We present a large-area photometric survey of the Ursa Minor dwarf spheroidal galaxy and its environs. This survey is intended to trace the distribution of stars outside the nominal tidal radius of this system. Observations were made with the Washington M, Washington T2, and DDO51 filters, which in combination have been shown to provide reliable stellar luminosity classification for K-type stars.
Optical spectroscopic observations of the recurrent nova U Scorpii during its outburst in 2010 were obtained during 0.83-162.5 days after outburst maximum. Three spectra were obtained during pre-outburst quiescence. This paper discusses these observations along with optical polarimetric and radio continuum (610MHz, 1280MHz ; GMRT) data obtained during the 2010 outburst.
We present the results of a deep ZYJ near-infrared survey of 13.5deg^2^ in the Upper Scorpius (USco) OB association. We photometrically selected ~100 cluster member candidates with masses in the range of 30-5 Jupiters, according to state-of-the-art evolutionary models. We identified 67 ZYJ candidates as bona fide members, based on complementary photometry and astrometry. We also extracted five candidates detected with Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy at YJ only. One is excluded using deep optical z-band imaging, while two are likely non-members, and three remain as potential members. We conclude that the USco mass function is more likely decreasing in the planetary-mass regime (although a flat mass function cannot yet be discarded), consistent with surveys in other regions.
*** USET sunspot drawing *** The Uccle Solar Equatorial Table (USET)
facility at the Royal Observatory of Belgium has gathered an
uninterrupted series of sunspot drawings since year 1941. This
collection continues to be updated when weather permits. This table
provides information about these drawings.
*** USET Groups *** Values in the USET sunspot group catalog are
derived from the solar drawings obtained by the Uccle Solar Equatorial
Table (USET) facility that is located at the Royal Observatory of
Belgium. The USET sunspot group catalog covers 82 years of
observations in 2021, and is updated every day. A home-made software
(DigiSun) written in Python is used to derive quantities such as
location and areas from the sunspot drawings.
For the classical Cepheid U Sgr, we have constructed an O-C diagram spanning a time interval of 144 years. The O-C diagram has the shape of a parabola, which has made it possible to determine for the first time the quadratic light elements and to calculate the rate of evolutionary increase in the period, dP/dt=0.39(+/-0.10)s/yr, in agreement with the results of theoretical calculations for the third crossing of the instability strip. The available data reduced by the Eddington-Plakidis method reveal small random period fluctuations that do not distort the evolutionary trend in the O-C residuals.
