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The Nearest Young Moving Groups
The latest results in the research of forming planetary systems have ledseveral authors to compile a sample of candidates for searching forplanets in the vicinity of the Sun. Young stellar associations areindeed excellent laboratories for this study, but some of them are notclose enough to allow the detection of planets through adaptive opticstechniques. However, the existence of very close young moving groups cansolve this problem. Here we have compiled the members of the nearestyoung moving groups, as well as a list of new candidates from ourcatalog of late-type stars that are possible members of young stellarkinematic groups, studying their membership through spectroscopic andphotometric criteria.
| New Hipparcos-based Parallaxes for 424 Faint Stars
We present a catalog of 424 common proper-motion companions to Hipparcosstars with good (>3 σ) parallaxes, thereby effectively providingnew parallaxes for these companions. Compared with typical stars in theHipparcos catalog, these stars are substantially dimmer. The catalogincludes 20 white dwarfs and an additional 29 stars withMV>14, the great majority of the latter being M dwarfs.
| Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 Study of the Trapezium Cluster: The Influence of Circumstellar Disks on the Initial Mass Function
We have performed the first measures of mass accretion rates in the coreof the Orion Nebula Cluster. Four adjacent fields centered on theTrapezium stars have been imaged in the U and B bands using the WideField Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on board the Hubble Space Telescope. Weobtained photometry for 91 stars in the U band (F336W) and 71 stars inthe B band (F439W). The WFPC2 archive was also searched to obtaincomplementary V-band (F547M) and I-band (F791W) photometry. In thispaper we focus our attention on a group of 40 stars with known spectraltypes and complete UBVI WFPC2 photometry. We locate each star on the H-Rdiagram, considering both the standard ISM reddening law withRV=3.1 and the ``anomalous'' reddening law withRV=5.5 more appropriate for the Orion Nebula. Then we derivethe stellar masses and ages by comparing with the evolutionary tracksand isochrones calculated by D'Antona & Mazzitelli and Palla &Stahler. Approximately three-quarters of the sources show excessluminosity in the U band, which we attribute to mass accretion. Theknown correlation between the U-band excess and the total accretionluminosity, recalibrated for our photometric system, allows us toestimate the accretion rates, which are all found to be in the range10-8 to 10-12 Msolar yr-1.For stars older than 1 Myr, there is some evidence of a relation betweenmass accretion rates and stellar age. Overall, mass accretion ratesappear lower than those measured by other authors in the Orion flankingfields or in Taurus-Auriga. Mass accretion rates remain low even in thevicinity of the 10-5 Msolar yr-1 birthline of Palla & Stahler, suggesting that in the core of theTrapezium cluster, disk accretion has been recently depressed by anexternal mechanism. We suggest that the UV radiation generated by theTrapezium OB stars, responsible for the disk evaporation, may also causethe drop of the mass accretion rate. In this scenario, low-mass starsmay terminate their pre-main-sequence evolution with masses lower thanthose they would have reached if disk accretion could have proceededundisturbed until the final disk consumption. In OB associations thelow-mass end of the initial mass function (IMF) may therefore beaffected by the rapid evolution of the most massive cluster's stars,causing a surplus of ``accretion-aborted,'' very low mass stars andbrown dwarfs and a deficit of intermediate-mass stars. This trend is inagreement with recent observations of the IMF in the Trapezium cluster.Based on observations taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope,which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research inAstronomy (AURA), Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.
| Nearby stars of the Galactic disk and halo. III.
High-resolution spectroscopic observations of about 150 nearby stars orstar systems are presented and discussed. The study of these and another100 objects of the previous papers of this series implies that theGalaxy became reality 13 or 14 Gyr ago with the implementation of amassive, rotationally-supported population of thick-disk stars. The veryhigh star formation rate in that phase gave rise to a rapid metalenrichment and an expulsion of gas in supernovae-driven Galactic winds,but was followed by a star formation gap for no less than three billionyears at the Sun's galactocentric distance. In a second phase, then, thethin disk - our ``familiar Milky Way'' - came on stage. Nowadays ittraces the bright side of the Galaxy, but it is also embedded in a hugecoffin of dead thick-disk stars that account for a large amount ofbaryonic dark matter. As opposed to this, cold-dark-matter-dominatedcosmologies that suggest a more gradual hierarchical buildup throughmergers of minor structures, though popular, are a poor description forthe Milky Way Galaxy - and by inference many other spirals as well - if,as the sample implies, the fossil records of its long-lived stars do notstick to this paradigm. Apart from this general picture that emergeswith reference to the entire sample stars, a good deal of the presentwork is however also concerned with detailed discussions of manyindividual objects. Among the most interesting we mention the bluestraggler or merger candidates HD 165401 and HD 137763/HD 137778, thelikely accretion of a giant planet or brown dwarf on 59 Vir in itsrecent history, and HD 63433 that proves to be a young solar analog at\tau200 Myr. Likewise, the secondary to HR 4867, formerly suspectednon-single from the Hipparcos astrometry, is directly detectable in thehigh-resolution spectroscopic tracings, whereas the visual binary \chiCet is instead at least triple, and presumably even quadruple. Withrespect to the nearby young stars a complete account of the Ursa MajorAssociation is presented, and we provide as well plain evidence foranother, the ``Hercules-Lyra Association'', the likely existence ofwhich was only realized in recent years. On account of its rotation,chemistry, and age we do confirm that the Sun is very typical among itsG-type neighbors; as to its kinematics, it appears however not unlikelythat the Sun's known low peculiar space velocity could indeed be thecause for the weak paleontological record of mass extinctions and majorimpact events on our parent planet during the most recent Galactic planepassage of the solar system. Although the significance of thiscorrelation certainly remains a matter of debate for years to come, wepoint in this context to the principal importance of the thick disk fora complete census with respect to the local surface and volumedensities. Other important effects that can be ascribed to this darkstellar population comprise (i) the observed plateau in the shape of theluminosity function of the local FGK stars, (ii) a small thoughsystematic effect on the basic solar motion, (iii) a reassessment of theterm ``asymmetrical drift velocity'' for the remainder (i.e. the thindisk) of the stellar objects, (iv) its ability to account for the bulkof the recently discovered high-velocity blue white dwarfs, (v) itsmajor contribution to the Sun's 220 km s-1 rotationalvelocity around the Galactic center, and (vi) the significant flatteningthat it imposes on the Milky Way's rotation curve. Finally we note ahigh multiplicity fraction in the small but volume-complete local sampleof stars of this ancient population. This in turn is highly suggestivefor a star formation scenario wherein the few existing single stellarobjects might only arise from either late mergers or the dynamicalejection of former triple or higher level star systems.
| 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
| Some anomalies in the occurrence of debris discs around main-sequence A and G stars
Debris discs consist of large dust grains that are generated bycollisions of comets or asteroids around main-sequence stars, and thequantity and distribution of debris may be used to detect the presenceof perturbing planets akin to Neptune. We use stellar and disc surveysto compare the material seen around A- and G-type main-sequence stars.Debris is detected much more commonly towards A stars, even when acomparison is made only with G stars of comparable age. Detection ratesare consistent with disc durations of ~0.5 Gyr, which may occur at anytime during the main sequence. The higher detection rate for A stars canresult from this duration being a larger fraction of the main-sequencelifetime, possibly boosted by a globally slightly larger disc mass thanfor the G-type counterparts. The disc mass range at any given age is afactor of at least ~100 and any systematic decline with time is slow,with a power law estimated to not be steeper than t-1/2.Comparison with models shows that dust can be expected as late as a fewGyr when perturbing planetesimals form slowly at large orbital radii.Currently, the Solar system has little dust because the radius of theKuiper Belt is small and hence the time-scale to produce planetesimalswas less than 1 Gyr. However, the apparently constant duration of ~0.5Gyr when dust is visible is not predicted by the models.
| Improved Astrometry and Photometry for the Luyten Catalog. II. Faint Stars and the Revised Catalog
We complete construction of a catalog containing improved astrometry andnew optical/infrared photometry for the vast majority of NLTT starslying in the overlap of regions covered by POSS I and by the secondincremental Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) release, approximately 44%of the sky. The epoch 2000 positions are typically accurate to 130 mas,the proper motions to 5.5 mas yr-1, and the V-J colors to0.25 mag. Relative proper motions of binary components are measured to 3mas yr-1. The false-identification rate is ~1% for11<~V<~18 and substantially less at brighter magnitudes. Theseimprovements permit the construction of a reduced proper-motion diagramthat, for the first time, allows one to classify NLTT stars intomain-sequence (MS) stars, subdwarfs (SDs), and white dwarfs (WDs). We inturn use this diagram to analyze the properties of both our catalog andthe NLTT catalog on which it is based. In sharp contrast to popularbelief, we find that NLTT incompleteness in the plane is almostcompletely concentrated in MS stars, and that SDs and WDs are detectedalmost uniformly over the sky δ>-33deg. Our catalogwill therefore provide a powerful tool to probe these populationsstatistically, as well as to reliably identify individual SDs and WDs.
| Contributions to the Nearby Stars (NStars) Project: Spectroscopy of Stars Earlier than M0 within 40 Parsecs: The Northern Sample. I.
We have embarked on a project, under the aegis of the Nearby Stars(NStars)/Space Interferometry Mission Preparatory Science Program, toobtain spectra, spectral types, and, where feasible, basic physicalparameters for the 3600 dwarf and giant stars earlier than M0 within 40pc of the Sun. In this paper, we report on the results of this projectfor the first 664 stars in the northern hemisphere. These resultsinclude precise, homogeneous spectral types, basic physical parameters(including the effective temperature, surface gravity, and overallmetallicity [M/H]), and measures of the chromospheric activity of ourprogram stars. Observed and derived data presented in this paper arealso available on the project's Web site.
| The Hamburg/RASS Catalogue of optical identifications. Northern high-galactic latitude ROSAT Bright Source Catalogue X-ray sources
We present the Hamburg/RASS Catalogue (HRC) of optical identificationsof X-ray sources at high-galactic latitude. The HRC includes all X-raysources from the ROSAT Bright Source Catalogue (RASS-BSC) with galacticlatitude |b| >=30degr and declination delta >=0degr . In thispart of the sky covering ~ 10 000 deg2 the RASS-BSC contains5341 X-ray sources. For the optical identification we used blue Schmidtprism and direct plates taken for the northern hemisphere Hamburg QuasarSurvey (HQS) which are now available in digitized form. The limitingmagnitudes are 18.5 and 20, respectively. For 82% of the selectedRASS-BSC an identification could be given. For the rest either nocounterpart was visible in the error circle or a plausibleidentification was not possible. With ~ 42% AGN represent the largestgroup of X-ray emitters, ~ 31% have a stellar counterpart, whereasgalaxies and cluster of galaxies comprise only ~ 4% and ~ 5%,respectively. In ~ 3% of the RASS-BSC sources no object was visible onour blue direct plates within 40\arcsec around the X-ray sourceposition. The catalogue is used as a source for the selection of(nearly) complete samples of the various classes of X-ray emitters.
| Statistics of spectroscopic sub-systems in visual multiple stars
A large sample of visual multiples of spectral types F5-M has beensurveyed for the presence of spectroscopic sub-systems. Some 4200 radialvelocities of 574 components were measured in 1994-2000 with thecorrelation radial velocity meter. A total of 46 new spectroscopicorbits were computed for this sample. Physical relations are establishedfor most of the visual systems and several optical components areidentified as well. The period distribution of sub-systems has a maximumat periods from 2 to 7 days, likely explained by a combination of tidaldissipation with triple-star dynamics. The fraction of spectroscopicsub-systems among the dwarf components of close visual binaries withknown orbits is similar to that of field dwarfs, from 11% to 18% percomponent. Sub-systems are more frequent among the components of widevisual binaries and among wide tertiary components to the known visualor spectroscopic binaries - 20% and 30%, respectively. In triple systemswith both outer (visual) and inner (spectroscopic) orbits known, we findan anti-correlation between the periods of inner sub-systems and theeccentricities of outer orbits which must be related to dynamicalstability constraints. Tables 1, 2, and 6 are only available inelectronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/382/118
| A revision of the solar neighbourhood metallicity distribution
We present a revised metallicity distribution of dwarfs in the solarneighbourhood. This distribution is centred on solar metallicity. Weshow that previous metallicity distributions, selected on the basis ofspectral type, are biased against stars with solar metallicity orhigher. A selection of G-dwarf stars is inherently biased againstmetal-rich stars and is not representative of the solar neighbourhoodmetallicity distribution. Using a sample selected on colour, we obtain adistribution where approximately half the stars in the solarneighbourhood have metallicities higher than [Fe/H]=0. The percentage ofmid-metal-poor stars ([Fe/H]<-0.5) is approximately 4 per cent, inagreement with present estimates of the thick disc. In order to have ametallicity distribution comparable to chemical evolution modelpredictions, we convert the star fraction to mass fraction, and showthat another bias against metal-rich stars affects dwarf metallicitydistributions, due to the colour (or spectral type) limits of thesamples. Reconsidering the corrections resulting from the increasingthickness of the stellar disc with age, we show that the simpleclosed-box model with no instantaneous recycling approximation gives areasonable fit to the observed distribution. Comparisons with theage-metallicity relation and abundance ratios suggest that the simpleclosed-box model may be a viable model of the chemical evolution of theGalaxy at solar radius.
| The ROSAT Bright Survey: II. Catalogue of all high-galactic latitude RASS sources with PSPC countrate CR > 0.2 s-1
We present a summary of an identification program of the more than 2000X-ray sources detected during the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (Voges et al.1999) at high galactic latitude, |b| > 30degr , with countrate above0.2 s-1. This program, termed the ROSAT Bright Survey RBS, isto more than 99.5% complete. A sub-sample of 931 sources with countrateabove 0.2 s-1 in the hard spectral band between 0.5 and 2.0keV is to 100% identified. The total survey area comprises 20391deg2 at a flux limit of 2.4 x 10-12 ergcm-2 s-1 in the 0.5 - 2.0 keV band. About 1500sources of the complete sample could be identified by correlating theRBS with SIMBAD and the NED. The remaining ~ 500 sources were identifiedby low-resolution optical spectroscopy and CCD imaging utilizingtelescopes at La Silla, Calar Alto, Zelenchukskaya and Mauna Kea. Apartfrom completely untouched sources, catalogued clusters and galaxieswithout published redshift as well as catalogued galaxies with unusualhigh X-ray luminosity were included in the spectroscopic identificationprogram. Details of the observations with an on-line presentation of thefinding charts and the optical spectra will be published separately.Here we summarize our identifications in a table which contains opticaland X-ray information for each source. As a result we present the mostmassive complete sample of X-ray selected AGNs with a total of 669members and a well populated X-ray selected sample of 302 clusters ofgalaxies with redshifts up to 0.70. Three fields studied by us remainwithout optical counterpart (RBS0378, RBS1223, RBS1556). While the firstis a possible X-ray transient, the two latter are isolated neutron starcandidates (Motch et al. 1999, Schwope et al. 1999).
| Lithium and rotation on the subgiant branch. II. Theoretical analysis of observations
Lithium abundances and rotation, determined for 120 subgiant stars inLèbre et al. (1999) are analyzed. To this purpose, theevolutionary status of the sample as well as the individual masses havebeen determined using the HIPPARCOS trigonometric parallax measurementsto locate very precisely our sample stars in the HR diagram. We look atthe distributions of A_Li and Vsini with mass when stars evolve from themain sequence to the subgiant branch. For most of the stars in oursample we find good agreement with the dilution predictions. However,the more massive cool stars with upper limits of Li abundances show asignificant discrepancy with the theoretical predictions, even if theNon-LTE effects are taken into account. For the rotation behaviour, ouranalysis confirms that low mass stars leave the main sequence with a lowrotational rate, while more massive stars are slowed down only whenreaching the subgiant branch. We also checked the connection between theobserved rotation behaviour and the magnetic braking due to thedeepening of the convective envelope. Our results shed new light on thelithium and rotation discontinuities in the evolved phase.
| A Second Catalog of Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 Filter Photometry: Ultraviolet Photometry of 614 Stars
Ultraviolet photometry from the Wisconsin Experiment Package on theOrbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 (OAO 2) is presented for 614 stars.Previously unpublished magnitudes from 12 filter bandpasses withwavelengths ranging from 1330 to 4250 Å have been placed on thewhite dwarf model atmosphere absolute flux scale. The fluxes wereconverted to magnitudes using V=0 for F(V)=3.46x10^-9 ergs cm^-2 s^-1Å^-1, or m_lambda=-2.5logF_lambda-21.15. This second catalogeffectively doubles the amount of OAO 2 photometry available in theliterature and includes many objects too bright to be observed withmodern space observatories.
| The Second Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Right Angle Program Catalog
We present the detection of 235 extreme ultraviolet sources, of which169 are new detections, using the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer's (EUVE)Right Angle Program (RAP) data. This catalog includes observations sincethe first EUVE RAP catalog (1994 January) and covers 17% of the sky. TheEUVE RAP uses the all-sky survey telescopes (also known as``scanners''), mounted at right angles to the Deep Survey andspectrometer instruments, to obtain photometric data in four wavelengthbands centered at ~100 Å (Lexan/B), ~200 Å (Al/Ti/C), ~400Å (Ti/Sb/Al), and ~550 Å (Sn/SiO). This allows the RAP toaccumulate data serendipitously during pointed spectroscopicobservations. The long exposure times possible with RAP observationsprovide much greater sensitivity than the all-sky survey. We presentEUVE source count rates and probable source identifications from theavailable catalogs and literature. The source distribution is similar toprevious extreme ultraviolet (EUV) catalogs with 2% early-type stars,45% late-type stars, 8% white dwarfs, 6% extragalactic, 24% with no firmclassification, and 15% with no optical identification. We also present36 detections of early-type stars that are probably the result ofnon-EUV radiation. We have detected stellar flares from approximately 12sources, including: EUVE J0008+208, M4 star G32-6 (EUVE J0016+198), anew source EUVE J0202+105, EUVE J0213+368, RS CVn V711 Tau (EUVEJ0336+005), BY Draconis type variable V837 Tau (EUVE J0336+259), the newK5 binary EUVE J0725-004, EUVE J1147+050, EUVE J1148-374, EUVE J1334-083(EQ Vir), EUVE J1438-432 (WT 486/487), EUVE J1808+297, and the M5.5estar G208-45 (EUVE J1953+444). We present sample light curves for thebrighter sources.
| A catalog of rotational and radial velocities for evolved stars
Rotational and radial velocities have been measured for about 2000evolved stars of luminosity classes IV, III, II and Ib covering thespectral region F, G and K. The survey was carried out with the CORAVELspectrometer. The precision for the radial velocities is better than0.30 km s-1, whereas for the rotational velocity measurementsthe uncertainties are typically 1.0 km s-1 for subgiants andgiants and 2.0 km s-1 for class II giants and Ib supergiants.These data will add constraints to studies of the rotational behaviourof evolved stars as well as solid informations concerning the presenceof external rotational brakes, tidal interactions in evolved binarysystems and on the link between rotation, chemical abundance and stellaractivity. In this paper we present the rotational velocity v sin i andthe mean radial velocity for the stars of luminosity classes IV, III andII. Based on observations collected at the Haute--Provence Observatory,Saint--Michel, France and at the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile. Table \ref{tab5} also available in electronic form at CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Lithium and rotation on the subgiant branch. I. Observations and spectral analysis
We have obtained new high resolution spectroscopic observations of thelithium line at 6707.81 Angstroms and derived lithium abundances (A_Li )by spectral synthesis for a sample of about 120 F-, G- and K-typePopulation I subgiant stars. For each of these stars, high precisionrotational velocity obtained with the CORAVEL spectrometer is available.We present the behavior of the lithium abundance as a function ofeffective temperature, which shows a sort of discontinuity around 5600K, somewhat later than the well known rotational discontinuity. based onobservations collected at the Observatoire de Haute--Provence (France)and at the European Southern Observatory, La Silla (Chile).
| Photometric Separation of Stellar Properties Using SDSS Filters
Using synthetic photometry of Kurucz model spectra, we explore thecolors of stars as a function of temperature, metallicity, and surfacegravity with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) filters, u'g'r'i'z'. Thesynthetic colors show qualitative agreement with the few publishedobservations in these filters. We find that the locus of synthetic starsis basically two-dimensional for 4500 < T < 8000 K, whichprecludes simultaneous color separation of the three basic stellarcharacteristics we consider. Colors including u' contain the mostinformation about normal stellar properties; measurements in this filterare also important for selecting white dwarfs. We identify two differentsubsets of the locus in which the loci separate by either metallicity orsurface gravity. For 0.5 < g' - r' < 0.8 (corresponding roughly toG stars), the locus separates by metallicity; for photometric error of afew percent, we estimate metallicity to within ~0.5 dex in this range.In the range -0.15 < g' - r' < 0.00 (corresponding roughly to Astars), the locus shows separation by surface gravity. In both cases, weshow that it is advantageous to use more than two colors whendetermining stellar properties by color. Strategic observations in SDSSfilters are required to resolve the source of a ~5% discrepancy betweensynthetic colors of Gunn-Stryker stars, Kurucz models, and externaldeterminations of the metallicities and surface gravities. The syntheticstar colors can be used to investigate the properties of any normal starand to construct analytic expressions for the photometric prediction ofstellar properties in special cases.
| Kinematics and Metallicity of Stars in the Solar Region
Several samples of nearby stars with the most accurate astrometric andphotometric parameters are searched for clues to their evolutionaryhistory. The main samples are (1) the main-sequence stars with b - ybetween 0.29 and 0.59 mag (F3 to K1) in the Yale parallax catalog, (2) agroup of high-velocity subgiants studied spectroscopically by Ryan &Lambert, and (3) high-velocity main-sequence stars in the extensiveinvestigation by Norris, Bessel, & Pickles. The major conclusionsare as follows: (1) The oldest stars (halo), t >= 10-12 Gyr, haveV-velocities (in the direction of Galactic rotation and referred to theSun) in the range from about -50 to -800 km s^-1 and have aheavy-element abundance [Fe/H] of less than about -0.8 dex. The agerange of these objects depends on our knowledge of globular clusterages, but if age is correlated with V-velocity, the youngest may be M22and M28 (V ~ -50 km s^-1) and the oldest NGC 3201 (V ~ -500 km s^-1) andassorted field stars. (2) The old disk population covers the large agerange from about 2 Gyr (Hyades, NGC 752) to 10 or 12 Gyr (Arcturusgroup, 47 Tuc), but the lag (V) velocity is restricted to less thanabout 120 km s^-1 and [Fe/H] >= -0.8 or -0.9 dex. The [Fe/H] ~ -0.8dex division between halo and old disk, near t ~ 10-12 Gyr, is marked bya change in the character of the CN index (C_m) and of the blanketingparameter K of the DDO photometry. (3) The young disk population, t <2 Gyr, is confined exclusively to a well-defined area of the (U, V)velocity plane. The age separating young and old disk stars is also thatseparating giant evolution of the Hyades (near main-sequence luminosity)and M67 (degenerate helium cores and a large luminosity rise) kinds. Thetwo disk populations are also separated by such indexes as the g-indexof Geveva photometry. There appears to be no obvious need to invokeexogeneous influences to understand the motion and heavy-elementabundance distributions of the best-observed stars near the Sun.Individual stars of special interest include the parallax star HD 55575,which may be an equal-component binary, and the high-velocity star HD220127, with a well-determined space velocity near 1000 km s^-1.
| The ROSAT all-sky survey catalogue of optically bright main-sequence stars and subgiant stars
We present X-ray data for all main-sequence and subgiant stars ofspectral types A, F, G, and K and luminosity classes IV and V listed inthe Bright Star Catalogue that have been detected as X-ray sources inthe ROSAT all-sky survey; several stars without luminosity class arealso included. The catalogue contains 980 entries yielding an averagedetection rate of 32 percent. In addition to count rates, sourcedetection parameters, hardness ratios, and X-ray fluxes we also listX-ray luminosities derived from Hipparcos parallaxes. The catalogue isalso available in electronic form via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
| Identification of soft high galactic latitude RASS X-ray sources. I. A complete count-rate limited sample
We present a summary of spectroscopic identifications for a completesample of bright soft high galactic latitude X-ray sources drawn fromthe ROSAT All-Sky Survey which have PSPC count-rates CR > 0.5 {ctss}(-1) and hardness ratios HR1 < 0. Of a total of 397 sources, 270had catalogued counterparts although most of these were not previouslyknown as X-ray sources; of the remaining 127 sources neither X-ray noroptical properties were previously known. Of the whole sample of verysoft X-ray sources 155 were also discovered by the Wide-Field-Camera onboard ROSAT. We present spectroscopic identifications of 108 sources andother identifications for further 18 sources; 1 source remainsunidentified so far. In practically all cases a unique opticalcounterpart exists facilitating identification. The largest sourceclasses are AGN, magnetic cataclysmic variables, and hot white dwarfs.Based in part on observations with the ESO/MPI 2.2m telescope at LaSilla, Chile
| An All-Sky Catalog of Faint Extreme Ultraviolet Sources
We present a list of 534 objects detected jointly in the ExtremeUltraviolet Explorer (EUVE) 100 Angstroms all-sky survey and in theROSAT X-Ray Telescope 0.25 keV band. The joint selection criterionpermits use of a low count rate threshold in each survey. This lowthreshold is roughly 60% of the threshold used in the previous EUVEall-sky surveys, and 166 of the objects listed here are new EUV sources,appearing in neither the Second EUVE Source Catalog nor the ROSAT WideField Camera Second Catalog. The spatial distribution of this all-skycatalog shows three features: an enhanced concentration of objects inUrsa Major, where the Galactic integrated H I column reaches its globalminimum; an enhanced concentration in the third quadrant of the Galaxy(lII from 180 deg to 270 deg) including the Canis Major tunnel, whereparticularly low H I columns are found to distances beyond 200 pc; and aparticularly low number of faint objects in the direction of the fourthquadrant of the Galaxy, where nearby intervening H I columns areappreciable. Of particular interest is the composition of the 166detections not previously reported in any EUV catalog. We offerpreliminary identifications for 105 of these sources. By far the mostnumerous (81) of the identifications are late-type stars (F, G, K, M),while 18 are other stellar types, only five are white dwarfs (WDs), andnone are extragalactic. The paucity of WDs and extragalactic objects maybe explained by a strong horizon effect wherein interstellar absorptionstrongly limits the effective new-source search volume and, thereby,selectively favors low-luminosity nearby sources over more luminous butdistant objects.
| The Second Extreme-Ultraviolet Explorer Source Catalog
We present the second catalog of extreme-ultraviolet objects detected bythe Extreme-Ultraviolet Explorer. The data include (1) all-sky surveydetections from the initial 6 month scanner-survey phase, (2) additionalscanner detections made subsequently during specially programmedobservations designed to fill in low-exposure sky areas of the initialsurvey, (3) sources detected with deep-survey-telescope observationsalong the ecliptic, (4) objects detected by the scanner telescopesduring targeted spectroscopy observations, and ( 3) other observations.We adopt an innovative source detection method that separates the usuallikelihood function into two parts: an intensity diagnostic and aprofile diagnostic. These diagnostics allow each candidate detection tobe tested separately for both signal-to-noise ratio and conformance withthe known instrumental point-spread function. We discuss the dependenceof the false-alarm rate and the survey's completeness on the survey'ssensitivity threshold. We provide three lists of the EUV sourcesdetected: the all-sky survey detections, the deep-survey detections, andsources detected during other phases of the mission. Each list givespositions and intensities in each wave band. The total number of objectslisted is 734. For approximately 65% of these we also provide plausibleoptical, UV, radio, and/or X-ray identifications.
| The ROSAT Wide Field Camera all-sky survey of extreme-ultraviolet sources - II. The 2RE Source Catalogue
During 1990-1991 the Wide Field Camera (WFC) on the ROSAT satelliteperformed the first all-sky survey at EUV wavelengths. The survey wasconducted in two `colours' using broad-band filters to define wavebandscovering the ranges 60-140 A and 112-200 A. It was fully imaging, witheffective spatial resolution of about 3 arcmin FWHM, and point sourcelocation accuracy of typically better than 1 arcmin. From an initialanalysis, Pounds et al. published the WFC Bright Source Catalogue (BSC)of 383 sources. In this paper we report results from reprocessing of thecomplete survey database; the resulting list of sources is the `2RE'Catalogue. It contains 479 sources, of which 387 are detected in bothsurvey wavebands, a significant advance on the BSC (80 per cent versus60 per cent). Improvements over the original BSC include: (i) betterrejection of poor aspect periods, and smaller random errors in theaspect reconstruction; (ii) improved background screening; (iii)improved methods for source detection; (iv) inclusion of atime-variability test for each source; (v) more extensive investigationof the survey sensitivity. We define the catalogue selection criteria,and present the catalogue contents in terms of tables and sky maps. Wealso discuss the sky coverage, source number-flux relations, opticalidentifications and source variability.
| Vitesses radiales. Catalogue WEB: Wilson Evans Batten. Subtittle: Radial velocities: The Wilson-Evans-Batten catalogue.
We give a common version of the two catalogues of Mean Radial Velocitiesby Wilson (1963) and Evans (1978) to which we have added the catalogueof spectroscopic binary systems (Batten et al. 1989). For each star,when possible, we give: 1) an acronym to enter SIMBAD (Set ofIdentifications Measurements and Bibliography for Astronomical Data) ofthe CDS (Centre de Donnees Astronomiques de Strasbourg). 2) the numberHIC of the HIPPARCOS catalogue (Turon 1992). 3) the CCDM number(Catalogue des Composantes des etoiles Doubles et Multiples) byDommanget & Nys (1994). For the cluster stars, a precise study hasbeen done, on the identificator numbers. Numerous remarks point out theproblems we have had to deal with.
| ROSAT all-sky survey observations of X-ray variability in cool giant stars
We have identified 24 active late-type giant stars, including 11 RS CVnsystems, with soft X-ray count rates high enough to allow the detectionof statistically significant variability on a Roentgen Satellite (ROSAT)orbital timescale (96 minutes) as observed by the Position SensitiveProportional Counter (PSPC) during the all-sky survey. Our sensitivitytypically lies in the range of 10% - 25%, depending on the source countrate. Comparison is made to the daily, nonflare solar soft X-rayvariability as observed by the Solrad satellites during solar minimum in1969 and solar maximum in 1975. Seven of the 24 stars show significantvariability; in two of these cases (HR 3922 and HR 8448) major flareswere observed in which the peak count rate is enhanced by at least afactor of 3 above quiescent. While HR 3922 (G5 III) is not (yet)classified as an RS CVn star, its flare is more energetic (3 x1031 ergs/s) than previously observed RS CVn flares. Theapparently single giant HR 8167 (G8 III) also shows two flares. Whileone might expect to find an anticorrelation between saturated coronaeand variability, we find no evidence of this: the two stars in oursample with the highest ratio of fx/fv both showvariability. We also point out that Capella (G6 III + F9 III) is one ofthe stars manifesting variability.
| The ROSAT Wide Field Camera all-sky survey of extreme-ultraviolet sources. I - The Bright Source Catalogue
First comprehensive results from an initial processing of the ROSAT WideField Camera all-sky survey for cosmic sources of extreme-ultravioletradiation are presented. The reduction of the survey data has yielded acatalog of 383 relatively bright EUV sources, forming the WFC BrightSource Catalogue. Details of the EUV source positions and count ratesare given, as are optical identifications where known. It is found thatthe log N-log S distributions are unusually flat for the white dwarfstars, but almost Euclidean for the nearby main-sequence late-typestars. The sky distribution of identified white dwarfs is highlynonuniform, suggesting gross variations in the opacity of theinterstellar medium within about 100 pc.
| Theoretical colours and isochrones for some Hubble Space Telescope colour systems. II
A grid of synthetic surface brightness magnitudes for 14 bandpasses ofthe Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Camera is presented, as well asa grid of UBV, uvby, and Faint Object Camera surface brightnessmagnitudes derived from the Gunn-Stryker spectrophotometric atlas. Thesynthetic colors are used to examine the transformations between theground-based Johnson UBV and Stromgren uvby systems and the Faint ObjectCamera UBV and uvby. Two new four-color systems, similar to theStromgren system, are proposed for the determination of abundance,temperature, and surface gravity. The synthetic colors are also used tocalculate color-magnitude isochrones from the list of theoretical tracksprovided by VandenBerg and Bell (1990). It is shown that by using theappropriate filters it is possible to minimize the dependence of thiscolor difference on metallicity. The effects of interstellar reddeningon various Faint Object Camera colors are analyzed as well as theobservational requirements for obtaining data of a given signal-to-noisefor each of the 14 bandpasses.
| Miscellaneous spectroscopic notes
Results of slit-spectrograph observations are reported for approximately260 stars. The data presented range from recognition of many new Ap, Am,and other unusual stars to H-alpha observations of early-typesupergiants and Be stars. The material discussed was obtained over thepast 40 years at a number of U.S. observatories and at the DominionAstrophysical Observatory in Victoria, B.C.
| On the (B-V) colors of the bright stars
The possible causes of the dispersion of (B-V) colors of nearby stars inthe Bright Star Catalog are investigated. The distribution of (B-V)colors is presented for the entire range of spectral classes.Explanations for the dispersion in terms of a nonuniform distribution ofinterstellar absorbing material and a variability of metallicity areaddressed. A new statistical model for reddening by interstellar dustclouds is developed. It is concluded that extinction by nonuniforminterstellar matter is an important contribution to the reddening ofnearby stars, and that a part of the dispersion of (B-V) colors of Kand, possibly, M giants may be due to some unidentified variableproperty of those stars.
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Ursa Minor |
| Right ascension: | 15h29m11.00s |
| Declination: | +80°26'55.0" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 6.58 |
| Distance: | 22.065 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -223.2 |
| Proper motion Dec: | 107.8 |
| B-T magnitude: | 7.367 |
| V-T magnitude: | 6.643 |
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INHABITED SKY
