71 research outputs found
Can Sodium Abundances of A-Type Stars Be Reliably Determined from Na I 5890/5896 Lines?
An extensive non-LTE abundance analysis based on Na I 5890/5896 doublet lines
was carried out for a large unbiased sample of ~120 A-type main-sequence stars
(including 23 Hyades stars) covering a wide v_e sin i range of ~10--300 km/s,
with an aim to examine whether the Na abundances in such A dwarfs can be
reliably established from these strong Na I D lines. The resulting abundances
([Na/H]_{58}), which were obtained by applying the T_eff-dependent
microturbulent velocities of \xi ~2--4 km/s with a peak at T_eff ~ 8000 K
(typical for A stars), turned out generally negative with a large diversity
(from ~-1 to ~0), while showing a sign of v_e sin i-dependence (decreasing
toward higher rotation). However, the reality of this apparently subsolar trend
is very questionable, since these [Na/H]_{58} are systematically lower by
~0.3--0.6 dex than more reliable [Na/H]_{61} (derived from weak Na I 6154/6161
lines for sharp-line stars). Considering the large \xi-sensitivity of the
abundances derived from these saturated Na I D lines, we regard that
[Na/H]_{58} must have been erroneously underestimated, suspecting that the
conventional \xi values are improperly too large at least for such strong
high-forming Na I 5890/5896 lines, presumably due to the depth-dependence of
\xi decreasing with height. The nature of atmospheric turbulent velocity field
in mid-to-late A stars would have to be more investigated before we can
determine reliable sodium abundances from these strong resonance D lines.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Publ. Astron. Soc.
Japan, Vol. 61, No. 5 (2009
Precise Radial Velocities of Polaris: Detection of Amplitude Growth
We present a first results from a long-term program of a radial velocity
study of Cepheid Polaris (F7 Ib) aimed to find amplitude and period of
pulsations and nature of secondary periodicities. 264 new precise radial
velocity measurements were obtained during 2004-2007 with the fiber-fed echelle
spectrograph Bohyunsan Observatory Echelle Spectrograph (BOES) of 1.8m
telescope at Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory (BOAO) in Korea. We find a
pulsational radial velocity amplitude and period of Polaris for three seasons
of 2005.183, 2006.360, and 2007.349 as 2K = 2.210 +/- 0.048 km/s, 2K = 2.080
+/- 0.042 km/s, and 2K = 2.406 +/- 0.018 km/s respectively, indicating that the
pulsational amplitudes of Polaris that had decayed during the last century is
now increasing rapidly. The pulsational period was found to be increasing too.
This is the first detection of a historical turnaround of pulsational amplitude
change in Cepheids. We clearly find the presence of additional radial velocity
variations on a time scale of about 119 days and an amplitude of about +/- 138
m/s, that is quasi-periodic rather than strictly periodic. We do not confirm
the presence in our data the variation on a time scale 34-45 days found in
earlier radial velocity data obtained in 80's and 90's. We assume that both the
119 day quasi-periodic, noncoherent variations found in our data as well as
34-45 day variations found before can be caused by the 119 day rotation periods
of Polaris and by surface inhomogeneities such as single or multiple spot
configuration varying with the time.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in The Astronomical
Journa
The Lorentz force in atmospheres of CP stars: 56 Arietis
The presence of electric currents in the atmospheres of magnetic chemically
peculiar (mCP) stars could bring important theoretical constrains about the
nature and evolution of magnetic field in these stars. The Lorentz force, which
results from the interaction between the magnetic field and the induced
currents, modifies the atmospheric structure and induces characteristic
rotational variability of pressure-sensitive spectroscopic features, that can
be analysed using phase-resolved spectroscopic observations. In this work we
continue the presentation of results of the magnetic pressure studies in mCP
stars focusing on the high-resolution spectroscopic observations of Bp star
56Ari. We have detected a significant variability of the Halpha, Hbeta, and
Hgamma spectral lines during full rotation cycle of the star. Then these
observations are interpreted in the framework of the model atmosphere analysis,
which accounts for the Lorentz force effects. We used the LLmodels stellar
model atmosphere code for the calculation of the magnetic pressure effects in
the atmosphere of 56Ari taking into account realistic chemistry of the star and
accurate computations of the microscopic plasma properties. The Synth3 code was
employed to simulate phase-resolved variability of Balmer lines. We demonstrate
that the model with the outward-directed Lorentz force in the dipole+quadrupole
configuration is likely to reproduce the observed hydrogen lines variation.
These results present strong evidences for the presence of non-zero global
electric currents in the atmosphere of this early-type magnetic star.Comment: Accepted by A&A, 9 pages, 7 figures, 2 table
Detection of planet candidates around K giants, HD 40956, HD 111591, and HD 113996
Aims. The purpose of this paper is to detect and investigate the nature of
long-term radial velocity (RV) variations of K-type giants and to confirm
planetary companions around the stars.
Methods. We have conducted two planet search programs by precise RV
measurement using the 1.8 m telescope at Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy
Observatory (BOAO) and the 1.88 m telescope at Okayama Astrophysical
Observatory (OAO). The BOAO program searches for planets around 55 early K
giants. The OAO program is looking for 190 G-K type giants.
Results. In this paper, we report the detection of long-period RV variations
of three K giant stars, HD 40956, HD 111591, and HD 113996. We investigated the
cause of the observed RV variations and conclude the substellar companions are
most likely the cause of the RV variations. The orbital analyses yield P =
578.6 3.3 d, sin = 2.7 0.6 , = 1.4
0.1 AU for HD 40956; P = 1056.4 14.3 d, sin = 4.4 0.4
, = 2.5 0.1 AU for HD 111591; P = 610.2 3.8 d,
sin = 6.3 1.0 , = 1.6 0.1 AU for HD 113996.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
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