Theoretical fits of the \delta Cephei light, radius and radial velocity curves

We present a theoretical investigation of the light, radius and radial velocity variations of the prototype $\delta$ Cephei. We find that the best fit model accounts for luminosity and velocity amplitudes with an accuracy better than $0.8\sigma$, and for the radius amplitude with an accuracy of $1.7\sigma$. The chemical composition of this model suggests a decrease in both helium (0.26 vs 0.28) and metal (0.01 vs 0.02) content in the solar neighborhood. Moreover, distance determinations based on the fit of light curves agree at the $0.8\sigma$ level with the trigonometric parallax measured by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). On the other hand, distance determinations based on angular diameter variations, that are independent of interstellar extinction and of the $p$-factor value, indicate an increase of the order of 5% in the HST parallax.Comment: accepted for publication on ApJ Letter

High resolution spectroscopy for Cepheids distance determination. V. Impact of the cross-correlation method on the p-factor and the gamma-velocities

The cross correlation method (hereafter CC) is widely used to derive the radial velocity curve of Cepheids when the signal to noise of the spectra is low. However, if it is used with the wrong projection factor, it might introduce some biases in the Baade-Wesselink (hereafter BW) methods of determining the distance of Cepheids. In addition, it might affect the average value of the radial velocity curve (or gamma-velocity) important for Galactic structure studies. We aim to derive a period-projection factor relation (hereafter Pp) appropriate to be used together with the CC method. Moreover, we investigate whether the CC method can explain the misunderstood previous calculation of the K-term of Cepheids. We observed eight galactic Cepheids with the HARPS spectrograph. For each star, we derive an interpolated CC radial velocity curve using the HARPS pipeline. The amplitudes of these curves are used to determine the correction to be applied to the semi-theoretical projection factor derived in Nardetto et al. (2007). Their average value (or gamma-velocity) are also compared to the center-of-mass velocities derived in Nardetto et al. (2008). The correction in amplitudes allows us to derive a new Pp relation: p = [-0.08+-0.05] log P +[1.31+-0.06]. We also find a negligible wavelength dependence (over the optical range) of the Pp relation. We finally show that the gamma-velocity derived from the CC method is systematically blue-shifted by about 1.0 +- 0.2km/s compared to the center-of-mass velocity of the star. An additional blue-shift of 1.0km/s is thus needed to totally explain the previous calculation of the K-term of Cepheids (around 2km/s). The new Pp relation we derived is a solid tool for the distance scale calibration (abridged).Comment: Comments : 9 pages, 3 Postscript figures, 5 Tables, accepted for publication in A&

The night-sky at the Calar Alto Observatory

We present a characterization of the main properties of the night-sky at the Calar Alto observatory for the time period between 2004 and 2007. We use optical spectrophotometric data, photometric calibrated images taken in moonless observing periods, together with the observing conditions regularly monitored at the observatory, such as atmospheric extinction and seeing. We derive, for the first time, the typical moonless night-sky optical spectrum for the observatory. The spectrum shows a strong contamination by different pollution lines, in particular from Mercury lines, which contribution to the sky-brightness in the different bands is of the order of ~0.09 mag, ~0.16 mag and ~0.10 mag in B, V and R respectively. The zenith-corrected values of the moonless night-sky surface brightness are 22.39, 22.86, 22.01, 21.36 and 19.25 mag arcsec^-2 in U, B, V, R and I, which indicates that Calar Alto is a particularly dark site for optical observations up to the I-band. The fraction of astronomical useful nights at the observatory is ~70%, with a ~30% of photometric nights. The typical extinction at the observatory is k_V~0.15 mag in the Winter season, with little dispersion. In summer the extinction has a wider range of values, although it does not reach the extreme peaks observed at other sites. The median seeing for the last two years (2005-6) was ~0.90", being smaller in the Summer (~0.87") than in the Winter (~0.96"). We conclude in general that after 26 years of operations Calar Alto is still a good astronomical site, being a natural candidate for future large aperture optical telescopes.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publishing in the Publications of Astronomical Society of the Pacific (PASP

The MACHO Project LMC Variable Star Inventory. VI. The Second-overtone Mode of Cepheid Pulsation From First/Second Overtone (FO/SO) Beat Cepheids

MACHO Project photometry of 45 LMC FO/SO beat Cepheids which pulsate in the first and second overtone (FO and SOo, respectively) has been analysed to determine the lightcurve characteristics for the SO mode of Cepheid pulsation. We predict that singly-periodic SO Cepheids will have nearly sinusoidal lightcurves; that we will only be able to discern SO Cepheids from fundamental (F) and (FO) Cepheids for P <= 1.4 days; and that the SO distribution will overlap the short-period edge of the LMC FO Cepheid period-luminosity relation (when both are plotted as a function of photometric period). We also report the discovery of one SO Cepheid candidate, MACHO*05:03:39.6$-$70:04:32, with a photometric period of 0.775961 +/- 0.000019 days and an instrumental amplitude of 0.047 +/- 0.009 mag in V.Comment: 23 pages, 7 Encapsulated PostScript figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

On the photometric variability of blue supergiants in NGC 300 and its impact on the Flux-weighted Gravity-Luminosity Relationship

We present a study of the photometric variability of spectroscopically confirmed supergiants in NGC 300, comprising 28 epochs extending over a period of five months. We find 15 clearly photometrically variable blue supergiants in a sample of nearly 70 such stars, showing maximum light amplitudes ranging from 0.08 to 0.23 magnitudes in the V band, and one variable red supergiant. We show their light curves, and determine semi-periods for two A2 Ia stars. Assuming that the observed changes correspond to similar variations in the bolometric luminosity, we test for the influence of this variability on the Flux-weighted Gravity--Luminosity Relationship and find a negligible effect, showing that the calibration of this relationship, which has the potential to measure extragalactic distances at the Cepheid accuracy level, is not affected by the stellar photometric variability in any significant way.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Functional significance may underlie the taxonomic utility of single amino acid substitutions in conserved proteins

We hypothesized that some amino acid substitutions in conserved proteins that are strongly fixed by critical functional roles would show lineage-specific distributions. As an example of an archetypal conserved eukaryotic protein we considered the active site of ß-tubulin. Our analysis identified one amino acid substitution—ß-tubulin F224—which was highly lineage specific. Investigation of ß-tubulin for other phylogenetically restricted amino acids identified several with apparent specificity for well-defined phylogenetic groups. Intriguingly, none showed specificity for “supergroups” other than the unikonts. To understand why, we analysed the ß-tubulin Neighbor-Net and demonstrated a fundamental division between core ß-tubulins (plant-like) and divergent ß-tubulins (animal and fungal). F224 was almost completely restricted to the core ß-tubulins, while divergent ß-tubulins possessed Y224. Thus, our specific example offers insight into the restrictions associated with the co-evolution of ß-tubulin during the radiation of eukaryotes, underlining a fundamental dichotomy between F-type, core ß-tubulins and Y-type, divergent ß-tubulins. More broadly our study provides proof of principle for the taxonomic utility of critical amino acids in the active sites of conserved proteins

In Search of Possible Associations between Planetary Nebulae and Open Clusters

We consider the possibility of cluster membership for 13 planetary nebulae that are located in close proximity to open clusters lying in their lines of sight. The short lifetimes and low sample size of intermediate-mass planetary nebulae with respect to nearby open clusters conspire to reduce the probability of observing a true association. Not surprisingly, line of sight coincidences almost certainly exist for 7 of the 13 cases considered. Additional studies are advocated, however, for 6 planetary nebula/open cluster coincidences in which a physical association is not excluded by the available evidence, namely M 1-80/Berkeley 57, NGC 2438/NGC 2437, NGC 2452/NGC 2453, VBRC 2 & NGC 2899/IC 2488, and HeFa 1/NGC 6067. A number of additional potential associations between planetary nebulae and open clusters is tabulated for reference purposes. It is noteworthy that the strongest cases involve planetary nebulae lying in cluster coronae, a feature also found for short-period cluster Cepheids, which are themselves potential progenitors of planetary nebulae.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASP (December 2007

Molecular weight of hydroxyethyl starch: is there an effect on blood coagulation and pharmacokinetics?

Background. The development of hydroxyethyl starches (HES) with low impact on blood coagulation but higher volume effect compared with the currently used HES solutions is of clinical interest. We hypothesized that high molecular weight, low-substituted HES might possess these properties. Methods. Thirty pigs were infused with three different HES solutions (20 ml kg−1) with the same degree of molar substitution (0.42) but different molecular weights (130, 500 and 900 kDa). Serial blood samples were taken over 24 h and blood coagulation was assessed by Thromboelastograph® analysis and analysis of plasma coagulation. In addition, plasma concentration and in vivo molecular weight were determined and pharmacokinetic data were computed based on a two-compartment model. Results. Thromboelastograph analysis and plasma coagulation tests did not reveal a more pronounced alteration of blood coagulation with HES 500 and HES 900 compared with HES 130. In contrast, HES 500 and HES 900 had a greater area under the plasma concentration-time curve [1542 (142) g min litre−1, P<0.001, 1701 (321) g min litre−1, P<0.001] than HES 130 [1156 (223) g min litre−1] and alpha half life (\batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} $\mathrm{t}_{{\alpha}}^{{\frac{1}{2}}}$ \end{document}) was longer for HES 500 [53.8 (8.6) min, P<0.01] and HES 900 [57.1 (12.3) min, P<0.01] than for HES 130 [39.9 (10.7) min]. Beta half life (\batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} $\mathrm{t}_{{\beta}}^{{\frac{1}{2}}}$ \end{document}), however, was similar for all three types of HES [from 332 (100) to 381 (63) min]. Conclusions. In low-substituted HES, molecular weight is not a key factor in compromising blood coagulation. The longer initial intravascular persistence of high molecular weight low-substituted HES might result in a longer lasting volume effec

Discovery of a peculiar Cepheid-like star towards the northern edge of the Small Magellanic Cloud

For seven years, the EROS-2 project obtained a mass of photometric data on variable stars. We present a peculiar Cepheid-like star, in the direction of the Small Magellanic Cloud, which demonstrates unusual photometric behaviour over a short time interval. We report on data of the photometry acquired by the MARLY telescope and spectroscopy from the EFOSC instrument for this star, called EROS2 J005135-714459(sm0060n13842), which resembles the unusual Cepheid HR 7308. The light curve of our target is analysed using the Analysis of Variance method to determine a pulsational period of 5.5675 days. A fit of time-dependent Fourier coefficients is performed and a search for proper motion is conducted. The light curve exhibits a previously unobserved and spectacular change in both mean magnitude and amplitude, which has no clear theoretical explanation. Our analysis of the spectrum implies a radial velocity of 104 km s$^{-1}$ and a metallicity of -0.4$\pm$0.2 dex. In the direction of right ascension, we measure a proper motion of 17.4$\pm$6.0 mas yr$^{-1}$ using EROS astrometry, which is compatible with data from the NOMAD catalogue. The nature of EROS2 J005135-714459(sm0060n13842) remains unclear. For this star, we may have detected a non-zero proper motion for this star, which would imply that it is a foreground object. Its radial velocity, pulsational characteristics, and photometric data, however, suggest that it is instead a Cepheid-like object located in the SMC. In such a case, it would present a challenge to conventional Cepheid models.Comment: Correction of typos in the abstrac

The Baade-Wesselink p-factor applicable to LMC Cepheids

Context. Recent observations of LMC Cepheids bring new constraints on the slope of the period-projection factor relation (hereafter Pp relation) that is currently used in the Baade-Wesselink (hereafter BW) method of distance determination. The discrepancy between observations and theoretical analysis is particularly significant for short period Cepheids Aims. We investigate three physical effects that might possibly explain this discrepancy: (1) the spectroscopic S/N that is systematically lower for LMC Cepheids (around 10) compared to Galactic ones (up to 300), (2) the impact of the metallicity on the dynamical structure of LMC Cepheids, and (3) the combination of infrared photometry/interferometry with optical spectroscopy. Methods. To study the S/N we use a very simple toy model of Cepheids. The impact of metallicity on the projection factor is based on the hydrodynamical model of delta Cep already described in previous studies. This model is also used to derive the position of the optical versus infrared photospheric layers. Results. We find no significant effect of S/N, metallicity, and optical-versus-infrared observations on the Pp relation. Conclusions. The Pp relation of Cepheids in the LMC does not differ from the Galactic relation. This allows its universal application to determine distances to extragalactic Cepheids via BW analysis.Comment: accepted in A&A LETTER