Short period line profile and light variations in the Be star ω Orionis

We present the results of a multisite spectroscopic and photometric campaign on the Be star ω Orionis. From the photometry and radial velocity variation of several spectral lines, we confirm that the star is a variable with period . Only one period can be extracted from both the photometric and radial velocity observations. We find that the projected rotational velocity from the helium lines is considerably smaller than from the metal lines . The line profiles show an excess absorption feature moving from blue to red for half the period and from red to blue for the other half of the period. Another excess absorption feature moves exactly out of phase. The excess absorption features are present in photospheric lines as well as in lines which are significantly affected by circumstellar material, such as Hβ. From this we conclude that the periodic variations are most probably associated with corotating circumstellar materia

HI in the Outskirts of Nearby Galaxies

The HI in disk galaxies frequently extends beyond the optical image, and can trace the dark matter there. I briefly highlight the history of high spatial resolution HI imaging, the contribution it made to the dark matter problem, and the current tension between several dynamical methods to break the disk-halo degeneracy. I then turn to the flaring problem, which could in principle probe the shape of the dark halo. Instead, however, a lot of attention is now devoted to understanding the role of gas accretion via galactic fountains. The current $\rm \Lambda$ cold dark matter theory has problems on galactic scales, such as the core-cusp problem, which can be addressed with HI observations of dwarf galaxies. For a similar range in rotation velocities, galaxies of type Sd have thin disks, while those of type Im are much thicker. After a few comments on modified Newtonian dynamics and on irregular galaxies, I close with statistics on the HI extent of galaxies.Comment: 38 pages, 17 figures, invited review, book chapter in "Outskirts of Galaxies", Eds. J. H. Knapen, J. C. Lee and A. Gil de Paz, Astrophysics and Space Science Library, Springer, in pres

The IAU Thesaurus for Improved On-line Access to Information

AbstractThere is a need for standardised terminology in the field of astronomy. A project on behalf of the International Astronomical Union has been undertaken by astronomy librarians to compile a thesaurus for inputting to and accessing computer database systems.</jats:p

Photometric and Spectrophotometric Data Required for the SUSI Programme

The Sydney University Stellar Interferometer, SUSI, a modern version of a Michelson stellar interferometer, will be capable of measuring the angular diameters of stars down to V ≈ 8.0, for all spectral types. The resolution of the 640 m baseline — &lt;0.1 milliarcsec at optical wavelengths — includes reasonable sample sizes of all spectral types and luminosity classes to this magnitude limit.The angular diameter data require complementary photometric, spectrophotometric and also spectroscopic data for the determination of fundamental parameters of single and multiple stars. This paper discusses the accuracy required of these data for some of the main problems to be tackled by SUSI. A selection of the programmes planned for this unique instrument is listed below, where the need for complementary data is also indicated.• The measurement of the changes of angular diameters of Cepheids and other pulsating stars such as Mira variables. Comparison with the linear changes determined from radial velocity curves will enable their distances and luminosities to be determined by an essentially geometric method.• The measurement of the angular sizes of the orbits and of one or both components of spectroscopic binary stars. This effectively makes them ‘visual’ binaries so that the orbital inclination, i, may be determined. When these data are combined with the velocity curve solutions which include (mass)sin3i and (semi – majoraxis)sin i, we may determine masses and linear radii of one or both components and also the distances to the systems. Also, the light curve of an eclipsing binary provides information on the ellipticities and radii of the components and on the eccentricity of the orbit — information which may be used to aid the analysis of the SUSI data. In addition, the determination of the light curve (some bright systems have not been observed for up to one or two decades) is the quickest method of finding the current phase of its orbit.• The establishment of the total-flux-based temperature scale of all spectral types and luminosity classes from O to M. This requires accurate photometry and spectrophotometry over as wide a wavelength range as possible; it therefore also requires observations from space observatories, as was also necessary for the analysis using the Narrabri intensity interferometer data (Code et al., 1976).• The measurement of diameters of stars with shells or extended atmospheres, such as Be and Wolf Rayet stars, at different wavelengths — in particular, in the emission lines.</jats:p

The Tilt of the Large Magellanic Cloud

Photoelectric light curves have been obtained for 20 Cepheids, 12 on the far western side of the LMC and 8 on the far eastern side. The difference between the moduli of the two groups is 0.12 ± 0.05 mag., the western side being 3 kpc more distant than the eastern.</jats:p

New Observations of the Beat Cepheid Variable AX Velorum

Evidence exists for mode energy changes in beat Cepheid variable stars over the 20-30 year interval during which photoelectric observations of the objects have been obtained. For TU Cas, Hodson, Stellingwerf and Cox (1979) have found that the first overtone amplitude has been decreasing with time from 0.4 to 0.25 mag over a 67 year timebase; these authors also included some early visual estimates in their analysis. For U TrA, Faulkner &amp; Shobbrook (1979) have found that the first overtone pulsation has been increasing relative to the fundamental over a twenty year timebase.</jats:p

Velocity Variations in Beta Centauri

This programme was undertaken because the preliminary observations of Beta Centauri with the Narrabri stellar interferometer (Hanbury Brown, Davis, Allen, and Rome) show that the correlation received is not consistent with that expected from a single star. The Lick Catalogue of Radial Velocities states that β Cen is a Bl II star. The Narrabri results are consistent with several models; in particular, it may be a double star with components of similar brightness, or it may have a very luminous, extended atmosphere or shell surrounding it. The latter possibility is perhaps unlikely on the spectroscopic evidence, as there are neither emission nor sharp absorption components in the spectral lines.</jats:p

Co-rotating Photospheric Clouds in <i>μ</i> Centauri

AbstractSeveral periods close to 0.5 d have been reported for μ Cen. We obtained over 300 echelle spectra and simultaneous multicolour photometry over a two-week period. We find that the period is 0.66 d and is, in fact, singly periodic. Greyscale images of many consecutive nights show moving features which do not repeat nightly, as may be expected for P = 0.5 d, but repeat approximately every alternate night. In spite of this, periodogram analysis of the radial velocity, as measured at the point of minimum intensity in the spectral line, does indeed show a 0.5-d period. The amplitude of this periodicity decreases during the course of the run. This seeming contradiction, as well as the apparent multiperiodicity, is due to the use of period finding techniques which exclude singly-periodic solutions of a complex nature. We interpret the variations as due to two, co-rotating, circumstellar clouds distributed around the star, such that they are separated by a time interval of 0.5 d. It appears that μ Cen is another example of the growing list of Be stars in which the periodicity is due to co-rotating photospheric clouds.</jats:p

Preliminary Seeing Measurements for SUSI

Some seeing statistics for the Narrabri site of SUSI are presented. These measurements are based on the motion of the wavefront tilt correcting mirrors used in the interferometer. The median seeing for the site to date is 1.3″.</jats:p

The Delta Scuti star 38 Eri from the ground and from space

We present and discuss the pulsational characteristics of the Delta Scuti star 38 Eri from photometric data obtained at two widely spaced epochs, partly from the ground (1998) and partly from space (MOST, 2011). We found 18 frequencies resolving the discrepancy among the previously published frequencies. Some of the frequencies appeared with different relative amplitudes at two epochs, however, we carried out investigation for amplitude variability for only the MOST data. Amplitude variability was found for one of three frequencies that satisfy the necessary frequency criteria for linear-combination or resonant-mode coupling. Checking the criteria of beating and resonant-mode coupling we excluded them as possible reason for amplitude variability. The two recently developed methods of rotational-splitting and sequence-search were applied to find regular spacings based only on frequencies. Doublets or incomplete multiplets with l = 1, 2 and 3 were found in the rotational splitting search. In the sequence search method we identified four sequences. The averaged spacing, probably a combination of the large separation and the rotational frequency, is 1.724 ± 0.092 d-1. Using the spacing and the scaling relation \bar{ρ }= [0.0394, 0.0554] gcm-3 was derived. The shift of the sequences proved to be the integer multiple of the rotational splitting spacing. Using the precise MOST frequencies and multi-colour photometry in a hybrid way, we identified four modes with l = 1, two modes with l = 2, two modes with l = 3, and two modes as l = 0 radial modes