A search for infrared stellar objects in Vela

In a search for infrared excess objects near the galactic plane, a star field of 28.5 square degrees in Vela has been measured on UK Schmidt plates R4272 and 14183 with the Cosmos machine at Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. The magnitude limit is around 20 in R and around 19 in I. 131 infrared excess objects with colour index R-I > 2.5 are discovered in the field, and 3 red stellar objects have been identified as the optical counterparts of IRAS point sources.     

矩尺天区的近红外天体

利用Ｒ（红）－Ｉ（近红外）两色照相测光方法，搜寻银道带天区的红外超天体，并证认ＩＲＡＳ点源的红外超对应体。本文是一组系列文章的第四篇。在矩尺天区发现了１９５个红外超天体，并证认出其中２２个是ＩＲＡＳ点源的对应体。     

Near infrared photometry of stellar maser sources

Results of infrared photometry in J, H, and K bands for 24 stellar maser sources are given. On the colour-colour diagram, nearly all the Mira variable masers are closer to the black body line than the normal M giants, which also have brighter H magnitudes. The main reason for the location of the Mira masers is the strong H₂O absorption bands at 1.4 and 1.9 μm. The dust envelopes for maser sources have temperature of 600 – 700 K, so the radiation shorter than 3μm may be expected to be close to black body. The physical conditions in M supergiants are such that a peak intensity near 1 – 6 μm (the H band) may be expected.Maser-associated Mira variables have longer periods and redder colours than normal Mira stars and M giants, suggesting greater amount of mass ejection from the central stars.     

Near infrared observations and analyses of molecular outflows

We present results of near infrared observation of 21 molecular outflow sources and two non-outflow sources with compact cores. Combined with IRAS and other surface station observations we analyse their spectra and find that the outflow sources have, on average, steeper spectral gradients than the non-outflow sources in the range 2.28–25 μ. Most of the bipolar outflow sources have gradients greater than 2.0. Using a revised blackbody photosphere model we calculate the contributions to the JHK fluxes by the central young star and the circumstellar envelope. For the sources with known bolometric luminosity we derive the photospheric temperature of the central star and the circumstellar extinction. Results show that most of the young stars associated with molecular outflows are probably T Tauri stars (5000–7000 K) or emission line stars (9000–26000 K). The circumstellar extinction in JHK is around 10 to 20 magnitudes. These facts show that molecular outflow sources are young objects still embedded deep inside or around the interior of compact cores. Fitting the 3.5– 25 μ and 60–100 μ spectra with a λ^-1 dust emission model to five source gives a negative power law for the temperature profile of the circumstellar shell with exponents between 0.39 and 0.48, close to the theoretical results for molecular clouds associated with HI I regions.     

Constraints on the photon charge from observations of extragalactic sources

Having analyzed high-resolution observations of extragalactic compact radio sources with modern systems of radio telescopes, we obtained an estimate of the upper limit for the photon electric charge, e_γ ? 3×10^?33 of the elementary charge (assuming the photon charge to be energy independent). This is three orders of magnitude better than the limit obtained from radio pulsar timing. We also set a limit on the charge of a gamma-ray (energy ～0.1 MeV) photon. In the future, the estimate based on extragalactic sources can be improved significantly.     

Extragalactic sources with very asymmetric radio structure: VLA and MERLIN observations

As part of our study to understand the nature of extragalactic radio sources which are very asymmetric in the surface brightness of the two lobes, often with radio emission on only one side of the nucleus, we have observed a large number of them with high angular resolution and good surface brightness sensitivity at radio frequencies. In this paper we present VLA and MERLIN observations of 15 such sources. We discuss their observed structures and spectra, and possible explanations for their morphologies. We report evidence of a possible correlation between the hot-spot brightness ratio and the degree of core prominence, used as a Statistical measure of source orientation, suggesting that relativistic beaming of the hot-spot emission does play a significant role in the observed brightness asymmetry. To explain the apparently one-sided sources within the relativistic beaming framework, the velocities required are in the range of 0.2 to 0.8c. We discuss the possibility that the lobe which is seen to the south of the jet in 3C273 is the counter-lobe seen in projection. We also draw-attention to a number of one-sided sources with very weak cores, and discuss their possible nature.     

Further observations of radio sources from the BG survey. II. Mainly extragalactic

New observations of six fields from the low galactic latitude BG survey are presented. The radio sources within each of these fields appear to be of a predominantly extragalactic nature. However, one object is in close positional proximity to the pulsar 1922 + 20 and the possibility of their association is considered. The extended source BGE 0323 + 65 is shown to be unlikely to exist.     

A high speed near infrared photometer for lunar occultation studies

A recently developed near infrared high speed photometer intended for lunar oc-cultation studies is described. The primary scientific objective is to reach milli arc second levels of angular resolution so that circumstellar structure of the occulted sources can be resolved. Near infrared sky brightness close to the lunar limb is also studied. Angular diameter derived from the observed occultation of IRC +20169 is presented and system performance discussed.     

Thermal infrared and optical observations of four near-Earth asteroids

We present thermal infrared photometry and spectrophotometry of four near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), namely (433) Eros, (66063) 1998 RO₁, (137032) 1998 UO₁, and (138258) 2000 GD₂, using the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) in 2002. For two objects, i.e. (433) Eros and (137032) 1998 UO₁, quasi-simultaneous optical observations were also obtained, using the Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope (JKT). For (127032) 1998 UO₁, we obtain a rotation period P=3.0±0.1 h and an absolute visual magnitude HV=16.7±0.4. The Standard Thermal Model (STM), Fast Rotating Model (FRM) and near-Earth asteroid Thermal Model (NEATM) have been fitted to the IR fluxes to determine effective diameters Deff, geometric albedos pv, and beaming parameters η. The derived values are (433) Eros: Deff=23.3±3.5 km (at lightcurve maximum), pv=0.24±0.07, η=0.95±0.19; (66063) 1998 RO₁: , ; (137032) 1998 UO₁: Deff<1.13 km, pv>0.29; (138258) 2000 GD₂: Deff=0.27±0.04 km, , η=0.74±0.15. (66063) 1998 RO₁ is a binary asteroid from lightcurve characteristics [Pravec, P., and 56 colleagues, 2006. Icarus 181, 63-93] and we estimate the effective diameter of the primary (Dp) and secondary (Ds) components: and . The diameter and albedo of (138258) 2000 GD₂ are consistent with the trend of decreasing diameter for S- and Q-type asteroids found by Delbó et al. [Delbó, M., Harris, A.W., Binzel, R.P., Pravec, P., Davies, J.K., 2003. Icarus 166, 116-130]. A possible trend of increasing beaming parameter with diameter for small (less than about 3 km) S- and Q-type asteroids is found.     

Near infrared photometry of some RS CVn systems and candidates

Infrared observations in the J, H, and K bands were made on eleven RS CVn systems. Infrared (IR) excess 0.3 mag in the J, H, and K bands was observed from the three systems UX Ari, HR 1099 and CrB. Similar observations were also made on the RS CVn candidates HD 26354, 39937, 42449, 51268, and 86005.The IR excess in the RS CVn systems for which near infrared photometric data are available is found to be correlated with the maximum of optical wave amplitude of these systems.The observed excess cannot be explained on the basis of a single process such as: (i) emission from cool spots on the photosphere; (ii) free-free emission from an optically thin circumstellar plasma; or (iii) dust grain emission from circumstellar material.On leave from TIFR, Bombay, India.     

RXTE observations of the transient sources IGR J17091-3624 and IGR J18539+0727

We present the results of our analysis of the RXTE observations for two transient sources, IGR J17091-3624 and IGR J18539+0727, in April 2003. The derived energy spectra of the sources and the power-density spectra of their light curves make it possible to classify them as low/hard-state X-ray binaries. The parameters of the power spectrum for IGR J18539+0727 lead us to tentatively conclude that the compact object in this binary is a black hole.     

Infrared observations of serendipitous hard Chandra X-ray sources

We present observations of a sample of optically faint, hard X-ray sources of the kind likely to be responsible for much of the hard X-ray background. We confirm that such sources are easily detected in the near-infrared, and find that they have a featureless continuum suggesting that the active nucleus is heavily obscured. The infrared colours of the majority of the targets observed are consistent with absorbed elliptical host galaxies at z =1–2. It is likely that we are observing some of the brighter members of the important new class of X-ray type II quasars.     

Near infrared coronal line emission in Nova Herculis 1991

Near infrared coronal line emission at 1.98 ± 0.02Μm due to [Si VI] detected in the spectrum of Nova Herculis 1991 about 17 days after optical maximum is reported. The early appearance of coronal emission is yet another unusual feature of this fast nova in which early onset of dust formation processes and X-ray detection five days after outburst have already been reported. The coronal line observations reported here are consistent with X-ray detection and support a hot shocked circumstellar envelope at the periphery of the dust formation zone in the nova.     

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.     

RXTE observations of the strongly absorbed sources IGR J16318-4848 and IGR J16358-4726

We analyzed the RXTE observations of two strongly absorbed sources, IGR J16318-4848 and IGR J16358-4726. We were able to obtain the 3–25 keV spectra of the sources by taking into account the contribution of the Galactic diffuse background to the X-ray flux recorded with the RXTE/PCA spectrometer. The spectra of the sources are well described by a power-law decrease of the photon flux with energy with a photon index of ～1 and strong photoabsorption. The photoabsorption column density n_HL for IGR J16318-4848 derived from the RXTE observation on March 14.1, 2003, is shown to be much higher than its value obtained by the XMM observatory on February 10.7, 2003. This result may suggest that the source has variable absorption that may depend on the orbital phase of the system. We point out that all of the three X-ray sources discovered by the INTEGRAL observatory in the region (l,b)～(336,0) (IGR J16318-4848, IGR J16320-4751, and IGR J16358-4726) have strong intrinsic photoabsorption and may be high-mass binaries. Their proximity to the region where the tangent to the Galactic spiral arm passes, i.e., to the region of enhanced concentration of young high-mass stars, can serve as an indirect confirmation of this assumption. If our assumption about the positions of the sources in the Norma spiral arm is valid, then we can roughly estimate their heliocentric distances: ～6–8 kpc.     

ISO observations of the dusty quasar BR 1202−0725

We present mid- and far-infrared photometry of the high-redshift     dusty quasar BR 1202−0725. The quasar was detected in the near-infrared, at a flux level     consistent with an average radio-quiet quasar at its redshift. Only upper limits for the emission were obtained in the far-infrared. These upper limits, when combined with data from ground-based telescopes, are the first direct evidence for a turnover in the far-infrared emission, and hence confirm that a blackbody dominates the spectral energy distribution at far-infrared wavelengths. This blackbody is most probably cool dust, constrained to have a temperature below 80 K, for a β of 1.5.     

Optical and infrared observations of the Centaur 1997 CU26

Minor planet 1997 CU₂₆ is a Centaur, and is probably undergoing dynamical evolution inwards from the Kuiper Belt. We present optical and infrared ( VRIJHK ) photometry which gives mean colours of V − R =0.46±0.02, V − I =1.02±0.02, V − J =1.74±0.02, V − H =2.15±0.02 and V − K =2.25±0.02. The resulting relative reflectance spectrum lies between those of Chiron and Pholus (although closer to that of Chiron). A 1.6–2.6 μm spectrum confirms the broad absorption feature at 2.05 μm associated with water ice reported by Brown et al. 1997 CU₂₆ displays no significant light curve variation and (unlike Chiron) has no observable coma. We place an upper limit to the dust production rate of 1.5 kg s⁻¹. J -band data taken at phase angles of 1.°7 to 4.°0 give a phase parameter of G _J =0.36±0.1, and are consistent with a phase parameter of G =0.15 in the V band (a value often assigned to low-albedo objects when no other information is available) if we assume a phase reddening of 0.017 mag deg⁻¹ in the J band. We find V (1, α =4.°1) =7.022±0.02, from which we deduce, by assuming G =0.15±0.1, an absolute visual magnitude of H _V =6.64±0.04.