500 research outputs found
16 years of Ulysses Interstellar Dust Measurements in the Solar System: II. Fluctuations in the Dust Flow from the Data
The Ulysses spacecraft provided the first opportunity to identify and study
Interstellar Dust (ISD) in-situ in the Solar System between 1992 and 2007. Here
we present the first comprehensive analysis of the ISD component in the entire
Ulysses dust data set. We analysed several parameters of the ISD flow in a
time-resolved fashion: flux, flow direction, mass index, and flow width. The
general picture is in agreement with a time-dependent focussing/defocussing of
the charged dust particles due to long-term variations of the solar magnetic
field throughout a solar magnetic cycle of 22 years. In addition, we confirm a
shift in dust direction of in 2005, along with a
steep, size-dependent increase in flux by a factor of 4 within 8 months. To
date, this is difficult to interpret and has to be examined in more detail by
new dynamical simulations. This work is part of a series of three papers. This
paper concentrates on the time-dependent flux and direction of the ISD. In a
companion paper (Kr\"uger et al., 2015) we analyse the overall mass
distribution of the ISD measured by Ulysses, and a third paper discusses the
results of modelling the flow of the ISD as seen by Ulysses (Sterken et al.,
2015).Comment: 41 pages, 10 figures, 5 table
A Binary Orbit for the Massive, Evolved Star HDE 326823, a WR+O System Progenitor
The hot star HDE 326823 is a candidate transition-phase object that is
evolving into a nitrogen-enriched Wolf-Rayet star. It is also a known
low-amplitude, photometric variable with a 6.123 d period. We present new, high
and moderate resolution spectroscopy of HDE 326823, and we show that the
absorption lines show coherent Doppler shifts with this period while the
emission lines display little or no velocity variation. We interpret the
absorption line shifts as the orbital motion of the apparently brighter star in
a close, interacting binary. We argue that this star is losing mass to a mass
gainer star hidden in a thick accretion torus and to a circumbinary disk that
is the source of the emission lines. HDE 326823 probably belongs to a class of
objects that produce short-period WR+O binaries.Comment: 32 pages, 10 figures, accepted to the Astronomical Journa
Heliospheric modulation of the interstellar dust flow on to Earth
Aims. Based on measurements by the Ulysses spacecraft and high-resolution
modelling of the motion of interstellar dust (ISD) through the heliosphere we
predict the ISD flow in the inner planetary system and on to the Earth. This is
the third paper in a series of three about the flow and filtering of the ISD.
Methods. Micrometer- and sub-micrometer-sized dust particles are subject to
solar gravity and radiation pressure as well as to interactions with the
interplanetary magnetic field that result in a complex size-dependent flow
pattern of ISD in the planetary system. With high-resolution dynamical
modelling we study the time-resolved flux and mass distribution of ISD and the
requirements for detection of ISD near the Earth.
Results. Along the Earth orbit the density, speed, and flow direction of ISD
depend strongly on the Earth's position and the size of the interstellar
grains. A broad maximum of the ISD flux (2x10^{-4}/m^2/s of particles with
radii >~0.3\mu m) occurs in March when the Earth moves against the ISD flow.
During this time period the relative speed with respect to the Earth is highest
(~60 km/s), whereas in September when the Earth moves with the ISD flow, both
the flux and the speed are lowest (<~10 km/s). The mean ISD mass flow on to the
Earth is ~100 kg/year with the highest flux of ~3.5kg/day occurring for about 2
weeks close to the end of the year when the Earth passes near the narrow
gravitational focus region downstream from the Sun. The phase of the 22-year
solar wind cycle has a strong effect on the number density and flow of
sub-micrometer-sized ISD particles. During the years of maximum electromagnetic
focussing (year 2031 +/- 3) there is a chance that ISD particles with sizes
even below 0.1\mu m can reach the Earth.
Conclusions. We demonstrate that ISD can be effectively detected, analysed,
and collected by space probes at 1 AU distance from the Sun.Comment: 17 pages, 17 figure
Photometric study of selected cataclysmic variables II. Time-series photometry of nine systems
We present time-series photometry of nine cataclysmic variables: EI UMa,
V844Her, V751 Cyg, V516 Cyg, GZ Cnc, TY Psc, V1315 Aql, ASAS J002511+1217.12,
V1315 Aql and LN UMa. The observations were conducted at various observatories,
covering 170 hours and comprising 7,850 data points in total.
For the majority of targets we confirm previously reported periodicities and
for some of them we give, for the first time, their spectroscopic orbital
periods. For those dwarf-nova systems which we observed during both quiescence
and outburst, the increase in brightness was followed by a decrease in the
amount of flickering. Quasi-periodic oscillations have either been discovered,
or were confirmed. For the eclipsing system V1315 Aql we have covered 9
eclipses, and obtained a refined orbital ephemeris. We find that, during its
long baseline of observations, no change in the orbital period of this system
has occurred. V1315 Aql also shows eclipses of variable depth.Comment: 30 pages, 16 figures, 4 tables. Submitted to JA
First detection of phase-dependent colliding wind X-ray emission outside the Milky Way
After having reported the detection of X-rays emitted by the peculiar system
HD5980, we assess here the origin of this high-energy emission from additional
X-ray observations obtained with XMM-Newton. This research provides the first
detection of apparently periodic X-ray emission from hot gas produced by the
collision of winds in an evolved massive binary outside the Milky Way. It also
provides the first X-ray monitoring of a Luminous Blue Variable only years
after its eruption and shows that the dominant source of the X-rays is not
associated with the ejecta.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures and 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJ
(letters
CCD time-series photometry of BQ Ind
We present CCD time-series photometry of BQ Ind, which is either a Population I
large-amplitude δ Scuti star or an SX Phoenicis star
FUSE observations of HD 5980: The wind structure of the eruptor
HD 5980 is a unique system containing one massive star (star A) that is
apparently entering the luminous blue variable phase, and an eclipsing
companion (star B) that may have already evolved beyond this phase to become a
Wolf-Rayet star. In this paper we present the results from FUSE observations
obtained in 1999, 2000, and 2002 and one far-UV observation obtained by
ORFEUS/BEFS in 1993 shortly before the first eruption of HD 5980. The eight
phase-resolved spectra obtained by FUSE in 2002 are analyzed in the context of
a wind-eclipse model. This analysis shows that the wind of the eruptor obeyed a
very fast velocity law in 2002, which is consistent with the line-driving
mechanism. Large amplitude line-profile variations on the orbital period are
shown to be due to the eclipse of star B by the wind of star A, although the
eclipse due to gas flowing in the direction of star B is absent. This can only
be explained if the wind of star A is not spherically symmetric, or if the
eclipsed line radiation is "filled-in" by emission originating from somewhere
else in the system, e.g., in the wind-wind collision region. Except for a
slightly lower wind speed, the ORFEUS/BEFS spectrum is very similar to the
spectrum obtained by FUSE at the same orbital phase: there is no indication of
the impending eruption. However, the trend for decreasing wind velocity
suggests the occurrence of the "bi-stability" mechanism, which in turn implies
that the restructuring of the circumbinary environment caused by the transition
from "fast, rarefied wind" to "slow, dense wind" was observed as the eruptive
event. The underlying mechanism responsible for the long-term decrease in wind
velocity that precipitated this change remains an open issue.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figure
Galactic Twins of the Ring Nebula Around SN1987A and a Possible LBV-like Phase for Sk-69 202
Some core-collapse supernovae show clear signs of interaction with dense
circumstellar material that often appears to be non-spherical. Circumstellar
nebulae around supernova progenitors provide clues to the origin of that
asymmetry in immediate pre-supernova evolution. Here I discuss outstanding
questions about the formation of the ring nebula around SN1987A and some
implications of similar ring nebulae around Galactic B supergiants. Several
clues hint that SN1987A's nebula may have been ejected in an LBV-like event,
rather than through interacting winds in a transition from a red supergiant to
a blue supergiant.Comment: 2 pages, to appear in procedings of "Massive stars: fundamental
parameters and circumstellar interactions", conference in honor of Virpi
Niemela's 70th birthda
X-ray Light Curves and Accretion Disk Structure of EX Hydrae
We present X-ray light curves for the cataclysmic variable EX Hydrae obtained
with the Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer and the Extreme
Ultraviolet Explorer Deep Survey photometer. We confirm earlier results on the
shape and amplitude of the binary light curve and discuss a new feature: the
phase of the minimum in the binary light curve, associated with absorption by
the bulge on the accretion disk, increases with wavelength. We discuss several
scenarios that could account for this trend and conclude that, most likely, the
ionization state of the bulge gas is not constant, but rather decreases with
binary phase. We also conclude that photoionization of the bulge by radiation
originating from the white dwarf is not the main source of ionization, but that
it is heated by shocks originating from the interaction between the inflowing
material from the companion and the accretion disk. The findings in this paper
provide a strong test for accretion disk models in close binary systems.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in the Ap
A Photometric Catalogue of Southern Emission-Line Stars
We present a catalogue of previously unpublished optical and infrared
photometry for a sample of 162 emission-line objects and shell stars visible
from the southern hemisphere. The data were obtained between 1978 and 1997 in
the Walraven (WULBV), Johnson/Cousins (UBV(RI)_c) and ESO and SAAO
near-infrared (JHKLM) photometric systems. Most of the observed objects are
Herbig Ae/Be (HAeBe) stars or HAeBe candidates appearing in the list of HAeBe
candidates of Th\'e et al. (1994), although several B[e] stars, LBVs and T
Tauri are also included in our sample. For many of the stars the data presented
here are the first photo-electric measurements in the literature. The resulting
catalogue consists of 1809 photometric measurements. Optical variability was
detected in 66 out of the 116 sources that were observed more than once. 15 out
of the 50 stars observed multiple times in the infrared showed variability at
2.2 microns (K band).Comment: 42 pages, no figures, to appear in Astronomy & Astrophysic
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