The evolution of the Mira variable R Hydrae

The Mira variable R Hydrae is well known for its declining period, which Wood & Zarro (1981) attributed to a possible recent thermal pulse. Here we investigate the long-term period evolution, covering 340 years, going back to its discovery in AD 1662. Wavelets are used to determine both the period and semi-amplitude. We show that the period decreased linearly between 1770 and 1950; since 1950 the period has stabilized at 385 days. The semi-amplitude closely follows the period evolution. Detailed analysis of the oldest data shows that before 1770 the period was about 495 days. We find no evidence for an increasing period during this time as found by Wood & Zarro. IRAS data shows that the mass loss dropped dramatically around AD 1750. The decline agrees with the mass-loss formalism from Vassiliadis & Wood, but is much larger than predicted by the Bloecker mass-loss law. An outer detached IRAS shell suggests that R Hya has experienced such mass-loss interruptions before. The period evolution can be explained by a thermal pulse occuring around AD 1600, or by an non-linear instability leading to an internal relaxation of the stellar structure. The elapsed time between the mass-loss decline giving rise to the outer detached shell, and the recent event, of approximately 5000 yr suggests that only one of these events could be due to a thermal pulse. Further monitoring of R Hya is recommended, as both models make strong predictions for the future period evolution. R Hya-type events, on time scales of 10^2-10^3 yr, could provide part of the explanation for the rings seen around some AGB and post-AGB stars.Comment: 13 pages. MNRAS, accepted for publicatio

On the role of galactic magnetic halo in the ultra high energy cosmic rays propagation

The study of propagation of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) is a key step in order to unveil the secret of their origin. Up to now it was considered only the influence of the galactic and the extragalactic magnetic fields. In this article we focus our analysis on the influence of the magnetic field of the galaxies standing between possible UHECR sources and us. Our main approach is to start from the well known galaxy distribution up to 120 Mpc. We use the most complete galaxy catalog: the LEDA catalog. Inside a sphere of 120 Mpc around us, we extract 60130 galaxies with known position. In our simulations we assign a Halo Dipole magnetic Field (HDF) to each galaxy. The code developed is able to retro-propagate a charged particle from the arrival points of UHECR data across our galaxies sample. We present simulations in case of Virgo cluster and show that there is a non negligible deviation in the case of protons of $7 \times 10^{19}$ eV, even if the $B$ value is conservative. Then special attention is devoted to the AGASA triplet where we find that NGC3998 and NGC3992 could be possible candidates as sources.Comment: Version accepted from ApJ, 5 figure

Solar-like oscillations of semiregular variables

Oscillations of the Sun and solar-like stars are believed to be excited stochastically by convection near the stellar surface. Theoretical modeling predicts that the resulting amplitude increases rapidly with the luminosity of the star. Thus one might expect oscillations of substantial amplitudes in red giants with high luminosities and vigorous convection. Here we present evidence that such oscillations may in fact have been detected in the so-called semiregular variables, extensive observations of which have been made by amateur astronomers in the American Association for Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). This may offer a new opportunity for studying the physical processes that give rise to the oscillations, possibly leading to further information about the properties of convection in these stars.Comment: Astrophys. J. Lett., in the press. Processed with aastex and emulateap

Optical and EUV Light Curves of Dwarf Nova Outbursts

We combine AAVSO and VSS/RASNZ optical and Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer EUV light curves of dwarf novae in outburst to place constraints on the nature of dwarf nova outbursts. From the observed optical-EUV time delays of 0.75-1.5 days, we show that the propagation velocity of the dwarf nova instability heating wave is ~ 3 km/s