As part of a larger effort to study the resolved and composite properties of the giant H II regions in Messier 33, we have analyzed multiband HST/WFPC-2 images of NGC 595 in terms of the ionizing cluster's resolved stellar population. Photometric reductions of the PC images yield 100 stars in the UV image, 272 stars on the U image, 345 stars on the B image, and 561 stars on the V image. A total of 267 stars are common to the U, B, and V images while 86 stars are detected on all 4 images. Although some clustering is evident, the degree of central concentration is less than that seen in 30 Doradus. The resulting U-B vs B-V diagram of the resolved stars is used to determine the reddening of each star. The average reddening derived from this diagram is E(B-V)=0.36+/-0.28mag. The dereddened color-M_V diagram is best fit by a model cluster having an age of 4.5+/-1.0Myr, and hence initial masses no greater than 51M_{sun}_. A total of 13 supergiant stars and 10 candidate WR stars [Drissen et al. (1993AJ....105.1400D), and references therein] are identified with M_V=-5 to -8mag. The remainder are main-sequence O-type (98) and early B-type (>145) stars with M_V=-1 to -6mag. The ratio of WR to O stars is WR/O=0.11+/-0.01, roughly the same as found in the core of 30 Doradus. The resulting luminosity function has a slope of alpha=-0.71. The derived IMF has a slope of Gamma=-1.32+/-0.02 before subtracting a background component, and Gamma=-1.00+/-0.05 after subtracting a background based on photometry of the surrounding WF images. Integration of the derived IMF down to a lower mass limit of 4M_{sun}_ yields a total mass of 7350M_{sun}_, while integration down to 0.1_{Msun}_ yields a total mass of 18000M_{sun}_. The total estimated ionizing luminosity is 5.0x10^50photon/s, roughly half that which is inferred from the Halpha luminosity in this region. This shortfall of ionizing photons can be reconciled by allowing for a spread in the stellar ages, and/or increasing the modeled EUV luminosity of the stars at the inferred cluster age.
A long-standing problem in the study of elliptical galaxies is the far-ultraviolet (FUV) excess in their spectra (also known as UV-upturn, UV rising-branch, UV rising flux, or UVX). While it is now clear that this UV excess is caused by an old population of hot helium-burning stars without large hydrogen-rich envelopes. We have developed an evolutionary population synthesis (EPS) model for the FUV excess of elliptical galaxies based on the binary model of Han et al. (2002MNRAS.336..449H and 2003MNRAS.341..669H) for the formation of hot subdwarfs in our Galaxy. We give the colour evolution of a simple stellar population (SSP) (including binaries) of 10^10^M_{sun}_ for our standard simulation set. We have also compiled a file for the SED evolution, in which the SEDs without binary interactions are also supplied.
Photometric variability is a distinctive feature of young stellar objects; exploring variability signatures at different wavelengths provides insight into the physical processes at work in these sources. We explore the variability signatures at ultraviolet (UV) and optical wavelengths for several hundred accreting and non-accreting members of the star-forming region NGC 2264 (~3Myr).
This is a study of the UV variability of the galaxy Fairall-9 between 1978 and 1991. Table 1 shows the UV continuum fluxes measured in three "line-free" windows centered at 1171, 1400 and 1910 A (observed wavelengths), and corrected for E(B-V)=0.035 extinction. The IUE Fine Error Sensor (FES) counts (optical photometry) are also given in this table, corrected for the same extinction. Tables 10, 11, 12 and 13 show the variability of the components for the main UV lines (Ly{alpha}+NV, SiIV, CIV and MgII). Line profile variability has been used to isolate four gaussian line components, which are sufficient to describe all lines at all levels of brightness in a consistent way: one narrow (i.e. unresolved at the IUE resolution) and three broad components: a central (velocity same as the narrow line), a redshifted (v=3300 km/s) and a blue shifted one (v=-3600 km/s). The Ly{alpha}-NV blend is fitted together in the Ly{alpha} region (Table 10), to account the NV presence (one narrow and one red component). The results for SiIV are shown in Table 11. In CIV (Table 12) have been included a very weak component bluer than the blue component, most likely associated with NIV] 1486. Table 13 shows MgII results.
Although the variability in the ultraviolet and optical domain is one of the major characteristics of quasars, the dominant underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. There is a broad consensus on the relationship between the strength of the variability and such quantities as time-lag, wavelength, luminosity, and redshift. However, evidence on a dependence on the fundamental parameters of the accretion process is still inconclusive. This paper is focused on the correlation between the ultraviolet quasar long-term variability and the accretion rate.
In order to develop and test a methodology to search for UV variability over the entire Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) database down to the shortest timescales, we analyzed time-domain photometry of ~5000 light curves of ~300 bright (mFUV, mNUV<=14) and blue (mFUV-mNUV<0) GALEX sources. Using the gPhoton database tool, we discovered and characterized instrumentally induced variabilities in time-resolved GALEX photometry that may severely impact automated searches for short-period variations. The most notable artifact is a quasi-sinusoidal variation mimicking light curves typical of pulsators, seen occasionally in either one or both detectors, with amplitudes of up to 0.3mag and periods corresponding to the periodicity of the spiral dithering pattern used during the observation (P~120s). Therefore, the artifact may arise from small-scale response variations. Other artifacts include visit-long "sagging" or "hump" in flux, occurring when the dithering pattern is not a spiral, or a one-time change in flux level during the exposure. These instrumentally caused variations were not reported before, and are not due to known (and flagged) artifacts such as hotspots, which can be easily eliminated. To characterize the frequency and causality of such artifacts, we apply Fourier transform analysis to both light curves and dithering patterns, and examine whether artificial brightness variations correlate with visit or instrumental parameters. Artifacts do not correlate with source position on the detector. We suggest methods to identify artifact variations and to correct them when possible.
We have extracted point-spread-function-fitted stellar photometry from near-ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared images, obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope, of the nearby (D~5.5Mpc) SBm galaxy NGC 1311. The ultraviolet and optical data reveal a population of hot main-sequence (MS) stars with ages of 2-10Myr. We also find populations of blue supergiants with ages between 10 and 40Myr and red supergiants with ages between 10 and 100Myr.
M dwarfs are the most numerous stars in the Galaxy. They are characterized by strong magnetic activity. The ensuing high-energy emission is crucial for the evolution of their planets and the eventual presence of life on them. We systematically study the X-ray and ultraviolet emission of a subsample of M dwarfs from a recent proper-motion survey, selecting all M dwarfs within 10pc to obtain a nearly volume-limited sample (~90 percent completeness). Archival ROSAT, XMM-Newton and GALEX data are combined with published spectroscopic studies of H{alpha} emission and rotation to obtain a broad picture of stellar activity on M dwarfs. We make use of synthetic model spectra to determine the relative contributions of photospheric and chromospheric emission to the ultraviolet flux. We also analyse the same diagnostics for a comparison sample of young M dwarfs in the TW Hya association (~10Myr). We find that generally the emission in the GALEX bands is dominated by the chromosphere but the photospheric component is not negligible in early-M field dwarfs. The surface fluxes for the H{alpha}, near-ultraviolet, far-ultraviolet and X-ray emission are connected via a power-law dependence. We present here for the first time such flux-flux relations involving broad-band ultraviolet emission for M dwarfs. Activity indices are defined as flux ratio between the activity diagnostic and the bolometric flux of the star in analogy to the CaII R'HK index. For given spectral type, these indices display a spread of 2-3dex which is largest for M4 stars. Strikingly, at mid-M spectral types, the spread of rotation rates is also at its highest level. The mean activity index for fast rotators, likely representing the saturation level, decreases from X-rays over the FUV to the NUV band and H{alpha}, i.e. the fractional radiation output increases with atmospheric height. The comparison to the ultraviolet and X-ray properties of TWHya members shows a drop of nearly three orders of magnitude for the luminosity in these bands between ~10Myr and few Gyr age. A few young field dwarfs (<1Gyr) in the 10-pc sample bridge the gap indicating that the drop in magnetic activity with age is a continuous process. The slope of the age decay is steeper for the X-ray than for the UV luminosity.
M dwarfs are the most numerous stars in the galaxy. They are characterized by strong magnetic activity. The ensuing high-energy emission is crucial for the evolution of their planets and the eventual presence of life on them. The authors systematically study the X-ray and ultraviolet emission of a subsample of M dwarfs from a recent proper-motion survey, selecting all M dwarfs within 10 pc to obtain a nearly volume-limited sample (~90% completeness). Archival ROSAT, XMM-Newton and GALEX data are combined with published spectroscopic studies of H-alpha emission and rotation to obtain a broad picture of stellar activity on M dwarfs. The authors make use of synthetic model spectra to determine the relative contributions of photospheric and chromospheric emission to the ultraviolet flux. They also analyze the same diagnostics for a comparison sample of young M dwarfs in the TW Hya association (~10 Myr old). The authors find that generally the emission in the GALEX bands is dominated by the chromosphere but the photospheric component is not negligible in early-M field dwarfs. The surface fluxes for the H-alpha, near-ultraviolet, far-ultraviolet and X-ray emission are connected via a power-law dependence. The authors present in the reference paper for the first time such flux-flux relations involving broad-band ultraviolet emission for M dwarfs. Activity indices are defined as the flux ratios between the activity diagnostics and the bolometric flux of the star in analogy to the Ca II R'(HK) index. For a given spectral type, these indices display a spread of 2-3 dex which is largest for M4-type stars. Strikingly, at mid-M spectral types, the spread of rotation rates is also at its highest level. The mean activity index for fast rotators, likely representing the saturation level, decreases from X-rays over the FUV to the NUV band and H-alpha, i.e. the fractional radiation output increases with atmospheric height. The comparison to the ultraviolet and X-ray properties of TW Hya members shows a drop of nearly three orders of magnitude for the luminosity in these bands between ~10 Myr and a few Gyr age. A few young field dwarfs (<1 Gyr) in the 10-pc sample bridge the gap indicating that the drop in magnetic activity with age is a continuous process. The slope of the age decay is steeper for the X-ray than for the UV luminosity. This sample is based on the All-Sky Catalog of bright M dwarfs published by Lepine & Gaidos (2011, AJ, 142, 138, <a href="https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/AJ/142/138">CDS Cat. J/AJ/142/138</a>, available at the HEASARC as the MDWARFASC table). The authors selected all 163 stars from this reference that are within 10pc. Four of these stars that were discovered to be actually late K-type stars were removed from this initial sample, leaving a final sample of 159 stars. This table was created by the HEASARC in July 2017 based upon <a href="https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/MNRAS/431/2063">CDS Catalog J/MNRAS/431/2063</a> files table1.dat and table2.dat. The positions of the stars were not explicitly given in these tables, but were taken by the HEASARC from the All-Sky Catalog of Bright M Dwarfs published by Lepine & Gaidos (2011, AJ, 142, 138, <a href="https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/AJ/142/138">CDS Cat. J/AJ/142/138</a>, available at the HEASARC as the MDWARFASC table). The version of Table 2 used by the HEASARC is the corrected one given in the Erratum (Stelzer et al. 2014) rather than the version given in the original paper (Stelzer et al. 2013). This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .
