52 research outputs found
Differential interferometric phases at high spectral resolution as a sensitive physical diagnostic of circumstellar disks
Context. The circumstellar disks ejected by many rapidly rotating B stars
(so-called Be stars) offer the rare opportunity of studying the structure and
dynamics of gaseous disks at high spectral as well as angular resolution. Aims.
This paper explores a newly identified effect in spectro-interferometric phase
that can be used for probing the inner regions of gaseous edge-on disks on a
scale of a few stellar radii. Methods. The origin of this effect (dubbed
central quasi-emission phase signature, CQE-PS) lies in the velocity-dependent
line absorption of photospheric radiation by the circumstellar disk. At high
spectral and marginal interferometric resolution, photocenter displacements
between star and isovelocity regions in the Keplerian disk reveal themselves
through small interferometric phase shifts. To investigate the diagnostic
potential of this effect, a series of models are presented, based on detailed
radiative transfer calculations in a viscous decretion disk. Results. Amplitude
and detailed shape of the CQE-PS depend sensitively on disk density and size
and on the radial distribution of the material with characteristic shapes in
differential phase diagrams. In addition, useful lower limits to the angular
size of the central stars can be derived even when the system is almost
unresolved. Conclusions. The full power of this diagnostic tool can be expected
if it can be applied to observations over a full life-cycle of a disk from
first ejection through final dispersal, over a full cycle of disk oscillations,
or over a full orbital period in a binary system
Application of Phasor Plots to Analysis of Fluorophore Heterogeneity, Excited State Reactions and Protein Conformations
Be Stars: Rapidly Rotating Pulsators
I will show that Be stars are, without exception, a class of rapidly rotating
stars, which are in the majority of cases pulsating stars as well, while none
of them does possess a large scale (i.e. with significant dipolar contribution)
magnetic field.Comment: Review talk given at "XX Stellar Pulsation Conference Series: Impact
of new instrumentation and new insights in stellar pulsations", Granada, 5-9
September 2011, in press in AIP Conf. Se
Revealing the structure of the outer disks of Be stars
Context. The structure of the inner parts of Be star disks (20 stellar radii)
is well explained by the viscous decretion disk (VDD) model, which is able to
reproduce the observable properties of most of the objects studied so far. The
outer parts, on the ther hand, are not observationally well-explored, as they
are observable only at radio wavelengths. A steepening of the spectral slope
somewhere between infrared and radio wavelengths was reported for several Be
stars that were previously detected in the radio, but a convincing physical
explanation for this trend has not yet been provided. Aims. We test the VDD
model predictions for the extended parts of a sample of six Be disks that have
been observed in the radio to address the question of whether the observed
turndown in the spectral energy distribution (SED) can be explained in the
framework of the VDD model, including recent theoretical development for
truncated Be disks in binary systems. Methods. We combine new multi-wavelength
radio observations from the Karl. G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) and Atacama
Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) with previously published radio data and archival
SED measurements at ultraviolet, visual, and infrared wavelengths. The density
structure of the disks, including their outer parts, is constrained by
radiative transfer modeling of the observed spectrum using VDD model
predictions. In the VDD model we include the presumed effects of possible tidal
influence from faint binary companions. Results. For 5 out of 6 studied stars,
the observed SED shows strong signs of SED turndown between far-IR and radio
wavelengths. A VDD model that extends to large distances closely reproduces the
observed SEDs up to far IR wavelengths, but fails to reproduce the radio SED.
... (abstract continues but did not fit here)Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure
Multitechnique testing of the viscous decretion disk model I. The stable and tenuous disk of the late-type Be star CMi
The viscous decretion disk (VDD) model is able to explain most of the
currently observable properties of the circumstellar disks of Be stars.
However, more stringent tests, focusing on reproducing multitechnique
observations of individual targets via physical modeling, are needed to study
the predictions of the VDD model under specific circumstances. In the case of
nearby, bright Be star CMi, these circumstances are a very stable
low-density disk and a late-type (B8Ve) central star. The aim is to test the
VDD model thoroughly, exploiting the full diagnostic potential of individual
types of observations, in particular, to constrain the poorly known structure
of the outer disk if possible, and to test truncation effects caused by a
possible binary companion using radio observations. We use the Monte Carlo
radiative transfer code HDUST to produce model observables, which we compare
with a very large set of multitechnique and multiwavelength observations that
include ultraviolet and optical spectra, photometry covering the interval
between optical and radio wavelengths, optical polarimetry, and optical and
near-IR (spectro)interferometry. Due to the absence of large scale variability,
data from different epochs can be combined into a single dataset. A parametric
VDD model with radial density exponent of = 3.5, which is the canonical
value for isothermal flaring disks, is found to explain observables typically
formed in the inner disk, while observables originating in the more extended
parts favor a shallower, = 3.0, density falloff. Modeling of radio
observations allowed for the first determination of the physical extent of a Be
disk (35 stellar radii), which might be caused by a binary
companion. Finally, polarization data allowed for an indirect measurement of
the rotation rate of the star, which was found to be , i.e.,
very close to critical.Comment: 19 pages (35 including online material), 17 figures, 2 online
figures, 2 online tables with dat
Properties and nature of Be stars: 29. Orbital and long-term spectral variations of \gamma\ Cassiopei\ae
A detailed analysis of more than 800 electronic high-resolution spectra of
gamma Cas, which were obtained during a time interval of over 6000 days (16.84
yrs) at several observatories, documents the smooth variations in the density
and/or extend of its circumstellar envelope. We found a clear anticorrelation
between the peak intensity and FWHM of the H alpha emission, which seems to
agree with recent models of such emission lines. The main result of this study
is a confirmation of the binary nature of the object, determination of a
reliable linear ephemeris T_{min.RV} = HJD (2452081.90.6) +
(203.520.08)*E, and a rather definitive set of orbital elements. We
clearly demonstrated that the orbit is circular within the limits of accuracy
of our measurements and has a semi-amplitude of radial-velocity curve of
4.300.09 (km/s). No trace of the low-mass secondary was found. The time
distribution of our spectra does not allow a reliable investigation of rapid
spectral variations, which are undoubtedly present in the spectra. We postpone
this investigation for a future study, based on series of dedicated whole-night
spectral observations
Upregulation of SPS100 gene expression by an antisense RNA via a switch of mRNA isoforms with different stabilities
Pervasive transcription of genomes generates multiple classes of non-coding RNAs. One of these classes are stable long non-coding RNAs which overlap coding genes in antisense direction (asRNAs). The function of such asRNAs is not fully understood but several cases of antisense-dependent gene expression regulation affecting the overlapping genes have been demonstrated. Using high-throughput yeast genetics and a limited set of four growth conditions we previously reported a regulatory function for ∼25% of asRNAs, most of which repress the expression of the sense gene. To further explore the roles of asRNAs we tested more conditions and identified 15 conditionally antisense-regulated genes, 6 of which exhibited antisense-dependent enhancement of gene expression. We focused on the sporulation-specific gene SPS100, which becomes upregulated upon entry into starvation or sporulation as a function of the antisense transcript SUT169. We demonstrate that the antisense effect is mediated by its 3' intergenic region (3'-IGR) and that this regulation can be transferred to other genes. Genetic analysis revealed that SUT169 functions by changing the relative expression of SPS100 mRNA isoforms from a short and unstable transcript to a long and stable species. These results suggest a novel mechanism of antisense-dependent gene regulation via mRNA isoform switching
Luminous blue variables: An imaging perspective on their binarity and near environment
Luminous blue variables (LBVs) are rare massive stars with very high
luminosity. They are characterized by strong photo-metric and spectroscopic
variability related to transient eruptions. The mechanisms at the origin of
these eruptions is not well known. In addition, their formation is still
problematic and the presence of a companion could help to explain how they
form. Aims. This article presents a study of seven LBVs (about 20% of the known
Galactic population), some Wolf-Rayet stars, and massive binaries. We probe the
environments that surround these massive stars with near-, mid-, and
far-infrared images, investigating potential nebula/shells and the companion
stars. Methods. To investigate large spatial scales, we used seeing-limited and
near diffraction-limited adaptive optics images to obtain a differential
diagnostic on the presence of circumstellar matter and to determine their
extent. From those images, we also looked for the presence of binary companions
on a wide orbit. Once a companion was detected, its gravitational binding to
the central star was tested. Tests include the chance projection probability,
the proper motion estimates with multi-epoch observations, flux ratio, and star
separations. Results. We find that two out of seven of LBVs may have a wide
orbit companion. Most of the LBVs display a large circumstellar envelope or
several shells. In particular, HD168625, known for its rings, possesses several
shells with possibly a large cold shell at the edge of which the rings are
formed. For the first time, we have directly imaged the companion of LBV stars
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