UV diagnostic of porosity-free mass-loss estimates in B stars

We seek to establish evidence in UV P Cygni line profiles that the signs of wind clumping and porosity vary with velocity. We aim to demonstrate empirically that while at most wind velocities optically thick clumps cover only a fraction of the stellar surface, close to the terminal velocity where narrow absorption components (NACs) appear in UV lines the covering factor is approximately unity. SEI line-synthesis models are used to determine the radial optical depths of blue and red components of the SiIV 1400 resonance line doublet in a sample of 12 B0 to B4 supergiants. We focus on stars with well developed NACs and relatively low terminal velocity so that the SiIV doublet components can be treated as radiatively decoupled and formed independently. For all 12 stars the mean optical depth ratio of the blue to red components is closer to ~ 2 (i.e. the ratio of oscillator strengths) in the NACs than at intermediate and lower velocities. The product of mass-loss rate and Si^3+ ion fraction calculated from the NAC optical depths is a factor of ~ 2 to 9 higher compared to mass-loss values sampled at ~ 0.4 to 0.6 of the terminal velocity. Since the wind effectively becomes `smooth' at the high NAC velocities and the column density is uniformly distributed over the stellar disk, the optical depths of the NACs are not seriously affected by porosity and this feature thus provides the most reliable measurement of mass-loss rate in the UV lines. Applications of this result to the weak-wind problem of late O-dwarf stars and the "PV mass loss discordance" in early O supergiants are discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics; 7 pages; 3 figure

A FUSE View of the Stellar Winds of Planetary Nebula Central Stars

Since the IUE satellite produced a vast collection of high-resolution UV spectra of central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNe), there has not been any further systematic study of the stellar winds of these stars. The high spectral resolution, sensitivity and large number of archival observations in the FUSE archive allow the study of the stellar winds of CSPNe in the far UV domain where lines of species spanning a wide excitation range can be observed. We present here a preliminary analysis of the P Cygni profiles of a sample of 60 CSPNe observed by FUSE. P Cygni profiles evidencing fast stellar winds with velocities between 200 and 4,300 km/s have been found in 40 CSPNe. In many cases, this is the first time that fast stellar winds have been reported for these PNe. A detailed study of these far-UV spectra is on-going.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; accepted, to appear in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australi

An analysis of the shapes of interstellar extinction curves. VII Milky Way spectrophotometric optical-through-ultraviolet extinction and its R-dependence

We produce a set of 72 NIR-through-UV extinction curves by combining new Hubble Space Telescope/STIS optical spectrophotometry with existing International Ultraviolet Explorer spectrophotometry (yielding gapless coverage from 1150 to 10000 ?) and NIR photometry. These curves are used to determine a new, internally consistent NIR-through-UV Milky Way mean curve and to characterize how the shapes of the extinction curves depend on R(V). We emphasize that while this dependence captures much of the curve variability, considerable variation remains that is independent of R(V). We use the optical spectrophotometry to verify the presence of structure at intermediate wavelength scales in the curves. The fact that the optical-through-UV portions of the curves are sampled at relatively high resolution makes them very useful for determining how extinction affects different broadband systems, and we provide several examples. Finally, we compare our results to previous investigations

Detection of a Hot Binary Companion of η\eta Carinae

We report the detection of a hot companion of $\eta$ Carinae using high resolution spectra (905 - 1180 \AA) obtained with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (\fuse) satellite. Observations were obtained at two epochs of the 2024-day orbit: 2003 June during ingress to the 2003.5 X-ray eclipse and 2004 April several months after egress. These data show that essentially all the far-UV flux from \etacar shortward of \lya disappeared at least two days before the start of the X-ray eclipse (2003 June 29), implying that the hot companion, \etaB, was also eclipsed by the dense wind or extended atmosphere of \etaA. Analysis of the far-UV spectrum shows that \etaB is a luminous hot star. The \nii \wll1084-1086 emission feature suggests that it may be nitrogen-rich. The observed far-UV flux levels and spectral features, combined with the timing of their disappearance, is consistent with \etacar\ being a massive binary system

The dependence of UV extinction properties on dust environment

UV extinction data, derived from the Savage et al. (1985) ANS extinction catalog, are analyzed. The data include the normalized extinction at 1550 A, the strength of the 2175 A bump, and a crude estimate of the bump width. The results confirm the systematic increase of far-UV extinction with galactic altitude first uncovered by Kiszkurno-Koziej and Lequeux (1987) and verify that this effect is in fact a result of the dust being away from the plane, and not a generalized density dependence. It is also shown that the width of the 2175 A bump is systematically broader in denser regions (defined by large values of E(B-V) per Kpc), implying that a similar galactic altitude effect seen in this parameter may only be a reflection of the lower densities encountered away from the plane. The dependence of bump width upon bump strength is also examined. It is shown that a relationship between these two parameters is expected for certain models of the bump, but none is found. However, two factors which could be complicating a straightforward interpretation of the observations are identified and discussed

UV extinction properties of carina nebular dust

I have performed an analysis of the UV extinction by dust along the line of sight to the young open cluster Tr 16. The observed curves are parameterized in order to extract quantitative information about the structure of the curves. Furthermore, by constructing differential extinction curves, obtained by differencing curves for stars which lie within a few arc seconds of each other on the sky, I was able to obtain a curve which is free of the effects of foreground extinction, and represents the extinction by the dust in the Tr 16 molecular cloud. I then show that this curve is nearly identical to one due to dust in the Orion molecular cloud. This result shows that dust in the Carina arm exhibits the same behavior as that in the local arm

Wind Variability in Intermediate Luminosity B Supergiants

This study used the unique spectroscopic diagnostics of intermediate luminosity B supergiants to determine the ubiquity and nature of wind variability. Specifically, (1) A detailed analysis of HD 64760 demonstrated massive ejections into its wind, provided the first clear demonstration of a 'photospheric connection' and ionization shifts in a stellar wind; (2) The international 'IUE MEGA campaign' obtained unprecedented temporal coverage of wind variability in rapidly rotating stars and demonstrated regularly repeating wind features originating in the photosphere; (3) A detailed analysis of wind variability in the rapidly rotating B1 Ib, gamma Ara demonstrated a two component wind with distinctly different mean states at different epochs; (4) A follow-on campaign to the MEGA project to study slowly rotating stars was organized and deemed a key project by ESA/NASA, and will obtain 30 days of IUE observations in May-June 1996; and (5) A global survey of archival IUE time series identified recurring spectroscopic signatures, identified with different physical phenomena. Items 4 and 5 above are still in progress and will be completed this summer in collaboration with Raman Prinja at University College, London

ADP study of the structure of the IUE halo

Results of a two year ADP study of gas in the Galactic halo are presented. This is partly a summary of 2 papers which were published in referred journals and partly a discussion of work currently underway

New Ultraviolet Extinction Curves for Interstellar Dust in M31

New low-resolution UV spectra of a sample of reddened OB stars in M31 were obtained with HST/STIS to study the wavelength dependence of interstellar extinction and the nature of the underlying dust grain populations. Extinction curves were constructed for four reddened sightlines in M31 paired with closely matching stellar atmosphere models. The new curves have a much higher S/N than previous studies. Direct measurements of N(H I) were made using the Ly$\alpha$ absorption lines enabling gas-to-dust ratios to be calculated. The sightlines have a range in galactocentric distance of 5 to 14 kpc and represent dust from regions of different metallicities and gas-to-dust ratios. The metallicities sampled range from Solar to 1.5 Solar. The measured curves show similarity to those seen in the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Maximum Entropy Method was used to investigate the dust composition and size distribution for the sightlines observed in this program finding that the extinction curves can be produced with the available carbon and silicon abundances if the metallicity is super-Solar.Comment: ApJ, in press, 9 pages, 5 figure

Long term variability of B supergiant winds

The object of this observing proposal was to sample wind variability in B supergiants on a daily basis over a period of several days in order to determine the time scale with which density variability occurs in their winds. Three stars were selected for this project: 69 Cyg (B0 Ib), HD 164402 (B0 Ib), and HD 47240 (B1 Ib). Three grey scale representations of the Si IV lambda lambda 1400 doublet in each star are attached. In these figures, time (in days) increases upward, and the wavelength (in terms of velocity relative to the rest wavelength of the violet component of the doublet) is the abscissa. The spectra are normalized by a minimum absorption (maximum flux) template, so that all changes appear as absorptions. As a result of these observations, we can now state with some certainty that typical B supergiants develop significant wind inhomogeneities with recurrence times of a few days, and that some of these events show signs of strong temporal coherence