1. |
- Boyarchuk, A. A., et al.
(author)
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Scientific problems addressed by the Spektr-UV space project (world space Observatory-Ultraviolet)
- 2016
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In: Astronomy reports (Print). - 1063-7729 .- 1562-6881. ; 60:1, s. 1-42
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The article presents a review of scientific problems and methods of ultraviolet astronomy, focusing on perspective scientific problems (directions) whose solution requires UV space observatories. These include reionization and the history of star formation in the Universe, searches for dark baryonic matter, physical and chemical processes in the interstellar medium and protoplanetary disks, the physics of accretion and outflows in astrophysical objects, from Active Galactic Nuclei to close binary stars, stellar activity (for both low-mass and high-mass stars), and processes occurring in the atmospheres of both planets in the solar system and exoplanets. Technological progress in UV astronomy achieved in recent years is also considered. The well advanced, international, Russian-led Spektr-UV (World Space Observatory-Ultraviolet) project is described in more detail. This project is directed at creating a major space observatory operational in the ultraviolet (115-310 nm). This observatory will provide an effective, and possibly the only, powerful means of observing in this spectral range over the next ten years, and will be an powerful tool for resolving many topical scientific problems.
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2. |
- Benedict, G. Fritz, et al.
(author)
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Distance scale zero points from galactic RR Lyrae star parallaxes
- 2011
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In: Astronomical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-6256 .- 1538-3881. ; 142:6, s. 187-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present new absolute trigonometric parallaxes and proper motions for seven Population II variable stars-five RR Lyr variables: RZ Cep, XZ Cyg, SU Dra, RR Lyr, and UV Oct; and two type 2 Cepheids: VY Pyx and kappa Pav. We obtained these results with astrometric data from Fine Guidance Sensors, white-light interferometers on Hubble Space Telescope. We find absolute parallaxes in milliseconds of arc: RZ Cep, 2.12 +/- 0.16 mas; XZ Cyg, 1.67 +/- 0.17 mas; SU Dra, 1.42 +/- 0.16 mas; RR Lyr, 3.77 +/- 0.13 mas; UV Oct, 1.71 +/- 0.10 mas; VY Pyx, 6.44 +/- 0.23 mas; and. Pav, 5.57 +/- 0.28 mas; an average sigma(pi)/pi = 5.4%. With these parallaxes, we compute absolute magnitudes in V and K bandpasses corrected for interstellar extinction and Lutz-Kelker-Hanson bias. Using these RR Lyrae variable star absolute magnitudes, we then derive zero points for M(V)-[Fe/H] and M(K)-[Fe/H]-log P relations. The technique of reduced parallaxes corroborates these results. We employ our new results to determine distances and ages of several Galactic globular clusters and the distance of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The latter is close to that previously derived from Classical Cepheids uncorrected for any metallicity effect, indicating that any such effect is small. We also discuss the somewhat puzzling results obtained for our two type 2 Cepheids.
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3. |
- Fossati, L., et al.
(author)
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A detailed spectropolarimetric analysis of the planet-hosting star WASP-12
- 2010
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 720:1, s. 872-886
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The knowledge of accurate stellar parameters is paramount in several fields of stellar astrophysics, particularly in the study of extrasolar planets, where often the star is the only visible component and therefore used to infer the planet's fundamental parameters. Another important aspect of the analysis of planetary systems is the stellar activity and the possible star planet interaction. Here, we present a self-consistent abundance analysis of the planet-hosting star WASP-12 and a high-precision search for a structured stellar magnetic field on the basis of spectropolarimetric observations obtained with the ESPaDOnS spectropolarimeter. Our results show that the star does not have a structured magnetic field, and that the obtained fundamental parameters are in good agreement with what was previously published. In addition, we derive improved constraints on the stellar age (1.0-2.65 Gyr), mass (1.23-1.49 M/M-circle dot), and distance (295-465 pc). WASP-12 is an ideal object in which to look for pollution signatures in the stellar atmosphere. We analyze the WASP-12 abundances as a function of the condensation temperature and compare them with those published by several other authors on planet-hosting and non-planet-hosting stars. We find hints of atmospheric pollution in WASP-12's photosphere but are unable to reach firm conclusions with our present data. We conclude that a differential analysis based on WASP-12 twins will probably clarify whether an atmospheric pollution is present as well as the nature of this pollution and its implications in planet formation and evolution. We also attempt the direct detection of the circumstellar disk through infrared excess, but without success.
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4. |
- Fossati, L., et al.
(author)
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An in-depth spectroscopic analysis of RR Lyr Variations over the pulsation cycle
- 2014
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 445:4, s. 4094-4104
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The stellar parameters of RR Lyrae stars vary considerably over a pulsation cycle, and their determination is crucial for stellar modelling. We present a detailed spectroscopic analysis of the pulsating star RR Lyr, the prototype of its class, over a complete pulsation cycle, based on high-resolution spectra collected at the 2.7-m telescope of McDonald Observatory. We used simultaneous photometry to determine the accurate pulsation phase of each spectrum and determined the effective temperature, the shape of the depth-dependent microturbulent velocity, and the abundance of several elements, for each phase. The surface gravity was fixed to 2.4. Element abundances resulting from our analysis are stable over the pulsation cycle. However, a variation in ionization equilibrium is observed around minimum radius. We attribute this mostly to a dynamical acceleration contributing to the surface gravity. Variable turbulent convection on time-scales longer than the pulsation cycle has been proposed as a cause for the Blazhko effect. We test this hypothesis to some extent by using the derived variable depth-dependent microturbulent velocity profiles to estimate their effect on the stellar magnitude. These effects turn out to be wavelength dependent and much smaller than the observed light variations over the Blazhko cycle: if variations in the turbulent motions are entirely responsible for the Blazhko effect, they must surpass the scales covered by the microturbulent velocity. This work demonstrates the possibility of a self-consistent spectroscopic analysis over an entire pulsation cycle using static atmosphere models, provided one takes into account certain features of a rapidly pulsating atmosphere.
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5. |
- Kochukhov, Oleg, et al.
(author)
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Surface magnetism of cool stars
- 2017
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In: Astronomical Notes - Astronomische Nachrichten. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 0004-6337 .- 1521-3994. ; 338:4, s. 428-441
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Magnetic fields are essential ingredients of many physical processes in the interiors and envelopes of cool stars. Yet their direct detection and characterization is notoriously difficult, requiring high-quality observations and advanced analysis techniques. Significant progress has been recently achieved by several types of direct magnetic field studies on the surfaces of cool, active stars. In particular, complementary techniques of field topology mapping with polarization data and total magnetic flux measurements from intensity spectra have been systematically applied to different classes of active stars, leading to interesting and occasionally controversial results. In this paper, we summarize the current status of direct magnetic field studies of cool stars and investigations of surface inhomogeneities caused by the field, based on the material presented at the Cool Stars 19 splinter session.
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6. |
- Shulyak, D., et al.
(author)
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The Lorentz force in atmospheres of CP stars : theta Aurigae
- 2007
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 464:3, s. 1089-1099
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Several dynamical processes may induce considerable electric currents in the atmospheres of magnetic chemically peculiar (CP) stars. The Lorentz force, which results from the interaction between the magnetic field and the induced currents, modifies the atmospheric structure and induces characteristic rotational variability of the hydrogen Balmer lines. To study this phenomena we have initiated a systematic spectroscopic survey of the Balmer lines variation in magnetic CP stars. In this paper we continue presentation of results of the program focusing on the high-resolution spectral observations of A0p star \aur (HD 40312). We have detected a significant variability of the H$\alpha$, H$\beta$, and H$\gamma$ spectral lines during full rotation cycle of the star. This variability is interpreted in the framework of the model atmosphere analysis, which accounts for the Lorentz force effects. Both the inward and outward directed Lorentz forces are considered under the assumption of the axisymmetric dipole or dipole+quadrupole magnetic field configurations. We demonstrate that only the model with the outward directed Lorentz force in the dipole+quadrupole configuration is able to reproduce the observed hydrogen line variation. These results present new strong evidences for the presence of non-zero global electric currents in the atmosphere of an early-type magnetic star.
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7. |
- Yan, F., et al.
(author)
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CRIRES+ detection of CO emissions lines and temperature inversions on the dayside of WASP-18b and WASP-76b
- 2023
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 672
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The dayside atmospheres of ultra-hot Jupiters (UHJs) are predicted to possess temperature inversion layers with extremely high temperatures at high altitudes. We observed the dayside thermal emission spectra of WASP-18b and WASP-76b with the new CRIRES+ high-resolution spectrograph at near-infrared wavelengths. Using the cross-correlation technique, we detected strong CO emission lines in both planets, which confirms the existence of temperature inversions on their dayside hemispheres. The two planets are the first UHJs orbiting F-type stars with CO emission lines detected; previous detections were mostly for UHJs orbiting A-type stars. Evidence of weak H2O emission signals is also found for both planets. We further applied forward-model retrievals on the detected CO lines and retrieved the temperature-pressure profiles along with the CO volume mixing ratios. The retrieved logarithmic CO mixing ratio of WASP-18b (-2.2(-1.5)(+1.4)) is slightly higher than the value predicted by the self-consistent model assuming solar abundance. For WASP-76b, the retrieved CO mixing ratio (-3.6(-1.6)(+1.8)) is broadly consistent with the value of solar abundance. In addition, we included the equatorial rotation velocity (upsilon(eq)) in the retrieval when analyzing the line profile broadening. The obtained upsilon(eq) is 7.0 +/- 2.9 km s(-1) for WASP-18b and 5.2(-3.0)(+2.5) km s(-1) for WASP-76b, which are consistent with the tidally locked rotational velocities.
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8. |
- Hahlin, Axel, et al.
(author)
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Determination of small-scale magnetic fields on Sun-like stars in the near-infrared using CRIRES
- 2023
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 675
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aims: We aim to characterise the small-scale magnetic fields of a sample of 16 Sun-like stars and investigate the capabilities of the newly upgraded near-infrared (NIR) instrument CRIRES+ at the Very Large Telescope in the context of small-scale magnetic field studies. Our targets also had their magnetic fields studied with optical spectra, which allowed us to compare magnetic field properties at different spatial scales on the stellar surface and to contrast small-scale magnetic field measurements at different wavelengths.Methods: We analysed the Zeeman broadening signature for six magnetically sensitive and insensitive Fe I lines in the H-band to measure small-scale magnetic fields on the stellar surfaces of our sample. We used polarised radiative transfer modelling and non-local thermodynamic equilibrium departure coefficients in combination with Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling to determine magnetic field characteristics and non-magnetic stellar parameters. We used two different approaches to describe the small-scale magnetic fields. The first is a two-component model with a single magnetic region and a free magnetic field strength. The second model contains multiple magnetic components with fixed magnetic field strengths.Results: We found average magnetic field strengths ranging from & SIM;0.4 kG down to < 0.1 kG. The results align closely with other results from high-resolution NIR spectrographs, such as SPIRou. It appears that the typical magnetic field strength in the magnetic region is slightly stronger than 1.3 kG, and for most stars in our sample, this strength is between 1 and 2 kG. We also found that the small-scale fields correlate with the large-scale fields and that the small-scale fields are at least ten times stronger than the large-scale fields inferred with Zeeman Doppler imaging. The two- and multi-component models produce systematically different results, as the strong fields from the multi-component model increase the obtained mean magnetic field strength. When comparing our results with the optical measurements of small-scale fields, we found a systematic offset two to three times stronger than fields in the optical results. This discrepancy cannot be explained by uncertainties in stellar parameters. Care should therefore be taken when comparing results obtained at different wavelengths until a clear cause can be established.
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9. |
- Kolenberg, K., et al.
(author)
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An in-depth spectroscopic analysis of the Blazhko star RR Lyrae : I. Characterisation of the star: abundance analysis and fundamental parameters
- 2010
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 519, s. A64-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. The knowledge of accurate stellar parameters is a keystone in several fields of stellar astrophysics, such as asteroseismology and stellar evolution. Although the fundamental parameters can be derived from both spectroscopy and multicolour photometry, the results obtained are sometimes affected by systematic uncertainties. Stellar pulsation reaches high amplitudes in RR Lyrae stars, and as a consequence the stellar parameters vary significantly over the pulsation cycle. The abundances of the star, however, are not expected to change. Aims. We present a self-consistent spectral analysis of the pulsating star RR Lyr, which is the primary target of our study of the Blazhko effect. Methods. We used high-resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio spectra to carry out a consistent parameter determination and abundance analysis for RR Lyr. The LLmodels code was employed for model atmosphere calculations, while the SYNTH3 and WIDTH9 codes were used for line profile calculations and LTE abundance analysis. We describe in detail the methodology adopted to derive the fundamental parameters and the abundances. From a set of available high-resolution spectra of RR Lyr, we selected the phase of maximum radius at which the spectra are least disturbed by the pulsation. Using the abundances determined at this phase as a starting point, we expect to be able to determine the fundamental parameters determined at other phases more accurately. Results. The set of fundamental parameters obtained in this work fits the observed spectrum accurately. From the abundance analysis, we find clear indications of a depth-dependent microturbulent velocity, that we quantify. Conclusions. We confirm the importance of a consistent analysis of relevant spectroscopic features, the application of advanced model atmospheres, and the use of up-to-date atomic line data for determining stellar parameters. These results are crucial for further studies, e. g., detailed theoretical modelling of the observed pulsations.
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10. |
- Morin, J., et al.
(author)
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Multiple views of magnetism in cool stars
- 2013
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In: Astronomical Notes - Astronomische Nachrichten. - : Wiley. - 0004-6337 .- 1521-3994. ; 334:1-2, s. 48-52
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Magnetic fields are regarded as a crucial element for our understanding of stellar physics. They can be studied with a variety of methods which provide complementary - and sometimes contradictory - information about the structure, strength and dynamics of the magnetic field and its role in the evolution of stars. Stellar magnetic fields can be investigated either with direct methods based on the Zeeman effect or through the observation of activity phenomena resulting from the interaction of the field with the stellar atmosphere. In this Cool Stars 17 Splinter Session we discussed the results obtained by the many ongoing studies of stellar activity and direct studies of surface magnetic fields, as well as the state-of-the-art techniques on which they are based. We show the strengths and limitations of the various approaches currently used and point out their evolution as well as the interest of coupling various magnetism and activity proxies. (C) 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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