GEMINI near-infrared spectroscopic observations of young massive stars embedded in molecular clouds

K -band spectra of young stellar candidates in four Southern hemisphere clusters have been obtained with the Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph in Gemini South. The clusters are associated with IRAS sources that have colours characteristic of ultracompact H  ii regions. Spectral types were obtained by comparison of the observed spectra with those of a near-infrared (NIR) library; the results include the spectral classification of nine massive stars and seven objects confirmed as background late-type stars. Two of the studied sources have K -band spectra compatible with those characteristic of very hot stars, as inferred from the presence of C  iv , N  iii and N  v emission lines at 2.078, 2.116 and 2.100 μm, respectively. One of them, I16177_IRS1, has a K -band spectrum similar to that of Cyg OB2 7, an O3If* supergiant star. The nebular K -band spectrum of the associated Ultra-Compact (UC) H  ii region shows the s-process [Kr  iii ] and [Se  iv ] high excitation emission lines, previously identified only in planetary nebula. One young stellar object was found in each cluster, associated with either the main IRAS source or a nearby resolved Midecourse Space eXperiment ( MSX ) component, confirming the results obtained from previous NIR photometric surveys. The distances to the stars were derived from their spectral types and previously determined JHK magnitudes; they agree well with the values obtained from the kinematic method, except in the case of IRAS  15408−5356  , for which the spectroscopic distance is about a factor of 2 smaller than the kinematic value.     

测定天琴RR变星金属丰度的方法

银晕中天琴RR变星金属丰度的测定对于研究银河系晕的形成和演化具有重要的意义．在当前的技术条件下,高分辨光谱的方法难以测量银晕中较暗的天琴RR变星的金属丰度．高分辨光谱测定金属丰度的方法对恒星大气模型的依赖性较高,而恒星脉动引起的复杂大气状况对于建立正确的大气模型本身就是挑战．△S光谱方法、Caby测光方法和光变曲线的参数方法则弥补了高分辨光谱方法的不足,将能测量更远距离上的天琴RR变星的金属丰度．着重介绍了这3种方法发展的历史、具体的观测流程以及需要注意的问题。通过比较这3种方法的优劣,为实际观测时方法的选用提供借鉴。     

Kinematics of the young stellar objects associated with the cometary globules in the Gum Nebula

An analysis of the proper motion measurements of the young stellar objects (YSOs) associated with the cometary globules (CGs) in the Gum Nebula is presented. While earlier studies based on the radial-velocity measurements of the CGs suggested expansion of the system of the CGs, the observed proper motion of the YSOs shows no evidence for expansion. In particular, the kinematics of two YSOs embedded in CGs are inconsistent with the supernova explosion of the companion of ζ Pup, about 1.5 Myr ago being the cause of the expansion of the system of the CGs. YSOs associated with the CGs share the average proper motion of the member stars of the Vela OB2 association. A few YSOs that have relatively large proper motions are found to show relatively low infrared excesses.     

A multiple shooting approach for the numerical treatment of stellar structure and evolution

We present a new numerical method for solving the system of partial differential equations describing the structure and evolution of a spherically symmetric star. As usual, we employ the transversal method of lines in order to split the equations into a coupled spatial and temporal part. The novel features of the algorithm are the following: (a) Instead of using the Lagrangian picture we formulate the system of partial differential equations in the Eulerian picture. (b) We reformulate the equations of stellar structure as a multipoint boundary-value problem. By means of this reformulation the rather clumsy iterative matching procedure of stellar atmosphere and interior is avoided. (c) The multipoint boundary-value problem is solved by the multiple shooting method. This approach not only ensures a high accuracy of the stellar models calculated at each time step but also allows the free boundaries inside the star due to different energy transport mechanisms to be located exactly. (d) The time derivatives involved in the stellar-structure equations are discretized implicitly to second order accuracy. Moreover, at each time step, the chemical abundances are determined by using a sophisticated update procedure. In this way, a high accuracy is achieved with respect to the integration in time. The algorithm has turned out to be exceedingly reliable and numerically accurate. This is shown by the evolution of a 1 M_⊙ star up to the hydrogen-shell burning phase. In this example, the virial theorem, the law of mass conservation, and the law of energy conservation is fulfilled to a hitherto unattainable degree of accuracy. Since the multiple shooting method, which is at the heart of our approach, is a perfect example of a parallel algorithm, the computational speed of the algorithm might be substantially improved provided easy-to-program, high-performance parallel computers with sufficiently many processors become available in the near future.     

Micrometer measurements of visual double stars at Calar Alto

We present 93 micrometer measurements of 55 double stars observed with the 152 cm telescope at the Spanish observatory at Calar Alto (Almeria, Spain).     

An XMM–Newton observation of the neutron star X-ray transient 2S 1803−245 in quiescence

We observed the neutron star X-ray transient 2S 1803−245 in quiescence with the X-ray satellite XMM–Newton , but did not detect it. An analysis of the X-ray bursts observed during the 1998 outburst of 2S 1803−245 gives an upper limit to the distance of ≤7.3 kpc, leading to an upper limit on the quiescent 0.5–10 keV X-ray luminosity of  ≤2.8 × 10³² erg s⁻¹  (3σ). Since the expected orbital period of 2S 1803−245 is several hours, this limit is not much higher than those observed for the quiescent black hole transients with similar orbital periods.     

Two new pulsating DB Stars from the EC survey, EC 04207−4748 and EC 05221−4725

We report the discovery of pulsations in two DB stars found in the Edinburgh–Cape blue object survey. The light curve of EC 04207−4748 appears to be dominated by a strong variation at  2235 μHz  (447 s) and its first overtone near 4475 μHz (223 s). Two other peaks appear in the periodograms of all three data sets for this star; near  2370 μHz  (∼420 s) and  3000 μHz  (∼333 s), though these are less accurately defined. EC 05221−4725 is less easy to specify with the currently available data; it appears to have one coherent frequency near  1114 μHz  (898 s), but is obviously multiperiodic and probably has several more frequencies near the one clearly observed.     

A uvbyβ photometric analysis of the Monoceros star‐forming field

This investigation presents a new analysis of the spatial distribution of the bright early‐type stars in the field of Northern Monoceros. A database of all O–B9 stars with available uvbyβ photometry is collated and a homogeneous distance scale is established for the clusters and layers of field stars. We provide revised distances for NGC 2264 and NGC 2244 of 833±38 (s.e.) pc and 1585±60 (s.e.) pc, respectively. We present arguments that there might be substructures in the clusters projected along the line of sight. According to the present sample the classical Mon OB2 association at 1.6 kpc is represented by a relatively compact group at 1.26 kpc in the vicinity of NGC 2244 and a layer of massive stars located between 1.5 and 3 kpc (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)