Period Measurement of AGB Stars in the Outer Galactic Disk

Light variation of the 47 AGB star candidates in the outer Galactic disk has been monitored at I-band for 5 years. Periods were determined well for 18 of them and less reliably for the other 25. The average period of the objects is then 500 days. According to the period-luminosity relation, the mean luminosity of the sample stars is 10000 \LO. Based on the absolute luminosity derived from the period-luminosity relation and the apparent luminosity from the observation, the distances to the objects are determined. The distances calculated are slightly greater than those obtained previously on the assumption of constant luminosity of 8000 \LO. In addition, SiO maser emission was detected for most of the observed objects so that their radial velocities were known accurately. With the assumption of circular rotation in the Galactic disk, the rotation curve and Oort's constants were derived.Comment: 13 pages including 4 tables, and 13 postscript figures. Accepted for PASJ (Publication of the Astronomical Society of Japan

The Brightest AGB Stars in the Leo I Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy

The first results of a study of the the dwarf spheroidal galaxy, Leo I, using the new Japanese-South African Infrared Survey Facility (IRSF) are presented. J,H,K_{s} observations show that most, if not all, of at least the top one magnitude of the AGB is populated by carbon stars. These objects form a tight sequence in the K_{s} - (J-K_{s}) plane. In addition there are five very red objects which are believed to be dust enshrouded AGB stars. They have Mbol near -5.0 and are at the AGB tip. Comparison with carbon Miras in Magellanic Cloud clusters and taking into account other evidence on the ages and metallicities of Leo I populations suggests that these obscured stars belong to the youngest significant population of Leo I and have ages of ~2 Gyr. Some of them can be shown to be variable.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

SiO Maser Survey of the Inner Bar of the Galactic Bulge

We surveyed 291 MSX/2MASS infrared objects in the 7 x 2 deg area of the galactic center in the 43 GHz SiO J=1--0 v=1 and 2 maser lines, obtaining accurate radial velocities of 163 detected objects. The surveyed area is the region where the IRAS catalog is incomplete due to contamination by high source density. The objects in the present MSX/2MASS sample were chosen to have similar infrared characteristics to those of the previous SiO-maser-survey samples based on the color selected IRAS sources. The sampling based on the 2MASS catalog causes a bias to the foreside objects of the bulge due to heavy obscuration by interstellar dust; the detections are considerably leaned on the V_{lsr}<0 side. The l--v diagram reveals two conspicuous features, which were not present or tenuous in the previous studies: one feature indicating a linear velocity increase with longitude with |l|<1.5 deg, which is likely associated with the inner bar, and the other feature having considerably eccentric velocities more than those of the normal x_1-orbit family feature. The extinction-corrected K magnitudes (if used as a distance modulus) tend to show a sequential deposition of these objects along the line of sight toward the Galactic center depending on their radial velocities. The tendency that appeared in the distance measures is consistent with the bulge-bar dynamical model utilizing the periodic orbit families in the bar potential.Comment: Full high resolution figures available as NRO report No.638 at http://www.nro.nao.ac.jp/library/report/list.html. PASJ 58, No. 3 (June 25 issue in press

Variable Stars in the Magellanic Clouds: Results from OGLE and SIRIUS

We have performed a cross-identification between OGLE-II data and single-epoch SIRIUS JHK survey data in the LMC and SMC. After eliminating obvious spurious variables, we determined the pulsation periods for 9,681 and 2,927 variables in the LMC and SMC, respectively. Based on these homogeneous data, we studied the pulsation properties and metallicity effects on period-K magnitude (PK) relations by comparing the variable stars in the LMC and SMC. The sample analyzed here is much larger, and we found the following new features: (1) variable red giants in the SMC form parallel sequences on the PK plane, just like those found by Wood (2000) in the LMC; (2) both of the sequences A and B of Wood (2000) have discontinuities, and they occur at the K-band luminosity of the TRGB; (3) the sequence B of Wood (2000) separates into three independent sequences B+- and C'; (4) comparison between the theoretical pulsation models (Wood et al. 1996) and observational data suggests that the variable red giants on sequences C and newly discovered C' are pulsating in the fundamental and first overtone mode, respectively; (5) the theory can not explain the pulsation mode of sequences A+- and B+-, and they are unlikely to be the sequences for the first and second overtone pulsators, as was previously suggested; (6) the zero points of PK relations of Cepheids in the metal deficient SMC are fainter than those of LMC ones by ~0.1 mag but those of SMC Miras are brighter than those of LMC ones by ~0.13 mag, which are probably due to metallicity effects.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. High resolution version is available at: http://www.ioa.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~yita/scr/astro/papers/RefereedPaper/yitaMD250 .pd

AKARI/FIS Mapping of the ISM-Wind Bow Shock around Alpha Ori

We present 10' x 50' scan maps around an M supergiant Alpha Ori at 65, 90, 140 and 160 microns obtained with the AKARI Infrared Astronomy Satellite. Higher spatial resolution data with the exact analytic solution permit us to fit the de-projected shape of the stellar wind bow shock around Alpha Ori to have the stand-off distance of 4.8', position angle of 55 degrees and inclination angle of 56 degrees. The shape of the bow shock suggests that the peculiar velocity of Alpha Ori with respect to the local medium is v_* = 40 (n_H)^(-1/2), where n_H is the hydrogen nucleus density at Alpha Ori. We find that the local medium is of n_H = 1.5 to 1.9 cm^(-3) and the velocity of the local flow is at 11 km s^(-1) by using the most recent astrometric solutions for Alpha Ori under the assumption that the local medium is moving away from the Orion OB 1 association. AKARI images may also reveal a vortex ring due to instabilities on the surface of the bow shock as demonstrated by numerical models. This research exemplifies the potential of AKARI All-Sky data as well as follow-up observations with Herschel Space Telescope and Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy for this avenue of research in revealing the nature of interaction between the stellar wind and interstellar medium.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, to be published in PASJ Vol. 60 Special Issue on Recent Results from AKAR

SiO Maser Sources toward Globular Clusters

We report on the detection of SiO masers in Asymptotic Giant Branch variables toward bulge/disk globular clusters. In five out of six cases, the radial velocities are compatible with the optically measured radial velocities of globular clusters in the assessed uncertainty. Two sources, toward Terzan~5 and Terzan~12, lie very close to the cluster centers. The objects toward Pal~6 and Terzan~12 have luminosities appropriate to the AGB tip in globular clusters, while those toward NGC 6171, Pal~10, and Terzan~5 are brighter than expected. It is suggested that the latter three may have evolved from merged binaries, offering a test for binary-evolution scenarios in globular clusters, if the membership is approved.Comment: 6 pages 1 figure PASJ, 57 No. 1 (in press

Papillo-Choledochectomy in the Operative Management of Mucosal Neoplasms of the Periampullary Region

Two patients with mucosal cancer of the periampullary region were treated with papillocholedochectomy, which entails removal of the papilla of Vater and the whole length of the common bile duct. The neoplasm is dissected out through the plane between the duodenal circular and longitudinal muscles, deep to the sphincter of Oddi and the fibromuscular layer of the bile duct. Pathological examination showed that cancer was confined to the mucosal layer without stromal invasion, and that the operation achieved radical cure. For mucosal cancer, papillo-choledochectomy is an alternative to pancreatoduodenectomy, provided that repeated frozen-section studies confirm the completeness of excision