Dust in the disk winds from young stars as a source of the circumstellar extinction

We consider the problem of dust grain survival in the disk winds from T Tauri and Herbig Ae stars. For our analysis, we have chosen a disk wind model in which the gas component of the wind is heated through ambipolar diffusion to a temperature of ～10⁴ K. We show that the heating of dust grains through their collisions with gas atoms is inefficient compared to their heating by stellar radiation and, hence, the grains survive even in the hot wind component. As a result, the disk wind can be opaque to the ultraviolet and optical stellar radiation and is capable of absorbing an appreciable fraction of it. Calculations show that the fraction of the wind-absorbed radiation for T Tauri stars can be from 20 to 40% of the total stellar luminosity at an accretion rate ? _a = 10^?8-10^?6 M _⊙yr^?1. This means that the disk winds from T Tauri stars can play the same role as the puffed-up inner rim in current accretion disk models. In Herbig Ae stars, the inner layers of the disk wind (r ≤ 0.5 AU) are dust-free, since the dust in this region sublimates under the effect of stellar radiation. Therefore, the fraction of the radiation absorbed by the disk wind in this case is considerably smaller and can be comparable to the effect from the puffed-up inner rim only at an accretion rate of the order of or higher than 10^?6 M _⊙yr^?1. Since the disk wind is structurally inhomogeneous, its optical depth toward the observer can be variable, which should be reflected in the photometric activity of young stars. For the same reason, moving shadows from gas and dust streams with a spiral-like shape can be observed in high-angular-resolution circumstellar disk images.     

ROSAT HRI observations of P Cyg and surrounding area

We present a detailed analysis of deep ROSAT HRI observations of the luminous blue variable P Cyg and its surrounding radio nebula. The HRI image provides a point source at the position of P Cyg. However, we show that this emission can be attributed to the ultraviolet leak of the ROSAT HRI. The X‐ray flux upper limit derived from the HRI data of this star is discussed in the context of X‐ray emission from hot stars. Furthermore, we present a search for diffuse X‐ray emission possibly associated with the radio nebula surrounding P Cyg. We compare our results to model predictions and X‐ray fluxes observed for shells around other hot stars. Additionally, we detect 10 X‐ray sources in the field of view. All but one of these X‐ray emitters have stellar counter parts in the Palomar Sky Survey. We suggest that they are active late‐type stars possibly belonging to Cyg OB1.     

Stellar structure and mass loss on the upper asymptotic giant branch

We examine the envelope properties of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars as they evolve on the upper AGB and during the early post-AGB phase. Because of the high mass-loss rate, the envelope mass decreases by more than an order of magnitude. This makes the density profile below the photosphere much shallower, and the entropy profile much steeper. We discuss the possible role of these changes in the profiles in the onset of the high mass-loss rate (superwind) and the large deviation from spherical mass loss at the termination of the AGB. We concentrate on the idea that the shallower density profile and steeper entropy profile allow the formation of cool magnetic spots, above which dust forms much more easily.     

全球扰动的结构、演变及其球面Rossby波包表示

利用按谱函数展开的方法,计算和分析了正压球面Rossby波的连续谱和离散谱的波包结构、演变和传播特征,发现无论是结构、演变还是传播,连续谱波包和离散谱波包都很不相同.连续谱波包的传播速度不仅大小而且方向都随纬度变化;离散谱波包的传播速度只有大小随纬度变化,其方向在任何纬度上都是向西的.连续谱的波包和离散谱的波包在初始时刻虽然都表现为子午圈上不规则的波动,但随着时间的增加,二者的变化规律不同,连续谱的波包具有局部特征,主要表现在两个半球的中高纬地区,且随时间振幅迅速衰减;而离散谱的波包具有全球性质.将二者与整个扰动波包进行比较,发现:在中高纬度地区,连续谱波包的结构与扰动波包的结构相似,而在赤道地区,离散谱的波包与扰动波包相似.     

A 2007 photometric study and UV spectral analysis of the Wolf‐Rayet binary V444 Cyg

Photometric and spectroscopic characteristics of the WN5+O6 binary system, V444 Cyg, were studied. The Wilson‐Devinney (WD) analysis, using new BV observations carried out at the Ankara University Observatory, revealed the masses, radii, and temperatures of the components of the system as M_WR = 10.64 M_⊙, M_O = 24.68 M_⊙, R_WR = 7.19 R_⊙, R_O = 6.85 R_⊙, T_WR = 31 000 K, and T_O = 40000 K, respectively. It was found that both components had a full spherical geometry, whereas the circumstellar envelope of the WR component had an asymmetric structure. The O – C analysis of the system revealed a period lengthening of 0.139 ± 0.018 syr^–1, implying a mass loss rate of (6.76 ± 0.39) ×10^–6 M_⊙ yr^–1 for the WR component. Moreover, 106 IUE‐NEWSIPS spectra were obtained from NASA's IUE archive for line identification and determination of line profile variability with phase, wind velocities and variability in continuum fluxes. The integrated continuum flux level (between 1200–2000 Å) showed a mild and regular increase from orbital phase 0.00 up to 0.50 and then a decrease in the same way back to phase 0.00. This is evaluated as the O component making a constant and regular contribution to the system's UV light as the dominant source. The C IV line, originating in the circumstellar envelope, had the highest velocity while N IV line, originating in deeper layers of the envelope, had the lowest velocity. The average radial velocity calculated by using the C IV line (wind velocity) was found as 2326 km s^–1 (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

SN 2009ip and SN 2010mc as dual-shock Quark-Novae

In recent years a number of double-humped supernovae （SNe） have been discovered. This is a feature predicted by the dual-shock Quark-Nova （QN） model where an SN explosion is followed （a few days to a few weeks later） by a QN explo- sion. SN 2009ip and SN 2010mc are the best observed examples of double-humped SNe. Here, we show that the dual-shock QN model naturally explains their light curves including the late time emission, which we attribute to the interaction between the mixed SN and QN ejecta and the surrounding circumstellar matter. Our model applies to any star （O-stars, luminous blue variables, Wolf-Rayet stars, etc.） provided that the mass involved in the SN explosion is ~ 20 Mo which provides good conditions for forming a QN.     

Modelling of oxygen-rich envelopes using corundum and silicate grains

A set of 31 oxygen-rich stars has been modelled using corundum and silicate grains. These stars were selected according to their dust-envelope class, as suggested by Little-Marenin and Little in 1990. Then 16 stars classified as Sil were modelled using silicate grains; 10 Broad class stars using corundum (Al₂O₃) grains; and 5 ' Intermediate ' class stars using two kinds of grain simultaneously: corundum and silicate. The temperature of the central stars and some characteristics of their circumstellar envelopes such as their extinction opacities and extensions were determined by fitting the flux curves. The corundum/silicate ratios as well as the energy distributions and temperature laws have been obtained. Based on the authors' results they suggest the existence of chemical and structural evolution of the modelled circumstellar dust shells. The temperature of the central stars and the temperature of the hottest grains decrease from Broad to Intermediate to Sil classes, while the inner radii and optical depths increase in this sequence.     

Dust formation and inhomogeneous mass-loss from asymptotic giant branch stars

We examine the flow from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars when along a small solid angle the optical depth resulting from dust is very large. We consider two types of flows. In the first, small cool spots are formed on the surface of slowly rotating AGB stars. Large quantities of dust are expected to be formed above the surface of these cool spots. We propose that if the dust formation occurs during the last AGB phase when the mass-loss rate is high, the dust shields the region above it from the stellar radiation. This leads to both further dust formation in the shaded region and, owing to lower temperature and pressure, the convergence of the stream toward the shaded region, and the formation of a flow having a higher density than its surroundings. This density contrast can be as high as ∼4. A concentration of magnetic cool spots toward the equator will lead to a density contrast of up to a few between the equatorial and polar directions. This process can explain the positive correlation between high mass-loss rate and a larger departure from sphericity in progenitors of elliptical planetary nebulae. In the second type of flow, the high density in the equatorial plane is formed by a binary interaction, where the secondary star is close to, but outside the AGB envelope. The shielding of the radiation by dust results in a very slow and dense flow in the equatorial plane. We suggest this flow as an alternative explanation for the equatorial dense matter found at several hundred astronomical units around several post-AGB binary systems.     

Star formation in the Cepheus Flare region – II. A-type stars associated with IRAS sources

In order to reveal the star-forming history of the molecular cloud complex we studied the intermediate mass stellar population in the Cepheus Flare region. (Paper I dealt with the distance and the young stellar object candidates of the region.) Correlating the IRAS Point Source Catalogue and Faint Source Catalogue positions with those of 1214 B8–A8 and 1760 F0–F5 type stars brighter than     and classified during an objective prism survey, we identified 19 stars showing far-infrared excess emission in the Cepheus Flare region. In addition to the 16 stars whose counterparts are given in the IRAS catalogues, we found three more stars with infrared excess not recognized before. In order to identify the young medium-mass stars associated with the Cepheus Flare molecular clouds we observed the optical spectra of the IR-excess stars, and using published optical photometry and the IRAS data we examined their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and IRAS two-colour diagram. The observations resulted in the discovery of a new Herbig Ae/Be star, BD +68°1118, coinciding with IRAS 21169+6842. More evolved HAe/Be stars may be SAO 19953, BD +67°1314 and BD +69°1231, whose H α lines showed weak emission components. Possible β Pictoris- or Vega-type stars may be HD 203854, HD 212826 and HD 216486, whereas the far-infrared fluxes at the positions of BD +72°1018, HD 210806 and HD 217903 can be attributed to the heating of the interstellar environment. We used distances and radial velocities of the stars derived from the spectroscopy and published optical photometry as indicators of their relations to the clouds. Information on the environment of the observed stars deduced from the diffuse interstellar band at λ 6613 is briefly discussed.