Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Parsons, S. B..
The analysis deals with the bright Cepheids observed from the IUE satellite, over several days, at a speed and spectral resolution suitable to study both the cores of Mg II at 2796 and 2803 A and the presence and strength of the more prominent emission lines in the far ultraviolet. The observations are discussed in some detail. Some qualitative results are examined.
IUE spectra of the white dwarf component of HD 149499, discovered from the Skylab experiments S-019 UV survey, show prominent lines of He II. The star appears to be helium-rich with He/H not less than 1. The ultraviolet fluxes show the temperature to be within the range 70,000-100,000 K, with the most probable value near 85,000 K.
Ultraviolet stellar spectra in the wavelength region from 1300 to 5000 A (130 to 500) were photographed during the three manned Skylab missions using a 15 cm aperture objective-prism telescope. The prismatic dispersion varied from 58 A mm/1 at 1400 A to 1600 A mm/1 at 3000 A. Approximately 1000 spectra representing 500 stars were measured and reduced to observed fluxes. About 100 stars show absorption lines of Si IV, C IV, or C II. Numerous line features are also recorded in supergiant stars, shell stars, A and F stars, and Wolf-Rayet stars. Most of the stars in the catalog are of spectral class B, with a number of O and A type stars and a sampling of WC, WN, F and C type stars. Spectrophotometric results are tabulated for these 500 stars.
Graphs of normalized fluxes derived from objective-prism spectra (from the S-019 experiment on Skylab), and C IV profiles are presented. The C IV resonance profile, when studied with respect to bolometric magnitude and effective temperature, reveals mass loss conditions without requiring precise mass loss rates. There is a clear trend in the C IV feature toward more fully developed P Cygni profiles at higher luminosities, and a significant velocity shift in the C IV absorption down to bolometric magnitude approximately equal to -7.7.
Observations of HD 149499 B, the previously unrecognized white dwarf star found by the Skylab ultraviolet objective-prism survey, are discussed. Spectra of the binary HD 149499 AB were obtained by the short wavelength and long wavelength cameras of the IUE, and converted into fluxes. The absorption line strengths of the white dwarf secondary indicate a He/H composition ratio greater than or equal to 1. Comparison with model atmospheres of the IUE data suggests a temperature of around 93,000 K for HD 149499 B, while comparison with visual magnitude data indicates a temperature of 82,000 K. Either temperature value would make the star the hottest white dwarf for which reasonably reliable temperature estimates are available. Future work intended includes the repetition of the Skylab ultraviolet experiment on Spacelab for the detection of a complete sample of hot white dwarfs and subdwarfs.
The star HDE 283048 located at alpha = 3(h)50(m)3, delta = +25 deg 36 min shows a strong ultraviolet continuum. Ground-based observations indicate a hot-dominated composite spectrum. Several lines of evidence suggest that the hot component is a hot subdwarf.
The paper describes a plan to assemble a master catalog of early-type stars to at least 10th magnitude, containing a single value for each magnitude and the spectral type, with information on photometry, known peculiarities, duplicity, etc., which will serve as a collection of ground-based data to aid in the reduction and analysis of ultraviolet spectra obtained with the S-019 experiment on Skylab, in which objective prism photographs recorded nearly 10,000 stars at wavelengths shortward of 3000 A. The starting point is the Celescope Identification Catalog; several other catalogs will be compared and merged with this data base. The format for recording the wanted data on magnetic tape and the procedure for assembling the master file are discussed.
Observations of Beta Lyr with the Skylab S-019 ultraviolet objective-prism spectrograph show numerous emission lines in the region from 1400 to 2300 A. Some variations in line strength between phases 0.25 and 0.50 are seen, which probably explain the shallowness of the OAO-2 light curve at 1910 A. Many of the emission lines are probably due to intercombination transitions, thus confirming the concept that the emission is produced by collisional excitation in low-density clouds of hot gas.
The letter reports the discovery of a cool star with excess brightness in the vacuum ultraviolet on an objective-prism photograph obtained during the second Skylab mission. This star, HD 149499, is of type K0 V and has a companion with an apparent magnitude of about 11.8; the relatively flat UV spectrum observed at the position of HD 149499 is characteristic of a 10th or 11th magnitude unreddened O- or early B-type star. It is shown that the excess VUV brightness is due to the companion, HD 149499B, which probably lies in the region of the H-R diagram occupied by the hot white dwarfs. Inspection of white dwarf lists indicates that this star is the sixth or seventh brightest white dwarf known. A maximum orbital motion of 0.025 arcsec/yr is estimated along with a period of just under 500 yr.
A hot companion to the G5 III star HR 3080, a single-line spectroscopic binary, has been discovered from spectra in the vacuum-ultraviolet. The companion must be a subdwarf or pre-white dwarf. A list of previously known systems of the zeta Aur and VV Cep type observed with the ultraviolet spectrograph on Skylab is also given.
Ultraviolet spectra of HD153919 (=3U1700-37) and HDE226868 (=Cyg X-1) were obtained with the ultraviolet objective-prism spectrograph of Skylab Experiment S019. The data consist of unwidened spectra which extend to 1,600A for HD153919 and to 2,400A for HDE226868. The wavelength resolution is about 2A to 1,400A and 12A at 2,000A. For HD153919, an unwidened spectrum of fair quality and extending to a wavelength of 1,600A was obtained at 22 sup h 08 sup m on 1 September 1973. The energy distribution in this spectrum generally resembles that of other reddened O stars. A break in continuum intensity seems to occur at a wavelength of about 1,720A. There is a suggestion of an emission line on the longward edge of the break but this could be either a chance clumping of grains or else a photographic edge-effect caused by the break.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
A 15-cm aperture f/3 Ritchey-Chretien telescope equipped with a 4 deg calcium fluoride prism was employed in taking objective prism spectra from 1300 to 5000 A in 188 stars, in the three Skylab missions. Spectra of 2 A resolution at 1400 A and 10 A at 2000 A, extending to B0 stars such that V equals 6.5, were taken of 400 stars in the neighborhood of 1500 A. Stellar temperature and luminosity variations are revealed in resonance lines of C IV and Si IV. Profiles of P Cygni type show up in the spectra of all stars with absolute bolometric magnitudes brighter than minus 8.4, implying appreciable outflow of mass. Spectra with emission lines shortward of 2000 A were obtained for 12 WR stars, and spectra of some companion stars dominating the UV spectra are reported.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Objective-prism spectra at ultraviolet wavelengths extending to 1300 A were photographed during the three Skylab missions in a survey covering 9 percent of the sky. Several spectral features, notably resonance lines of C IV and Si IV, show striking variations with stellar temperature and luminosity. Marked P Cygni profiles in C IV and Si IV, indicative of significant outflow of mass, appear in the spectra of all stars with bolometric magnitude brighter than -8.4.
Ultraviolet stellar spectra in the wavelength region from 130 to 500 nm were photographed during the three manned Skylab missions using a 15-cm-aperture objective-prism telescope mounted on the antisolar scientific airlock. Data at wavelengths of 200 nm or shorter were obtained for 1400 stars in 166 fields. Approximately 300 stars show absorption lines of Si IV, C IV, or C II in which the strengths and profiles show striking variations with stellar temperature and luminosity. Numerous weak lines are also observed in supergiant stars, shell stars, peculiar A stars, and Wolf-Rayet stars. Observations of comet Kohoutek show interesting variations in the strength of the OH 3090 A band.
Comparison between theoretical colors calculated from model atmospheres and ultraviolet celescope observations of supergiant star atmospheres show that most stars are deficient in ultraviolet flux relative to theoretical models. It is concluded that not enough line blocking has been included in model atmospheres.