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# θ Her (Rukbalgethi Genubi)

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 Circumstellar material in the Vega inner system revealed by CHARA/FLUORContext: .Only a handful of debris disks have been imaged up to now. Dueto the need for high dynamic range and high angular resolution, verylittle is known about the inner planetary region, where small amounts ofwarm dust are expected to be found. Aims: .We investigate theclose neighbourhood of Vega with the help of infrared stellarinterferometry and estimate the integrated K-band flux originating fromthe central 8 AU of the debris disk. Methods: .We performedprecise visibility measurements at both short (~30 m) and long (~150 m)baselines with the FLUOR beam-combiner installed at the CHARA Array (MtWilson, California) in order to separately resolve the emissions fromthe extended debris disk (short baselines) and from the stellarphotosphere (long baselines). Results: .After revising Vega'sK-band angular diameter (θ_UD = 3.202 ± 0.005 mas), weshow that a significant deficit in squared visibility (ΔV2 = 1.88 ± 0.34%) is detected at short baselines withrespect to the best-fit uniform disk stellar model. This deficit can beeither attributed to the presence of a low-mass stellar companion aroundVega, or as the signature of the thermal and scattered emissions fromthe debris disk. We show that the presence of a close companion ishighly unlikely, as well as other possible perturbations (stellarmorphology, calibration), and deduce that we have most probably detectedthe presence of dust in the close neighbourhood of Vega. The resultingflux ratio between the stellar photosphere and the debris disk amountsto 1.29 ± 0.19% within the FLUOR field-of-view (~7.8 AU).Finally, we complement our K-band study with archival photometric andinterferometric data in order to evaluate the main physical propertiesof the inner dust disk. The inferred properties suggest that the Vegasystem could be currently undergoing major dynamical perturbations. Shapes of Spectral Line Bisectors for Cool StarsThe shape of the line bisector for the prototype spectral line Fe Iλ6253 was measured for an array of 54 stars on the cool half ofthe HR diagram. These bisectors are given in tables along with theirerrors. The classic C shape is shown by only a rather restricted rangein effective temperature and luminosity. The detailed change in bisectorshape with effective temperature and luminosity is documented moreprecisely than in previous work. The most blueward point on the bisectorchanges its height systematically with luminosity and can be used as aluminosity or gravity discriminant. The wide range of bisector shapescontains significant information about the velocity fields in theatmospheres of these stars, but extracting that information may requireextensive modeling. Predicting accurate stellar angular diameters by the near-infrared surface brightness techniqueI report on the capabilities of the near-infrared (near-IR) surfacebrightness technique to predict reliable stellar angular diameters asaccurate as <~2 per cent using standard broad-band Johnson photometryin the colour range -0.1 <= (V-K)O<= 3.7 includingstars of A, F, G, K spectral type. This empirical approach is fast toapply and leads to estimated photometric diameters in very goodagreement with recent high-precision interferometric diametermeasurements available for non-variable dwarfs and giants, as well asfor Cepheid variables. Then I compare semi-empirical diameters predictedby model-dependent photometric and spectrophotometric (SP) methods withnear-IR surface brightness diameters adopted as empirical referencecalibrators. The overall agreement between all these methods is withinapproximately +/-5 per cent, confirming previous works. However, on thesame scale of accuracy, there is also evidence for systematic shiftspresumably as a result of an incorrect representation of the stellareffective temperature in the model-dependent results. I also comparemeasurements of spectroscopic radii with near-IR surface brightnessradii of Cepheids with known distances. Spectroscopic radii are found tobe affected by a scatter as significant as >~9 per cent, which is atleast three times greater than the formal error currently claimed by thespectroscopic technique. In contrast, pulsation radii predicted by theperiod-radius (PR) relation according to the Cepheid period result aresignificantly less dispersed, indicating a quite small scatter as aresult of the finite width of the Cepheid instability strip, as expectedfrom pulsation theory. The resulting low level of noise stronglyconfirms our previous claims that the pulsation parallaxes are the mostaccurate empirical distances presently available for Galactic andextragalactic Cepheids. The Discovery of Oxygen-rich Chromospheres in Two Massive DQ White DwarfsWe present HST observations of the massive DQ white dwarfs G227-5 andG35-26 in which we find the first clear evidence of chromosphericactivity in cool field white dwarfs. The chromospheric spectra, obtainedover a very narrow wavelength range, show lines of the usually expectedspecies O I, N I, C II, and possibly Si III and Mg II. The O I/C II linestrengths are considerably higher than usually found in main-sequencechromospheres. However, the hypothesis that these high line strengthsrepresent a genuine oxygen overabundance in these stars is less likelythan the interpretation that the oxygen abundance is enhanced by one ormore of the well-known effects that can alter chromospheric abundances. X-Rays from Hybrid StarsThe late-type giants and supergiants of the hybrid chromosphere''class display signatures of cool (T<~2×104 K) windstogether with hot emission lines from species like C IV(T~105 K). A survey of such stars by Reimers et al. usingROSAT reported numerous X-ray detections (T~106 K),strengthening the (then heretical) idea that hot coronae and cool windscan coexist in luminous giants. However, several of the candidatesources were offset from the predicted stellar coordinates, calling intoquestion the identifications. In an effort to secure better knowledge ofthe X-ray luminosities of the hybrids, the ROSAT fields from the Reimerset al. survey were reexamined, exploiting the USNO-A2.0 astrometriccatalog to register the pointings to a few arcseconds accuracy. On thebasis of positional mismatches, at least two of the previously reporteddetections of key hybrid stars-γ Dra (K5 III) and β Aqr (G0Ib)-must be rejected. The new X-ray upper limits for these stars,combined with the remaining candidate detections (and nondetections)from the original survey, place the hybrids into the same X-raydeficient'' category as the noncoronal'' red giants like Arcturus(α Boo: K1.5 III) and Aldebaran (α Tau: K5 III). A few ofthe hybrid X-ray sources are exceptional, however. The archetype αTrA (K2 II-III), in particular, is securely detected in terms ofpositional coincidence, but its anomalous, contradictory coronalproperties suggest that an unseen companion-a young hyperactive Gdwarf-might dominate the X-ray emission. CHARM2: An updated Catalog of High Angular Resolution MeasurementsWe 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 Local kinematics of K and M giants from CORAVEL/Hipparcos/Tycho-2 data. Revisiting the concept of superclustersThe availability of the Hipparcos Catalogue has triggered many kinematicand dynamical studies of the solar neighbourhood. Nevertheless, thosestudies generally lacked the third component of the space velocities,i.e., the radial velocities. This work presents the kinematic analysisof 5952 K and 739 M giants in the solar neighbourhood which includes forthe first time radial velocity data from a large survey performed withthe CORAVEL spectrovelocimeter. It also uses proper motions from theTycho-2 catalogue, which are expected to be more accurate than theHipparcos ones. An important by-product of this study is the observedfraction of only 5.7% of spectroscopic binaries among M giants ascompared to 13.7% for K giants. After excluding the binaries for whichno center-of-mass velocity could be estimated, 5311 K and 719 M giantsremain in the final sample. The UV-plane constructed from these datafor the stars with precise parallaxes (σπ/π≤20%) reveals a rich small-scale structure, with several clumpscorresponding to the Hercules stream, the Sirius moving group, and theHyades and Pleiades superclusters. A maximum-likelihood method, based ona Bayesian approach, has been applied to the data, in order to make fulluse of all the available stars (not only those with precise parallaxes)and to derive the kinematic properties of these subgroups. Isochrones inthe Hertzsprung-Russell diagram reveal a very wide range of ages forstars belonging to these groups. These groups are most probably relatedto the dynamical perturbation by transient spiral waves (as recentlymodelled by De Simone et al. \cite{Simone2004}) rather than to clusterremnants. A possible explanation for the presence of younggroup/clusters in the same area of the UV-plane is that they have beenput there by the spiral wave associated with their formation, while thekinematics of the older stars of our sample has also been disturbed bythe same wave. The emerging picture is thus one of dynamical streamspervading the solar neighbourhood and travelling in the Galaxy withsimilar space velocities. The term dynamical stream is more appropriatethan the traditional term supercluster since it involves stars ofdifferent ages, not born at the same place nor at the same time. Theposition of those streams in the UV-plane is responsible for the vertexdeviation of 16.2o ± 5.6o for the wholesample. Our study suggests that the vertex deviation for youngerpopulations could have the same dynamical origin. The underlyingvelocity ellipsoid, extracted by the maximum-likelihood method afterremoval of the streams, is not centered on the value commonly acceptedfor the radial antisolar motion: it is centered on < U > =-2.78±1.07 km s-1. However, the full data set(including the various streams) does yield the usual value for theradial solar motion, when properly accounting for the biases inherent tothis kind of analysis (namely, < U > = -10.25±0.15 kms-1). This discrepancy clearly raises the essential questionof how to derive the solar motion in the presence of dynamicalperturbations altering the kinematics of the solar neighbourhood: doesthere exist in the solar neighbourhood a subset of stars having no netradial motion which can be used as a reference against which to measurethe solar motion?Based on observations performed at the Swiss 1m-telescope at OHP,France, and on data from the ESA Hipparcos astrometry satellite.Full Table \ref{taba1} is only available in electronic form at the CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/430/165} Improved Baade-Wesselink surface brightness relationsRecent, and older accurate, data on (limb-darkened) angular diameters iscompiled for 221 stars, as well as BVRIJK[12][25] magnitudes for thoseobjects, when available. Nine stars (all M-giants or supergiants)showing excess in the [12-25] colour are excluded from the analysis asthis may indicate the presence of dust influencing the optical andnear-infrared colours as well. Based on this large sample,Baade-Wesselink surface brightness (SB) relations are presented fordwarfs, giants, supergiants and dwarfs in the optical and near-infrared.M-giants are found to follow different SB relations from non-M-giants,in particular in V versus V-R. The preferred relation for non-M-giantsis compared to the earlier relation by Fouqué and Gieren (basedon 10 stars) and Nordgren et al. (based on 57 stars). Increasing thesample size does not lead to a lower rms value. It is shown that theresiduals do not correlate with metallicity at a significant level. Thefinally adopted observed angular diameters are compared to thosepredicted by Cohen et al. for 45 stars in common, and there isreasonable overall, and good agreement when θ < 6 mas.Finally, I comment on the common practice in the literature to average,and then fix, the zero-point of the V versus V-K, V versus V-R and Kversus J-K relations, and then rederive the slopes. Such a commonzero-point at zero colour is not expected from model atmospheres for theV-R colour and depends on gravity. Relations derived in this way may bebiased. Determination of fundamental characteristics for stars of the F, G, and K spectral types. The surface gravities and metallicity parameters.Not Available Angular Diameters of Stars from the Mark III Optical InterferometerObservations of 85 stars were obtained at wavelengths between 451 and800 nm with the Mark III Stellar Interferometer on Mount Wilson, nearPasadena, California. Angular diameters were determined by fitting auniform-disk model to the visibility amplitude versus projected baselinelength. Half the angular diameters determined at 800 nm have formalerrors smaller than 1%. Limb-darkened angular diameters, effectivetemperatures, and surface brightnesses were determined for these stars,and relationships between these parameters are presented. Scatter inthese relationships is larger than would be expected from themeasurement uncertainties. We argue that this scatter is not due to anunderestimate of the angular diameter errors; whether it is due tophotometric errors or is intrinsic to the relationship is unresolved.The agreement with other observations of the same stars at the samewavelengths is good; the width of the difference distribution iscomparable to that estimated from the error bars, but the wings of thedistribution are larger than Gaussian. Comparison with infraredmeasurements is more problematic; in disagreement with models, coolerstars appear systematically smaller in the near-infrared than expected,warmer stars larger. A catalogue of calibrator stars for long baseline stellar interferometryLong baseline stellar interferometry shares with other techniques theneed for calibrator stars in order to correct for instrumental andatmospheric effects. We present a catalogue of 374 stars carefullyselected to be used for that purpose in the near infrared. Owing toseveral convergent criteria with the work of Cohen et al.(\cite{cohen99}), this catalogue is in essence a subset of theirself-consistent all-sky network of spectro-photometric calibrator stars.For every star, we provide the angular limb-darkened diameter, uniformdisc angular diameters in the J, H and K bands, the Johnson photometryand other useful parameters. Most stars are type III giants withspectral types K or M0, magnitudes V=3-7 and K=0-3. Their angularlimb-darkened diameters range from 1 to 3 mas with a median uncertaintyas low as 1.2%. The median distance from a given point on the sky to theclosest reference is 5.2degr , whereas this distance never exceeds16.4degr for any celestial location. The catalogue is only available inelectronic form at the 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/393/183 CHARM: A Catalog of High Angular Resolution MeasurementsThe 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. Lick Spectral Indices for Super-Metal-rich StarsWe present Lick spectral indices for a complete sample of 139 candidatesuper-metal-rich stars of different luminosity classes (MK type from Ito V). For 91 of these stars we were able to identify, in anaccompanying paper, the fundamental atmosphere parameters. This confirmsthat at least 2/3 of the sample consists of stars with [Fe/H] in excessof +0.1 dex. Optical indices for both observations and fiducialsynthetic spectra have been calibrated to the Lick system according toWorthey et al. and include the Fe I indices of Fe5015, Fe5270, andFe5335 and the Mg I and MgH indices of Mg2 and Mg b at 5180Å. The internal accuracy of the observations is found to beσ(Fe5015)=+/-0.32 Å, σ(Fe5270)=+/-0.19 Å,σ(Fe5335)=+/-0.22 Å, σ(Mg2)=+/-0.004 mag,and σ(Mg b)=+/-0.19 Å. This is about a factor of 2 betterthan the corresponding theoretical indices from the synthetic spectra,the latter being a consequence of the intrinsic limitations in the inputphysics, as discussed by Chavez et al. By comparing models andobservations, we find no evidence for nonstandard Mg versus Fe relativeabundance, so [Mg/Fe]=0, on the average, for our sample. Both theWorthey et al. and Buzzoni et al. fitting functions are found tosuitably match the data and can therefore confidently be extended forpopulation synthesis application also to supersolar metallicity regimes.A somewhat different behavior of the two fitting sets appears, however,beyond the temperature constraints of our stellar sample. Its impact onthe theoretical output is discussed, as far as the integratedMg2 index is derived from synthesis models of stellaraggregates. A two-index plot, such as Mg2 versus Fe5270, isfound to provide a simple and powerful tool for probing distinctiveproperties of single stars and stellar aggregates as a whole. The majoradvantage, over a classical CM diagram, is that it is both reddeningfree and distance independent. Based on observations collected at theInstituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electrónica(INAOE) G. Haro'' Observatory, Cananea (Mexico). Absolute spectrophotometry of late-type stars.Not Available The warm circumstellar envelope and wind of the G9 IIb star HR 6902IUE observations of the eclipsing binary system HR 6902 obtained atvarious epochs spread over four years indicate the presence of warmcircumstellar material enveloping the G9 IIb primary. The spectra showSi Iv and C Iv absorption up to a distance of 3.3 giant radii(Rg). Line ratio diagnostics yields an electron temperatureof ~ 78 000 K which appears to be constant over the observed heightrange. Applying a least square fit absorption line analysis we derivecolumn densities as a function of height. We find that the innerenvelope (< 3;Rg) of the bright giant is consistent with ahydrostatic density distribution. The derived line broadening velocityof ~ 70 km s-1 is sufficient to provide turbulent pressuresupport for the required scale height. However, an improved agreementwith observations over the whole height regime including the emissionline region is obtained with an outflow model. We demonstrate that thecommon β power-law as well as a P ∝ ρ wind yieldappropriate fit models. Adopting a continuous mass outflow we obtain amass-loss rate of Mȯ=0.8 - 3.4 × 10-11Msolar yr-1 depending on the particular windmodel. The emission lines observed during total eclipse are attributedmostly to resonance scattering of B star photons in the extendedenvelope of the giant. By means of a multi-dimensional line formationstudy we show that the global envelope properties are consistent withthe wind models derived from the absorption line analysis. We argue thatfuture high resolution UV spectroscopy will resolve the large-scalevelocity structure of the circumstellar shell. As an illustration wepresent theoretical Si Iv and C Iv emission profiles showingmodel-dependent line shifts and asymmetries. Galactic mass-losing AGB stars probed with the IRTS. I.AGB mass-losing sources are easy to identify and to characterize in thenear-infrared range (1-5 mu m). We make use of the near-infrared dataacquired by the Japanese space experiment IRTS to study a sample ofsources detected in the 2 celestial strips surveyed by the IRTS.Mass-loss rates and distances are estimated for 40 carbon-rich sourcesand 86 oxygen-rich sources of which 8 are probably of S-type. Althoughthe sample is small, one sees a dependence of the relative contributionof the two kinds of sources to the replenishment of the interstellarmedium (ISM) on the galactocentric distance. E.g. from 6 to 8 kpc,oxygen-rich sources in our sample contribute 10-12 times as much ascarbon rich sources, whereas from 10 to 12 kpc, the latters contribute3-4 times as much as the formers. Therefore, one would expect a gradientin the composition of the ISM between 6 and 12 kpc from the GalacticCentre, especially in its dust component. Most of the replenishment(>50%) by AGB stars is due to sources with mass-loss rate larger than10-6 Msun yr-1. On the Wilson-Bappu relationship in the Mg II k lineAn investigation is carried out on the Wilson-Bappu effect in the Mg Iik line at 2796.34 Å. The work is based on a selection of 230 starsobserved by both the IUE and HIPPARCOS satellites, covering a wide rangeof spectral types (F to M) and absolute visual magnitudes (-5.4<=MV <=9.0). A semi-automatic procedure is used to measurethe line widths, which applies also in the presence of strong centralabsorption reversal. The Wilson-Bappu relationship here provided isconsidered to represent an improvement over previous recent results forthe considerably larger data sample used, as well as for a properconsideration of the measurement errors. No evidence has been found fora possible dependence of the WB effect on stellar metallicity andeffective temperature. Elemental abundance analyses with DAO spectrograms. XXV. The superficially normal B and A stars alpha Draconis, tau Herculis, gamma Lyrae, and HR 7926Elemental abundances analyses of the superfically normal B and A starsalpha Dra (A0 III), tau Her (B5 IV), gamma Lyr (B9 III), and HR 7926 (B8II-III) are performed consistent with previous studies of this seriesusing spectrograms obtained with Reticon and CCD detectors. Comparisonsof the first two analyses with those of the same stars performed earlierin this series which used mostly coadded photographic plates show thegeneral consistency of the derived elemental abundances. A slightincrease in the adopted effective temperature produces a correspondingincrease in the derived abundances. In these stars the He/H ratios arefound to be close to solar. Except for gamma Lyr the metals show for themost part marginally subsolar abundance values. But this star has Al,Ca, Sc, and Sr abundances that are substantially underabundant as wellas other underabundant values. Table 5 is only available in electronicform at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5)or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/371/1078 Catalogue of Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (CADARS) - Third edition - Comments and statisticsThe Catalogue, available at the Centre de Données Stellaires deStrasbourg, consists of 13 573 records concerning the results obtainedfrom different methods for 7778 stars, reported in the literature. Thefollowing data are listed for each star: identifications, apparentmagnitude, spectral type, apparent diameter in arcsec, absolute radiusin solar units, method of determination, reference, remarks. Commentsand statistics obtained from CADARS are given. The Catalogue isavailable in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcar?J/A+A/367/521 The proper motions of fundamental stars. I. 1535 stars from the Basic FK5A direct combination of the positions given in the HIPPARCOS cataloguewith astrometric ground-based catalogues having epochs later than 1939allows us to obtain new proper motions for the 1535 stars of the BasicFK5. The results are presented as the catalogue Proper Motions ofFundamental Stars (PMFS), Part I. The median precision of the propermotions is 0.5 mas/year for mu alpha cos delta and 0.7mas/year for mu delta . The non-linear motions of thephotocentres of a few hundred astrometric binaries are separated intotheir linear and elliptic motions. Since the PMFS proper motions do notinclude the information given by the proper motions from othercatalogues (HIPPARCOS, FK5, FK6, etc.) this catalogue can be used as anindependent source of the proper motions of the fundamental stars.Catalogue (Table 3) is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strastg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/365/222 Observations and Atmospheric Parameters of Super-Metal-rich CandidatesThe spectroscopic properties of a sample of 92 Population I bright stars(V<8) with literature values of [Fe/H]>=+0.1 are reviewed in orderto study the metallicity scale at supersolar regimes. For 73 of thesecandidate super-metal-rich (SMR) stars we identified the photosphericfiducial parameters (Teff, logg, [M/H]) from among publishedparameter sets via a comparison of new observations in the wavelengthrange 5034-5398 Å with synthetic spectra derived from the 1997database of Chavez et al. As a main issue in our analysis, we find thata genuine'' SMR stellar component in the Galactic disk exists withmore than one-fourth of the stars in our sample fulfilling the criterion[Fe/H]>=0.2 dex, and three of them as rich as [Fe/H]>+0.4 dex.Based on observations collected at the INAOE G. Haro'' Observatory,Cananea (Mexico). Composite spectraPaper 10: the equal-mass binary HR 2030 (K0IIb+B8IV)We separate the spectra of the individual components of HR 2030, asixth-magnitude composite-spectrum binary system, and show that theyhave types close to K0IIb and B8IV, and masses that are equal to withinthe precision of the measurements (mass ratio=1.00+/-0.03). The orbitappears to have a very small eccentricity, although reasons are givenfor believing that such eccentricity is spurious; it has a period of 66dand an inclination estimated at 30° to the line of sight. Ourphotometric model of the system confirms the luminosity types derivedfrom the spectra and indicates an interstellar absorption of 0.4mag, inaccord with the observed strength of the interstellar K line. We derivethe physical parameters (Teff, Mbol, R, L) of thecomponents, and calculate that the mass of each star is close to4.0Msolar. We further show that the hot component(R=5.9+/-0.6Rsolar) has already evolved to a positionsignificantly above the zero-age main sequence (ZAMS), and we proposethat the primary (R=41+/-5Rsolar) is making its first ascentof the red-giant branch. From comparisons with evolutionary tracks, wededuce that the age of the binary (since its arrival at the ZAMS) is inthe range 1-2×108yr. While we suspect that thecomponents are sufficiently close for some tidal distortion to occur,the effects are not discernible in our data owing to the rather loworbital inclination. The system shows Sii in emission as a result ofirradiation of the primary by the hot secondary, but in the opticalspectrum we see little other clear evidence of interaction between thecomponents even though the object has a relatively short period and is astrong X-ray source. On the other hand, Hipparcos photometry suggeststhe existence of a major non-uniformity of the surface of the primarystar. Sixth Catalogue of Fundamental Stars (FK6). Part I. Basic fundamental stars with direct solutionsThe FK6 is a suitable combination of the results of the HIPPARCOSastrometry satellite with ground-based data, measured over more than twocenturies and summarized in the FK5. Part I of the FK6 (abbreviatedFK6(I)) contains 878 basic fundamental stars with direct solutions. Suchdirect solutions are appropriate for single stars or for objects whichcan be treated like single stars. From the 878 stars in Part I, we haveselected 340 objects as "astrometrically excellent stars", since theirinstantaneous proper motions and mean (time-averaged) ones do not differsignificantly. Hence most of the astrometrically excellent stars arewell-behaving "single-star candidates" with good astrometric data. Thesestars are most suited for high-precision astrometry. On the other hand,199 of the stars in Part I are Δμ binaries in the sense ofWielen et al. (1999). Many of them are newly discovered probablebinaries with no other hitherto known indication of binarity. The FK6gives, besides the classical "single-star mode" solutions (SI mode),other solutions which take into account the fact that hidden astrometricbinaries among "apparently single-stars" introduce sizable "cosmicerrors" into the quasi-instantaneously measured HIPPARCOS proper motionsand positions. The FK6 gives in addition to the SI mode the "long-termprediction (LTP) mode" and the "short-term prediction (STP) mode". TheseLTP and STP modes are on average the most precise solutions forapparently single stars, depending on the epoch difference with respectto the HIPPARCOS epoch of about 1991. The typical mean error of anFK6(I) proper motion in the single-star mode is 0.35 mas/year. This isabout a factor of two better than the typical HIPPARCOS errors for thesestars of 0.67 mas/year. In the long-term prediction mode, in whichcosmic errors are taken into account, the FK6(I) proper motions have atypical mean error of 0.50 mas/year, which is by a factor of more than 4better than the corresponding error for the HIPPARCOS values of 2.21mas/year (cosmic errors included). Determination of the characteristics of stars of spectral types F,G,K. The effective temperatures.Not Available Non-LTE analysis of the atmospheric sodium abundances of peculiar disk starsHigh-resolution CCD spectra are used to determine the sodium abundancesin the atmospheres of 12 peculiar disk stars with sodium excesses,taking into account deviations from local thermodynamic equilibrium. Insome cases, the non-LTE corrections reach 0.2 dex, and it is necessaryto calculate them in each individual case. On average, however, themagnitude of these corrections does not exceed 0.1 dex, and the sodiumexcesses for most of the stars are not eliminated by taking thesecorrections into account. Spectral Irradiance Calibration in the Infrared. X. A Self-Consistent Radiometric All-Sky Network of Absolutely Calibrated Stellar SpectraWe start from our six absolutely calibrated continuous stellar spectrafrom 1.2 to 35 μm for K0, K1.5, K3, K5, and M0 giants. These wereconstructed as far as possible from actual observed spectral fragmentstaken from the ground, the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, and the IRAS LowResolution Spectrometer, and all have a common calibration pedigree.From these we spawn 422 calibrated spectral templates'' for stars withspectral types in the ranges G9.5-K3.5 III and K4.5-M0.5 III. Wenormalize each template by photometry for the individual stars usingpublished and/or newly secured near- and mid-infrared photometryobtained through fully characterized, absolutely calibrated,combinations of filter passband, detector radiance response, and meanterrestrial atmospheric transmission. These templates continue ourongoing effort to provide an all-sky network of absolutely calibrated,spectrally continuous, stellar standards for general infrared usage, allwith a common, traceable calibration heritage. The wavelength coverageis ideal for calibration of many existing and proposed ground-based,airborne, and satellite sensors, particularly low- tomoderate-resolution spectrometers. We analyze the statistics of probableuncertainties, in the normalization of these templates to actualphotometry, that quantify the confidence with which we can assert thatthese templates truly represent the individual stars. Each calibratedtemplate provides an angular diameter for that star. These radiometricangular diameters compare very favorably with those directly observedacross the range from 1.6 to 21 mas. Radii and Effective Temperatures for G, K, and M Giants and SupergiantsInterferometrically determined angular diameters obtained at the PalomarTestbed Interferometer (PTI) for 69 giant and supergiant stars arepresented. Spectral types of the 59 giant stars generally lie between G6and M6, although a B7 giant is included; the nine bright giants andsupergiants have spectral types between F5 and M5. Comparison of theresults to those from the IR Optical Telescope Array interferometerindicate no statistically significant difference between the two datasets. The use of Hipparcos parallaxes allows us to measure linear sizesdirectly for these stars, which range in size from 10 to 260 solarradii. In conjunction with previous results as reported by Dyck et al.,the total of 113 giant stars provides empirically determineddependencies of effective temperature and linear radius upon spectraltype and V-K color. A catalog of rotational and radial velocities for evolved starsRotational and radial velocities have been measured for about 2000evolved stars of luminosity classes IV, III, II and Ib covering thespectral region F, G and K. The survey was carried out with the CORAVELspectrometer. The precision for the radial velocities is better than0.30 km s-1, whereas for the rotational velocity measurementsthe uncertainties are typically 1.0 km s-1 for subgiants andgiants and 2.0 km s-1 for class II giants and Ib supergiants.These data will add constraints to studies of the rotational behaviourof evolved stars as well as solid informations concerning the presenceof external rotational brakes, tidal interactions in evolved binarysystems and on the link between rotation, chemical abundance and stellaractivity. In this paper we present the rotational velocity v sin i andthe mean radial velocity for the stars of luminosity classes IV, III andII. Based on observations collected at the Haute--Provence Observatory,Saint--Michel, France and at the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile. Table \ref{tab5} also available in electronic form at CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html Towards a fundamental calibration of stellar parameters of A, F, G, K dwarfs and giantsI report on the implementation of the empirical surface brightnesstechnique using the near-infrared Johnson broadband { (V-K)} colour assuitable sampling observable aimed at providing accurate effectivetemperatures of 537 dwarfs and giants of A-F-G-K spectral-type selectedfor a flux calibration of the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). Thesurface brightness-colour correlation is carefully calibrated using aset of high-precision angular diameters measured by moderninterferometry techniques. The stellar sizes predicted by thiscorrelation are then combined with the bolometric flux measurementsavailable for a subset of 327 ISO standard stars in order to determineone-dimensional { (T, V-K)} temperature scales of dwarfs and giants. Theresulting very tight relationships show an intrinsic scatter induced byobservational photometry and bolometric flux measurements well below thetarget accuracy of +/- 1 % required for temperature determinations ofthe ISO standards. Major improvements related to the actual directcalibration are the high-precision broadband { K} magnitudes obtainedfor this purpose and the use of Hipparcos parallaxes for dereddeningphotometric data. The temperature scale of F-G-K dwarfs shows thesmallest random errors closely consistent with those affecting theobservational photometry alone, indicating a negligible contributionfrom the component due to the bolometric flux measurements despite thewide range in metallicity for these stars. A more detailed analysisusing a subset of selected dwarfs with large metallicity gradientsstrongly supports the actual bolometric fluxes as being practicallyunaffected by the metallicity of field stars, in contrast with recentresults claiming somewhat significant effects. The temperature scale ofF-G-K giants is affected by random errors much larger than those ofdwarfs, indicating that most of the relevant component of the scattercomes from the bolometric flux measurements. Since the giants have smallmetallicities, only gravity effects become likely responsible for theincreased level of scatter. The empirical stellar temperatures withsmall model-dependent corrections are compared with the semiempiricaldata by the Infrared Flux Method (IRFM) using the large sample of 327comparison stars. One major achievement is that all empirical andsemiempirical temperature estimates of F-G-K giants and dwarfs are foundto be closely consistent between each other to within +/- 1 %. However,there is also evidence for somewhat significant differential effects.These include an average systematic shift of (2.33 +/- 0.13) % affectingthe A-type stars, the semiempirical estimates being too low by thisamount, and an additional component of scatter as significant as +/- 1 %affecting all the comparison stars. The systematic effect confirms theresults from other investigations and indicates that previousdiscrepancies in applying the IRFM to A-type stars are not yet removedby using new LTE line-blanketed model atmospheres along with the updatedabsolute flux calibration, whereas the additional random component isfound to disappear in a broadband version of the IRFM using an infraredreference flux derived from wide rather than narrow band photometricdata. Table 1 and 2 are only available in the electronic form of thispaper The Tokyo PMC catalog 90-93: Catalog of positions of 6649 stars observed in 1990 through 1993 with Tokyo photoelectric meridian circleThe 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.
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