Activity and kinematics of members of the TW Hydrae association

We present high-resolution echelle spectroscopy of 20 stars in 16 systems catalogued as members of the TW Hydrae association, and 16 stars identified as possible new members. We have calibrated the range of coronal and chromospheric activity expected for such young stars as a function of spectral type by combining our observations with literature data for field and open cluster stars. We also compute space motions for TWA members and candidate members with proper motion measurements, using two techniques to estimate distances to stars lacking direct trigonometric parallax measurements. The mean space motion of the four TWA members with known parallaxes is  ( U , V , W : −10.0, −17.8, −4.6) km s⁻¹  . 14 of the candidates have properties inconsistent with cluster membership; the remaining two are potential new members, although further observations are required to confirm this possibility.     

Discovery of 13 New Variable Stars in the Field of the Open Cluster NGC 2168 （M35）

A wide-field time-series CCD photometric survey of variable stars in the field of the open cluster NGC 2168 was carried out using the BATC Schmidt telescope. In total 13 new variable stars are discovered with three W UMa systems, one EA type and two EB type eclipsing binaries (one of them could be a W UMa system), and seven pulsating stars including three candidates of δScuti stars.     

Five WC9 stars discovered in the AAO/UKST Hα survey

We report the discovery of five massive Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars resulting from a programme of follow-up spectroscopy of candidate emission-line stars in the Anglo-Australian Observatory United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope (AAO/UKST) Southern Galactic Plane Hα survey. The 6195–6775 Å spectra of the stars are presented and discussed. A WC9 class is assigned to all five stars through comparison of their spectra with those of known late-type WC stars, bringing the known total number of Galactic WC9 stars to 44. Whilst three of the five WC9 stars exhibit near-infrared (NIR) excesses characteristic of hot dust emission (as seen in the great majority of known WC9 stars), we find that two of the stars show no discernible evidence of such excesses. This increases the number of known WC9 stars without NIR excesses to seven. Reddenings and distances for all five stars are estimated.     

Cygnus A

Cygnus A was the first hyper-active galaxy discovered, and it remains by far the closest of the ultra-luminous radio galaxies. As such, Cygnus A has played a fundamental role in the study of virtually all aspects of extreme activity in galaxies. We present a review of jet theory for powering the double-lobed radio emitting structures in powerful radio galaxies, followed by a review of observations of Cygnus A in the radio, optical, and X-ray relevant to testing various aspects of jet theory. Issues addressed include: jet structure from pc- to kpc-scales, jet stability, confinement, composition, and velocity, the double shock structure for the jet terminus and the origin of multiple radio hotspots, the nature of the filamentary structure in the radio lobes, and the hydrodynamic evolution of the radio lobes within a dense cluster atmosphere, including an analysis of pressure balance between the various gaseous components. Also discussed are relativistic particle acceleration and loss mechanisms in Cygnus A, as well as magnetic field strengths and geometries both within the radio source, and in the intracluster medium. We subsequently review the classification, cluster membership, and the emission components of the Cygnus A galaxy. The origin of the activity is discussed. Concentrating on the nuclear regions of the galaxy, we review the evidence for an obscured QSO, also given the constraints on the orientation of the radio source axis with respect to the sky plane. We present an overview of models of central engines in AGN and observations of Cygnus A which may be relevant to testing such models. We conclude with a brief section concerning the question of whether Cygnus A is representative of powerful high redshift radio galaxies. Received October 10, 1995