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A high-resolution spectroscopy survey of β Cephei pulsations in bright stars
We present a study of absorption line-profile variations in early-B typenear-main-sequence stars without emission lines. We have surveyed atotal of 171 bright stars using the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOTSA),William Herschel Telescope (ING) and Coudé Auxiliary Telescope(ESO). Our sample contains 75% of all O9.5-B2.5 III-V non-emission-linestars brighter than 5.5 mag. We obtained high signal-to-noise,high-resolution spectra of the SiIII λ4560 triplet - for 125stars of our sample we obtained more than one spectrum - and examinedthese for pulsational-like line-profile variations and/or structure. Weconclude that about half of our sample stars show evidence forline-profile variations (LPV). We find evidence for LPV in about 65% ofour sample stars brighter than V=5.5. For stars with rotationalbroadening V sin i 100 km s-1, we find evidence for LPVin about 75% of the cases. We argue that it is likely that these LPV areof pulsational origin, and that hence more than half of thesolar-neighbourhood O9.5-B2.5 III-V stars is pulsating in modes that canbe detected with high-resolution spectroscopy. We detected LPV in 64stars previously unknown to be pulsators, and label these stars as newβ Cep candidates. We conclude that there is no obvious differencein incidence of (pulsational) LPV for early-B type near-main-sequencestars in binaries or in OB associations, with respect to single fieldstars.
| CO emission from discs around isolated HAeBe and Vega-excess stars
We describe results from a survey for J = 3-2 12CO emissionfrom visible stars classified as having an infrared excess. The line isclearly detected in 21 objects, and significant molecular gas(>=10-3 Jupiter masses) is found to be common in targetswith infrared excesses >=0.01 (>=56 per cent of objects), but rarefor those with smaller excesses (~10 per cent of objects).A simple geometrical argument based on the infrared excess implies thatdisc opening angles are typically >=12° for objects with detectedCO; within this angle, the disc is optically thick to stellar radiationand shields the CO from photodissociation. Two or three CO discs have anunusually low infrared excess (<=0.01), implying the shielding discis physically very thin (<=1°).Around 50 per cent of the detected line profiles are double-peaked,while many of the rest have significantly broadened lines, attributed todiscs in Keplerian rotation. Simple model fits to the line profilesindicate outer radii in the range 30-300 au, larger than found throughfitting continuum SEDs, but similar to the sizes of debris discs aroundmain-sequence stars. As many as five have outer radii smaller than theSolar System (50 au), with a further four showing evidence of gas in thedisc at radii smaller than 20 au. The outer disc radius is independentof the stellar spectral type (from K through to B9), but there isevidence of a correlation between radius and total dust mass. Also themean disc size appears to decrease with time: discs around stars of age3-7 Myr have a mean radius ~210 au, whereas discs of age 7-20 Myr are afactor of three smaller. This shows that a significant mass of gas (atleast 2 M⊕) exists beyond the region of planetformation for up to ~7 Myr, and may remain for a further ~10Myr withinthis region.The only bona fide debris disc with detected CO is HD9672; this shows adouble-peaked CO profile and is the most compact gas disc observed, witha modelled outer radius of 17 au. In the case of HD141569, detailedmodelling of the line profile indicates gas may lie in two rings, withradii of 90 and 250 au, similar to the dust structure seen in scatteredlight and the mid-infrared. In both AB Aur and HD163296 we also findthat the sizes of the molecular disc and the dust scattering disc aresimilar; this suggests that the molecular gas and small dust grains areclosely co-located.
| Herbig Ae/Be Stars in nearby OB Associations
We have carried out a study of the early-type stars in nearby OBassociations spanning an age range of ~3-16 Myr, with the aim ofdetermining the fraction of stars that belong to the Herbig Ae/Be class.We studied the B, A, and F stars in the nearby (<=500 pc) OBassociations Upper Scorpius, Perseus OB2, Lacerta OB1, and Orion OB1,with membership determined from Hipparcos data. We also included in ourstudy the early-type stars in the Trumpler 37 cluster, part of the CepOB2 association. We obtained spectra for 440 Hipparcos stars in theseassociations, from which we determined accurate spectral types, visualextinctions, effective temperatures, luminosities and masses, usingHipparcos photometry. Using colors corrected for reddening, we find thatthe Herbig Ae/Be stars and the classical Be (CBe) stars occupy clearlydifferent regions in the JHK diagram. Thus, we use the location on theJHK diagram, as well as the presence of emission lines and of strong 12μm flux relative to the visual, to identify the Herbig Ae/Be stars inthe associations. We find that the Herbig Ae/Be stars constitute a smallfraction of the early-type stellar population even in the youngerassociations. Comparing the data from associations with different agesand assuming that the near-infrared excess in the Herbig Ae/Be starsarises from optically thick dusty inner disks, we determined theevolution of the inner disk frequency with age. We find that the innerdisk frequency in the age range 3-10 Myr in intermediate-mass stars islower than that in the low-mass stars (<1 Msolar) inparticular, it is a factor of ~10 lower at ~3 Myr. This indicates thatthe timescales for disk evolution are much shorter in theintermediate-mass stars, which could be a consequence of more efficientmechanisms of inner disk dispersal (viscous evolution, dust growth, andsettling toward the midplane).
| B Star Rotational Velocities in h and χ Persei: A Probe of Initial Conditions during the Star Formation Epoch?
Projected rotational velocities (vsini) have been measured for 216 B0-B9stars in the rich, dense h and χ Persei double cluster and comparedwith the distribution of rotational velocities for a sample of fieldstars having comparable ages (t~12-15 Myr) and masses (M~4-15Msolar). For stars that are relatively little evolved fromtheir initial locations on the zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) (those withmasses M~4-5 Msolar), the mean vsini measured for the h andχ Per sample is slightly more than 2 times larger than the meandetermined for field stars of comparable mass, and the cluster and fieldvsini distributions differ with a high degree of significance. Forsomewhat more evolved stars with masses in the range 5-9Msolar, the mean vsini in h and χ Per is 1.5 times thatof the field; the vsini distributions differ as well, but with a lowerdegree of statistical significance. For stars that have evolvedsignificantly from the ZAMS and are approaching the hydrogen exhaustionphase (those with masses in the range 9-15 Msolar), thecluster and field star means and distributions are only slightlydifferent. We argue that both the higher rotation rates and the patternof rotation speeds as a function of mass that differentiatemain-sequence B stars in h and χ Per from their field analogs werelikely imprinted during the star formation process rather than a resultof angular momentum evolution over the 12-15 Myr cluster lifetime. Wespeculate that these differences may reflect the effects of the higheraccretion rates that theory suggests are characteristic of regions thatgive birth to dense clusters, namely, (1) higher initial rotationspeeds; (2) higher initial radii along the stellar birth line, resultingin greater spin-up between the birth line and the ZAMS; and (3) a morepronounced maximum in the birth line radius-mass relationship thatresults in differentially greater spin-up for stars that become mid- tolate-B stars on the ZAMS.
| CHARM2: An updated Catalog of High Angular Resolution Measurements
We present an update of the Catalog of High Angular ResolutionMeasurements (CHARM, Richichi & Percheron \cite{CHARM}, A&A,386, 492), which includes results available until July 2004. CHARM2 is acompilation of direct measurements by high angular resolution methods,as well as indirect estimates of stellar diameters. Its main goal is toprovide a reference list of sources which can be used for calibrationand verification observations with long-baseline optical and near-IRinterferometers. Single and binary stars are included, as are complexobjects from circumstellar shells to extragalactic sources. The presentupdate provides an increase of almost a factor of two over the previousedition. Additionally, it includes several corrections and improvements,as well as a cross-check with the valuable public release observationsof the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). A total of 8231entries for 3238 unique sources are now present in CHARM2. Thisrepresents an increase of a factor of 3.4 and 2.0, respectively, overthe contents of the previous version of CHARM.The catalog is only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/431/773
| J - K DENIS photometry of a VLTI-selected sample of bright southern stars
We present a photometric survey of bright southern stars carried outusing the DENIS instrument equipped with attenuating filters. Theobservations were carried out not using the survey mode of DENIS, butwith individual target pointings. This project was stimulated by theneed to obtain near-infrared photometry of stars to be used in earlycommissioning observations of the ESO Very Large TelescopeInterferometer, and in particular to establish a network of brightcalibrator sources.We stress that near-infrared photometry is peculiarly lacking for manybright stars. These stars are saturated in 2MASS as well as in regularDENIS observations. The only other observations available for brightinfrared stars are those of the Two Micron Sky Survey dating from overthirty years ago. These were restricted to declinations above≈-30°, and thus cover only about half of the sky accessible fromthe VLTI site.We note that the final 2MASS data release includes photometry of brightstars, obtained by means of point-spread function fitting. However, thismethod only achieves about 30% accuracy, which is not sufficient formost applications.In this work, we present photometry for over 600 stars, each with atleast one and up to eight measurements, in the J and K filters. Typicalaccuracy is at the level of 0\fm05 and 0\fm04 in the J and K_s bands,respectively.Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla.Tables 1 and 2 are only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/413/1037
| Toward an adequate method to isolate spectroscopic families of diffuse interstellar bands
We divide some of the observed diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) intofamilies that appear to have the spectral structure of single species.Three different methods are applied to separate such families, exploringthe best approach for future investigations of this type. Starting witha statistical treatment of the data, we found that statistical methodsby themselves give insufficient results. Two other methods of dataanalysis (`averaging equivalent widths' and `investigating the figureswith arranged spectrograms') were found to be more useful as tools forfinding the spectroscopic families of DIBs. On the basis of thesemethods, we suggest some candidates as `relatives' of 5780- and5797-Å bands.
| Grey extinction in the solar neighbourhood?
Some of the close O and B dwarfs appear to be fainter than indicated bytheir Hipparcos distances, intrinsic absolute magnitudes attributed totheir spectral types, and estimated selective interstellar extinction.This discrepancy is explained in the paper by the grey (neutral)interstellar extinction in the visual range of spectrum. The measure ofsuch an effect is related to discrete features of the interstellarmatter.
| Catalogue of averaged stellar effective magnetic fields. I. Chemically peculiar A and B type stars
This paper presents the catalogue and the method of determination ofaveraged quadratic effective magnetic fields < B_e > for 596 mainsequence and giant stars. The catalogue is based on measurements of thestellar effective (or mean longitudinal) magnetic field strengths B_e,which were compiled from the existing literature.We analysed the properties of 352 chemically peculiar A and B stars inthe catalogue, including Am, ApSi, He-weak, He-rich, HgMn, ApSrCrEu, andall ApSr type stars. We have found that the number distribution of allchemically peculiar (CP) stars vs. averaged magnetic field strength isdescribed by a decreasing exponential function. Relations of this typehold also for stars of all the analysed subclasses of chemicalpeculiarity. The exponential form of the above distribution function canbreak down below about 100 G, the latter value representingapproximately the resolution of our analysis for A type stars.Table A.1 and its references are only available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/407/631 and Tables 3 to 9are only available in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org
| Formation scenarios for the young stellar associations between galactic longitudes l = 280degr - 360degr
We investigate the spatial distribution, the space velocities and agedistribution of the pre-main sequence (PMS) stars belonging toOphiuchus, Lupus and Chamaeleon star-forming regions (SFRs), and of theyoung early-type star members of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association.These young stellar associations extend over the galactic longituderange from 280degr to 360degr , and are at a distance interval ofaround 100 and 200 pc. This study is based on a compilation ofdistances, proper motions and radial velocities from the literature forthe kinematic properties, and of basic stellar data for the constructionof Hertzsprung-Russel diagrams. Although there was no well-known OBassociation in Chamaeleon, the distances and the proper motions of agroup of 21 B- and A-type stars, taken from the Hipparcos Catalogue,lead us to propose that they form a young association. We show that theyoung early-type stars of the OB associations and the PMS stars of theSFRs follow a similar spatial distribution, i.e., there is no separationbetween the low and the high-mass young stars. We find no difference inthe kinematics nor in the ages of these two populations studied.Considering not only the stars selected by kinematic criteria but thewhole sample of young early-type stars, the scattering of their propermotions is similar to that of the PMS stars and all the young starsexhibit a common direction of motion. The space velocities of theHipparcos PMS stars of each SFR are compatible with the mean values ofthe OB associations. The PMS stars in each SFR span a wide range of ages(from 1 to 20 Myr). The ages of the OB subgroups are 8-10 Myr for UpperScorpius (US), and 16-20 Myr for Upper Centaurus Lupus (UCL) and forLower Centaurus Crux (LCC). Thus, our results do not confirm that UCL isolder than the LCC association. Based on these results and theuncertainties associated with the age determination, we cannot say thatthere is indeed a difference in the age of the two populations. Weanalyze the different scenarios for the triggering of large-scalestar-formation that have been proposed up to now, and argue that mostprobably we are observing a spiral arm that passes close to the Sun. Thealignment of young stars and molecular clouds and the average velocityof the stars in the opposite direction to the Galactic rotation agreewith the expected behavior of star formation in nearby spiral arms.Tables 1 to 4 are only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/404/913
| Merged catalogue of reflection nebulae
Several catalogues of reflection nebulae are merged to create a uniformcatalogue of 913 objects. It contains revised coordinates,cross-identifications of nebulae and stars, as well as identificationswith IRAS point sources.The catalogue is only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/399/141
| Rotational Velocities of B Stars
We measured the projected rotational velocities of 1092 northern B starslisted in the Bright Star Catalogue (BSC) and calibrated them againstthe 1975 Slettebak et al. system. We found that the published values ofB dwarfs in the BSC average 27% higher than those standards. Only 0.3%of the stars have rotational velocities in excess of two-thirds of thebreakup velocities, and the mean velocity is only 25% of breakup,implying that impending breakup is not a significant factor in reducingrotational velocities. For the B8-B9.5 III-V stars the bimodaldistribution in V can be explained by a set of slowly rotating Ap starsand a set of rapidly rotating normal stars. For the B0-B5 III-V starsthat include very few peculiar stars, the distributions in V are notbimodal. Are the low rotational velocities of B stars due to theoccurrence of frequent low-mass companions, planets, or disks? Therotational velocities of giants originating from late B dwarfs areconsistent with their conservation of angular momentum in shells.However, we are puzzled by why the giants that originate from the earlyB dwarfs, despite having 3 times greater radii, have nearly the samerotational velocities. We find that all B-type primaries in binarieswith periods less than 2.4 days have synchronized rotational and orbitalmotions; those with periods between 2.4 and 5.0 days are rotating withina factor 2 of synchronization or are ``nearly synchronized.'' Thecorresponding period ranges for A-type stars are 4.9 and 10.5 days, ortwice as large. We found that the rotational velocities of the primariesare synchronized earlier than their orbits are circularized. The maximumorbital period for circularized B binaries is 1.5 days and for Abinaries is 2.5 days. For stars of various ages from 107.5 to1010.2 yr the maximum circularized periods are a smoothexponential function of age.
| CHARM: A Catalog of High Angular Resolution Measurements
The Catalog of High Angular Resolution Measurements (CHARM) includesmost of the measurements obtained by the techniques of lunaroccultations and long-baseline interferometry at visual and infraredwavelengths, which have appeared in the literature or have otherwisebeen made public until mid-2001. A total of 2432 measurements of 1625sources are included, along with extensive auxiliary information. Inparticular, visual and infrared photometry is included for almost allthe sources. This has been partly extracted from currently availablecatalogs, and partly obtained specifically for CHARM. The main aim is toprovide a compilation of sources which could be used as calibrators orfor science verification purposes by the new generation of largeground-based facilities such as the ESO Very Large Interferometer andthe Keck Interferometer. The Catalog is available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/386/492, and from theauthors on CD-Rom.
| The mass ratio distribution of B-type visual binaries in the Sco OB2 association
A sample of 115 B-type stars in the Sco OB2 association is examined forexistence of visual companions in the J and K_s bands, using the ADONISnear-infrared adaptive optics system and coronograph. Practically allthe components in the separation range 0farcs3 -6farcs4 (45-900 AU) andmagnitudes down to K = 16 were detected. The K and J - K photometry ofthe primaries and differential photometry and astrometry of the 96secondaries are presented. Ten secondaries are new physical components,as inferred from the photometric and statistical criteria, while therest of the newly detected objects are faint background stars. After asmall correction for detection incompleteness and a conversion of thefluxes into masses, an unbiased distribution of the components massratio q was derived. The power law f(q)~ q-0.5 fits theobservations well, whereas a q-1.8 distribution, whichcorresponds to a random pairing of stars, is rejected. The companionstar fraction is 0.20+/-0.04 per decade of separation which iscomparable to the highest measured binary fraction among low-mass PMSstars and ~ 1.6 times higher than the binary fraction of low-mass dwarfsin the solar neighborhood and in open clusters in the same separationrange. Based on observations collected at the European SouthernObservatory, La Silla, Chile (ESO programme 65.H-0179). Tables 1, 3 andthe full version of Table 2 are only available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/382/92
| Astrometric radial velocities. III. Hipparcos measurements of nearby star clusters and associations
Radial motions of stars in nearby moving clusters are determined fromaccurate proper motions and trigonometric parallaxes, without any use ofspectroscopy. Assuming that cluster members share the same velocityvector (apart from a random dispersion), we apply a maximum-likelihoodmethod on astrometric data from Hipparcos to compute radial and spacevelocities (and their dispersions) in the Ursa Major, Hyades, ComaBerenices, Pleiades, and Praesepe clusters, and for theScorpius-Centaurus, alpha Persei, and ``HIP 98321'' associations. Theradial motion of the Hyades cluster is determined to within 0.4 kms-1 (standard error), and that of its individual stars towithin 0.6 km s-1. For other clusters, Hipparcos data yieldastrometric radial velocities with typical accuracies of a few kms-1. A comparison of these astrometric values withspectroscopic radial velocities in the literature shows a good generalagreement and, in the case of the best-determined Hyades cluster, alsopermits searches for subtle astrophysical differences, such as evidencefor enhanced convective blueshifts of F-dwarf spectra, and decreasedgravitational redshifts in giants. Similar comparisons for the ScorpiusOB2 complex indicate some expansion of its associations, albeit slowerthan expected from their ages. As a by-product from the radial-velocitysolutions, kinematically improved parallaxes for individual stars areobtained, enabling Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams with unprecedentedaccuracy in luminosity. For the Hyades (parallax accuracy 0.3 mas), itsmain sequence resembles a thin line, possibly with wiggles in it.Although this main sequence has underpopulated regions at certaincolours (previously suggested to be ``Böhm-Vitense gaps''), suchare not visible for other clusters, and are probably spurious. Futurespace astrometry missions carry a great potential for absoluteradial-velocity determinations, insensitive to the complexities ofstellar spectra. Based on observations by the ESA Hipparcos satellite.Extended versions of Tables \ref{tab1} and \ref{tab2} are available inelectronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.125.8) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/381/446
| Research Note Hipparcos photometry: The least variable stars
The data known as the Hipparcos Photometry obtained with the Hipparcossatellite have been investigated to find those stars which are leastvariable. Such stars are excellent candidates to serve as standards forphotometric systems. Their spectral types suggest in which parts of theHR diagrams stars are most constant. In some cases these values stronglyindicate that previous ground based studies claiming photometricvariability are incorrect or that the level of stellar activity haschanged. Table 2 is only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/367/297
| A study of interstellar Nai D absorption lines towards the Lupus molecular clouds
Intermediate-resolution (60000<=R<=120000) observations ofinterstellar Nai lines towards 29 stars in the general direction of theLupus molecular clouds (330°<~l<~350°0°<~b<~25°) are presented. Previously published spectratowards an additional seven stars are also included. Based on theHipparcos distances to these stars, and the minimum distance at whichstrong interstellar Nai lines appear in the spectra, I obtain a distanceof ~150+/-10pc to the Lupus molecular complex. While in agreement with anumber of other independent estimates, this result is at odds with thevalue of 100pc recently obtained by Knude & Høg from aHipparcos-based study of interstellar extinction. A possible explanationfor this discrepancy is discussed, and it is concluded that the value of150+/-10pc obtained here is to be preferred. In addition, theseobservations have some other implications for the structure of theinterstellar medium in this direction, and these are briefly considered.
| A new survey of diffuse interstellar bands (5650 - 6865 Å)
This paper presents a new systematic survey of diffuse interstellarbands in the optical wavelength range from 5650 to 6865 Ä based onechelle spectra of medium-reddened early-type stars acquired at McDonaldObservatory. Adding up interstellar spectra of the same type (as it wasdone by Krełowski et al. \cite{K97}) we reached a very highsignal-to-noise ratio. In this spectral range 89 new features have beendiscovered, 62 of them certain. In the whole spectral range of thissurvey we have found 240 features, 213 of them certain. Figure~4 is onlyavailable in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org
| Polarization measurements of Vega-like stars
Optical linear polarization measurements are presented for about 30Vega-like stars. These are then compared with the polarization observedfor normal field stars. A significant fraction of the Vega-like starsare found to show polarization much in excess of that expected to be dueto interstellar matter along the line of sight to the star. The excesspolarization must be intrinsic to the star, caused by circumstellarscattering material that is distributed in a flattened disk. Acorrelation between infrared excess and optical polarization is foundfor the Vega-like stars.
| Two-colour photometry for 9473 components of close Hipparcos double and multiple stars
Using observations obtained with the Tycho instrument of the ESAHipparcos satellite, a two-colour photometry is produced for componentsof more than 7 000 Hipparcos double and multiple stars with angularseparations 0.1 to 2.5 arcsec. We publish 9473 components of 5173systems with separations above 0.3 arcsec. The majority of them did nothave Tycho photometry in the Hipparcos catalogue. The magnitudes arederived in the Tycho B_T and V_T passbands, similar to the Johnsonpassbands. Photometrically resolved components of the binaries withstatistically significant trigonometric parallaxes can be put on an HRdiagram, the majority of them for the first time. Based on observationsmade with the ESA Hipparcos satellite.
| A HIPPARCOS Census of the Nearby OB Associations
A comprehensive census of the stellar content of the OB associationswithin 1 kpc from the Sun is presented, based on Hipparcos positions,proper motions, and parallaxes. It is a key part of a long-term projectto study the formation, structure, and evolution of nearby young stellargroups and related star-forming regions. OB associations are unbound``moving groups,'' which can be detected kinematically because of theirsmall internal velocity dispersion. The nearby associations have a largeextent on the sky, which traditionally has limited astrometricmembership determination to bright stars (V<~6 mag), with spectraltypes earlier than ~B5. The Hipparcos measurements allow a majorimprovement in this situation. Moving groups are identified in theHipparcos Catalog by combining de Bruijne's refurbished convergent pointmethod with the ``Spaghetti method'' of Hoogerwerf & Aguilar.Astrometric members are listed for 12 young stellar groups, out to adistance of ~650 pc. These are the three subgroups Upper Scorpius, UpperCentaurus Lupus, and Lower Centaurus Crux of Sco OB2, as well as VelOB2, Tr 10, Col 121, Per OB2, alpha Persei (Per OB3), Cas-Tau, Lac OB1,Cep OB2, and a new group in Cepheus, designated as Cep OB6. Theselection procedure corrects the list of previously known astrometricand photometric B- and A-type members in these groups and identifiesmany new members, including a significant number of F stars, as well asevolved stars, e.g., the Wolf-Rayet stars gamma^2 Vel (WR 11) in Vel OB2and EZ CMa (WR 6) in Col 121, and the classical Cepheid delta Cep in CepOB6. Membership probabilities are given for all selected stars. MonteCarlo simulations are used to estimate the expected number of interloperfield stars. In the nearest associations, notably in Sco OB2, thelater-type members include T Tauri objects and other stars in the finalpre-main-sequence phase. This provides a firm link between the classicalhigh-mass stellar content and ongoing low-mass star formation. Detailedstudies of these 12 groups, and their relation to the surroundinginterstellar medium, will be presented elsewhere. Astrometric evidencefor moving groups in the fields of R CrA, CMa OB1, Mon OB1, Ori OB1, CamOB1, Cep OB3, Cep OB4, Cyg OB4, Cyg OB7, and Sct OB2, is inconclusive.OB associations do exist in many of these regions, but they are eitherat distances beyond ~500 pc where the Hipparcos parallaxes are oflimited use, or they have unfavorable kinematics, so that the groupproper motion does not distinguish it from the field stars in theGalactic disk. The mean distances of the well-established groups aresystematically smaller than the pre-Hipparcos photometric estimates.While part of this may be caused by the improved membership lists, arecalibration of the upper main sequence in the Hertzsprung-Russelldiagram may be called for. The mean motions display a systematicpattern, which is discussed in relation to the Gould Belt. Six of the 12detected moving groups do not appear in the classical list of nearby OBassociations. This is sometimes caused by the absence of O stars, but inother cases a previously known open cluster turns out to be (part of) anextended OB association. The number of unbound young stellar groups inthe solar neighborhood may be significantly larger than thoughtpreviously.
| Five-colour photometry of OB-stars in the Southern Hemisphere
Observations of OB-stars, made in 1959 and 1960 at the Leiden SouthernStation near Hartebeespoortdam, South Africa, with the VBLUW photometerattached to the 90 cm light-collector, are given in this paper. They arecompared with photometry obtained by \cite[Graham (1968),]{gra68}\cite[Walraven & Walraven (1977),]{wal77} \cite[Lub & Pel(1977)]{lub77} and \cite[Van Genderen et al. (1984).]{gen84} Formulaefor the transformation of the present observations to those of\cite[Walraven & Walraven (1977)]{wal77} and \cite[Lub & Pel(1977)]{lub77} are given. Table 4 is only available in electronic format the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) orvia http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| On correlations between diffuse interstellar bands
One way to better apprehend the problem of diffuse interstellar bands(DIBs) is to search for correlations between the bands in a large sampleof spectra towards various lines of sight: a strict correlation mayimply that a common carrier is at the origin of the bands, whereas anon-correlation means that different species are involved. We proposethis observational test for 10 DIBs collected in up to 62 Galactic linesof sight. Strong DIBs do not strictly correlate, and sometimes thecorrelation is very poor. Only one example of a strict correlation hasbeen found in our sample between the DIBs at 6614 and 6196 Ä, thatcould signify a single carrier for those two bands. The general absenceof strict correlations is discussed in the context of molecular carriersfor the DIBs.
| Candidate Main-Sequence Stars with Debris Disks: A New Sample of Vega-like Sources
Vega-like sources are main-sequence stars that exhibit IR fluxes inexcess of expectations for stellar photospheres, most likely due toreradiation of stellar emission intercepted by orbiting dust grains. Wehave identified a large sample of main-sequence stars with possibleexcess IR radiation by cross-correlating the Michigan Catalog ofTwo-dimensional Spectral Types for the HD Stars with the IRAS FaintSource Survey Catalog. Some 60 of these Vega-like sources were not foundduring previous surveys of the IRAS database, the majority of whichemployed the lower sensitivity Point Source Catalog. Here, we providedetails of our search strategy, together with a preliminary examinationof the full sample of Vega-like sources.
| The Scorpius OB2 Complex
The Sco OB2 complex is a member of the Local Association. Theassociation contains pre-main-sequence stars in addition to objects some3 x 10^7 yr old. If it is assumed that stars in wide binaries arecoeval, then the He-weak variables in the supercluster arepre-main-sequence, elevated above that sequence by an amount similar tothat of the 3 x 10^7 yr old, normal stars but contracting toward thesequence, not evolving from it. The apparent great depth of theassociation is probably a result of some foreground superclustermembers, superposed on Sco OB2, and a rift in the absorption cloudbetween Scorpius and Ophiuchus. The adjoining Chamaeleon complex alsoappears to be a member of the supercluster.
| Weak and post-T Tauri stars around B-type members of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association
I report medium-resolution spectroscopic observations of six Hemission-line stars proposed by Meyer et al. (1993) to be T Tauri starsformed in the vicinity of the B1 giant Sco, a bright member of theSco-Cen OB association. Using spectroscopic criteria which aredistance-independent, I classify these stars in differentpremain-sequence (PMS) classes. Taking data from the literature, anumber of stars detected by X-ray observations around other B-typemembers of Sco-Cen are also classified. The current census of 'bonafide' low-mass PMS stars identified in about 9 sq deg in Sco-Cenincludes two classical T Tauri stars, 18 weak T Tauri stars (WTTSs), and10 post-T Tauri stars (PTTSs). The presence of a mixture of T Tauri andpost T Tauri stars implies that previous results based on isochronefitting that indicated an extremely young age for the Sco-Cen PMSlow-mass population are incorrect. A distance of about 125 pc forSco-Cen, instead of the 160 pc used in previous works, is consistentwith the Hipparcos parallaxes for many of the B-type stars and wouldlead to older H-R diagram ages. Taking into account that PTTSs aregenerally fainter and harder to identify than WTTSs, I argue that theWTTS-to-PTTS ratio in Sco-Cen may be of order unity. This resultsuggests that the low-mass stars of the OB association span an age rangesimilar to the B-type members the low- and high-mass star populationsare essentially coeval.
| The Tokyo PMC catalog 90-93: Catalog of positions of 6649 stars observed in 1990 through 1993 with Tokyo photoelectric meridian circle
The sixth annual catalog of the Tokyo Photoelectric Meridian Circle(PMC) is presented for 6649 stars which were observed at least two timesin January 1990 through March 1993. The mean positions of the starsobserved are given in the catalog at the corresponding mean epochs ofobservations of individual stars. The coordinates of the catalog arebased on the FK5 system, and referred to the equinox and equator ofJ2000.0. The mean local deviations of the observed positions from theFK5 catalog positions are constructed for the basic FK5 stars to comparewith those of the Tokyo PMC Catalog 89 and preliminary Hipparcos resultsof H30.
| Groupings of Strong and Weak Diffuse Interstellar Bands Formed by Common Carriers
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1997PASP..109.1135K&db_key=AST
| Kinematical Structure of the Local Interstellar Medium: The Galactic Center Hemisphere
A survey of interstellar Na I D1 and D2 absorption features found in thespectra of 31 early-type stars in the first and fourth Galacticquadrants reveals a new picture of the large-scale kinematics ofinterstellar gas in the vicinity of the Sun. While absorption featuresfound in the spectra of stars in the fourth Galactic quadrant show thegas expanding from stars in the Scorpio-Centaurus OB association, starsin the first Galactic quadrant, in the range of distances covered bythis survey (74--312 pc from the Sun), show interstellar gas fallingtoward the Galactic plane with a bulk motion whose component parallel tothat plane is directed toward the Scorpio-Centaurus association. Thispicture differs completely from generally accepted models in which thenearby interstellar gas flows away from the Scorpio-Centaurusassociation toward the Galactic anticenter. Evidence for the presence ofan expanding shell-like feature that is reaching the solar system ispresented.
| Instrinsic Profiles of Strong Diffuse Interstellar Bands
This paper presents a survey of the profiles of strong diffuse bandsbased on an extensive set of high-resolution spectra acquired with theechelle spectrograph installed at the Cassegrain focus of the 2.1 mtelescope of the McDonald Observatory. Only targets characterized bynarrow and symmetric lines of interstellar sodium, as well as by veryhigh signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), have been selected. The surveyeddiffuse interstellar bands are those at 5780, 5797, 5850, 6196, 6234,6270, 6376, 6379, 6614, and 6660 A. The possible modifications caused bystellar and telluric lines, as well as by Doppler splitting, arediscussed together with methods of getting rid of them. The presentedprofiles are as free of the aforementioned contaminations as possible.The very broad features such as lambda 5778 and lambda 6177 are notdiscussed, as their profiles extracted from the echelle spectra are veryuncertain. The lambda 6203/ lambda 6205 feature is also not considered,as it is a mixture of two unresolvable diffuse bands of differentorigin. The very broad 6284 A band is so contaminated with telluricfeatures that its profile was also found to be too uncertain. Thespectra are still not of high enough S/N to discuss the profiles of thenumerous weak interstellar features discovered recently.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Skorpion |
| Right ascension: | 15h53m36.70s |
| Declination: | -25°19'38.0" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 4.59 |
| Distance: | 132.979 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -14.4 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -23.5 |
| B-T magnitude: | 4.581 |
| V-T magnitude: | 4.694 |
Catalogs and designations:
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