Properties of interstellar dust in the region of the CEP OB4 association

Regional variations in the interstellar extinction law was examined. The region of Cyg was noted among the areas with abnormal interstellar extinction law (IEL). An attempt was made to study interstellar extinction in the region of the Cep OB4 association. The Vilnius seven color photometric system was used for this purpose. The effective wavelengths and their reciprocals for the Vilnius photometric system are presented. This system was applied for the study of variations in the IEL in four regions of the sky: Cyg, Cep, Per, and Mon (Sudzius, 1974). The results of multicolor photometry were combined with the data of Whiteoak (1966) and detailed interstellar extinction curves were derived for Cyg and for Cep-Per-Mon (average) regions in the wavelengths interval of 3000 to 8000 A (Sudzius, 1974). The obtained IEL for the Cep OB4 association does not match any of the laws determined for other regions of the sky. However, it is very close to Cyg OB2 law in the ultraviolet. Results suggest that Cep OB4 IEL have no very broadband structure (VBS) in the interval of wavenumbers 1.84 to 2.15/micron

Candidate Pre-Mainsequence F Stars with Circumstellar Dust Identified Using Combined 2MASS and uvby Data

We propose a method that uses near-infrared plus uvby photometry to identify potentially extensive circumstellar dusty environment about F and A stars. The method has been applied to a sample of ~900 metal rich reddened F stars with 2MASS and uvby data, suggesting the presence of circumstellar dust emitting in the near infrared for ~70 stars. The log T_e - M_V diagram suggests that most, if not all, of them are likely pre-mainsequence (PMS). They seem to be consistent with being a continuation of the class of Herbig Ae/Be PMS stars into the spectral type F. Their number drops sharply downward of log T_e ~ 3.84 (spectral types later than ~F5), which may provide new clues to the PMS evolution of stars with 1 to 2 solar mass. We present a list of 21 most conspicuous candidate stars with circumstellar dust. About half of them are associated with the extended star-forming region around rho Oph. The brightest of these 21 stars, with V < 7.5, turn out to be IRAS sources, suggesting the presence of heated dust emitting in the far infrared. Also in this list, HD 81270 is reported as a very unusual star moving away from the Galactic plane at a projected speed of 70 km/sec.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. To appear in ApJ, part 2, v. 570, 2002 May

The Homogeneity of Interstellar Oxygen in the Galactic Disk

We present an analysis of high resolution HST Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) observations of O I 1356 and H I Lyman-alpha absorption in 36 sight lines that probe a variety of Galactic disk environments and include paths that range over nearly 4 orders of magnitude in f(H_2), over 2 orders of magnitude in mean sight line density, and that extend up to 6.5 kpc in length. Consequently, we have undertaken the study of gas-phase O/H abundance ratio homogeneity using the current sample and previously published Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) results. Two distinct trends are identified in the 56 sight line sample: an apparent decrease in gas-phase oxygen abundance with increasing mean sight line density and a gap between the mean O/H ratio for sight lines shorter and longer than about 800 pc. The first effect is a smooth transition between two depletion levels associated with large mean density intervals; it is centered near a density of 1.5 cm^-3 and is similar to trends evident in gas-phase abundances of other elements. Paths less dense than the central value exhibit a mean O/H ratio of log_10 (O/H) = -3.41+/-0.01 (or 390+/-10 ppm), which is consistent with averages determined for several long, low-density paths observed by STIS (Andre et al. 2003) and short low-density paths observed by FUSE (Moos et al. 2002). Sight lines of higher mean density exhibit an average O/H value of log_10 (O/H) = -3.55+/-0.02 (284+/-12 ppm). The datapoints for low-density paths are scattered more widely than those for denser sight lines, due to O/H ratios for paths shorter than 800 pc that are generally about 0.10 dex lower than the values for longer ones.Comment: 33 pages, including 8 figures and 4 tables; accepted for publication in ApJ, tentatively in Oct 200

The effective temperature scale of FGK stars. II. Teff : color : [Fe/H] calibrations

We present up-to-date metallicity-dependent temperature vs. color calibrations for main sequence and giant stars based on temperatures derived with the infrared flux method (IRFM). Seventeen colors in the following photometric systems: UBV, uvby, Vilnius, Geneva, RI(Cousins), DDO, Hipparcos-Tycho, and 2MASS, have been calibrated. The spectral types covered range from F0 to K5 (7000 K<Teff<4000 K) with some relations extending below 4000 K or up to 8000 K. Most of the calibrations are valid in the metallicity range -3.5<[Fe/H]<0.4, although some of them extend to as low as [Fe/H]=-4.0. All fits to the data have been performed with more than 100 stars; standard deviations range from 30 K to 120 K. Fits were carefully performed and corrected to eliminate the small systematic errors introduced by the calibration formulae. Tables of colors as a function of Teff and [Fe/H] are provided. (Abridged)Comment: To appear in ApJ. For online tables and figures, see http://webspace.utexas.edu/ir68/tef