A photometric and spectroscopic study of the brightest northern Cepheids. III. A high-resolution view of Cepheid atmospheres

We present new high-resolution (R=40000) spectroscopic observations of 18 bright northern Cepheids carried out at David Dunlap Observatory, in 1997. The measurements mainly extend those of presented in Paper I adding three more stars (AW Per, SV Vul, T Mon). The spectra were obtained in the interval of 5900 A and 6660 A. New radial velocities determined with the cross-correlation technique and the bisector technique are presented. We found systematic differences between the spectroscopic and CORAVEL-type measurements as large as 1-3 km/s in certain phases. We performed Baade-Wesselink analysis for CK Cam discovered by the Hipparcos satellite. The resulting radius is 31+/-1 Ro, which is in very good agreement with recent period-radius relation by Gieren et al. (1999). Observational pieces of evidence of possible velocity gradient affecting the individual line profiles are studied. The FWHM of the metallic lines, similarly to the velocity differences, shows a very characteristic phase dependence, illustrating the effect of global compression in the atmosphere. The smallest line widths always occur around the maximal radius, while the largest FWHM is associated with the velocity reversal before the minimal radius. Three first overtone pulsators do not follow the general trend: the largest FWHM in SU Cas and SZ Tau occurs after the smallest radius, during the expansion, while in V1334 Cyg there are only barely visible FWHM-variations. The possibility of a bright yellow companion of V1334 Cyg is briefly discussed. The observed line profile asymmetries can be partly associated with the velocity gradient, which is also supported by the differences between individual line velocities of different excitation potentials.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Validating Continuum Lowering Models via Multi-Wavelength Measurements of Integrated X-ray Emission

X-ray emission spectroscopy is a well-established technique used to study continuum lowering in dense plasmas. It relies on accurate atomic physics models to robustly reproduce high-resolution emission spectra, and depends on our ability to identify spectroscopic signatures such as emission lines or ionization edges of individual charge states within the plasma. Here we describe a method that forgoes these requirements, enabling the validation of different continuum lowering models based solely on the total intensity of plasma emission in systems driven by narrow-bandwidth x-ray pulses across a range of wavelengths. The method is tested on published Al spectroscopy data and applied to the new case of solid-density partially-ionized Fe plasmas, where extracting ionization edges directly is precluded by the significant overlap of emission from a wide range of charge states

A semi-analytical light curve model and its application to type IIP supernovae

The aim of this work is to present a semi-analytical light curve modeling code which can be used for estimating physical properties of core collapse supernovae (SNe) in a quick and efficient way. To verify our code we fit light curves of Type II SNe and compare our best parameter estimates to those from hydrodynamical calculations. For this analysis we use the quasi-bolometric light curves of five different Type IIP supernovae. In each case we get appropriate results for the initial pre-supernova parameters. We conclude that this semi-analytical light curve model is useful to get approximate physical properties of Type II SNe without using time-consuming numerical hydrodynamic simulations.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy \& Astrophysics; corrected Fig.2, 3,

Possible detection of singly-ionized oxygen in the Type Ia SN 2010kg

We present direct spectroscopic modeling of 11 high-S/N observed spectra of the Type Ia SN 2010kg, taken between -10 and +5 days with respect to B-maximum. The synthetic spectra, calculated with the SYN++ code, span the range between 4100 and 8500 \r{A}. Our results are in good agreement with previous findings for other Type Ia SNe. Most of the spectral features are formed at or close to the photosphere, but some ions, like Fe II and Mg II, also form features at ~2000 - 5000 km s$^{-1}$ above the photosphere. The well-known high-velocity features of the Ca II IR-triplet as well as Si II $\lambda$6355 are also detected. The single absorption feature at ~4400 \r{A}, which usually has been identified as due to Si III, is poorly fit with Si III in SN 2010kg. We find that the fit can be improved by assuming that this feature is due to either C III or O II, located in the outermost part of the ejecta, ~4000 - 5000 km s$^{-1}$ above the photosphere. Since the presence of C III is unlikely, because of the lack of the necessary excitation/ionization conditions in the outer ejecta, we identify this feature as due to O II. The simultaneous presence of O I and O II is in good agreement with the optical depth calculations and the temperature distribution in the ejecta of SN 2010kg. This could be the first identification of singly ionized oxygen in a Type Ia SN atmosphere.Comment: Submitted to MNRA

Extreme Supernova Models for the Superluminous Transient ASASSN-15lh

The recent discovery of the unprecedentedly superluminous transient ASASSN-15lh (or SN 2015L) with its UV-bright secondary peak challenges all the power-input models that have been proposed for superluminous supernovae. Here we examine some of the few viable interpretations of ASASSN-15lh in the context of a stellar explosion, involving combinations of one or more power inputs. We model the lightcurve of ASASSN-15lh with a hybrid model that includes contributions from magnetar spin-down energy and hydrogen-poor circumstellar interaction. We also investigate models of pure circumstellar interaction with a massive hydrogen-deficient shell and discuss the lack of interaction features in the observed spectra. We find that, as a supernova ASASSN-15lh can be best modeled by the energetic core-collapse of a ~40 Msun star interacting with a hydrogen-poor shell of ~20 Msun. The circumstellar shell and progenitor mass are consistent with a rapidly rotating pulsational pair-instability supernova progenitor as required for strong interaction following the final supernova explosion. Additional energy injection by a magnetar with initial period of 1-2 ms and magnetic field of 0.1-1 x 10^14 G may supply the excess luminosity required to overcome the deficit in single-component models, but this requires more fine-tuning and extreme parameters for the magnetar, as well as the assumption of efficient conversion of magnetar energy into radiation. We thus favor a single-input model where the reverse shock formed in a strong SN ejecta-CSM interaction following a very powerful core-collapse SN explosion can supply the luminosity needed to reproduce the late-time UV-bright plateau.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Zadovoljstvo z delom gospodarskih kriminalistov na policijskih upravah Ljubljana – Maribor in nekateri vzroki za fluktuacijo

An average person spends almost a third of his life at work. It is therefore very important that the person is satisfied with their job.We could define job satisfaction as a factor with an important influence on increased quality in both professional and private life. The dissatisfaction of employees with their jobs is usually followed by fluctuation. This can be very damaging to an organization since employees are one of the most important resources. This article presents the results of various surveys on the satisfaction of police officers and detectives with their work, on fluctuation as a phenomenon and some of the reasons for it. In the empirical part of this article, the authors present a study done among the economic crime detectives working in the police directorates of Ljubljana and Maribor. The study showed that economic crime detectives are somewhat satisfied with their work but are still willing to change their jobs and leave the police for a better salary. The main factor for dissatisfaction is the low pay for their performance.Povprečen človek preživi skoraj tretjino življenja na delovnem mestu. Zaradi tega je zelo pomembno, če je pri delu, ki ga opravlja zadovoljen. Tako lahko zadovoljstvo pri delu označimo, kot dejavnik, ki pomembno vpliva na večjo kakovost delovnega in zasebnega življenja. Nezadovoljstvo zaposlenih pri delu običajno spremlja fluktuacija, ki lahko povzroči organizaciji veliko škodo, saj tudi zaposleni predstavljajo za organizacijo določen kapital. V prispevku so predstavljeni rezultati nekaterih raziskav o zadovoljstvu policistov in kriminalistov pri njihovem delu ter fluktuacija kot pojav in najpogostejši vzrok zanjo. V empiričnem delu prispevka je predstavljena raziskava, opravljena med kriminalisti, ki preiskujejo gospodarsko kriminaliteto na policijskih upravah Ljubljana in Maribor. Ta je postregla z rezultati, da so gospodarski kriminalisti srednje zadovoljni z delom, ki ga opravljajo in so pripravljeni zamenjati svojo službo za boljše plačano službo izven policije. Kot enega večjih dejavnikov nezadovoljstva pri delu so opredelili prav slabo plačo, prejeto za delo, ki ga opravljajo