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Search for Nanosecond Optical Pulses from Nearby Solar-Type Stars
With ``Earth 2000'' technology we could generate a directed laser pulsethat outshines the broadband visible light of the Sun by 4 orders ofmagnitude. This is a conservative lower bound for the technicalcapability of a communicating civilization; optical interstellarcommunication is thus technically plausible. We have built a pair ofsystems to detect nanosecond pulsed optical signals from a target listthat includes some 13,000 Sun-like stars, and we have made some 16,000observations totaling nearly 2400 hr during five years of operation. Abeam splitter-fed pair of hybrid avalanche photodetectors at the 1.5 mWyeth Telescope at the Harvard/Smithsonian Oak Ridge Observatory(Agassiz Station) triggers on a coincident pulse pair, initiatingmeasurement of pulse width and intensity at subnanosecond resolution. Anidentical system at the 0.9 m Cassegrain at Princeton's Fitz-RandolphObservatory performs synchronized observations with 0.1 μs eventtiming, permitting unambiguous identification of even a solitary pulse.Among the 11,600 artifact-free observations at Harvard, the distributionof 274 observed events shows no pattern of repetition, and is consistentwith a model with uniform event rate, independent of target. With onepossible exception (HIP 107395), no valid event has been seensimultaneously at the two observatories. We describe the search andcandidate events and set limits on the prevalence of civilizationstransmitting intense optical pulses.
| The Geneva-Copenhagen survey of the Solar neighbourhood. Ages, metallicities, and kinematic properties of 14 000 F and G dwarfs
We present and discuss new determinations of metallicity, rotation, age,kinematics, and Galactic orbits for a complete, magnitude-limited, andkinematically unbiased sample of 16 682 nearby F and G dwarf stars. Our63 000 new, accurate radial-velocity observations for nearly 13 500stars allow identification of most of the binary stars in the sampleand, together with published uvbyβ photometry, Hipparcosparallaxes, Tycho-2 proper motions, and a few earlier radial velocities,complete the kinematic information for 14 139 stars. These high-qualityvelocity data are supplemented by effective temperatures andmetallicities newly derived from recent and/or revised calibrations. Theremaining stars either lack Hipparcos data or have fast rotation. Amajor effort has been devoted to the determination of new isochrone agesfor all stars for which this is possible. Particular attention has beengiven to a realistic treatment of statistical biases and errorestimates, as standard techniques tend to underestimate these effectsand introduce spurious features in the age distributions. Our ages agreewell with those by Edvardsson et al. (\cite{edv93}), despite severalastrophysical and computational improvements since then. We demonstrate,however, how strong observational and theoretical biases cause thedistribution of the observed ages to be very different from that of thetrue age distribution of the sample. Among the many basic relations ofthe Galactic disk that can be reinvestigated from the data presentedhere, we revisit the metallicity distribution of the G dwarfs and theage-metallicity, age-velocity, and metallicity-velocity relations of theSolar neighbourhood. Our first results confirm the lack of metal-poor Gdwarfs relative to closed-box model predictions (the ``G dwarfproblem''), the existence of radial metallicity gradients in the disk,the small change in mean metallicity of the thin disk since itsformation and the substantial scatter in metallicity at all ages, andthe continuing kinematic heating of the thin disk with an efficiencyconsistent with that expected for a combination of spiral arms and giantmolecular clouds. Distinct features in the distribution of the Vcomponent of the space motion are extended in age and metallicity,corresponding to the effects of stochastic spiral waves rather thanclassical moving groups, and may complicate the identification ofthick-disk stars from kinematic criteria. More advanced analyses of thisrich material will require careful simulations of the selection criteriafor the sample and the distribution of observational errors.Based on observations made with the Danish 1.5-m telescope at ESO, LaSilla, Chile, and with the Swiss 1-m telescope at Observatoire deHaute-Provence, France.Complete Tables 1 and 2 are only available in electronic form at the CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/418/989
| Speckle Interferometry of New and Problem Hipparcos Binaries. II. Observations Obtained in 1998-1999 from McDonald Observatory
The Hipparcos satellite made measurements of over 9734 known doublestars, 3406 new double stars, and 11,687 unresolved but possible doublestars. The high angular resolution afforded by speckle interferometrymakes it an efficient means to confirm these systems from the ground,which were first discovered from space. Because of its coverage of adifferent region of angular separation-magnitude difference(ρ-Δm) space, speckle interferometry also holds promise toascertain the duplicity of the unresolved Hipparcos ``problem'' stars.Presented are observations of 116 new Hipparcos double stars and 469Hipparcos ``problem stars,'' as well as 238 measures of other doublestars and 246 other high-quality nondetections. Included in these areobservations of double stars listed in the Tycho-2 Catalogue andpossible grid stars for the Space Interferometry Mission.
| Two-colour photometry for 9473 components of close Hipparcos double and multiple stars
Using observations obtained with the Tycho instrument of the ESAHipparcos satellite, a two-colour photometry is produced for componentsof more than 7 000 Hipparcos double and multiple stars with angularseparations 0.1 to 2.5 arcsec. We publish 9473 components of 5173systems with separations above 0.3 arcsec. The majority of them did nothave Tycho photometry in the Hipparcos catalogue. The magnitudes arederived in the Tycho B_T and V_T passbands, similar to the Johnsonpassbands. Photometrically resolved components of the binaries withstatistically significant trigonometric parallaxes can be put on an HRdiagram, the majority of them for the first time. Based on observationsmade with the ESA Hipparcos satellite.
| Radial velocities, rotations, and duplicity of a sample of early F-type dwarfs
We present new radial and rotational velocities for 595 nearby early Fdwarfs, based on digital spectra cross-correlated with individuallyoptimised synthetic template spectra. The selection of optimumtemplates, the determination of rotational velocities, and theextraction of velocities from the blended spectra of double-linedspectroscopic binaries are discussed in some detail. We find 170spectroscopic binaries in the sample and determine orbits for 18double-lined and 2 single-lined binaries, including some spectroscopictriples. 73 stars are listed with too rapid rotation to yield usefulradial velocities (i.e. v sin i > 120 km~s^-1). We discuss the binaryfrequency in the sample, and the influence of unrecognised binaries onthe definition of clean metallicity groups of young F dwarfs and thedetermination of their kinematical properties. Tables 1, 5 and 6 areonly available, and Tables 2-4 also available in electronic form at theCDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Auriga |
| Right ascension: | 07h24m17.19s |
| Declination: | +36°18'39.3" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 7.174 |
| Distance: | 124.844 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | 23.1 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -39.1 |
| B-T magnitude: | 7.66 |
| V-T magnitude: | 7.215 |
Catalogs and designations:
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INHABITED SKY
