Stellar Parameters (stellar + parameter)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Spectroscopic and photometric observations of the selected Algol-type binaries , II.

MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2008
V2080 Cygni, V2365 Ophiuchi
ABSTRACT This paper is the second in the planned series of investigations. We present new radial velocities and photometric observations of V2080 Cyg and V2365 Oph. New UBV photometric data and radial velocities were analysed for the systems' parameters. While V2080 Cyg consists of two nearly equal F-type main-sequence stars, V2365 Oph has two different components, namely an early A-type primary and a G-type secondary star. New ephemerides are calculated for both systems. The masses of the component stars have been derived as 1.19 ± 0.02 and 1.16 ± 0.02 M, for V2080 Cyg and 1.97 ± 0.02 and 1.06 ± 0.01 M, for V2365 Oph. The effective temperatures and reddening of the systems have been estimated from Johnson wide-band UBV photometric calibrations. The radii have been measured by simultaneous fitting the UBV light curves using Wilson,Devinney code and are 1.60 ± 0.01 R, for both components of V2080 Cyg and 2.19 ± 0.01 and 0.934 ± 0.004 R, for V2365 Oph. The absolute parameters of the stars in both systems lie within the same ranges in the mass,radius, mass,effective temperature, mass,luminosity and luminosity,effective temperature planes as in detached Algol systems. A comparison between the properties of the systems of interest and the predictions of theoretical evolutionary models is undertaken in the log g,logTeff, log R, log M and radius,log age diagrams. The model predictions match the measured properties of V2080 Cyg for an age of about 5.6 Gyr and a ,solar' metal abundance (Z= 0.019), indicating the components near the end of their core hydrogen-burning phases. However, the position of the components of V2365 Oph on the Hertzsprung,Russell (HR) diagram is best reproduced with evolutionary models for somewhat metal-deficient (Z= 0.004) stars. We found an age of about 700 Myr, with the primary component slightly evolved off the zero-age main-sequence and the secondary one still very close to it. From the basic stellar parameters we have also redetermined the distances to V2080 Cyg and V2365 Oph as 78 ± 1 and 251 ± 8 pc, which are in agreement with, and more accurate than, Hipparcos values. The observations show that at least one of the components of V2365 Oph is an intrinsic variable with a period and peak-to-peak amplitude of 0.07 d and 0.05 mag, respectively. In accordance with its position in the HR diagram, the primary component should be considered as a , Scuti star and it is believed to be the variable star in the system. [source]


An asteroseismic study of the , Cephei star , Ophiuchi: constraints on global stellar parameters and core overshooting

MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2007
M. Briquet
ABSTRACT We present a seismic study of the , Cephei star , Ophiuchi. Our analysis is based on the observation of one radial mode, one rotationally split ,= 1 triplet and three components of a rotationally split ,= 2 quintuplet for which the m values were well identified by spectroscopy. We identify the radial mode as fundamental, the triplet as p1 and the quintuplet as g1. Our non-local thermodynamic equilibrium abundance analysis results in a metallicity and CNO abundances in full agreement with the most recent updated solar values. With X,[0.71, 0.7211] and Z,[0.009, 0.015], and using the Asplund et al. mixture but with a Ne abundance about 0.3 dex larger, the matching of the three independent modes enables us to deduce constrained ranges for the mass (M= 8.2 ± 0.3 M,) and central hydrogen abundance (Xc= 0.38 ± 0.02) of , Oph and to prove the occurrence of core overshooting (,ov= 0.44 ± 0.07). We also derive an equatorial rotation velocity of 29 ± 7 km s,1. Moreover, we show that the observed non-equidistance of the ,= 1 triplet can be reproduced by the second-order effects of rotation. Finally, we show that the observed rotational splitting of two modes cannot rule out a rigid rotation model. [source]


A fast hybrid algorithm for exoplanetary transit searches

MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2006
A. Collier Cameron
ABSTRACT We present a fast and efficient hybrid algorithm for selecting exoplanetary candidates from wide-field transit surveys. Our method is based on the widely used SysRem and Box Least-Squares (BLS) algorithms. Patterns of systematic error that are common to all stars on the frame are mapped and eliminated using the SysRem algorithm. The remaining systematic errors caused by spatially localized flat-fielding and other errors are quantified using a boxcar-smoothing method. We show that the dimensions of the search-parameter space can be reduced greatly by carrying out an initial BLS search on a coarse grid of reduced dimensions, followed by Newton,Raphson refinement of the transit parameters in the vicinity of the most significant solutions. We illustrate the method's operation by applying it to data from one field of the SuperWASP survey, comprising 2300 observations of 7840 stars brighter than V= 13.0. We identify 11 likely transit candidates. We reject stars that exhibit significant ellipsoidal variations caused indicative of a stellar-mass companion. We use colours and proper motions from the Two Micron All Sky Survey and USNO-B1.0 surveys to estimate the stellar parameters and the companion radius. We find that two stars showing unambiguous transit signals pass all these tests, and so qualify for detailed high-resolution spectroscopic follow-up. [source]


Astrophysical laser operating in the O i 8446-Å line in the Weigelt blobs of , Carinae

MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2005
S. Johansson
ABSTRACT Within the framework of a simple model of photophysical processes in the Weigelt blobs in the vicinity of the luminous blue variable (LBV) star , Carinae, we explain the presence of the fluorescent ,O i, 8446-Å and forbidden [O i] 6300-Å lines as well as the absence of the allowed O i 7774-Å line in spectra recorded with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/STIS instrument (Gull et al.). From atomic data and estimated stellar parameters we demonstrate that there is a population inversion and stimulated emission in the 3p 3P,3s 3S transition ,8446 due to photoexcitation by accidental resonance (PAR) by H Ly, radiation. [source]


Dissecting galaxies with quantitative spectroscopy of the brightest stars in the Universe

ASTRONOMISCHE NACHRICHTEN, Issue 5 2010
R.-P. KudritzkiArticle first published online: 20 MAY 2010
Abstract Measuring distances to galaxies, determining their chemical composition, investigating the nature of their stellar populations and the absorbing properties of their interstellar medium are fundamental activities in modern extragalactic astronomy helping to understand the evolution of galaxies and the expanding universe. The optically brightest stars in the universe, blue supergiants of spectral A and B, are unique tools for these purposes. With absolute visual magnitudes up to MV , -9.5 they are ideal to obtain accurate quantitative information about galaxies through the powerful modern methods of quantitative stellar spectroscopy. The spectral analysis of individual blue supergiant targets provides invaluable information about chemical abundances and abundance gradients, which is more comprehensive than the one obtained from HII regions, as it includes additional atomic species, and which is also more accurate, since it avoids the systematic uncertainties inherent in the strong line studies usually applied to the HII regions of spiral galaxies beyond the Local Group. Simultaneously, the spectral analysis yields stellar parameters and interstellar extinction for each individual supergiant target, which provides an alternative very accurate way to determine extragalactic distances through a newly developed method, called the Flux-weighted Gravity,Luminosity Relationship (FGLR). With the present generation of 10 m-class telescopes these spectroscopic studies can reach out to distances of 10 Mpc. The new generation of 30 m-class telescopes will allow to extend this work out to 30 Mpc, a substantial volume of the local universe (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]


New classification and basic stellar parameters of SU Equulei

ASTRONOMISCHE NACHRICHTEN, Issue 7 2009
O. Behre
Abstract The variable star SU Equulei was classified as a close binary with an eclipse light curve previously categorized as WUMa type. The aim of this paper is a review of this old classification on the basis of new observations and a new determination of variable star ephemeris as well as the determination of SU Equ spectral type and distance. New photometric observations in different colours allow a precise determination of the period of variability and yield more accurate light curves allowing a re-classification of the type of variability. We find the best period of variability to be half the old value. The shape of the light curve is inconsistent with an eclipse curve but consistent with an RR Lyrae type c classification. From the B, V, and R colours we deduce a new spectral classification. SU Equulei is an RRc Lyrae type variable of spectral class A8 at a distance of ,12.4 kpc instead of a late-type eclipsing binary (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]