We use accurate absolute proper motions and Two-Micron All-Sky Survey Ks -band apparent magnitudes for 364 Galactic RR Lyrae variables to determine the kinematical parameters of the Galactic RR Lyrae population and constrain the zero-point of the Ks-band period-luminosity relation for these stars via statistical parallax.
Over the last few decades it has become more evident that binarity is a prevalent phenomenon amongst RV Tauri stars with a disc. This study is a contribution to comprehend the role of binarity upon late stages of stellar evolution. In this paper we determine the binary status of six Galactic RV Tauri stars, namely DY Ori, EP Lyr, HP Lyr, IRAS 17038-4815, IRAS 09144-4933, and TW Cam, which are surrounded by a dusty disc. The radial velocities are contaminated by high-amplitude pulsations. We disentangle the pulsations from the orbital signal in order to determine accurate orbital parameters. We also place them on the HR diagram, thereby establishing their evolutionary nature. We used high-resolution spectroscopic time series obtained from the HERMES and CORALIE spectrographs mounted on the Flemish Mercator and Swiss Leonhard Euler Telescopes, respectively. An updated ASAS/AAVSO photometric time series is analysed to complement the spectroscopic pulsation search and to clean the radial velocities from the pulsations. The pulsation-cleaned orbits are fitted with a Keplerian model to determine the spectroscopic orbital parameters. We also calibrated a PLC relationship using type II Cepheids in the LMC and apply the relation to our Galactic sample to obtain accurate distances and hence luminosities. All six of the Galactic RV Tauri stars included in this study are binaries with orbital periods ranging between ~650 and 1700 days and with eccentricities between 0.2 and 0.6. The mass functions range between 0.08 to 0.55M_{sun}_ which points to an unevolved low-mass companion. In the photometric time series we detect a long-term variation on the timescale of the orbital period for IRAS 17038-4815, IRAS 09144-4933, and TW Cam. Our derived stellar luminosities indicate that all except DY Ori and EP Lyr are post-AGB stars. DY Ori and EP Lyr are likely examples of the recently discovered dusty post-RGB stars. The orbital parameters strongly suggest that the evolution of these stars was interrupted by a strong phase of binary interaction during or even prior to the AGB. The observed eccentricities and long orbital periods among these stars provide a challenge to the standard theory of binary evolution.
We investigate the relation between star formation rate (SFR) and gas surface densities in Galactic star-forming regions using a sample of young stellar objects (YSOs) and massive dense clumps. Our YSO sample consists of objects located in 20 large molecular clouds from the Spitzer cores to disks (c2d; Evans, 2009, Cat. J/ApJS/181/321) and Gould's Belt (GB) survey (L. Allen et al. 2010, in preparation). These data allow us to probe the regime of low-mass star formation, essentially invisible to tracers of high-mass star formation used to establish extragalactic SFR-gas relations. We estimate the gas surface density ({Sigma}_gas_) from extinction (A_V_) maps and YSO SFR surface densities ({Sigma}_SFR_) from the number of YSOs, assuming a mean mass and lifetime. We also divide the clouds into evenly spaced contour levels of A_V_, counting only Class I and Flat spectral energy distribution YSOs, which have not yet migrated from their birthplace. For a sample of massive star-forming clumps, we derive SFRs from the total infrared luminosity and use HCN gas maps to estimate gas surface densities. We find that c2d and GB clouds lie above the extragalactic SFR-gas relations (e.g., Kennicutt-Schmidt law) by factors of up to 17. We use ^12^CO and ^13^CO gas maps of the Perseus and Ophiuchus clouds from the COMPLETE survey (Ridge et al. 2006AJ....131.2921R) to estimate gas surface densities and compare to measurements from A_V_ maps.
We report the results of the deepest Galactic plane (|b|<17.5{deg}) survey in the 67.9 and 78.4keV nuclear de-excitation lines of titanium-44 (^44^Ti) performed using the data acquired with the IBIS/ISGRI instrument onboard the INTEGRAL satellite during 12yr of operation. The peak sensitivity of our survey reached an unprecedented level of 4.8x10^-6^ph/cm2/s (3{sigma}) that improves the sensitivity of the survey done by Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory/COMPTEL by a factor of ~5. As a result, constraining upper limits for all sources from the catalogue of Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs; Green, 2014, Cat. VII/272) are derived. These upper limits can be used to estimate the exposure needed to detect ^44^Ti emission from any known SNR using existing and prospective X- and gamma-ray telescopes. Among the youngest Galactic SNRs, only Cas A shows significant ^44^Ti emission flux in good agreement with the NuSTAR measurements. We did not detect any other sources of titanium emission in the Galactic plane at significance level higher than 5{sigma} confirming previous claims of the rarity of such ^44^Ti-producing SNRs.
We perform an extensive test of theoretical stellar models for main-sequence (MS) stars in ugriz, using cluster fiducial sequences obtained in the previous paper of this series. We generate a set of isochrones using the Yale Rotating Evolutionary Code with updated input physics, and derive magnitudes and colors in ugriz from MARCS model atmospheres. These models match cluster MSs over a wide range of metallicity within the errors of the adopted cluster parameters. However, we find a large discrepancy of model colors at the lower MS (T_eff_<~4500K) for clusters at and above solar metallicity. We also reach similar conclusions using the theoretical isochrones of Girardi et al. and Dotter et al., but our new models are generally in better agreement with the data. Using our theoretical isochrones, we also derive MS-fitting distances and turnoff ages for five key globular clusters, and demonstrate the ability to derive these quantities from photometric data in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. In particular, we exploit multiple color indices (g-r, g-i, and g-z) in the parameter estimation, which allows us to evaluate internal systematic errors. Our distance estimates, with an error of {sigma}_(m-M)_=0.03-0.11mag for individual clusters, are consistent with Hipparcos-based subdwarf-fitting distances derived in the Johnson-Cousins or Stromgren photometric systems.
In this paper, we investigate the nature of 27 star cluster candidates, most of them projected towards the Galactic anticentre. We derive fundamental parameters for 20 confirmed clusters, among these 7 are new identifications. Four of the remaining are uncertain cases that require deeper photometry to establish their nature, and four are probably field fluctuations. In addition, we provide a partial census of the open clusters towards the Galactic anticentre. We also include in this study some interesting objects outside the anticentre region, in the second and third Galactic quadrants, mainly in the Perseus and outer arms. These clusters confirm the extension of the outer arm along the third quadrant. We also point out that the embedded cluster FSR 486, at a distance of 7.2+/-1.3kpc from the Sun, is projected on the line of sight of the Local Group irregular dwarf galaxy IC 10. Thus, part of the unusual properties of IC 10 may be explained by a Galactic contamination. We point out the importance of embedded clusters in tracing the spiral structure.
To compare the chemistries of stars in the Milky Way dwarf spheroidal (dSph) satellite galaxies with stars in the Galaxy, we have compiled a large sample of Galactic stellar abundances from the literature. When kinematic information is available, we have assigned the stars to standard Galactic components through Bayesian classification based on Gaussian velocity ellipsoids. As found in previous studies, the [{alpha}/Fe] ratios of most stars in the dSph galaxies are generally lower than similar metallicity Galactic stars in this extended sample.
This investigation presents a photometric study of the Galactic structure toward the Carina arm tangent. The field is located between 280{deg} and 286{deg} Galactic longitude and -4{deg} to 4{deg} Galactic latitude. All currently available uvby{beta} data are used to obtain homogeneous color excesses and distances for more than 260 stars of spectral types O to G. We present revised distances and average extinction for the open clusters and cluster candidates NGC 3293, NGC 3114, Loden 46, and Loden 112.
The objective of this work is the determination of the age of the Galactic disk using Th/Eu nucleocosmochronology. To achieve this objective, it is necessary to obtain the abundances of Th and Eu through spectral synthesis, and to perform the synthesis it is necessary to know the atmospheric parameters and chemical abundances of contaminating elements.
A catalog of candidates for the Galactic Worms that are possibly the walls surrounding the superbubbles is compiled; 118 isolated structures that appear both in HI and in IR (60 and 100{mu}m). 52 are possibly associated with HII regions. It is found that the 100-{mu}m emissivity increases systematically toward the Galactic interior, which is consistent with the increase of the general interstellar radiation field. The 100-{mu}m emissivity of the structures associated with the HII regions is larger than that of the structures without associated HII regions. The 60-100{mu}m ratio is large, 0.28+/-0.03, which may indicate that the grains associated with the atomic gas have a relatively large population of small grains. 35 structures appear in the 408MHz continuum. The IR and the radio continuum properties suggest that the 408MHz continuum emission in those structures is very likely thermal. The implications of these results on the ionization of gas far from the Galactic plane are discussed.