A revised HRD for individual components of binary systems from BaSeL BVRI synthetic photometry. Influence of interstellar extinction and stellar rotation

Johnson BVRI photometric data for individual components of binary systems have been provided by ten Brummelaar et al. (2000). This is essential because such binaries could play a critical role in calibrating the single-star stellar evolution theory. While they derived the effective temperature from their estimated spectral type, we infer metallicity-dependent Teffs from a minimizing method fitting the B-V, V-R and V-I colours. For this purpose, a grid of 621,600 flux distributions were computed from the Basel Stellar Library (BaSeL 2.2) of model-atmosphere spectra, and their theoretical colours compared with the observed photometry. As a matter of fact, the BaSeL colours show a very good agreement with the BVRI metallicity-dependent empirical calibrations of Alonso et al. (1996), temperatures being different by 3+-3 % in the range 4000-8000 K for dwarf stars. Before deriving the metallicity-dependent Teff from the BaSeL models, we paid particular attention to the influence of reddening and stellar rotation. A comparison between the MExcess code and neutral hydrogen column density data shows a good agreement for the sample but we point out a few directions where the MExcess model overestimates the E(B-V) colour excess. Influence of stellar rotation on the BVRI colours can be neglected except for 5 stars with large vsini, the maximum effect on temperature being less than 5%. Our final results are in good agreement with previous spectroscopic determinations available for a few primary components, and with ten Brummelaar et al. below ~10,000 K. Nevertheless, we obtain an increasing disagreement with their Teffs beyond 10,000 K. Finally, we provide a revised Hertzsprung-Russell diagram for the systems with the more accurately determined temperatures. (Abridged)Comment: 11 pages, accepted for publication in A&

Exploration of the BaSeL stellar library for 9 F-type stars COROT potential targets

The Basel Stellar Library (BaSeL models) is constituted of the merging of various synthetic stellar spectra libraries, with the purpose of giving the most comprehensive coverage of stellar parameters. It has been corrected for systematic deviations detected in respect to UBVRIJHKLM photometry at solar metallicity, and can then be considered as the state-of-the-art knowledge of the broad band content of stellar spectra. In this paper, we consider a sample of 9 F-type stars with detailed spectroscopic analysis to investigate the Basel Stellar Library in two photometric systems simultaneously, Johnson (B-V, U-B) and Stromgren (b-y, m_1, and c_1). The sample corresponds to potential targets of the central seismology programme of the COROT space experiment, which have been recently observed at OHP. The atmospheric parameters T_eff, [Fe/H], and log g obtained from the BaSeL models are compared with spectroscopic determinations as well as with results of other photometric calibrations. For a careful interpretation of the BaSeL solutions, we computed confidence regions around the best $\chi$^2-estimates and projected them on T_eff-[Fe/H], T_eff-log g, and log g-[Fe/H] diagrams. (Abridged)Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX2e; version accepted for publication in the new A&A Journal: minor changes + figures in black and white for better readabilit

Testing intermediate-age stellar evolution models with VLT photometry of LMC clusters. I. The data

This is the first of a series of three papers devoted to the calibration of a few parameters of crucial importance in the modeling of the evolution of intermediate-mass stars, with special attention to the amount of convective core overshoot. To this end we acquired deep V and R photometry for three globular clusters of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), namely NGC 2173, SL 556 and NGC 2155, in the age interval 1-3 Gyr. In this first paper, we describe the aim of the project, the VLT observations and data reduction, and we make preliminary comparisons of the color-magnitude diagrams with both Padova and Yonsei-Yale isochrones. Two following papers in this series present the results of a detailed analysis of these data, independently carried out by members of the Yale and Padova stellar evolution groups. This allows us to compare both sets of models and discuss their main differences, as well as the systematic effects that they would have to the determination of the ages and metallicities of intermediate-age single stellar populations.Comment: 27 pages with 10 figures. Accepted by the Astronomical Journa

Different Evolutionary Stages in the Massive Star Forming Region S255 Complex

To understand evolutionary and environmental effects during the formation of high-mass stars, we observed three regions of massive star formation at different evolutionary stages that reside in the same natal molecular cloud. Methods. The three regions S255IR, S255N and S255S were observed at 1.3 mm with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and followup short spacing information was obtained with the IRAM 30m telescope. Near infrared (NIR) H + K-band spectra and continuum observations were taken for S255IR with VLT-SINFONI to study the different stellar populations in this region. The combination of millimeter (mm) and near infrared data allow us to characterize different stellar populations within the young forming cluster in detail. While we find multiple mm continuum sources toward all regions, their outflow, disk and chemical properties vary considerably. The most evolved source S255IR exhibits a collimated bipolar outflow visible in CO and H2 emission, the outflows from the youngest region S255S are still small and rather confined in the regions of the mm continuum peaks. Also the chemistry toward S255IR is most evolved exhibiting strong emission from complex molecules, while much fewer molecular lines are detected in S255N, and in S255S we detect only CO isotopologues and SO lines. Also, rotational structures are found toward S255N and S255IR. Furthermore, a comparison of the NIR SINFONI and mm data from S255IR clearly reveal two different (proto) stellar populations with an estimated age difference of approximately 1 Myr. A multi-wavelength spectroscopy and mapping study reveals different evolutionary phases of the star formation regions. We propose the triggered outside-in collapse star formation scenario for the bigger picture and the fragmentation scenario for S255IR.Comment: 23 pages,25 figures, accepted by A&

The binary progenitor of Tycho Brahe's 1572 supernova

The brightness of type Ia supernovae, and their homogeneity as a class, makes them powerful tools in cosmology, yet little is known about the progenitor systems of these explosions. They are thought to arise when a white dwarf accretes matter from a companion star, is compressed and undergoes a thermonuclear explosion Unless the companion star is another white dwarf (in which case it should be destroyed by the mass-transfer process itself), it should survive and show distinguishing properties. Tycho's supernova is one of the only two type Ia supernovae observed in our Galaxy, and so provides an opportunity to address observationally the identification of the surviving companion. Here we report a survey of the central region of its remnant, around the position of the explosion, which excludes red giants as the mass donor of the exploding white dwarf. We found a type G0--G2 star, similar to our Sun in surface temperature and luminosity (but lower surface gravity), moving at more than three times the mean velocity of the stars at that distance, which appears to be the surviving companion of the supernova.Comment: accepted by Natute (subject to embargo policy), 31 pages, 4 figure

Stellar populations associated with the LMC Papillon Nebula

We study the Large Magellanic Cloud Papillon Nebula (N159-5), a conspicuous High Excitation Blob (HEB) lying in the star forming complex N159. Using JHK near-infrared photometry obtained at the ESO VLT with the ISAAC camera, we examine the stellar populations associated with the Papillon, tracing their history using stellar evolution models. Two populations are revealed: one composed of young, massive stars with an age ~ 3 Myr, and a second consisting of older lower mass stars of age spreading between 1 and 10 Gyr. We analyze the properties of those populations and discuss their significance in the context of N159. We also estimate that if the star at the center of the Papillon is single its initial mass is ~ 50 solar masses and it is affected by an extinction Av ~ 7 mag.Comment: Accepted in A&A 11 pages, 10 figures, 12 on-line material pages (= 1 table) Some figures have been replaced by jpeg versions to reduce the overall siz

DMTs and Covid-19 severity in MS: a pooled analysis from Italy and France

We evaluated the effect of DMTs on Covid-19 severity in patients with MS, with a pooled-analysis of two large cohorts from Italy and France. The association of baseline characteristics and DMTs with Covid-19 severity was assessed by multivariate ordinal-logistic models and pooled by a fixed-effect meta-analysis. 1066 patients with MS from Italy and 721 from France were included. In the multivariate model, anti-CD20 therapies were significantly associated (OR = 2.05, 95%CI = 1.39–3.02, p < 0.001) with Covid-19 severity, whereas interferon indicated a decreased risk (OR = 0.42, 95%CI = 0.18–0.99, p = 0.047). This pooled-analysis confirms an increased risk of severe Covid-19 in patients on anti-CD20 therapies and supports the protective role of interferon