A sample of 135 stars with composite spectra has been observed in the near-UV spectral region with the Aurelie spectrograph at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence. Using the spectral classifications of the cool components previously determined with near infrared spectra, we obtained reliable spectral types of the hot components of the sample systems. The hot components were isolated by the subtraction method using MK standards as surrogates of the cool components. We also derived the visual magnitude differences between the components using Willstrop's normalized stellar flux ratios. We propose a photometric model for each of these systems on the basis of our spectroscopic data and the Hipparcos data.
We present a spectroscopic study of the N159/N160 massive star-forming region south of 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud, classifying a total of 189 stars in the field of the complex. Most of them belong to O and early B spectral classes; we have also found some uncommon and very interesting spectra, including members of the Onfp class, a Be P Cygni star, and some possible multiple systems. Using spectral types as broad indicators of evolutionary stages, we considered the evolutionary status of the region as a whole. We infer that massive stars at different evolutionary stages are present throughout the region, favoring the idea of a common time for the origin of recent star formation in the N159/N160 complex as a whole, while sequential star formation at different rates is probably present in several subregions.
On the basis of the Galactic O Star Spectroscopic Survey (GOSSS), we present a detailed systematic investigation of the O Vz stars. The currently used spectral classification criteria are rediscussed, and the Vz phenomenon is recalibrated through the addition of a quantitative criterion based on the equivalent widths of the HeI{lambda}4471, HeII{lambda}4542, and HeII{lambda}4686 spectral lines. The GOSSS O Vz and O V populations resulting from the newly adopted spectral classification criteria are comparatively analyzed. The locations of the O Vz stars are probed, showing a concentration of the most extreme cases toward the youngest star-forming regions. The occurrence of the Vz spectral peculiarity in a solar-metallicity environment, as predicted by the FASTWIND code, is also investigated, confirming the importance of taking into account several processes for the correct interpretation of the phenomenon.
Mechanisms involved in the star formation process and in particular the duration of the different phases of the cloud contraction are not yet fully understood. Photometric data alone suggest that objects coexist in the young cluster NGC 6530 with ages from ~1Myr up to 10Myrs. We want to derive accurate stellar parameters and, in particular, stellar ages to be able to constrain a possible age spread in the star-forming region NGC6530.
A sample of 180 supposedly composite-spectrum stars has been studied on the basis of spectra obtained in the near infrared (8370-8780{AA}) at a dispersion of 33{AA}/mm. The objective was to study the cooler components of the systems. Of our sample, 120 are true composite spectra, 35 are hot spectra of types B, F and 25 are Am stars. We find a strong concentration of the cooler components of the composite spectra around G8III. In view of the difficulty of classifying composite spectra, because of the superposition of an early type dwarf and a late type giant or supergiant spectrum, we have made several tests to control the classification based upon the infrared region. Since all tests gave positive results, we conclude that our classifications can be considered as being both reliable and homogeneous.
We present and categorize Spitzer infrared spectrometer spectra of 294 objects in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) to create the largest and most complete catalog of massive young stellar object (YSO) spectra in the LMC. Target sources were identified from infrared photometry and multiwavelength images indicative of young, massive stars highly enshrouded in their natal gas and dust clouds. Several objects have been spectroscopically identified as non-YSOs and have features similar to more-evolved stars such as red supergiants, asymptotic giant branch (AGB), and post-AGB stars. Our sample primarily consists of 277 objects we identify as having spectral features indicative of embedded YSOs. The remaining sources are comprised of seven C-rich evolved sources, eight sources dominated by broad silicate emission, and one source with multiple broad emission features.
This catalogue lists the spectral classifications of over 3200 stars, mainly of large proper motion, observed and classified by the late Dr. G.P. Kuiper during the years 1937-1944 at the Yerkes and McDonald Observatories. While Kuiper himself published many of his types, and while improved classifications are now available for many of these stars, much of value remains: for a great many of the objects no other spectral data exist.
M spectral types and IRAS infrared magnitudes, colors, and variability parameters are given for 155 largely unidentified IRAS point sources having quality-3 flux densities at 12, 25, and 60 mum.
The HF molecule has been proposed as a sensitive tracer of diffuse interstellar gas, while at higher densities its abundance could be influenced heavily by freeze-out onto dust grains. We investigate the spatial distribution of a collection of absorbing gas clouds, some associated with the dense, massive star-forming core NGC 6334 I, and others with diffuse foreground clouds elsewhere along the line of sight. For the former category, we aim to study the dynamical properties of the clouds in order to assess their potential to feed the accreting protostellar cores. We use far-infrared spectral imaging from the Herschel SPIRE iFTS to construct a map of HF absorption at 243um in a 6'x3.5' region surrounding NGC 6334 I and I(N).
To fully understand cosmic black hole growth, we need to constrain the population of heavily obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at the peak of cosmic black hole growth (z~1-3). Sources with obscuring column densities higher than 10^24^atoms/cm^2^, called Compton-thick (CT) AGNs, can be identified by excess X-ray emission at ~20-30keV, called the 'Compton hump'. We apply the recently developed Spectral Curvature (SC) method to high-redshift AGNs (2<z<5) detected with Chandra. This method parametrizes the characteristic 'Compton hump' feature cosmologically redshifted into the X-ray band at observed energies <10 keV. We find good agreement in CT AGNs found using the SC method, and bright sources fit using their full spectrum with X-ray spectroscopy. In the Chandra Deep Field-South, we measure a CT fraction of 17^+19^_-11_% (3/17) for sources with observed luminosity >5x10^43^erg/s. In the Cosmological Evolution Survey (COSMOS), we find an observed CT fraction of 15^+4^_-3_% (40/272) or 32+/-11 per cent when corrected for the survey sensitivity. When comparing to low redshift AGNs with similar X-ray luminosities, our results imply that the CT AGN fraction is consistent with having no redshift evolution. Finally, we provide SC equations that can be used to find high-redshift CT AGNs (z>1) for current (XMM-Newton) and future (eROSITA and ATHENA) X-ray missions.