TheROSAT survey of extreme UV sources: a new window on the universe

This paper discusses the first all-sky suvey of cosmic extreme ultra-violet sources, discovered by theROSAT Wide Field Camera. Details of the instrument and the survey are presented, with comparisons made to previous selected surveys in the X-ray regime. The subsequent optical identification program is described, and the major results summarized. I then discuss the main classes of EUV emitters: active chromosphere stars and hot white dwarfs, and describe the importance of EUV obserevations in understanding the astrophysics of these objects. Many bright, and relatively nearby, sources have been identified with hitherto unrecognized active stars, representing the extremes in chromospheric and coronal activity, be it binary or age related. Many new hot DA white dwarfs have also been indentified, and the most exciting result in this area is the discovery that significant traces of heavier elements (e.g. C, N, O, Si, Fe & Al) exist in their atmospheres, substantially increasing their EUV opacities. The importance of hot white dwarfs as standard candles in probing the local interstellar medium is also discussed. Miscellaneous counterparts (AGN, PNN, O-B stars and CVs) that make up the rest of the sample of EUV sources are also briefly mentioned. I conclude the paper with a discussion of the new magnetic cataclysmic variables discovered at SAAO, which have been the subject of intensive follow-up observations.     

Orbital motion of a massive object in a dense stellar system

In this paper we show the positional oscillation of a massive object in a dense stellar system by numerical N -body simulations. We found that the central massive object, which at first is placed at rest at the centre of the surrounding spherical stellar system, promptly departs from the centre and rotates in accordance with the rotation of the stellar system, if the stellar system has an appreciable rotation. This oscillatory motion continues for a long time because of the absence of dynamical friction. Such a long-lasting oscillation may explain the asymmetric structure observed in the centres of M31 and NGC 4486B, may cause the secular flow of gaseous elements distributed in the central regions of galaxies on to the massive object, and may ignite activity in the centres of galaxies.     

Magnetic field of a neutron star with a superconducting quark core in the CFL-phase

The Ginzburg-Landau equations are derived for the magnetic and gluomagnetic gauge fields in the color superconducting core of a neutron star containing a CFL-condensate of diquarks. The interaction of the diquark CFL-condensate with the magnetic and gluomagnetic gauge fields is taken into account. The behavior of the magnetic field in a neutron star is studied by solving the Ginzburg-Landau equations taking correct account of the boundary conditions, including the gluon confinement conditions. The magnetic field distribution in the quark and hadronic phases of a neutron star is found. It is shown that a magnetic field generated in the hadronic phase by the entrainment effect penetrates into the quark core in the form of quark vortex filaments because of the presence of screening Meissner currents. __________ Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 87–98 (February 2007).     

Orbital periods of the binary sdB stars PG 0940+068 and PG 1247+554

We have used the radial velocity variations of two sdB stars previously reported to be binaries to establish their orbital periods. They are PG 0940+068 ( P =8.33 d) and PG 1247+554 ( P =0.599 d). The minimum masses of the unseen companions, assuming a mass of 0.5 M_⊙ for the sdB stars, are 0.090±0.003 M. for PG 1247+554 and 0.63±0.02 M_⊙ for PG 0940+068. The nature of the companions is not constrained further by our data.     

Model atmosphere and kinematical analyses of early-type stars from the Edinburgh–Cape Survey

We present high-resolution spectroscopic observations of 21 B-type stars, selected from the Edinburgh–Cape Blue Object Survey. Model atmosphere analyses confirm that 14 of these stars are young, main-sequence B-type objects with Population I chemical compositions. The remaining seven are found to be evolved objects, including subdwarfs, horizontal branch and post-AGB objects. A kinematical analysis shows that all 14 young main-sequence stars could have formed in the disc and subsequently been ejected into the halo. These results are combined with the analysis of a previous subsample of stars taken from the Survey. Of the complete sample, 31 have been found to be young, main-sequence objects, with formation in the disc, and subsequent ejection into the halo, again being found to be a plausible scenario.     

Opening angles, Lorentz factors and confinement of X-ray binary jets

We present a collation of the available data on the opening angles of jets in X-ray binaries, which in most cases are small (≲10°). Under the assumption of no confinement, we calculate the Lorentz factors required to produce such small opening angles via the transverse relativistic Doppler effect. The derived Lorentz factors, which are in most cases lower limits, are found to be large, with a mean >10, comparable to those estimated for active galactic nuclei (AGN) and much higher than the commonly assumed values for X-ray binaries of 2–5. Jet power constraints do not, in most cases, rule out such high Lorentz factors. The upper limits on the opening angles show no evidence for smaller Lorentz factors in the steady jets of Cygnus X-1 and GRS 1915+105. In those sources in which deceleration has been observed (notably  XTE J1550−564  and Cygnus X-3), some confinement of the jets must be occurring, and we briefly discuss possible confinement mechanisms. It is however possible that all the jets could be confined, in which case the requirement for high bulk Lorentz factors can be relaxed.     

New brown dwarf companions to dM(e) stars

We present new astrometric and spectroscopic data to confirm two new M/L dwarf systems, G124‐62 and LHS5166, and discuss the nature of a third system (LP261‐75). Age and thus mass determinations of the L dwarf companions are discussed based on various activity‐age relationships of the M dwarf primaries. This publication will update the list of widely separated substellar companions to nearby stars. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)