Mode switching in the nearby Mira-like variable R Doradus

We discuss visual observations spanning nearly 70 years of the nearby semiregular variable R Doradus. Using wavelet analysis, we show that the star switches back and forth between two pulsation modes having periods of 332 days and about 175 days, the latter with much smaller amplitude. Comparison with model calculations suggests that the two modes are the first and third radial overtone, with the physical diameter of the star making fundamental mode pulsation unlikely. The mode changes occur on a timescale of about 1000 d, which is too rapid be related to a change in the overall thermal structure of the star and may instead be related to weak chaos. The Hipparcos distance to R Dor is 62.4 +/- 2.8 pc which, taken with its dominant 332-day period, places it exactly on the period-luminosity relation of Miras in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Our results imply first overtone pulsation for all Miras which fall on the P-L relation. We argue that semiregular variables with long periods may largely be a subset of Miras and should be included in studies of Mira behaviour. The semiregulars may contain the immediate evolutionary Mira progenitors, or stars may alternate between periods of semiregular and Mira behaviour.Comment: 12 pages, latex with figures, accepted by MNRA

Third-dredge-up oxygen in planetary nebulae

The planetary nebulae He 2-436 and Wray 16-423 in the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy appear to result from nearly twin stars, except that third-dredge-up carbon is more abundant in He 2-436. A thorough photoionization-model analysis implies that ratios Ne/O, S/O and Ar/O are significantly smaller in He 2-436, indicative of third-dredge-up oxygen enrichment. The enrichment of oxygen with respect to carbon is (7 +/- 4)%. Excess nitrogen in Wray 16-423 suggests third dredge-up of late CN-cycle products even in these low-mass, intermediate-metallicity stars.Comment: To appear in Astron. Astrophys. Lett. (Latex, 5 pages, 1 postscript figure

Millimeter polarisation of the protoplanetary nebula OH 231.8+4.2: A follow-up study with CARMA

In order to investigate the characteristics and influence of the magnetic field in evolved stars, we performed a follow-up investigation of our previous submillimeter analysis of the proto-planetary nebula (PPN) OH 231.8+4.2 (Sabin et al. 2014), this time at 1.3mm with the CARMA facility in polarisation mode for the purpose of a multi-scale analysis. OH 231.8+4.2 was observed at ~2.5" resolution and we detected polarised emission above the 3-sigma threshold (with a mean polarisation fraction of 3.5 %). The polarisation map indicates an overall organised magnetic field within the nebula. The main finding in this paper is the presence of a structure mostly compatible with an ordered toroidal component that is aligned with the PPN's dark lane. We also present some alternative magnetic field configuration to explain the structure observed. These data complete our previous SMA submillimeter data for a better investigation and understanding of the magnetic field structure in OH 231.8+4.2.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Subarcsecond Submillimeter Imaging of the Ultracompact HII Region G5.89-0.39

We present the first subarcsecond submillimeter images of the enigmatic ultracompact HII region (UCHII) G5.89-0.39. Observed with the SMA, the 875 micron continuum emission exhibits a shell-like morphology similar to longer wavelengths. By using images with comparable angular resolution at five frequencies obtained from the VLA archive and CARMA, we have removed the free-free component from the 875 micron image. We find five sources of dust emission: two compact warm objects (SMA1 and SMA2) along the periphery of the shell, and three additional regions further out. There is no dust emission inside the shell, supporting the picture of a dust-free cavity surrounded by high density gas. At subarcsecond resolution, most of the molecular gas tracers encircle the UCHII region and appear to constrain its expansion. We also find G5.89-0.39 to be almost completely lacking in organic molecular line emission. The dust cores SMA1 and SMA2 exhibit compact spatial peaks in optically-thin gas tracers (e.g. 34SO2), while SMA1 also coincides with 11.9 micron emission. In CO(3-2), we find a high-velocity north/south bipolar outflow centered on SMA1, aligned with infrared H2 knots, and responsible for much of the maser activity. We conclude that SMA1 is an embedded intermediate mass protostar with an estimated luminosity of 3000 Lsun and a circumstellar mass of ~1 Msun. Finally, we have discovered an NH3 (3,3) maser 12 arcsec northwest of the UCHII region, coincident with a 44 GHz CH3OH maser, and possibly associated with the Br gamma outflow source identified by Puga et al. (2006).Comment: 41 pages, 11 figures, published in The Astrophysical Journal (2008) Volume 680, Issue 2, pp. 1271-1288. An error in the registration of the marker positions in Figure 11 has been corrected in this versio

Detection of the Central Star of the Planetary Nebula NGC 6302

NGC 6302 is one of the highest ionization planetary nebulae known and shows emission from species with ionization potential >300eV. The temperature of the central star must be >200,000K to photoionize the nebula, and has been suggested to be up to ~ 400,000K. On account of the dense dust and molecular disc, the central star has not convincingly been directly imaged until now. NGC 6302 was imaged in six narrow band filters by Wide Field Camera 3 on HST as part of the Servicing Mission 4 Early Release Observations. The central star is directly detected for the first time, and is situated at the nebula centre on the foreground side of the tilted equatorial disc. The magnitudes of the central star have been reliably measured in two filters(F469N and F673N). Assuming a hot black body, the reddening has been measured from the (4688-6766\AA) colour and a value of c=3.1, A_v=6.6 mag determined. A G-K main sequence binary companion can be excluded. The position of the star on the HR diagram suggests a fairly massive PN central star of about 0.64,M_sun close to the white dwarf cooling track. A fit to the evolutionary tracks for (T,L,t)=(200,000K, 2000L_sun, 2200yr), where t is the nebular age, is obtained; however the luminosity and temperature remain uncertain. The model tracks predict that the star is rapidly evolving, and fading at a rate of almost 1 % per year. Future observations could test this prediction.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, submitted to ApJ Letters on 25.09.2009 accepted on 19.10.200

A radio-continuum and photoionization-model study of the two planetary nebulae in the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy

Radio continuum observations at 1.4, 4.8 and 8.6 GHz of the two Planetary Nebulae (PNe) in the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy reveal the elongated shape of Wray 16-423 and the extreme compactness of He 2-436. He 2-436 is confirmed as subject to local dust extinction. Photoionization models for both PNe are obtained from two different codes, allowing theoretical uncertainties to be assessed. Wray 16-423, excited by a star of Teff 1.07x10^5K, is an ellipsoidal, matter-bounded nebula, except for a denser sector. He 2-436, excited by a 7x10^4K star, includes two radiation-bounded shells, with the inner one possibly corresponding to a transitory event. Both stars are on the same (H-burning) evolutionary track of initial mass (1.2+/-0.1) Msun and may be twins, with the PN ejection of Wray 16-423 having occured ~1500 years before He 2-436. The PN abundances re-inforce the common origin of the parent stars, indicating almost identical depletions with respect to solar for O, Ne, Mg, S, Cl, Ar, and K (-0.55+/-0.07 dex), large identical overabundances for He and strong overabundances for carbon, particularly in He2-436. Excess nitrogen makes Wray 16-423 nearly a Type I PN. These PNe provide a means to calibrate both metallicity and age of the Sagittarius stellar population, and they confirm that the youngest, most metal-rich population has an age of 5Gyr and a metallicity of [Fe/H]=-0.55, in agreement with the slope of the red giant branch. (Abridged abstract)Comment: To appear in Astron. Astrophys. (Latex, 17 pages, 1 postscript figure

Chemical Abundances of Planetary Nebulae in the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy

Spectrophotometry and imaging of the two planetary nebulae He2-436 and Wray16-423, recently discovered to be in the Sagittarius dwarf elliptical galaxy, are presented. Wray16-423 is a high excitation planetary nebula (PN) with a hot central star. In contrast He2-436 is a high density PN with a cooler central star and evidence of local dust, the extinction exceeding that for Wray16-423 by E(B-V)=0.28. The extinction to Wray16-423, (E(B-V)=0.14), is consistent with the extinction to the Sagittarius (Sgr) Dwarf. Both PN show Wolf-Rayet features in their spectra, although the lines are weak in Wray16-423. Images in [O III] and H-alpha+[N II], although affected by poor seeing, yield a diameter of 1.2'' for Wray16-423 after deconvolution; He~2-436 was unresolved. He2-436 has a luminosity about twice that of Wray16-423 and its size and high density suggest a younger PN. In order to reconcile the differing luminosity and nebular properties of the two PN with similar age progenitor stars, it is suggested that they are on He burning tracks The abundance pattern is very similar in both nebulae and shows an oxygen depletion of -0.4 dex with respect to the mean O abundance of Galactic PN and [O/H] = -0.6. The Sgr PN progenitor stars are representative of the higher metallicity tail of the Sgr population. The pattern of abundance depletion is similar to that in the only other PN in a dwarf galaxy companion of the Milky Way, that in Fornax, for which new spectra are presented. However the abundances are larger than for Galactic halo PN suggesting a later formation age. The O abundance of the Sgr galaxy deduced from its PN, shows similarities with that of dwarf ellipticals around M31, suggesting that this galaxy was a dwarf elliptical before its interaction with the Milky Way.Comment: 24 pages, Latex (aas2pp4.sty) including 5 postscript figures. To appear in Ap

Scale Dependence of Polarized DIS Asymmetries

We compare the $Q^{2}$ dependence of the polarized deep inelastic scattering proton asymmetry, driven by the leading order Altarelli Parisi evolution equations, to those arising from fixed order $\alpha_{s}$ and $\alpha_{s}^{2}$ approximations. It is shown that the evolution effects associated with gluons, which are not properly taken into account by the leading order approximation, cannot be neglected in the analysis of the most recent experimental data.Comment: Latex file, (9 figures in postcript available from [email protected]

Analytic Estimates of the QCD Corrections to Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering

We study the QCD corrections to neutrino deep-inelastic scattering on a nucleus, and analytically estimate their size. For an isoscalar target, we show that the dominant QCD corrections to the ratio of the neutral- to charged-current events are suppressed by sin^4 theta_W, where theta_W is the weak mixing angle. We then discuss the implications for the NuTeV determination of sin^2 theta_W.Comment: 16 pages, Late

The HI shell G132.6-0.7-25.3: A Supernova Remnant or an Old Wind-Blown Bubble?

Data from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey reveal an abundance of HI shells and arcs in the disk of our galaxy. While their shape is suggestive of stellar winds or supernovae influence, very few of these structures have been examined in detail thus far. A fine example is an HI shell in the outer Galaxy with no continuum counterpart discovered in the survey's pilot project. Its size and kinematics suggest that it was created by the winds of a single late-type O star which has since evolved off the main sequence or by a supernova explosion. A B1 Ia star at the centre of the shell, in projection, is a possible candidate for energy source if the shell is assumed to be wind-blown. The shell's shape implies a surprisingly small scale height of less than about 30 pc for the surrounding gas if the elongation is due to evolution in a density gradient.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa