观测样本星的Hα和近红外CaII的三重线（8498,8542和8662）的等值宽度（EW）,谱线半极大全宽（FWHM）和现向速度（Vr）,并分析了这些星的活动性．     

Five WC9 stars discovered in the AAO/UKST Hα survey

We report the discovery of five massive Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars resulting from a programme of follow-up spectroscopy of candidate emission-line stars in the Anglo-Australian Observatory United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope (AAO/UKST) Southern Galactic Plane Hα survey. The 6195–6775 Å spectra of the stars are presented and discussed. A WC9 class is assigned to all five stars through comparison of their spectra with those of known late-type WC stars, bringing the known total number of Galactic WC9 stars to 44. Whilst three of the five WC9 stars exhibit near-infrared (NIR) excesses characteristic of hot dust emission (as seen in the great majority of known WC9 stars), we find that two of the stars show no discernible evidence of such excesses. This increases the number of known WC9 stars without NIR excesses to seven. Reddenings and distances for all five stars are estimated.     

The X-ray Emission and the Magnetic Fields of Late-Type Stars

We present the results of X-ray luminosities of some active late-type stars, based on data primarily from the ROSAT position sensitive proportional counter (PSPC). According to the observations, we divide the stars into four groups: single, wide binary, binary and RS CVn. We investigated the correlation between the X-ray emission and the hardness ratio, coronal temperature, magnetic field strength, magnetic flux density. Our results suggest that the magnetic field plays a very important role in stellar X-ray emission.     

The Mysterious X-Ray Emission from Late-B Type Stars: the Lindroos Sample

We present a study of the X-ray emission coming from B-type stars in binary systems. The sample has been extracted from the Lindroos catalogue (Lindroos, 1986) and consists of six visual pairs comprised of a B-type star and a later-type companion. Surprisingly, we have detected X-ray emission coming from the late-B primaries, suggesting the presence of a third unresolved late-type star or an unknown mechanism which generates X-rays in late-B stars. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.