448 research outputs found
Direct Ultraviolet Imaging and Spectroscopy of Betelgeuse
Direct images of Betelgeuse were obtained over a span of 4 years with the
Faint Object Camera on the Hubble Space Telescope. These images reveal the
extended ultraviolet continuum emission (about 2 times the optical diameter),
the varying overall ultraviolet flux levels and a pattern of bright surface
continuum features that change in position and appearance over several months
or less. Concurrent photometry and radial velocity measures support the model
of a pulsating star, first discovered in the ultraviolet from IUE. Spatially
resolved HST spectroscopy reveals a larger extention in chromospheric emissions
of Mg II as well as the rotation of the supergiant. Changing localized subsonic
flows occur in the low chromosphere that can cover a substantial fraction of
the stellar disk and may initiate the mass outflow.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, Betelgeuse Workshop, November 2012, Paris. To be
published in the European Astronomical Society Publications Series, 2013,
Editors: Pierre Kervella, Thibaut Le Bertre & Guy Perri
Particle Dark Energy
We explore the physics of a gas of particles interacting with a condensate
that spontaneously breaks Lorentz invariance. The equation of state of this gas
varies from 1/3 to less than -1 and can lead to the observed cosmic
acceleration. The particles are always stable. In our particular class of
models these particles are fermions with a chiral coupling to the condensate.
They may behave as relativistic matter at early times, produce a brief period
where they dominate the expansion with w<0 today, and behave as matter at late
time. There are no small parameters in our models, which generically lead to
dark energy clustering and, depending on the choice of parameters, smoothing of
small scale power.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures; minor update with added refs; version appearing
in Phys. Rev.
Theoretical and experimental analysis of the backward extrusion process with a rotational die of AZ31 alloy
In this work theoretical and experimental analysis of the backward extrusion with a rotary die of the AZ31 alloy has been performed. The modification of the classical extrusion was based on the use of a rotary die. The results of theoretical research have confirmed that the use of the modified backward extrusion causes the appearance of shear stress in deformed material, which could affects the activation of additional mechanisms of deformation. The numerical modelling of the rotating extrusion of AZ31 alloy has been conducted by using the computer program Forge®. The experimental tests were carried out in the conditions of the STD 810 torsion plastometer using newly designed tools
Studies of multiple stellar systems - IV. The triple-lined spectroscopic system Gliese 644
We present a radial-velocity study of the triple-lined system Gliese 644 and
derive spectroscopic elements for the inner and outer orbits with periods of
2.9655 and 627 days. We also utilize old visual data, as well as modern speckle
and adaptive optics observations, to derive a new astrometric solution for the
outer orbit. These two orbits together allow us to derive masses for each of
the three components in the system: M_A = 0.410 +/- 0.028 (6.9%), M_Ba = 0.336
+/- 0.016 (4.7%), and $M_Bb = 0.304 +/- 0.014 (4.7%) M_solar. We suggest that
the relative inclination of the two orbits is very small. Our individual masses
and spectroscopic light ratios for the three M stars in the Gliese 644 system
provide three points for the mass-luminosity relation near the bottom of the
Main Sequence, where the relation is poorly determined. These three points
agree well with theoretical models for solar metallicity and an age of 5 Gyr.
Our radial velocities for Gliese 643 and vB 8, two common-proper-motion
companions of Gliese 644, support the interpretation that all five M stars are
moving together in a physically bound group. We discuss possible scenarios for
the formation and evolution of this configuration, such as the formation of all
five stars in a sequence of fragmentation events leading directly to the
hierarchical configuration now observed, versus formation in a small N cluster
with subsequent dynamical evolution into the present hierarchical
configuration.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA
Line Broadening in Field Metal-poor Red Giant and Red Horizontal Branch Stars
We report 349 radial velocities for 45 metal-poor field red giant and red
horizontal branch stars. We have have identified one new spectroscopic binary,
HD 4306, and one possible such system, HD 184711. We also report 57 radial
velocities for 11 of the 91 stars reported on previously by Carney et al.
(2003). As was found in the previous study, radial velocity "jitter" is present
in many of the most luminous stars. Excluding stars showing spectroscopic
binary orbital motion, all 7 of the red giants with M(V) <= -2.0 display
jitter, as well as 3 of the 14 stars with -2.0 <= M(V) <= -1.4. We have also
measured line broadening in all of the new spectra, using synthetic spectra as
templates. The most luminous red giants show significant line broadening, as do
many of the red horizontal branch stars, and we discuss briefly possible
causes.Comment: To appear in the Astronomical Journa
Studies of multiple stellar systems - III. Modulation of orbital elements in the triple-lined system HD 109648
The triple-lined spectroscopic triple system HD 109648 has one of the
shortest periods known for the outer orbit in a late-type triple, 120.5 days,
and the ratio between the periods of the outer and inner orbits is small, 22:1.
With such extreme values, this system should show orbital element variations
over a timescale of about a decade. We have monitored the radial velocities of
HD 109648 with the CfA Digital Speedometers for eight years, and have found
evidence for modulation of some orbital elements. While we see no definite
evidence for modulation of the inner binary eccentricity, we clearly observe
variations in the inner and outer longitudes of periastron, as well as in the
radial velocity amplitudes of the three components. The observational results,
combined with numerical simulations, allow us to put constraints on the
orientation of the orbits.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted by MNRA
SAO 23229: A New Double-Lined Spectroscopic Eclipsing Binary
The discovery of eclipses of the bright star SAO 23229 (HD 14384; V=6.9; Spectral Type F5 V) by Indiana observer Dan Kaiser was described in a recent article in Sky and Telescope magazine (MacRobert, 1990). Photoelectric observations by H. Landis and D. Williams, reproduced in that article, show eclipses of 0.55 mag depth and period of 2.111 days. No secondary eclipses are reported, leaving open the question of whether the system contains a very dim secondary or whether it consists of two identical stars with an actual period of 4.2 days. We report here observations that favor the latter interpretation. [excerpt
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