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Old UBV and recent uvby photometry of solar-type dwarfs and other standard stars yield an upper limit of variability (determined by observational errors) of about 0.004 mag rms. A factor two improvement in this upper limit is achievable.
Ultraviolet observations of three dwarf Cepheids (VZ Cnc, SX Phe, and AI Vel) are presented. The UV light curves are consistent with those in the visual region. When compared to standard stars, all three dwarf Cepheids exhibit flux deficiencies at the shortest observed wavelengths. The most extreme deficiencies appear for SX Phe; these may be related to the other properties previously noted for this star, including low metallicity, high space motion, and low luminosity.
A spectroscopic survey by Drilling (1983) of nonemission OB+ stars in the Case-Hamburg survey and its extension to b = + or - 30 deg for l = + or - 60 deg has turned up 12 hot, relatively bright O-type subdwarfs (V less than 13). The color temperatures of the subdwarf O stars are estimated at 60,000 to over 100,000 K. The loci or these objects are shown in the H-R diagram together with those of previously analyzed subdwarf O stars. The new hot subdwarfs occupy a previously empty region in the H-R diagram, filling the luminosity range from central stars to white dwarfs. This spread in luminosity is in agreement with their spectral appearance and indicates differences in their origin. The possible origins of these stars are briefly discussed.
Magnetic compact objects (neutron stars or white dwarfs) are currently thought to be present in many accreting systems that are releasing large amounts of energy. The magnetic field of the compact star may interact strongly with the accretion flow and play an essential role in the physics of these systems. Some magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) problems that are likely to be relevant in building up self-consistent models of the interaction between the accreting plasma and the star's magnetosphere are addressed in this series of lectures. The basic principles of MHD are first introduced and some important MHD mechanisms (Rayleigh-Taylor and Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities; reconnection) are discussed, with particular reference to their role in allowing the infalling matter to penetrate the magnetosphere and mix with the field. The structure of a force-free magnetosphere and the possibility of quasistatic momentum and energy transfer between regions linked by field-aligned currents are then studied in some detail. Finally, the structure of axisymmetric accretion flows onto magnetic compact objects is considered.
The galaxy luminosity function in the Virgo cluster has been recently found to show a clear separation between bright galaxies and dwarf galaxies. Here, consideration is given to the effect on the luminosity function of galaxy binding energy which allows gas to be retained and star formation to proceed over about 1 Gyr in massive galaxies, but implies wind-driven mass loss and inefficient star formation in dwarf galaxies.
This paper reviews several recent observational investigations which have demonstrated that a significant number of white dwarfs with He-dominated photospheres contain trace hydrogen. In addition, follow-up work on the Case Blue Star survey has uncovered an analog of GD 40 - another DBZ star. Various scenarios for their origin are discussed. The paper concludes with a brief synopsis of a discussion of how many more subclasses of white dwarf stars might exist and what it would take to discover them.
A coronagraphic survey of more than one hundred stars has been carried out in a search at optical wavelengths for circumstellar material similar to that found in the Beta Pictoris disk. The survey stars were primarily dwarfs in the spectral range A to K and most were closer than 100 pc. No evidence of circumstellar material was found around any of the stars, suggesting that Beta Pictoris is an abnormal object, surrounded by an unusually large amount of optically scattering material.
Blue hook stars are a class of subluminous extreme horizontal branch stars that were discovered in UV images of the massive globular clusters w Cen and NGC 2808. These stars occupy a region of the HR diagram that is unexplained by canonical stellar evolution theory. Using new theoretical evolutionary and atmospheric models, we have shown that the blue hook stars are very likely the progeny of stars that undergo extensive internal mixing during a late helium-core flash on the white dwarf cooling curve. This "flash mixing" produces hotter-than-normal EHB stars with atmospheres significantly enhanced in helium and carbon. The larger bolometric correction, combined with the decrease in hydrogen opacity, makes these stars appear sub luminous in the optical and UV. Flash mixing is more likely to occur in stars born with a high helium abundance, due to their lower mass at the main sequence turnoff. For this reason, the phenomenon is more common in those massive globular clusters that show evidence for secondary populations enhanced in helium. However, a high helium abundance does not, by itself, explain the presence of blue hook stars in massive globular clusters. Here, we present new observational evidence for flash mixing, using recent HST observations. These include UV color-magnitude diagrams of six massive globular clusters and far-UV spectroscopy of hot subdwarfs in one of these clusters (NGC 2808).
The research supported by this grant covered two projects: (1) a study of the luminosity dependence of the properties of atoll sources; and (2) a search for Doppler shifts in the pulse arrival times of the anomalous pulsar 4U 0142+61. Following the discovery of kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOS) in Sco X-1 studies of the X-ray properties of atoll sources have been dominated by searches for these QPOS, and the study of their dependence on other source properties, such as X-ray luminosity and spectral state. In the project supported by grant NAG5-3269 we have detected kHz QPOs for several atoll sources. The physical interpretation of these QPO is as yet unclear, but simple models (such as the Keplerian beat frequency model) can probably be excluded. The results of this research have been reported. We have studied the X-ray pulsations of the anomalous X-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61 using the Rossi XTE. A detailed search for Doppler shifts did not lead to a positive detection. The upper limits exclude almost all types of possible companion stars, except white dwarfs. However, the latter can be excluded since anomalous X-ray pulsars are very young objects. We therefore conclude that anomalous X-ray pulsars are single neutron stars.
Spectral data for C49 in the globular cluster NGC 6712 are examined with reference to evolutionary models for low-mass stars that are contracting into white dwarfs. The spectrum of this star is found to be almost identical to that of the first sdO star found in a globular cluster, star A in NGC 6397. Analysis of the spectral data using nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium models gives surface parameters T not less than 50,000 K, log g = 5.5 plus or minus 0.5, and N(He)/N(H) approximately equal to 0.1. The results are consistent with the models considered.
Hundreds of stars have now been detected at radio wavelengths. At least four processes are believed to cause the radio emission: thermal bremsstrahlung, gyrosynchrotron, cyclotron maser, and plasma radiation. Here the characteristics of the various classes of detected stars are reviewed, along with the putative reasons for the radio emission. The classes of stars described include: single stars, binaries containing two main sequences and/or giant stars, binaries containing one white dwarf, and binaries containing one neutron star or black hole.
Kronos is a multiwavelength observatory proposed as a NASA Medium Explorer. Kronos is designed to make use of the natural variability of accreting sources to create microarcsecond-resolution maps of the environments of supermassive black holes in active galaxies and stella-size black holes in binary systems and to characterize accretion processes in Galactic compact binaries. Kronos will obtain broad energy range spectroscopic data with co-aligned X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical spectrometers. The high-Earth orbit of Kronos enables well-sampled, high time-resolution observations, critical for the innovative and sophisticated methods that are used to understand the accretion flows, mass outflows, jets, and other phenomena found in accreting sources. By utilizing reverberation mapping analysis techniques, Kronos produces advanced high-resolution maps of unprecedented resolution of the extreme environment in the inner cores of active galaxies. Similarly, Doppler tomography and eclipse mapping techniques characterize and map Galactic binary systems, revealing the details of the physics of accretion processes in black hole, neutron star, and white dwarf binary systems. The Kronos instrument complement, sensitivity, and orbital environment make it suitable to aggressively address time variable phenomena in a wide range of astronomical objects from nearby flare stars to distant galaxies.
The illumination of companion stars in very low mass X-ray binaries by various kinds of radiation from the neighborhood of the neutron star after accretion has terminated or during accretion is considered. If a neutron star's spun-up period approaches 0.001 s, pulsar kHz radiation can quench accretion by pushing surrounding plasma away from the neutron star, and may leave the companion to be evaporated by the high-energy radiation component expected from an 'isolated' millisecond radiopulsar. Expected accretion-powered MeV gamma-rays and e(+ or -) winds may also be effective in evaporating dwarf companions. Neutron star spin-down energy release may sustain the power in these radiation mechanisms even while accretion falls. Accretion-powered soft X-rays may speed the mass loss of highly evolved dwarf companions, particularly those with a large fraction of carbon and oxygen.
IUE data and a distance measuring method that considered central stars in optically thick nebulae were used to examine mass distributions of planetary nebulae. Other data such as spectral type, spatial and kinematic characteristics, etc., were studied to derive relationships between population type and mass distribution. A central star mass range of at least 0.55 solar mass was obtained. Stars with masses of at least 0.64 solar mass, concentrated in the galactic disk, originated from 1.5 solar mass stars. Low mass nuclei originated in old disk or halo populations and evolved from 1.0 solar mass objects. A mass-loss parameter value of 1/3 was calculated for red giants, implying that white dwarfs evolve from stars of under 5 solar masses. Mass distributions around planetary nuclei were concluded to follow patterns associated with the individual mass.
The ROSAT mission made the first x ray survey of the entire sky using an imaging detector. Although ROSAT is a joint NASA/German project and involves direct American participation during its second phase of pointed observations, the all-sky survey remains the sole property of the German investigators. NASA grant represented the first use of ROSAT data analysis funds to support direct American participation in the ROSAT all-sky survey. The project involved a collaborative agreement between the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) and the Max-Planck-Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik (MPE) where JILA supplied MPE with a post-doctoral research associate with experience in the field of stellar (coronal) x ray emission to work within their ROSAT group. In return, members of the cool star research group at JILA were given the opportunity to collaborate on projects involving ROSAT all-sky survey data. Both sides have benefitted (and still benefit) from this arrangement since MPE suffers from a shortage of researchers who are interested in x ray emission from 'normal' stars and white dwarfs. MPE has also drawn upon experience in optical identification of x ray sources from the Einstein Extended Medium Sensitivity Survey in planning their own identification strategies for the ROSAT all-sky survey. The JILA cool stars group has benefitted since access to all-sky survey data has expanded the scope of their already extensive research programs involving multiwavelength observations of late-type stars. ROSAT was successfully launched on 1 June 1990 and conducted the bulk of the survey from 30 July 1990 to 25 January 1991. Data gaps in the survey have subsequently been made up. At the time of this writing (February 1992), the survey data have been processed once with the Standard Analysis Software System (SASS). A second processing will soon begin with improvements made to the SASS to correct errors and bugs found while carrying out scientific projects with data from the first processing. We outline the major research activities of Dr. Fleming over the past year (detailed accounts of his activities during the first two years of this grant can be found in the first-year and second-year status reports on this grant). Regarding the three specific projects which were proposed in the original proposal, two of them (White Dwarfs and Late M Dwarfs) are near completion. The results are described in two conference proceedings which are appended.
Continuous spectra of hot white dwarfs, and color indexes of such stars with hydrogen and helium atmospheres
Blue stragglers are stars, found usually in either open or globular clusters, that appear to lie on the main sequence, but are brighter and bluer than the cluster turn-off. Currently, two rival models are invoked to explain this apparently pathological behavior: internal mixing (so that fresh fuel is brought into the stellar core); and mass transfer (by which a normal main sequence star acquires mass from an evolving nearby companion and so moves up the main sequence). The latter model predicts that in the absence of complete mass transfer (i.e., coalescence), blue stragglers should be binary systems with the fainter star in a post-main sequence evolutionary state. It is important to ascertain the cause of this phenomenon since stellar evolution models of main sequence stars play such a vital role in astronomy. If mass transfer is involved, one may easily exclude binaries from age determinations of clusters, but if mixing is the cause, our age determinations will be much less accurate unless we can determine whether all stars or only some mix, and what causes the mixing to occur at all.
We present several model atmospheres for a typical hot metal-rich DA white dwarf, T(sub eff) = 60,000 K, log g = 7.5. We consider pure hydrogen models, as well as models with various abundances of two typical 'trace' elements-carbon and iron. We calculte a number of Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (LTE) and non-LTE models, taking into account the effect of numerous lines of these elements on the atmospheric structure. We demostrate that while the non-LTE effects are notvery significant for pure hydrogen models, except for describing correctly the central emission in H-alpha they are essential for predicting correctly the ionization balance of metals, such as carbon and iron. Previously reported discrepancies in LTE abundances determinations using C III and C IV lines are easily explained by non-LTE effects. We show that if the iron abundance is larger than 10(exp -5), the iron line opacity has to be considered not only for the spectrum synthesis, but also in the model construction itself. For such metal abundances, non-LTE metal line-blanketed models are needed for detailed abundance studies of hot, metal-rich white dwarfs. We also discuss the predicted Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) spectrum and show that it is very sensitive to metal abundances, as well as to non-LTE effects.