Excitation of Sr ii lines in Eta Carinae

We study the nature of the peculiar [Sr  ii ] and Sr  ii emission filament found in the ejecta of Eta Carinae. To this purpose we carry out ab initio calculations of radiative transition probabilities and electron impact excitation rate coefficients for Sr  ii . Then we build a multilevel model for the system which is used to investigate the physical condition of the filament and the nature of the observed allowed and forbidden Sr  ii optical emission. It is found that the observed spectrum is consistent with the lines being pumped by the continuum radiation field in a mostly neutral region with electron density near 10⁷ cm⁻³. Under these conditions, the observed emission can be explained without the need for a large Sr overabundance.     

O i line emission in cool stars: calculations using partial redistribution

Radiative transfer calculations have been performed for five cool stars: α Tau, β Gem, Procyon, ε Eri and the Sun, for the purpose of investigating the behaviour of the O  i emission over a wide range of stellar types, and its dependence on coherent photon scattering. These stars span a range of spectral types from F5 iv – v to K5 iii and surface gravities  1.25 < log  g * < 4.75  . Particular attention has been paid to the calculation of the flux in the resonance triplet around 1305 Å which is pumped by H Lyβ, including the effects of partial redistribution (PRD) and cross-redistribution of photons. These are the first calculations for the resonance triplet in giant stars using a full PRD treatment. Calculations of the predominantly collisionally excited intersystem doublet at 1355, 1358 Å are included, and it is found that the ratio of these fluxes shows the effects of opacity. The flux in the forbidden line at 1641 Å is calculated for the giant stars and the effects of coherent scattering on this line are investigated. The discrepancy between the calculated and observed fluxes in the O  i lines is used to infer the inadequacy of single-component chromospheric models.     

CCD‐Δa and BV R photometry of NGC 7296

The first CCD photometric investigation of the open cluster NGC 7296 up to now was performed within the narrow band Δa photometric system, which enables us to detect peculiar objects. A deeper investigation of that cluster followed, using the standard BV R ‐Bessel filter set. The age and E (B – V ) was determined independently to log t = 8.0 ± 0.1 and 0.15 ± 0.02, respectively by using Δa and broadband photometry. In total five Be/Ae objects and two metal‐weak stars showing significant negative Δa ‐values as well as one classical chemically peculiar star could be identified within that intermediate age open cluster. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

色球耀斑Hα谱线轮廓不对称性研究

Hα谱线轮廓的不对称性是色球耀斑光谱观测中的重要特征,也是耀斑动力学过程的重要观测事实之一．以紫金山天文台太阳光谱仪的观测资料为依据,给出Hα谱线不对称性的典型轮廓．在考虑氢原子非热激发、电离的作用下,经验性地计算了不同大气模型下谱线的不对称性特征,并在此基础上,对观测谱线进行半经验的研究．结果表明, 色球区的向下运动能够产生Hα谱线的红、蓝不对称性,并可以再生具体耀斑的谱线不对称性特征．此外,不仅非热粒子的能流、谱指数大小以及速度场所处的高度对谱线轮廓有影响,耀斑大气的背景模型对谱线的轮廓也有一定的影响．     

Stochastic data in astronomy: Fourier analysis of highly nonuniform time series

The features of the CLEAN algorithm for Fourier analysis of time series with data separated by long pauses are analyzed in detail. Estimates are obtained for the limits of variability of the parameters of harmonic components that can be determined on a specified time grid. This analysis are used to search for harmonic components in the spectral line profile variations of the star Ori A (O8III) obtained in 2001 with the 1 m telescope at the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences.Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 87–100 (February 2005).     

Lyman α radiative transfer in a multiphase medium

Hydrogen Lyman α (Lyα) is our primary emission-line window into high-redshift galaxies. Despite an extensive literature, Lyα radiative transfer in the most realistic case of a dusty, multiphase medium has received surprisingly little detailed theoretical attention. We investigate Lyα resonant scattering through an ensemble of dusty, moving, optically thick gas clumps. We treat each clump as a scattering particle and use Monte Carlo simulations of surface scattering to quantify continuum and Lyα surface scattering angles, absorption probabilities, and frequency redistribution, as a function of the gas dust content. This atomistic approach speeds up the simulations by many orders of magnitude, making possible calculations which are otherwise intractable. Our fitting formulae can be readily adapted for fast radiative transfer in numerical simulations. With these surface scattering results, we develop an analytic framework for estimating escape fractions and line widths as a function of gas geometry, motion, and dust content. Our simple analytic model shows good agreement with full Monte Carlo simulations. We show that the key geometric parameter is the average number of surface scatters for escape in the absence of absorption,     , and we provide fitting formulae for several geometries of astrophysical interest. We consider the following two interesting applications. (i) Equivalent widths ( EWs ). Lyα can preferentially escape from a dusty multiphase interstellar medium if most of the dust lies in cold neutral clouds, which Lyα photons cannot penetrate. This might explain the anomalously high EWs sometimes seen in high-redshift/submillimetre sources. (ii) Multiphase galactic outflows . We show the characteristic profile is asymmetric with a broad red tail, and relate the profile features to the outflow speed and gas geometry. Many future applications are envisaged.     

Electron density diagnostic potential of the Si x ion and its application in Procyon

Theoretical electron density sensitive line ratios   R ₁– R ₆  of Si  x soft X-ray emission lines are presented. We found that these line ratios are sensitive to electron density n _e, and the ratio R ₁ is insensitive to electron temperature T _e. For reliable determination of the electron density of laboratory and astrophysical plasmas, atomic data, such as electron impact excitation rates, are very important. Our results reveal that the discrepancy of the line ratios from different atomic data calculated with the distorted wave (DW) approximation and the R-matrix method is up to 19 per cent at   n _e= 2 × 10⁸ cm⁻³  . We applied the theoretical intensity ratio R ₁ to the Low Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (LETGS) spectrum of the solar-like star Procyon. By comparing the observed value (1.29) with the theoretical calculation, the derived electron density n _e is  2.6 × 10⁸ cm⁻³  , which is consistent with that derived from  (C  v < 8.3 × 10⁸ cm⁻³)  . When the temperature structure of the Procyon corona is taken into account, the derived electron density increases from   n _e= 2.6 × 10⁸  to  2.8 × 10⁸ cm⁻³  .