Massive stars burn hydrogen through the CNO cycle during most of their evolution. When mixing is efficient or when mass transfer in binary systems occurs, chemically processed material is observed at the surface of O and B stars. ON stars show stronger lines of nitrogen than morphologically normal counterparts. Whether this corresponds to the presence of material processed through the CNO cycle is not known. Our goal is to answer this question. We performed a spectroscopic analysis of a sample of ON stars with atmosphere models. We determined the fundamental parameters as well as the He, C, N, and O surface abundances. We also measured the projected rotational velocities. We compared the properties of the ON stars to those of normal O stars.
Faint high latitude carbon stars are rare objects commonly thought to be distant, luminous giants. For this reason they are often used to probe the structure of the Galactic halo; however more accurate investigation of photometric and spectroscopic surveys has revealed an increasing percentage of nearby objects with luminosities of main sequence stars. We analyzed new optical spectra and photometry and used astronomical databases available on the web, aiming at clarifying the nature of the ten carbon star candidates present in the General Catalogue of the Second Byurakan Survey. We verified that two stars are N-type giants already confirmed by other surveys. We found that four candidates are M-type stars and confirmed the carbon nature of the remaining four stars; the characteristics of three of them are consistent with an early CH giant type. The fourth candidate, SBS 1310+561 identified with a high proper motion star, is a rare type of dwarf carbon showing emission lines in its optical spectrum. We estimated absolute magnitudes and distances to the dwarf carbon and the CH stars. Our limited sample confirmed the increasing evidence that spectroscopy or colour alone are not conclusive luminosity discriminants for CH-type carbon stars.
We present flux-calibrated integrated spectra in the range 360-680nm for 18 concentrated SMC clusters. The objects are part of a systematic spectroscopic survey of SMC star clusters which is being undertaken at Complejo Astronomico El Leoncito (CASLEO) in San Juan (Argentina) and Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO, Chile).
We present Echelle spectra of 91 late-type dwarfs, of spectral types from F to M and of different levels of chromospheric activity, obtained with the 2.15-m telescope of the CASLEO Observatory located in the Argentinean Andes. Our observations range from 3890 to 6690{AA}, at a spectral resolution from 0.141 to 0.249{AA} per pixel (R={lambda}/{delta}{lambda}~26400). The observations were flux calibrated with the aid of long slit spectra (R~1050-2070), also available.
We report spectroscopic measurements of stars in the recently discovered young stellar association Price-Whelan 1 (PW1), which was found in the vicinity of the Leading Arm (LA) of the Magellanic Stream (MS). We obtained Magellan+MIKE high-resolution spectra of the 28 brightest stars in PW 1 and used The Cannon to determine their stellar parameters. We find that the mean metallicity of PW1 is [Fe/H]=-1.23 with a small scatter of 0.06dex and the mean RV is V_hel_=276.7km/s with a dispersion of 11.0km/s. Our results are consistent in T_eff_, logg, and [Fe/H] with the young and metal-poor characteristics (116Myr and [Fe/H]=-1.1) determined for PW1 from our discovery paper. We find a strong correlation between the spatial pattern of the PW1 stars and the LA II gas with an offset of -10.15{deg} in L_MS_ and +1.55{deg} in B_MS_. The similarity in metallicity, velocity, and spatial patterns indicates that PW1 likely originated in LA II. We find that the spatial and kinematic separation between LA II and PW1 can be explained by ram pressure from Milky Way (MW) gas. Using orbit integrations that account for the LMC and MW halo and outer disk gas, we constrain the halo gas density at the orbital pericenter of PW1 to be n_halo_(17kpc)=2.7_-2.0_^+3.4^x10^-3^atoms/cm^3^ and the disk gas density at the midplane at 20kpc to be n_disk_(20kpc,0)=6.0_-2.0_^+1.5^x10^-2^atoms/cm^3^. We, therefore, conclude that PW 1 formed from the LA II of the MS, making it a powerful constraint on the MW-Magellanic interaction.
The role of episodic mass loss in massive star evolution is one of the outstanding questions of current stellar evolution theory. Episodic mass loss produces dust and therefore causes evolved massive stars to be very luminous in the mid-infrared and dim at optical wavelengths. We aim to increase the number of investigated luminous mid-IR sources to shed light on the late stages of these objects. To achieve this we explore mid-IR selection criteria to identity dusty evolved massive stars in two nearby galaxies. The method is based on mid-IR colors, using 3.6um and 4.5um photometry from archival Spitzer Space Telescope images of nearby galaxies and J-band from 2MASS. We apply our criteria to two nearby star-forming dwarf-irregular galaxies: Sextans A and IC 1613, selecting 8 targets, which we follow up with spectroscopy. Our spectral classification and analysis yielded the discovery of 2 M-type supergiants in IC 1613, 3 K-type supergiants and 1 candidate F-type giant in Sextans A, and 2 foreground M giants. We show that the proposed criteria provide an independent way for identifying dusty evolved massive stars, which can be extended to all nearby galaxies with available Spitzer/IRAC images at 3.6um and 4.5um.
Through an optical campaign performed at four telescopes located in the northern and the southern hemispheres, plus archival data from two on-line sky surveys, we obtained optical spectroscopy for 29 counterparts of unclassified or poorly studied hard X-ray emitting objects detected with Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) and listed in the 39 month Palermo catalogue. All these objects also have observations taken with Swift/X-ray Telescope (XRT) or XMM-European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC) which not only allow us to pinpoint their optical counterpart, but also study their X-ray spectral properties (column density, power law photon index, and F2-10keV flux).
We analyze samples of Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph spectra of T Tauri stars in the Ophiuchus, Taurus, and Chamaeleon I star-forming regions, whose median ages lie in the <1-2Myr range. The median mid-infrared spectra of objects in these three regions are similar in shape, suggesting, on average, similar disk structures. When normalized to the same stellar luminosity, the medians follow each other closely, implying comparable mid-infrared excess emission from the circumstellar disks. We use the spectral index between 13 and 31um and the equivalent width of the 10um silicate emission feature to identify objects whose disk configuration departs from that of a continuous, optically thick accretion disk. Based on their medians and fraction of evolved disks, T Tauri stars in Taurus and Chamaeleon I are very alike.
Core-collapse Supernovae (CC-SNe) descend from progenitors more massive than about 8M_{sun}_. Because of the young age of the progenitors, the ejecta may eventually interact with the circumstellar medium (CSM) via highly energetic processes detectable in the radio, X-ray, ultraviolet (UV) and, sometimes, in the optical domains. In this paper we present ultraviolet, optical and near infrared observations of five type II SNe, namely SNe 2009dd, 2007pk, 2010aj, 1995ad, and 1996W. Together with few other SNe they form a group of moderately luminous type II events. We investigate the photometric similarities and differences among these bright objects. We also attempt to characterise them by analysing the spectral evolutions, in order to find some traces of CSM-ejecta interaction. We collected photometry and spectroscopy with several telescopes in order to construct well-sampled light curves and spectral evolutions from the photospheric to the nebular phases. Both photometry and spectroscopy indicate a degree of heterogeneity in this sample. Modelling the data of SNe 2009dd, 2010aj and 1995ad allows us to constrain the explosion parameters and the properties of the progenitor stars. The light curves have luminous peak magnitudes (-16.95<M_B}_-18.70). The ejected masses of ^56^Ni for three SNe span a wide range of values (2.8x10^-2^M_{sun}<M(^56^Ni)<1.4x10^-1^M_{sun}_), while for a fourth (SN2010aj) we could determine a stringent upper limit (7x10^-3^M_{sun}_). Clues of interaction, such as the presence of high velocity (HV) features of the Balmer lines, are visible in the photospheric spectra of SNe 2009dd and 1996W. For SN2007pk we observe a spectral transition from a type IIn to a standard type II SN. Modelling the observations of SNe 2009dd, 2010aj and 1995ad with radiation hydrodynamics codes, we infer kinetic plus thermal energies of about 0.2-0.5 foe, initial radii of 2-5x10^13^cm and ejected masses of ~5.0-9.5M_{sun}_. These values suggest moderate-mass, super-asymptotic giant branch (SAGB) or red super-giants (RSG) stars as SN precursors, in analogy with other luminous type IIP SNe 2007od and 2009bw.
We present the results of a search for wide companions to planet-host stars to improve our knowledge on their multiplicity at wide physical separations. We cross-matched approximately 6200 square degree area of the Southern sky imaged by the Visible Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) Hemisphere Survey (VHS) with the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) to look for wide common proper motion companions to known planet-host stars. We complemented our astrometric search with photometric criteria. We confirmed spectroscopically the co-moving nature of seven sources out of 16 companion candidates and discarded eight, while the remaining one stays as a candidate. Among these new wide companions to planet-host stars, we discovered a T4.5 dwarf companion at 6.3-arcmin (~9000AU) from HIP70849, a K7V star which hosts a 9 Jupiter mass planet with an eccentric orbit. We also report two new stellar M dwarf companions to one G and one metal-rich K star. We infer stellar and substellar binary frequencies for our complete sample of 37 targets of 5.4+/-3.8% and 2.7+/-2.7% (1 sigma confidence level), respectively, for projected physical separations larger than ~60-160AU assuming the range of distances of planet-host stars (24-75pc). These values are comparable to the frequencies of non planet-host stars. We find that the period-eccentricity trend holds with a lack of multiple systems with planets at large eccentricities (e>0.2) for periods less than 40-days. However, the lack of planets more massive than 2.5 Jupiter masses and short periods (<40-days) orbiting single stars is not so obvious due to recent discoveries by ground-based transit surveys and space missions.
