On the usefulness of finding charts Or the runaway carbon stars of the Blanco & McCarthy field 37

We have been recently faced with the problem of cross--identifying stars recorded in historical catalogues with those extracted from recent fully digitized surveys (such as DENIS and 2MASS). Positions mentioned in the old catalogues are frequently of poor precision, but are generally accompanied by finding charts where the interesting objects are flagged. Those finding charts are sometimes our only link with the accumulated knowledge of past literature. While checking the identification of some of these objects in several catalogues, we had the surprise to discover a number of discrepancies in recent works.The main reason for these discrepancies was generally the blind application of the smallest difference in position as the criterion to identify sources from one historical catalogue to those in more recent surveys. In this paper we give examples of such misidentifications, and show how we were able to find and correct them.We present modern procedures to discover and solve cross--identification problems, such as loading digitized images of the sky through the Aladin service at CDS, and overlaying entries from historical catalogues and modern surveys. We conclude that the use of good finding charts still remains the ultimate (though time--consuming) tool to ascertain cross--identifications in difficult cases.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, accepted by A&

Large Magellanic Cloud Planetary Nebula Morphology: Probing Stellar Populations and Evolution

Planetary Nebulae (PNe) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) offer the unique opportunity to study both the Population and evolution of low- and intermediate-mass stars, by means of the morphological type of the nebula. Using observations from our LMC PN morphological survey, and including images available in the HST Data Archive, and published chemical abundances, we find that asymmetry in PNe is strongly correlated with a younger stellar Population, as indicated by the abundance of elements that are unaltered by stellar evolution (Ne, Ar, S). While similar results have been obtained for Galactic PNe, this is the first demonstration of the relationship for extra-galactic PNe. We also examine the relation between morphology and abundance of the products of stellar evolution. We found that asymmetric PNe have higher nitrogen and lower carbon abundances than symmetric PNe. Our two main results are broadly consistent with the predictions of stellar evolution if the progenitors of asymmetric PNe have on average larger masses than the progenitors of symmetric PNe. The results bear on the question of formation mechanisms for asymmetric PNe, specifically, that the genesis of PNe structure should relate strongly to the Population type, and by inference the mass, of the progenitor star, and less strongly on whether the central star is a member of a close binary system.Comment: The Astrophysical Journal Letters, in press 4 figure

Discovery of Interstellar Hydrogen Fluoride

We report the first detection of interstellar hydrogen fluoride. Using the Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) of the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), we have detected the 121.6973 micron J = 2 - 1 line of HF in absorption toward the far-infrared continuum source Sagittarius B2. The detection is statistically significant at the 13 sigma level. On the basis of our model for the excitation of HF in Sgr B2, the observed line equivalent width of 1.0 nm implies a hydrogen fluoride abundance of 3E-10 relative to H2. If the elemental abundance of fluorine in Sgr B2 is the same as that in the solar system, then HF accounts for ~ 2% of the total number of fluorine nuclei. We expect hydrogen fluoride to be the dominant reservoir of gas-phase fluorine in Sgr B2, because it is formed rapidly in exothermic reactions of atomic fluorine with either water or molecular hydrogen; thus the measured HF abundance suggests a substantial depletion of fluorine onto dust grains. Similar conclusions regarding depletion have previously been reached for the case of chlorine in dense interstellar clouds. We also find evidence at a lower level of statistical significance (~ 5 sigma) for an emission feature at the expected position of the 4(3,2)-4(2,3) 121.7219 micron line of water. The emission line equivalent width of 0.5 nm for the water feature is consistent with the water abundance of 5E-6 relative to H2 that has been inferred previously from observations of the hot core of Sgr B2.Comment: 11 pages (AASTeX using aaspp4.sty) plus 2 figures; to appear in ApJ Letter

The composition and nature of the dust shell surrounding the binary AFGL 4106

We present infrared spectroscopy and imaging of AFGL~4106. The 2.4-5 micron ISO-SWS spectrum reveals the presence of a cool, luminous star (T_eff ~ 3750 K) in addition to an almost equally luminous F star (T_eff ~ 7250 K). The 5-195 micron SWS and LWS spectra are dominated by strong emission from circumstellar dust. We find that the dust consists of amorphous silicates, with a minor but significant contribution from crystalline silicates. The amorphous silicates consist of Fe-rich olivines. The presence of amorphous pyroxenes cannot be excluded but if present they contain much less Fe than the amorphous olivines. Comparison with laboratory data shows that the pure Mg-end members of the crystalline olivine and pyroxene solid solution series are present. In addition, we find strong evidence for simple oxides (FeO and Al2O3) as well as crystalline H2O ice. Several narrow emission features remain unidentified. Modelling of the dust emission using a dust radiation transfer code shows that large grains (~1 micron) must be present and that the abundance of the crystalline silicates is between 7 and 15% of the total dust mass, depending on the assumed enstatite to forsterite ratio, which is estimated to be between 1 and 3. The amorphous and crystalline dust components in the shell do not have the same temperature, implying that the different dust species are not thermally coupled. We find a dust mass of ~3.9 x 10^-2 M_sol expelled over a period of 4 x 10^3 years for a distance of 3.3 kpc. The F-star in the AFGL~4106 binary is likely a post-red-supergiant in transition to a blue supergiant or WR phase.Comment: 22 pages (including 12 figures), accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic

Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph Observations of Magellanic Cloud Planetary Nebulae: the nature of dust in low metallicity circumstellar ejecta

We present 5 - 40 micron spectroscopy of 41 planetary nebulae (PNe) in the Magellanic Clouds, observed with the Infrared Spectrograph on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The spectra show the presence of a combination of nebular emission lines and solid-state features from dust, superimposed on the thermal IR continuum. By analyzing the 25 LMC and 16 SMC PNe in our sample we found that the IR spectra of 14 LMC and 4 SMC PNe are dominated by nebular emission lines, while the other spectra show solid-state features. We observed that the solid-state features are compatible with carbon-rich dust grains (SiC, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), etc.) in most cases, except in three PNe showing oxygen-rich dust features. The frequency of carbonaceous dust features is generally higher in LMC than in SMC PNe. The spectral analysis allowed the correlations of the dust characteristics with the gas composition and morphology, and the properties of the central stars. We found that: 1) all PNe with carbonaceous dust features have C/O>1, none of these being bipolar or otherwise highly asymmetric; 2) all PNe with oxygen-rich dust features have C/O<1, with probable high mass progenitors if derived from single-star evolution (these PNe are either bipolar or highly asymmetric); 3) the dust temperature tracks the nebular and stellar evolution; and 4) the dust production efficiency depends on metallicity, with low metallicity environments not favoring dust production.Comment: The Astrophysical Journal, in pres

Thermal H₂O emission from the Herbig-Haro flow HH 54

The first detection of thermal water emission from a Herbig-Haro object is presented. The observations were performed with the LWS (Long Wavelength Spectrograph) aboard ISO (Infrared Space Observatory). Besides H2O, rotational lines of CO are present in the spectrum of HH 54. These high-J CO lines are used to derive the physical model parameters of the FIR (far-infrared) molecular line emitting regions. This model fits simultaneously the observed OH and H2O spectra for an OH abundance X(OH)=10-6 and a water vapour abundance X(H2O)=10-5. At a distance of 250pc, the total CO, OH and H2O rotational line cooling rate is estimated to be 1.3x10-2 L⊙, which is comparable to the mechanical luminosity generated by the 10km s-1 shocks, suggesting that practically all of the cooling of the weak-shock regions is done by these three molecular species alone

The Kr85 s-process Branching and the Mass of Carbon Stars

We present new spectroscopic observations for a sample of C(N)-type red giants. These objects belong to the class of Asymptotic Giant Branch stars, experiencing thermal instabilities in the He-burning shell (thermal pulses). Mixing episodes called third dredge-up enrich the photosphere with newly synthesized C12 in the He-rich zone, and this is the source of the high observed ratio between carbon and oxygen (C/O > 1 by number). Our spectroscopic abundance estimates confirm that, in agreement with the general understanding of the late evolutionary stages of low and intermediate mass stars, carbon enrichment is accompanied by the appearance of s-process elements in the photosphere. We discuss the details of the observations and of the derived abundances, focusing in particular on rubidium, a neutron-density sensitive element, and on the s-elements Sr, Y and Zr belonging to the first s-peak. The critical reaction branching at Kr85, which determines the relative enrichment of the studied species, is discussed. Subsequently, we compare our data with recent models for s-processing in Thermally Pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch stars, at metallicities relevant for our sample. A remarkable agreement between model predictions and observations is found. Thanks to the different neutron density prevailing in low and intermediate mass stars, comparison with the models allows us to conclude that most C(N) stars are of low mass (M < 3Mo). We also analyze the C12/C13 ratios measured, showing that most of them cannot be explained by canonical stellar models. We discuss how this fact would require the operation of an ad hoc additional mixing, currently called Cool Bottom Process, operating only in low mass stars during the first ascent of the red giant branch and, perhaps, also during the asymptotic giant branch.Comment: 54 pages + 6 figures + 6 tables. ApJ accepte

Detection of [O I] 63 <i>μ</i>m in absorption toward Sgr B2

A high signal-to-noise 52-90 μm spectrum is presented for the central part of the Sagittarius B2 complex. The data were obtained with the Long Wavelength Spectrometer on board the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). The [O I] 63 μm line is detected in absorption even at the grating spectral resolution of 0.29 μm. A lower limit for the column density of atomic oxygen of the order of 1019 cm-2 is derived. This implies that more than 40% of the interstellar oxygen must be in atomic form along the line of sight toward the Sgr B2 molecular cloud

The infrared spectrum of the Be star gamma Cassiopeiae

We present the 2.4-45 micrometer ISO-SWS spectrum of the Be star gamma Cas (B0.5 IVe). The spectrum is characterised by a thermal continuum which can be well fit by a power-law S_nu ~ nu^0.99 over the entire SWS wavelength range. For an isothermal disc of ionized gas with constant opening angle, this correponds to a density gradient rho(r) ~ r^(-2.8). We report the detection of the Humphreys bound-free jump in emission at 3.4 micrometer. The size of the jump is sensitive to the electron temperature of the gas in the disc, and we find T~9000 K, i.e. much lower than the stellar effective temperature (25000-30000 K). The spectrum is dominated by numerous emission lines, mostly from HI, but also some HeI lines are detected. Several spectral features cannot be identified. The line strengths of the HI{\sc i} emission lines do not follow case B recombination line theory. The line strengths and widths suggest that many lines are optically thick and come from an inner, high density region with radius 3-5 R_star and temperature above that of the bulk of the disc material. Only the alpha, beta and gamma transitions of the series lines contain a contribution from the outer regions. The level populations deviate significantly from LTE and are highly influenced by the optically thick, local (disc) continuum radiation field. The inner disk may be rotating more rapidly than the stellar photosphere.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure, accepted by A&