Light outburst of a compact galaxy

In a field near M3 photographed in U,B,V from 1963 to 1969 one of 750 compact galaxies shows a brightening of 1 mag in B during 1966/67.     

Photometrically determined mean surface magnetic fields of Ap stars

The photometrically determined mean surface magnetic fields B_S need a revision. None of the stars for which B_S can be measured directly by Zeeman line splitting fulfils the relation between the photometric parameter Δ(V₁ – G) and the mean surface field B_S, which is used by NORTH , CRAMER and MAEDER to determine B_S for other B2 – A3 stars. The ratio B_eff^Max/B_S for stars, which define North's relation, shows unreasonable large values.     

An equatorially symmetric rotator model for magnetic stars. II. Inhomogeneous element distribution

For the construction of more realistic models of magnetic stars the influence of large inhomogeneities in the distribution of line absorbing elements over the stellar surface on the determination of the mean longitudinal magnetic field component, Beff, is discussed. In this paper we assume the same magnetic field geometry as in paper I, i.e. the superposition of a dipole and an axissymmetrical quadrupole both lying in the equatorial plane with their axes parallel to one another. The models for the inhomogeneties can be classified by the concentration of the line absorbing elements: (1) at the polar caps, (2) in rings surrounding the polar caps, (3) in a belt in the neighbourhood of the “magnetic” latitude δ = 90°. The result of the computations shows that the amount of compensations of both polarities by integration over the visible hemisphere may be remarkably reduced, yielding values of Beff not so far away from the polar field strength as in the homogeneous models. Moreover, the large quadrupole contribution necessary in some cases to represent the observations in the homogeneous models may be considerably smaller with inhomogeneites taken into account. First comparisons between computed and observed values of Beff(t) are made for the stars α²CVn, 53 Cam and HD 215441.     

On the variability of the “blue objects”

The reality of the high percentage of variability among Blue Objects which was found in previous investigations was examined on 170 Tautenburg Schmidt plates of two test fields near M 31. The high percentage could not be confirmed. Spurious amplitudes can be explained by the large probable errors of the photometry (especially near the plate limit) and by bad suitability of good-looking plates. Out of 37 Blue Objects examined, only two (van den Bergh 5 and 12) are distinctly variable, but the final examination of Blue Objects which are suspected of variability can only be done by photoelectric photometry.     

The binary nature of the magnetic star β CrB

The radial velocity of the binary star β CrB was reinvestigated to look for the hypothetical third body, suggested by NEUBAUERS results. Under the assumption that a systematic difference of 1.4 km/sec between NEUBAUERS results from 1931–43 and ours from 1971–83 is of instrumental origin, the radial velocities of both epochs can be well represented with the same orbital elements: thus the probability for the existence of a third component in the system is reduced. The eccentricity and the angle of periastron passage of the visual orbit, derived from published speckle interferometric measurements, agree very well with the corresponding elements of the spectroscopic orbit. For the masses of the components those of giant resp. subgiant stars of type A8 and F5 are found. The geometry of the binary β CrB with a magnetic star as the primary component is demonstrated.     

Note on the orbit of the magnetic star 53 Cam

Ausgehend von den bekannten spektroskopischen Bahnelementen von 53 Cam wurden die Positionen des Begleiters für die Zeiten der Speckle-Beobachtungen berechnet und mit den beobachteten Positionen verglichen. Bei Berücksichtigung der Doppeldeutigkeit in der Speckle-Interferometrie lassen sich die Beobachtungen mäßig gut darstellen bei einer Neigung von näherungsweise 45° zwischen Bahn- und Tangentialebene.