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Local kinematics of K and M giants from CORAVEL/Hipparcos/Tycho-2 data. Revisiting the concept of superclusters The 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}
| The ROSAT North Ecliptic Pole Survey: the Optical Identifications The X-ray data around the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) of the ROSAT All SkySurvey have been used to construct a contiguous area survey consistingof a sample of 445 individual X-ray sources above a flux of~2×10-14 ergs cm-2 s-1 in the0.5-2.0 keV energy band. The NEP survey is centered atα2000=18h00m,δ2000=+66deg33' and covers aregion of 80.7 deg2 at a moderate Galactic latitude ofb=29.8d. Hence, the NEP survey is as deep and covers a comparable solidangle to the ROSAT serendipitous surveys but is also contiguous. We haveidentified 99.6% of the sources and determined redshifts for theextragalactic objects. In this paper we present the opticalidentifications of the NEP catalog of X-ray sources including basicX-ray data and properties of the sources. We also describe with somedetail the optical identification procedure. The classification of theoptical counterparts to the NEP sources is very similar to that ofprevious surveys, in particular the Einstein Extended Medium SensitivitySurvey (EMSS). The main constituents of the catalog are active galacticnuclei (AGNs) (~49%), either type 1 or type 2 according to the broadnessof their permitted emission lines. Stellar counterparts are the secondmost common identification class (~34%). Clusters and groups of galaxiescomprise 14%, and BL Lacertae objects 2%. One non-AGN galaxy and oneplanetary nebula have also been found. The NEP catalog of X-ray sourcesis a homogeneous sample of astronomical objects featuring completeoptical identification.
| New periodic variables from the Hipparcos epoch photometry Two selection statistics are used to extract new candidate periodicvariables from the epoch photometry of the Hipparcos catalogue. Theprimary selection criterion is a signal-to-noise ratio. The dependenceof this statistic on the number of observations is calibrated usingabout 30000 randomly permuted Hipparcos data sets. A significance levelof 0.1 per cent is used to extract a first batch of candidate variables.The second criterion requires that the optimal frequency be unaffectedif the data are de-trended by low-order polynomials. We find 2675 newcandidate periodic variables, of which the majority (2082) are from theHipparcos`unsolved' variables. Potential problems with theinterpretation of the data (e.g. aliasing) are discussed.
| The Catania Automatic Photoelectric Telescope on Mt. Etna: a systematic study of magnetically active stars A photometric monitoring of about 50 magnetically active stars, that arespread almost all over the H-R diagram, was initiated at the mountainstation of Catania Observatory on Mt. Etna (1750-m a.s.l.) in 1992 withan 80-cm robotic telescope (APT-80) built by AutoScope Co. (USA). Thissystematic survey is now approaching its 10th year anniversary. For mostof the stars, quite well defined solar-like spot maps have been derivedfrom UBV data obtained in different epochs. These data have allowed usto investigate some relevant characteristics of spot activity andvariability on stars, and to obtain clear evidence of long-term activitycycles, in the range from a few to about 10 years, on some of theobserved targets. Starspot maps are constructed by using advanced tools,such as massive parallel computing and are based on Maximum Entropy andTikhonov regularization criteria. Selected results are here presented.Our systematic observation program is still underway and a secondAPT80/2, equipped with a CCD camera, will pair the APT80/1 on the samesite. Its operation is foreseen for mid 2002.
| Photometric and spectroscopic studies of cool stars discovered in EXOSAT X-ray images. IV. The northern hemisphere sample We present high-precision photometry, high- and medium-resolutionspectroscopy for a sample of 32 stars likely to be the opticalcounterparts of X-ray sources serendipitously detected by the EXOSATsatellite. Using also recent results from the Hipparcos satellite, weinfer spectral types, compute X-ray luminosities and Li abundances andinvestigate the single or binary nature of the sample stars. We foundeleven new variable stars, whose photometric periods fall in the1.2-27.5 day range, for most of which the optical variability isconsistent with the presence of photospheric cool spots. For our sampleof X-ray selected stars we confirm the existence of a strong correlationbetween the stellar rotation rate and the level of activity, and alsobetween the X-ray and bolometric luminosities. Two stars in our sampleare likely to be pre-main sequence objects, one is likely to be apreviously unknown M-type star within 25 pc. Based on data collected atCatania Astrophysical Observatory (Mt. Etna, Italy), at ObservatorioAstronomico Nacional (UNAM, S. Pedro Martir, BC, Mexico) and at KittPeak National Observatory (Kitt Peak, AZ, USA) Table 1 is available inthe on-line version; Table 3 and the complete data set are available inelectronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr orvia http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html}
| Photometric Separation of Stellar Properties Using SDSS Filters Using synthetic photometry of Kurucz model spectra, we explore thecolors of stars as a function of temperature, metallicity, and surfacegravity with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) filters, u'g'r'i'z'. Thesynthetic colors show qualitative agreement with the few publishedobservations in these filters. We find that the locus of synthetic starsis basically two-dimensional for 4500 < T < 8000 K, whichprecludes simultaneous color separation of the three basic stellarcharacteristics we consider. Colors including u' contain the mostinformation about normal stellar properties; measurements in this filterare also important for selecting white dwarfs. We identify two differentsubsets of the locus in which the loci separate by either metallicity orsurface gravity. For 0.5 < g' - r' < 0.8 (corresponding roughly toG stars), the locus separates by metallicity; for photometric error of afew percent, we estimate metallicity to within ~0.5 dex in this range.In the range -0.15 < g' - r' < 0.00 (corresponding roughly to Astars), the locus shows separation by surface gravity. In both cases, weshow that it is advantageous to use more than two colors whendetermining stellar properties by color. Strategic observations in SDSSfilters are required to resolve the source of a ~5% discrepancy betweensynthetic colors of Gunn-Stryker stars, Kurucz models, and externaldeterminations of the metallicities and surface gravities. The syntheticstar colors can be used to investigate the properties of any normal starand to construct analytic expressions for the photometric prediction ofstellar properties in special cases.
| Simultaneous ROSAT, Ginga, VLA, IUE, and optical observations of the bright quasar H1821+643 Simultaneous optical, UV, and X-ray spectroscopy of the low-redshifthigh-luminosity QSO H1821+643 is presented in order to examine theconnection between the optical UV bump and the soft X-ray excess. Thecorrelation of the short-term variability in the optical/UV and softX-ray band is examined, and the applicability of the accretion diskmodels to the simultaneous continuum energy distribution is tested. Byfitting the continuum energy distribution with the thin accretion diskmodel, it was found that bare disk models cannot easily account for theemission in both the UV and the steep excess in the soft X-ray band. Theintrinsic X-ray spectrum of H1821+643 exhibited a typical power-lawslope above about 0.3 keV, as detected by ROSAT and Ginga. The firstdetection of H1821+643 in the radio band is reported. This radio-quietQSO was found to have a substantial radio flux at 20 cm and a typicalsteep spectral slope.
| Theoretical colours and isochrones for some Hubble Space Telescope colour systems. II A grid of synthetic surface brightness magnitudes for 14 bandpasses ofthe Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Camera is presented, as well asa grid of UBV, uvby, and Faint Object Camera surface brightnessmagnitudes derived from the Gunn-Stryker spectrophotometric atlas. Thesynthetic colors are used to examine the transformations between theground-based Johnson UBV and Stromgren uvby systems and the Faint ObjectCamera UBV and uvby. Two new four-color systems, similar to theStromgren system, are proposed for the determination of abundance,temperature, and surface gravity. The synthetic colors are also used tocalculate color-magnitude isochrones from the list of theoretical tracksprovided by VandenBerg and Bell (1990). It is shown that by using theappropriate filters it is possible to minimize the dependence of thiscolor difference on metallicity. The effects of interstellar reddeningon various Faint Object Camera colors are analyzed as well as theobservational requirements for obtaining data of a given signal-to-noisefor each of the 14 bandpasses.
| The EXOSAT high Galactic latitude survey This study presents a survey of serendipitous sources performed in thevery soft X-ray band (0.05-2.0 keV) using the Exosat imaging telescopes.It covers 783 sq deg of high Galactic latitude sky and includes 210serendipitous sources which define a complete (flux-limited) sample. Twohundred of the 210 detected sources are identified via extensive opticaland radio observations together with cross-correlations with catalogs ofknown objects. The log N-log S relation was found to be consistent withthat of the Einstein extended Medium-Sensitivity Survey (EMSS) and withthe 'Euclidean' value of 1.5. The normalization of the relation is astrong function of the assumed spectral slope of AGN. It is inferredfrom the consistency with the EMSS results that the average (energy)slope of extragalactic sources in the soft X-ray band is very steep(approximately 1.5). An analysis of the association between AGNdetection and Galactic N(H) also shows that the average slope is steepand inconsistent with the canonical value of 0.7.
| The ultraviolet spectrum and continuum energy distribution of the bright quasar H1821 + 643 The first UV observations of the bright QSO H1821 + 643 are reported.With V = 14.2 mag and z = 0.297, H1821 + 643 is the second brightestobject in the sky at z above 0.1. The IUE data are combined with newoptical spectroscopy, and existing IR and X-ray data, to reveal a strongoptical/UV 'big bump', which continues past the Lyman limit in the restframe of the QSO. A possible turnover at the high-frequency side of theUV continuum constrains fits of a thin accretion disk model to a largeblack hole mass and high accretion rate, but a small disk size. Theshape of the UV continuum was found to be variable, with a hardening ofthe spectrum when the source was brighter. Because of its location, only3 deg from the ecliptic pole, H1821 + 643 will be an important objectfor simultaneous UV and soft X-ray monitoring to test for a commonorigin of the UV bump and soft X-ray excess.
| Energy Distribution in the Stellar Spectra of Different Spectral Types and Luminosities - Part Five - Normal Stars Not Available
| Stellar spectrophotometric atlas, wavelengths from 3130 to 10800 A Over the course of the past 10 years, a large body of homogeneousspectrophotometric data on relatively bright stars has been gathered toserve as a library with which to synthesize galaxy spectra in populationstudies. As the data might be generally useful, they are presented inthree tables. One hundred seventy-five (175) stars were selected, mostfrom the Navy photometric catalog. Covered are complete ranges ofspectral type and luminosity class. Normalized spectral energydistributions of these stars in pictorial form are provided along withtables of calculated colors, scan line and continuum indices, and someinformation on the relation of the scan colors to real photometricsystems.
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Observation and Astrometry data
Constellation: | Δράκων |
Right ascension: | 18h25m10.12s |
Declination: | +64°50'18.3" |
Apparent magnitude: | 6.862 |
Distance: | 160 parsecs |
Proper motion RA: | -17.2 |
Proper motion Dec: | 62.4 |
B-T magnitude: | 8.128 |
V-T magnitude: | 6.967 |
Catalogs and designations:
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