We have obtained deep FUV and NUV images of the inner region of the dense globular cluster M15 with the HST ACS. The FUV-NUV color-magnitude diagram shows a well-defined track of horizontal branch stars, as well as a trail of blue stragglers and white dwarfs. The main-sequence turnoff is clearly visible at FUV~22.5mag and FUV-NUV~3mag, and the main-sequence stars form a prominent track that extends at least 2mag below the main-sequence turnoff. As such, this is the deepest FUV-NUV color-magnitude diagram of a globular cluster presented so far. Cataclysmic variable and blue straggler candidates are the most centrally concentrated stellar populations, which might either be an effect of mass segregation or reflect the preferred birthplace in the dense cluster core of such dynamically formed objects. We find 41 FUV sources that exhibit significant variability. We classify the variables based on an analysis of their UV colors and variability properties. We find four previously known RR Lyrae and 13 further RR Lyrae candidates, one known Cepheid and six further candidates, six cataclysmic variable candidates, one known and one probable SX Phoenicis star, and the well-known low-mass X-ray binary AC 211. Our analysis represents the first detection of SX Phoenicis pulsations in the FUV. We find that Cepheids, RR Lyrae stars, and SX Phoenicis exhibit massive variability amplitudes in this wave band (several magnitudes).
A statistical study is presented of (1) the frequency of narrow C IV {lambda}1549 absorption lines in 1.5<=z<~3.6 radio-quiet and radio-loud quasars and (2) the UV and radio properties of the absorbed quasars. The quasar sample is unbiased with respect to absorption properties, and the radio-quiet and radio-loud subsamples are well matched in redshift and luminosity.
We have computed evolutionary synthesis models covering metallicities from PopIII to solar, a wide range of IMFs, and two star-formation histories (bursts and constant star-formation). The detailed predictions these models, including their time dependence, are given here. The predicted quantities include ionising fluxes, UV continuum properties, recombination line strengths (for Ly{alpha}, HeII and other lines), as well as several other quantities of interest. The models provided here cover a wider range of parameter space than our earlier calculations (Schaerer, 2003A&A...397..527S, Cat. VI/109).
Dust attenuation in galaxies is poorly known, especially at high redshift. And yet the amount of dust attenuation is a key parameter to deduce accurate star formation rates from ultraviolet (UV) rest-frame measurements. The wavelength dependence of the dust attenuation is also of fundamental importance to interpret the observed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and to derive photometric redshifts or physical properties of galaxies. We want to study dust attenuation at UV wavelengths at high redshift, where the UV is redshifted to the observed visible light wavelength range. In particular, we search for a UV bump and related implications for dust attenuation determinations.
The far-ultraviolet (FUV; 912-1700 {AA}) radiation field from accreting central stars in classical T Tauri systems influences the disk chemistry during the period of giant planet formation. The FUV field may also play a critical role in determining the evolution of the inner disk (r<10 AU), from a gas- and dust-rich primordial disk to a transitional system where the optically thick warm dust distribution has been depleted. Previous efforts to measure the true stellar+accretion-generated FUV luminosity (both hot gas emission lines and continua) have been complicated by a combination of low-sensitivity and/or low-spectral resolution and did not include the contribution from the bright Ly{alpha} emission line. In this work, we present a high-resolution spectroscopic study of the FUV radiation fields of 16 T Tauri stars whose dust disks display a range of evolutionary states. We include reconstructed Ly{alpha} line profiles and remove atomic and molecular disk emission (from H_2_ and CO fluorescence) to provide robust measurements of both the FUV continuum and hot gas lines (e.g., Ly{alpha}, N V, C IV, He II) for an appreciable sample of T Tauri stars for the first time. We find that the flux of the typical classical T Tauri star FUV radiation field at 1 AU from the central star is ~10^7^ times the average interstellar radiation field. The Ly{alpha} emission line contributes an average of 88% of the total FUV flux, with the FUV continuum accounting for an average of 8%. Both the FUV continuum and Ly{alpha} flux are strongly correlated with C IV flux, suggesting that accretion processes dominate the production of both of these components. On average, only ~0.5% of the total FUV flux is emitted between the Lyman limit (912 {AA}) and the H_2_(0-0) absorption band at 1110 {AA}. The total and component-level high-resolution radiation fields are made publicly available in machine-readable format.
We present an overview of the UV spectral properties of old novae as a class. The data and results of this paper, together with data from the outburst phases, will be utilized in a follow-up study to determine statistical properties and to investigate correlations among the physical parameters of the quiescent and eruptive phases.
We perform a comprehensive spectral analysis of LS V +46 21 in order to compare its photospheric properties to theoretical predictions from stellar evolution theory as well as from diffusion calculations. LS V +46 21 is the DAO-type central star of the planetary nebula Sh 2-216. High-resolution, high-S/N ultraviolet observations obtained with FUSE and STIS aboard the HST as well as the optical spectrum have been analyzed in order to determine the photospheric parameters and the spectroscopic distance. We performed a detailed spectral analysis of the ultraviolet and optical spectrum by means of state-of-the-art NLTE model-atmosphere techniques. From the NIV-NV, OIV-OVI, SiIV-SiV, and FeV-FeVII ionization equilibria, we determined an effective temperature of 95+/-2kK with high precision. The surface gravity is logg=6.9+/-0.2. An unexplained discrepancy appears between the spectroscopic distance d=224^+46^_-58_pc and the parallax distance d=129^+6^_-5_pc of LS V +46 21. For the first time, we have identified Mg IV and Ar VI absorption lines in the spectrum of a hydrogen-rich central star and determined the Mg and Ar abundances as well as the individual abundances of iron-group elements (Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni). With the realistic treatment of metal opacities up to the iron group in the model-atmosphere calculations, the so-called Balmer-line problem (found in models that neglect metal-line blanketing) vanishes. Spectral analysis by means of NLTE model atmospheres has presently arrived at a high level of sophistication, which is now hampered largely by the lack of reliable atomic data and accurate line-broadening tables. Strong efforts should be made to improve upon this situation.
We compare high-resolution ultraviolet spectra of the Sun and thirteen solar-mass main-sequence stars with different rotational periods that serve as proxies for their different ages and magnetic field structures. In this, the second paper in the series, we study the dependence of ultraviolet emission-line centroid velocities on stellar rotation period, as rotation rates decrease from that of the Pleiades star HII314 (P_rot_=1.47days) to {alpha} Cen A (P_rot_=28days). Our stellar sample of F9 V to G5 V stars consists of six stars observed with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and eight stars observed with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on HST. We find a systematic trend of increasing redshift with more rapid rotation (decreasing rotation period) that is similar to the increase in line redshift between quiet and plage regions on the Sun. The fastest-rotating solar-mass star in our study, HII314, shows significantly enhanced redshifts at all temperatures above logT=4.6, including the corona, which is very different from the redshift pattern observed in the more slowly rotating stars. This difference in the redshift pattern suggests that a qualitative change in the magnetic-heating process occurs near P_rot_=2days. We propose that HII314 is an example of a solar-mass star with a magnetic heating rate too large for the physical processes responsible for the redshift pattern to operate in the same way as for the more slowly rotating stars. HII314 may therefore lie above the high activity end of the set of solar-like phenomena that is often called the "solar-stellar connection."
We report new observations of the spectrum of singly ionized chromium (CrII) in the region 1142-3954{AA}. The spectra were recorded with the National Institute of Standards and Technology 10.7m normal-incidence vacuum spectrograph and FT700 vacuum ultraviolet Fourier transform spectrometer. More than 3600 lines are classified as transitions among 283 even and 368 odd levels. The new spectral data are used to re-optimize the energy levels, reducing their uncertainties by a typical factor of 20.
