CCD联合平差方法及其初步实例检验

在常规照相天体测量工作中 ,对暗天体的定位是采用逐级定标星过渡的方法实现的。由于星表系统差和局部差的存在 ,最终定位结果可能包含难以把握的误差积累。在CCD小视场观测情况下时常难以找到足够数量的定标星。鉴于此 ,推导了CCD观测联合平差方法的严格矢量表达式 ,以期通过共同星的过渡 ,实现大天区统一平差。原理上此方法可实现相对于河外天体的定位 ,以削弱星表系统差和局部差对定位结果的影响。讨论了CCD联合平差方法实现中的问题 ,包括底片常数模型选择、切点位置改正、共同星的较差改正和法方程解算方法等 ,并分析了具体的处理措施。用实例初步检验了CCD联合平差方法的效果 ,表明通过对多张CCD观测的联合平差 ,可以削弱单张CCD观测参考星数目过少、单张CCD观测参考星分布不均、个别参考星存在位置偏差和局部区域参考星存在系统性位置偏差等不利因素对归算结果的影响 ,进而达到扩大视场和提高归算精度的目的     

Estimates of dynamic parameters and boundaries of habitable zones of selected stars of the Pulkovo program

A list of selected binary stars is presented that have been observed for several decades using a 26-inch refractor at the Pulkovo Observatory. These stars are at a distance from 3.5 to 25 pc from the Sun. They belong to spectral classes F, G, K, and M. Their masses range from 0.3 to 1.5 solar masses. We have analyzed them as possible parent stars for exoplanets taking into account the physical characteristics of these stars. In view of dynamic parameters and orbital elements that we have obtained by Pulkovo observations, ephemerides of positions for the coming years are calculated. The boundaries of the habitable zones around these stars are calculated. The astrometric signal that depends on the gravitational influence of hypothetical planets is estimated. Space telescopes for astrometric observations with microsecond accuracy can be used to detect Earth-like planets near the closest stars of this program. This paper presents an overview of astrometric programs of searches for exoplanets.     

Starspots: The zebra effect

Recent observations of brightness variations on the Sun during the solar cycle have motivated us to re-examine the widely held view that cool, dark starspots, covering a significant fraction of the star, are the centers of magnetic activity on BY Dra stars. We propose that the magnetic regions are better described by a bright facular network, and that the dark areas which give rise to photometric rotational modulation are actually regions where the underlying quiet photosphere is seen. This interpretation is consistent with recent observations of late-type stars that show that bright areas covering much of the star have magnetic fields with strengths of several thousand gauss. It resolves several problems with the current model, including the size, location, and stability of the starspots required to match photometric and Doppler-imaging observations. It also has interesting observational implications for the correlation of photometric rotational modulation and long term brightness variations with other surface activity, and for the positions of magnetically active stars in the H-R diagram.Hubble Fellow.     

New nearby stars among bright APM high proper motion stars

As part of a new southern sky survey for faint high proper motion stars based on Automatic Plate Measuring (APM) measurements of UK Schmidt Telescope plates, we have found a large number of previously unknown brighter objects. Spectroscopic follow-up observations with the European Southern Observatory New Technology Telescope of 15 of these new, relatively bright     high proper motion stars     show one-third of them to be nearby     . Among the nearby stars is an M6 dwarf with strong emission lines at a spectroscopic distance of about 11 pc and an M4 dwarf at about 13 pc. Coupled with earlier South African Astronomical Observatory spectroscopic observations of three similar bright high proper motion stars, the success rate of finding nearby stars     is about 45 per cent. All newly discovered nearby stars have disc kinematics confirmed by radial velocity measurements from our spectra. In addition there are several high-velocity stars with halo kinematics in the sample, mainly subdwarfs, at about 60 to 110 pc distance. These high-velocity stars are interesting targets for further study of the Galactic escape velocity. One of the detected nearby high proper motion stars was formerly thought to be an M giant in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The spectrum of one M3 star shows a strong blue continuum, which is likely to signify the presence of a hot companion. Spectroscopic follow-up observations of high proper motion stars are shown to be an effective tool in the search for the missing stars in the Solar neighbourhood. Candidates for more extensive trigonometric parallax determination can be selected on the basis of the spectroscopic distance estimates.     

LBV Candidates in M31 and M33. Overview of 20 Years of the 6-m Telescope: Observations and Results

An ongoing SAO RAS program for the 6-m telescope to search for and study luminous blue variable (LBV) candidates in the M31 and M33 galaxies was started in 1997. This paper summarizes the results of our observations over the last 20 years. Over this time, we have a general lists of candidates and obtained photometry and spectroscopy for approximately one hundred stars from the list. A detailed study and classification of LBV candidates were carried out.We alsomonitored spectrally and photometrically the confirmed LBV stars in these galaxies. Based on these results, the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of LBVs and LBV candidates were computed, and the interstellar extinction values, temperature, and luminosity were derived. We propose a new method of confirming the nature of LBV stars. It is based on a special property exhibited only by LBV stars—the constancy of the bolometric luminosity, with except of a rare phase of giant eruption, registered for two historical LBVs in our galaxy and about few dozen extragalactic LBVs. Using this method, we determine the fundamental parameters of these stars: temperature, radius, luminosity, and interstellar extinction. We discuss the nature of several individual LBV stars discovered by us in M33 and the classification of the LBV candidates in M31. Thus, for 20 years of observations we have found four LBV stars in M33; in the M31 galaxy with different methods, we have confirmed seven objects as a LBV class.     

Multiplex approach to the photometric detection of planets

If the hypothesis is correct that most solar-like stars have planetary systems and have planets in inner orbits, then approximately 1% of these stars should have planets with orbital planes close enough to our line of sight to show transits. To get a statistically significant estimate of the fraction of stars that have planets in inner orbits, it is necessary to monitor thousands of stars continuously for a period of several years. To accomplish this requires the use of a multi-channel photometer system. We present here several multi-channel methods that have been used for ground-based observations and a concept for applying multi-channel photometry to the detection of numerous Earth-sized planets.Paper presented at the Conference onPlanetary Systems: Formation, Evolution, and Detection held 7–10 December, 1992 at CalTech, Pasadena, California, U.S.A.     

Far-infrared observations of main sequence stars surrounded by dust shells

We present 50 and 100µm photometry and size information for several main sequence stars surrounded by dust shells. The observations from NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory include the Vega-like stars, Beta Pic, Fomalhaut, as well as four stars suggested by Walker and Wolstencroft to belong possibly to the same class. The results of our observations are best interpreted as upper limits to the far-infrared sizes of the dust clouds around all of the stars except Fomalhaut and Beta Pic. We have also fit simple, optically thin models to the Beta Pic data to explore the range of shell parameters consistent with our limits and with previous observations.     

Magnetic fields of chemically peculiar and related stars. III. Main results of 2016 and analysis of closest perspectives

We have analyzed more than 90 papers in the area “Magnetic fields and physical parameters of chemically peculiar and related stars,” published mainly in 2016. The main results of the period under survey are as follows. The search for new magnetic stars continued.Many measurements weremade at the 6-m BTA telescope of the SAO RAS, new data on stellar magnetism in the OrionOB1 association were obtained. A systematic study ofmagnetic fields of stars with large anomalies in the energy distribution in the continuum was started. New data on ultra-slowmagnetic rotators—chemically peculiar stars with rotation periods of years and decades are obtained. Successful observations on the search for new magnetic stars are performed among the objects of the southern sky in Chile at the FORS2 VLT spectropolarimeter. A new direction was developed, namely, the study of binarymagnetic stars. Depending on the mass–distance ratio between the components, interaction with the magnetosphere and, possibly, magnetic braking may occur. The study of the details of this process is important for the theory of formation of stellar magnetic fields. The search for large-scale, but weak magnetic fields (magnitude of unities and tens of G) in non-CP stars is ongoing. Such fields are found in Am stars. No fields were found in the classical Be stars. Cool stars of various types were studied in detail. They manifested magnetic fields of a complex structure. Their mapping was performed, changes in the topology of the field were found at timescales of several years. Spectral and photometric variability was studied. Dozens of new potentially magnetic stars are discovered as a result of the ASAS-3, SuperWASP, Stereo and Kepler surveys. High-accuracy observations of rapidly oscillating stars were performed with the BRITE nanosatellite.Work continued on the studies of magnetic and photometric variability of white dwarfs. Finally, an overview of several papers on exoplanets, related with the subject of our study is presented.     

Supergiant variables: Recent observational results

Recent observations of several types of supergiant variable stars are reviewed: massive blue, yellow and red supergiants; classical and population II Cepheids; RV Tauri stars; yellow semi-regular (SRd) variables, including UU Herculis stars; and R Coronae Borealis stars. The emphasis is on non-linear aspects such as: amplitude and shape of the light and velocity curves; multiperiodicity, irregularity and chaos; long-term changes in period and amplitude; episodic and continuous mass loss.     

First VLTI observations of Mira stars

We present first observations of Mira stars obtained at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at 2 microns, equipped with the VINCI instrument, using different baselines with both the test siderostats and the 8.2 m unit telescopes. These observations, collected in the course of the VLTI commissining program, have targeted so far about sixty cool giant stars. In this talk, we list and describe the measurements obtained for 14 Mira stars, many of them representing first-time determinations of the visibility. In particular, we devote special attention to a study of Mira itself, for which very accurate determinations of the visibility at several baseline lenghts and orientations could be obtained. We find that a two-component model is more consistent with the data than a single stellar disc. Further observations are needed for a better understanding of this source. The VLTI will constitute an ideal instrument for such studies in the future. In particular it will permit detailed investigations of southern AGB stars, such as accurate measurements of surface structureparameters (diameters, diameter variations, asymmetries, center-to-limbvariations, special features like hot spots) and of circumstellar envelopes. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Observational Evidence for Grain Growth

Discs around young stars are the sites of planet formation. The first step in this process is the growth of submicron grains to larger sized grains. I will review evidence for dust growth in CS discs, based on ISO and Spitzer infrared spectroscopic observations. Intermediate-mass stars, solar-type stars and even brown dwarfs will be discussed in the context of dust evolution. Furthermore, I will compare objects of several star-forming regions of different ages, and discuss the influence of the stellar parameters and environment on dust evolution, as witnessed by the observed dust characteristics. The main focus lies on what one can learn from 10 micron spectroscopy, the region where most astronomical dust species have important spectral features.     

Astrokit-an efficient program for high-precision differential CCD photometry and search for variable stars

Having a need to perform differential photometry for tens of thousands stars in a several square degrees field, we developed Astrokit program. The software corrects the star brightness variations caused by variations of atmospheric transparency: to this end, the program selects for each star an individual ensemble of reference stars having similar magnitudes and positions in the frame. With ten or more reference stars in the ensemble, the differences between their spectral types and the spectral type of the object studied become unimportant. A strokit searches for variable stars using Robust Median Statistics criterion, which allows candidate variables to be selected more efficiently than by analyzing the standard deviation of star magnitudes. The software allows very precise automatic analysis of long inhomogeneous sets of photometric observations of a large number of objects to be performed, making it possible to find “hot Jupiter” type exoplanet transits and low-amplitude variables. We describe the algorithm of the program and the results of its application to reduce the data of the photometric sky survey in Cygnus as well as observations of the open cluster NGC188 and the transit of the exoplanet WASP-11 b /HAT-P-10 b, performed with the MASTER-II-URAL telescope of the Kourovka Astronomical Observatory of the Ural Federal University.     

The Brave New World of Binary Star Studies

In this paper we discuss some of the new and exciting developments in the study of binary stars. Recent technological advances (such as CCDs) now make it possible (even easy) to study faint, astrophysically important binaries that in the past could only be done with large 4 + meter class telescopes. Also, the panoramic nature of CCDs (and the use of mosaics), permit large numbers of stars to be imaged and studied. At this conference, most of the observational material discussed was secured typically with smaller aperture 0.5 – 2 m telescopes. Excellent examples are the discovery of over 10⁴ new ～13 – 20 mag eclipsing (and interacting) binaries now found in nearby galaxies from the EROS, OGLE, MACHO and DIRECT programs. As briefly discussed here, and in more detail in several papers in this volume, a small fraction of these extragalactic eclipsing binaries are now serving as “standard candles” to secure accurate distances to the Magellanic Clouds, as well as to M31 and M33. Moreover, the discovery of increasingly larger numbers of eclipsing binaries has stimulated the development of automatic methods for reducing and analyzing the light curves of thousands of systems. In the near future, hundreds of thousands (possibly millions) of additional systems are expected to be discovered by Pan-STARRS, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescopes (LSST), and later by GAIA. Over the last decade, new classes of binary systems have also been found which contain Jupiter-size planets and binaries containing pulsating stars. Some examples of these important binaries are discussed. Also discussed are the increasing numbers (now eight) of eclipsing binary planet–star systems that have been found from high precision photometry. These systems are very important since the radii and masses of the hosted planets can be directly measured. Moreover, from the upcoming COROT and KEPLER missions hundreds of additional transiting planet-star systems are expected to be found. All in all, we hope in this paper to highlight some of the current developments and new directions in the “Brave New World” of binary star studies.     

Search for HH-Objects and Emission-Line Stars in Star Forming Regions. I. The Lynds 1340 Dark Cloud

Spectroscopic and photometric observations of objects embedded in the L1340 dark cloud are reported. An entire series of HH-objects in the RN07 region was discovered, including new ones that form two or three flows. It is suspected that several cases of HH emission are included. In addition, 14 emission stars, of which 11 are new, were found in this region. Most of these stars are localized inside the RN07 nebula which, therefore, encompasses a compact cluster of very young stars. Other nebulous objects inside the L1340 cloud, many of which are associated with IR sources, are described. As a whole, this cloud represents an extremely active star forming region.     

恒星形成区CMaOB1/R1复合体的红外发射

使用IRAS的红外观测资料,对恒星形成区CMaOB1/R1复合体的红外发射特性进行了详细的研究,并与光学观测,射电连续观测及CO观测进行了比较,结果表明,这个复合体的发射是由一个弥散发射背景和若干分离源所组成。红外弥散发射可由两个O星的加热来解释,但扩展的HII区可能是由一个老的HII区的遗迹与仍处于主序阶段的两个O型星共同作用的结果,分离源大多与已知的发射或反射星云相对应,但存在几个没有已知光学对应体的源,它们可能是刚进入主序的早型星激发的。     

The phase function for stellar acoustic oscillations — IV. Solar-like stars

In recent years there has been some progress towards detecting solar-like oscillations in stars. The goal of this challenging project is to analyse frequency spectra similar to that observed for the Sun in integrated light. In this context it is important to investigate what can be learned about the structure and evolution of the stars from such future observations. Here we concentrate on the structure of the upper layers, as reflected in the phase function. We show that it is possible to obtain this function from low-degree p modes, at least for stars on the main sequence. We analyse its dependence on several uncertainties in the structure of the uppermost layers. We also investigate a filtered phase function, which has properties that depend on the layers around the second helium ionization zone.     

自行与银河系研究的前沿

简述了精确测定相对自行的方法,特别介绍了在用2～3个历元的底片和CCD观测结果推导恒星自行的过程中如何消除光学视场畸变、星等差和色差的具体办法;并介绍了用星系把相对自行推算绝对自行的方法。还介绍了用自行资料研究银河系结构和演化的一些前沿课题,其中包括星团研究、与银河系兼并的矮星系的发现、暗物质的检测、外星行星的探测和银河系中心黑洞的质量估算等。最后评价了自行在研究银河系中的重要性,论述了我国研制4m光学/近红外望远镜的重要意义。     

Speckle interferometry of nearby multiple stars. V. 2002–2006 positional measurements

We present the measurements of positional parameters of 194 nearby binary stars performed at the 6-m BTA telescope of the SAO RAS from 2002 through 2006 applying the speckle interferometric technique. The observations were conducted at central filter wavelengths ranging from 545 to 800 nm using a speckle interferometer equipped with a fast CCD and a three-stage image intensifier. A significant part of the observed systems (80 stars) are pairs, the duality of which was discovered or suspected from the Hipparcos satellite observations. The remaining stars are visual binaries and interferometric binary systems with orbital motion period estimates from several to tens of years, as well as the pairs with slow relative motion of the components, used for gaging the image scales and positional angle calibrations.     

VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV): The public ESO near-IR variability survey of the Milky Way

We describe the public ESO near-IR variability survey (VVV) scanning the Milky Way bulge and an adjacent section of the mid-plane where star formation activity is high. The survey will take 1929 h of observations with the 4-m VISTA telescope during 5 years (2010–2014), covering ～10⁹ point sources across an area of 520 deg², including 33 known globular clusters and ～350 open clusters. The final product will be a deep near-IR atlas in five passbands (0.9–2.5 μm) and a catalogue of more than 10⁶ variable point sources. Unlike single-epoch surveys that, in most cases, only produce 2-D maps, the VVV variable star survey will enable the construction of a 3-D map of the surveyed region using well-understood distance indicators such as RR Lyrae stars, and Cepheids. It will yield important information on the ages of the populations. The observations will be combined with data from MACHO, OGLE, EROS, VST, Spitzer, HST, Chandra, INTEGRAL, WISE, Fermi LAT, XMM-Newton, GAIA and ALMA for a complete understanding of the variable sources in the inner Milky Way. This public survey will provide data available to the whole community and therefore will enable further studies of the history of the Milky Way, its globular cluster evolution, and the population census of the Galactic Bulge and center, as well as the investigations of the star forming regions in the disk. The combined variable star catalogues will have important implications for theoretical investigations of pulsation properties of stars.     

Secular contraction in extreme helium stars and the future of V4334 Sgr

Speculative connections have been made between Sakurai's Object andother hydrogen-deficient stars, principally the RCB stars and [WC]central stars of planetary nebulae. RCBs have also been postulated as the precursors of extreme helium stars (EHes). The question arises to whether Sakurai's Object will evolve down the [WC]-PG1159 evolution track, or the RCB-EHe-HesdO track. From a number of IUE observations, we have measured thesecular contraction rates and pulsation masses of several EHes. These are inconsistent with the predicted contraction rates for helium-shell burning giants produced by a final helium-shell flash (the [WC]-PG1159 track). Although there may be some similarities between Sakurai's Object and some RCBs, if the RCB-EHe conection is valid then these must be superficial rather than structural.