The Ursa Major Group (UMaG) is studied as a test case for the authenticity of Stellar Kinematic Groups, using Coravel radial velocities, recent compilations of astrometric data and new spectroscopic observations. Spectroscopic age indicators, particularly indices of the strength of chromospheric emission, are applied to solar-type candidate members of UMaG, and it is shown that stars that meet the spectroscopic criteria also have kinematics that agree better with the space motions of the nucleus of UMaG than does the starting sample as a whole. The primary limitation on the precision of kinematics is now parallaxes instead of radial velocities. These more restrictive kinematic criteria are then applied to other UMaG candidates and a list summarizing membership is presented. UMaG is also examined as a cluster, confirming its traditional age of 0.3 Gyr and a mean [Fe/H] of -0.08 +/- 0.09 for those stars most likely to be bona fide members.
Deep observations of the Chandra Deep Field South have been secured at 15um with AKARI/IRC infrared space telescope. From these observations, we define a sample of mid infrared-selected galaxies at 15um and we also obtain 15um flux densities for a sample of Lyman Break Galaxies at z~1 already observed at 24um with Spitzer/MIPS.
The first investigation of the known triple system 55 UMa (2.55d binary in a ~1870-d orbit with the third star) based on electronic spectra led to several new findings about the system: (1) Discovery of spectral lines of the tertiary and an unambiguous detection of the lines of the secondary. Spectra of both primary and tertiary are of the same strength and correspond to spectral class A0V. The secondary spectrum is about twice fainter in the visual region and belongs probably also to spectral class A. (2) First self-consistent orbital solution describing close and wide orbit and the detection of apsidal motion for the close pair. The orbital period of the close pair was improved to (2.5538380+/-0.0000046d) and basic physical elements for all three stars and the system were estimated. The orbital solution also gives the period of apsidal motion of the close pair of (450+/-60)yr and leads to a good agreement with the published speckle-interferometric orbit for the distant companion if the longitude of periastron passage is increased by 180deg.
We present new longitudinal magnetic field and Stroemgren photometric measurements of the Bp star 84 UMa. From these data we determine a new rotational period P_rot_=1.38576+/-0.00080d, which is inconsistent with previously published values. The magnetic measurements indicate the presence of a weak, dominantly dipolar magnetic field in the photosphere of 84 UMa. We employ a new value of the rotational axis inclination in conjunction with the magnetic data in order to constrain the magnetic field geometry. We derive the following dipole oblique rotator parameters: i=59^+17^_-9_{deg}, {beta}=48^+17^_-29_{deg}, and B_d_=1620^+1270^_-30_G. A precise value of the radius (which we calculate in conjunction with the inclination using the Hipparcos parallax) allows us to locate 84 UMa on the radius-effective temperature plane. Using theoretical evolutionary tracks (Schaller et al., 1992, Cat. <J/A+AS/96/269>), we obtain values for the mass, age and surface gravity. These results place 84 UMa quite close to the ZAMS, a result inconsistent with the suggestion by Hubrig & Mathys (1994AN....315..343H) that the magnetic Ap stars may be near the end of their main sequence life.
To study the vertical distribution of the earliest stages of star formation in galaxies, three edge-on spirals, NGC891, NGC3628, and IC5052, observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope InfraRed Array Camera (IRAC) were examined for compact 8{mu}m cores using an unsharp mask technique; 173, 267, and 60 cores were distinguished, respectively. Color-color distributions suggest a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and highly extincted photospheric emission from young stars. The average V-band extinction is ~20mag, equally divided between foreground and core. IRAC magnitudes for the clumps are converted to stellar masses assuming an age of 1Myr, which is about equal to the ratio of the total core mass to the star formation rate in each galaxy. The extinction and stellar mass suggest an intrinsic core radius of ~18pc for 5% star formation efficiency. The half-thickness of the disk of 8{mu}m cores is 105pc for NGC891 and 74pc for IC5052, varying with radius by a factor of ~2. For NGC3628, which is interacting, the half-thickness is 438pc, but even with this interaction, the 8{mu}m disk is remarkably flat, suggesting vertical stability. Small-scale structures like shingles or spirals are seen in the core positions. Very few of the 8{mu}m cores have optical counterparts.
Spitzer Space Telescope observations of 15 spiral galaxies show numerous dense cores at 8{mu}m that are revealed primarily in unsharp mask images. The cores are generally invisible in optical bands because of extinction, and they are also indistinct at 8{mu}m alone because of contamination by more widespread diffuse emission. Several hundred core positions, magnitudes, and colors from the four InfraRed Array Camera bands are measured and tabulated for each galaxy. The larger galaxies, which tend to have longer and more regular spiral arms, often have their infrared cores aligned along these arms, with additional cores in spiral arm spurs. Galaxies without regular spirals have their cores in more irregular spiral-like filaments, with typically only one or two cores per filament. Nearly every elongated emission feature has 8{mu}m cores strung out along its length. The occurrence of dense cores in long and thin filaments is reminiscent of filamentary star formation in the solar neighborhood, although on a scale 100 times larger in galaxies. The cores most likely form by gravitational instabilities and cloud agglomeration in the filaments. The simultaneous occurrence of several cores with regular spacings in some spiral arms suggests that in these cases, all of the cores formed at about the same time and the corresponding filaments are young. Total star formation rates for the galaxies correlate with the total embedded stellar masses in the cores with an average ratio corresponding to a possible age between 0.2 and 2Myr. This suggests that the identified cores are the earliest phase for most star formation.
We characterize the first 40 Myr of evolution of circumstellar disks through a unified study of the infrared properties of members of young clusters and associations with ages from 2Myr up to ~40Myr: NGC1333, NGC1960, NGC2232, NGC2244, NGC2362, NGC2547, IC348, IC2395, IC4665, ChamaeleonI, OrionOB1a and OB1b, Taurus, the {beta} Pictoris Moving Group, {rho} Ophiuchi, and the associations of Argus, Carina, Columba, Scorpius-Centaurus, and Tucana-Horologium. Our work features: (1) a filtering technique to flag noisy backgrounds; (2) a method based on the probability distribution of deflections, P(D), to obtain statistically valid photometry for faint sources; and (3) use of the evolutionary trend of transitional disks to constrain the overall behavior of bright disks. We find that the fraction of disks three or more times brighter than the stellar photospheres at 24{mu}m decays relatively slowly initially and then much more rapidly by ~10Myr. However, there is a continuing component until ~35Myr, probably due primarily to massive clouds of debris generated in giant impacts during the oligarchic/chaotic growth phases of terrestrial planets. If the contribution from primordial disks is excluded, the evolution of the incidence of these oligarchic/chaotic debris disks can be described empirically by a log-normal function with the peak at 12-20Myr, including ~13% of the original population, and with a post-peak mean duration of 10-20Myr.
We present a study of galaxies showing mid-infrared variability in data taken in the deepest Spitzer/MIPS 24{mu}m surveys in the Great Observatory Origins Deep Survey South field. We divide the data set in epochs and subepochs to study the long-term (months-years) and the short-term (days) variability. We use a {chi}^2^-statistics method to select active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates with a probability <=1% that the observed variability is due to statistical errors alone. We find 39 (1.7% of the parent sample) sources that show long-term variability and 55 (2.2% of the parent sample) showing short-term variability. That is, 0.03sources/arcmin^2^ for both, long-term and short-term variable sources. After removing the expected number of false positives inherent to the method, the estimated percentages are 1.0 and 1.4% of the parent sample for the long term and short term, respectively. We compare our candidates with AGN selected in the X-ray and radio bands, and AGN candidates selected by their IR emission. Approximately, 50% of the MIPS (Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer) 24{mu}m variable sources would be identified as AGN with these other methods. Therefore, MIPS 24{mu}m variability is a new method to identify AGN candidates, possibly dust obscured and low-luminosity AGN, that might be missed by other methods. However, the contribution of the MIPS 24{mu}m variable identified AGN to the general AGN population is small (<=13%) in GOODS-South.
The mid-infrared spectroscopic analysis of a flux-limited sample of galaxies with f_{nu}_(24um)>10mJy is presented. Sources observed are taken from the Spitzer First Look Survey (FLS) catalog and from the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey region in Bootes (NDWFS). The spectroscopic sample includes 60 of the 100 sources in these combined catalogs having f_{nu}_(24um)>10 mJy. New spectra from the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph are presented for 25 FLS sources and for 11 Bootes active galactic nuclei (AGNs); these are combined with 24 Bootes starburst galaxies previously published to determine the distribution of mid-infrared spectral characteristics for the total 10mJy sample. Sources have 0.01<z<2.4 and 41.8<log{nu}L_{nu}_(15um)<46.2(ergs/s).
We have constructed a color-magnitude diagram of the Ursa Minor dwarf spheroidal to m_V_=24.8mag from charged-coupled device (CCD) observations with the Kitt Peak 4 m telescope. The main-sequence turnoff is easily visible. Fits to evolutionary isochrones and the globular M92 indicate that Ursa Minor has an age and metal abundance very similar to that of the latter cluster. No evidence for stars younger than about 16 billion years is seen, with the possible exception of approximately 20 stars believed to be blue stragglers. Ursa Minor is therefore an extreme-age galaxy, unlike superficially similar objects such as the Carina dwarf. Indeed, Ursa Minor may be the only outer-halo spheroidal whose stellar content lives up to the classical ideals of a Population II system. A distance modulus of (m-M)_0_=19.0mag is derived from a sliding fit to the M92 ridge lines. However, this modulus is uncertain by ~0.1mag, for the horizontal branch in our color-magnitude diagram is poorly populated. The ratio of blue stragglers to anomalous Cepheids in Ursa Minor is estimated to be ~100, a number that may provide an important constraint on binary models for the origin of these stars. A surprising result of our study is the discovery of clumpiness in the distribution of stars. This finding may give more weight to the idea that dwarf spheroidal galaxies were previously dwarf irregular galaxies, although clearly, if so, Ursa Minor must have lost its gaseous content very soon after formation.
