6,843 research outputs found
The Angular Separation of the Components of the Cepheid AW Per
The 6.4 day classical Cepheid AW Per is a spectroscopic binary with a period
of 40 years. Analyzing the centroids of HST/STIS spectra obtained in November
2001, we have determined the angular separation of the binary system. Although
we currently have spatially resolved data for a single epoch in the orbit, the
success of our approach opens the possibility of determining the inclination,
sini, for the system if the measurements are repeated at additional epochs.
Since the system is potentially a double lined spectroscopic binary, the
combination of spectroscopic orbits for both components and the visual orbit
would give the distance to the system and the masses of its components, thereby
providing a direct measurement of a Cepheid mass.Comment: 12 pages, accepted version -- minor change
Wind variability of B supergiants
We present the most suitable data sets available in the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) archive for the study of time-dependent stellar winds in early B supergiants. The UV line profile variability in 11 B0 to B3 stars is analysed, compared and discussed, based on 16 separate data sets comprising over 600 homogeneously reduced high-resolution spectrograms. The targets include ``normal'' stars with moderate rotation rates and examples of rapid rotators. A gallery of grey-scale images (dynamic spectra) is presented, which demonstrates the richness and range of wind variability and highlights different structures in the winds of these stars. This work emphasises the suitability of B supergiants for wind studies, under-pinned by the fact that they exhibit unsaturated wind lines for a wide range of ionization. The wind activity of B supergiants is substantial and has highly varied characteristics. The variability evident in individual stars is classified and described in terms of discrete absorption components, spontaneous absorption, bowed structures, recurrence, and ionization variability and stratification. Similar structures can occur in stars of different fundamental parameters, but also different structures may occur in the same star at a given epoch. We discuss the physical phenomena that may be associated with the spectral signatures. The diversity of wind patterns evident likely reflects the role of stellar rotation and viewing angle in determining the observational characteristics of azimuthally extended structure rooted at the stellar surface. In addition, SEI line-synthesis modelling of the UV wind lines is used to provide further information about the state of the winds in our program stars. Typically the range, implied by the line profile variability, in the product of mass-loss rate and ion fraction (mdot q_i) is a factor of ~ 1.5, when integrated between 0.2 and 0.9 v_infty ; it can however be several times larger over localised velocity regions. At a given effective temperature the mean relative ion ratios can differ by a factor of 5. The general excess in predicted (forward-scattered) emission in the low velocity regime is discussed in terms of structured outflows. Mean ion fractions are estimated over the B0 to B1 spectral classes, and trends in the ionic ratios as a function of wind velocity are described. The low values obtained for the ion fractions of UV resonance lines may reflect the role of clumping in the wind
A recalibration of IUE NEWSIPS low dispersion data
While the low dispersion IUE NEWSIPS data products represent a significant
improvement over original IUE SIPS data, they still contain serious systematic
effects which compromise their utility for certain applications. We show that
NEWSIPS low resolution data are internally consistent to only 10-15% at best,
with the majority of the problem due to time dependent systematic effects. In
addition, the NEWSIPS flux calibration is shown to be inconsistent by nearly
10%.
We examine the origin of these problems and proceed to formulate and apply
algorithms to correct them to ~ 3% level -- a factor of 5 improvement in
accuracy. Because of the temporal systematics, transforming the corrected data
to the IUE flux calibration becomes ambiguous. Therefore, we elect to transform
the corrected data onto the HST FOS system. This system is far more
self-consistent, and transforming the IUE data to it places data from both
telescopes on a single system.
Finally, we argue that much of the remaining 3% systematic effects in the
corrected data is traceable to problems with the NEWSIPS intensity
transformation function (ITF). The accuracy could probably be doubled by
rederiving the ITF.Comment: Submitted to ApJ Supplement, 35 pages, 13 figures, LaTeX - AASTEX
aas2pp4.st
Mass loss rates from mid-IR excesses in LMC and SMC O stars
We use a combination of BVJHK and Spitzer [3.6], [5.8] and [8.0] photometry
to determine IR excesses for a sample of 58 LMC and 46 SMC O stars. This sample
is ideal for determining IR excesses because the very small line of sight
reddening minimizes uncertainties due to extinction corrections. We use the
core-halo model developed by Lamers & Waters (1984a) to translate the excesses
into mass loss rates and demonstrate that the results of this simple model
agree with the more sophisticated CMFGEN models to within a factor of 2. Taken
at face value, the derived mass loss rates are larger than those predicted by
Vink et al. (2001), and the magnitude of the disagreement increases with
decreasing luminosity. However, the IR excesses need not imply large mass loss
rates. Instead, we argue that they probably indicate that the outer atmospheres
of O stars contain complex structures and that their winds are launched with
much smaller velocity gradients than normally assumed. If this is the case, it
could affect the theoretical and observational interpretations of the "weak
wind" problem, where classical mass loss indicators suggest that the mass loss
rates of lower luminosity O stars are far less than expected.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
The effects of clumping on wind line variability
We review the effects of clumping on the profiles of resonance doublets. By
allowing the ratio of the doublet oscillator strenghts to be a free parameter,
we demonstrate that doublet profiles contain more information than is normally
utilized. In clumped (or porous) winds, this ratio can lies between unity and
the ratio of the f-values, and can change as a function of velocity and time,
depending on the fraction of the stellar disk that is covered by material
moving at a particular velocity at a given moment. Using these insights, we
present the results of SEI modeling of a sample of B supergiants, zeta Pup and
a time series for a star whose terminal velocity is low enough to make the
components of its Si IV 1400 doublet independent. These results are interpreted
within the framework of the Oskinova et al. (2007) model, and demonstrate how
the doublet profiles can be used to extract infromation about wind structure.Comment: 3 pages, to appear in Clumping in Hot Star Winds, W.-R. Hamann, A.
Feldmeier & L. Oskinova, eds., Potsdam: Univ.-Verl., 2007, URN:
http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-1398
Signature of wide-spread clumping in B supergiant winds
We seek to establish additional observational signatures of the effects of
clumping in OB star winds. The action of clumping on strategic wind-formed
spectral lines is tested to steer the development of models for clumped winds
and thus improve the reliability of mass-loss determinations for massive
stars.The SiIV 1400 resonance line doublets of B0 to B5 supergiants are
analysed using empirical line-synthesis models. The focus is on decoding
information on wind clumping from measurements of ratios of the radial optical
depths (tau_(rad)(w)) of the red and blue components of the SiIV doublet. We
exploit in particular the fact that the two doublet components are decoupled
and formed independently for targets with relatively low wind terminal
velocities. Line-synthesis analyses reveal that the mean ratio of tau_(rad)(w)
of the blue to red SiIV components are rarely close to the canonical value of ~
2 (expected from atomic constants), and spread instead over a range of values
between ~1 and 2. These results are interpreted in terms of a photosphere that
is partially obscured by optically thick structures in the outflowing gas.The
spectroscopic signatures established in this study demonstrate the wide-spread
existence of wind clumping in B supergiants. The additional information in
unsaturated doublet profiles provides a means to quantify the porosity of the
winds.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letter
An Analysis of the Shapes of Interstellar Extinction Curves. VI. The Near-IR Extinction Law
We combine new HST/ACS observations and existing data to investigate the
wavelength dependence of NIR extinction. Previous studies suggest a power-law
form, with a "universal" value of the exponent, although some recent
observations indicate that significant sight line-to-sight line variability may
exist. We show that a power-law model provides an excellent fit to most NIR
extinction curves, but that the value of the power, beta, varies significantly
from sight line-to-sight line. Therefore, it seems that a "universal NIR
extinction law" is not possible. Instead, we find that as beta decreases, R(V)
[=A(V)/E(B-V)] tends to increase, suggesting that NIR extinction curves which
have been considered "peculiar" may, in fact, be typical for different R(V)
values. We show that the power law parameters can depend on the wavelength
interval used to derive them, with the beta increasing as longer wavelengths
are included. This result implies that extrapolating power law fits to
determine R(V) is unreliable. To avoid this problem, we adopt a different
functional form for NIR extinction. This new form mimics a power law whose
exponent increases with wavelength, has only 2 free parameters, can fit all of
our curves over a longer wavelength baseline and to higher precision, and
produces R(V) values which are consistent with independent estimates and
commonly used methods for estimating R(V). Furthermore, unlike the power law
model, it gives R(V)'s that are independent of the wavelength interval used to
derive them. It also suggests that the relation R(V) = -1.36 E(K-V)/E(B-V) -
0.79 can estimate R(V) to +/-0.12. Finally, we use model extinction curves to
show that our extinction curves are in accord with theoretical expectations.Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journa
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