The BSC5P database table contains data derived from the Bright Star Catalog, 5th Edition, preliminary, which is widely used as a source of basic astronomical and astrophysical data for stars brighter than magnitude 6.5. The database contains the identifications of included stars in several other widely-used catalogs, double- and multiple-star identifications, indication of variability and variable-star identifiers, equatorial positions for B1900.0 and J2000.0, galactic coordinates, UBVRI photoelectric photometric data when they exist, spectral types on the Morgan-Keenan (MK) classification system, proper motions (J2000.0), parallax, radial- and rotational-velocity data, and multiple-star information (number of components, separation, and magnitude differences) for known non-single stars. This table was created by the HEASARC in 1995 based upon a file obtained from either the ADC or the CDS. A number of revisions have been made by the HEASARC to this original version, e.g., celestial positions were added for the 14 non-stellar objects which have received HR numbers: HR 92, 95, 182, 1057, 1841, 2472, 2496, 3515, 3671, 6309, 6515, 7189, 7539 and 8296. In January 2014, the very incorrect position for HR 3671 = NGC 2808 was fixed (the Declination is -65 degrees not +65 degrees!), and smaller corrections were made to the positions of HR 2496, 3515 and 6515 so as to bring them in better agreement with the positions listed in SIMBAD and NED This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .
We present a catalog of star clusters with V_F555W_<23mag detected in the interacting spiral galaxy M51 system based on mosaic images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys by the Hubble Heritage Team. We have selected about 3600 clusters based on their morphological information through visual inspection. The final star cluster catalog includes 2224 clusters that are relatively well isolated and have a circular shape.
A number of bright stars is missing from the PPM Star Catalogue, both on the northern <I/146> and on the southern <I/193> hemisphere. The Bright Stars Supplement described here makes PPM complete down to V=7.5 mag. For this purpose it lists all missing stars brighter than V=7.6 mag that we could find in published star lists. Their total number is 275. Only 2 of them are brighter than V=3.5. This replaces the December 1992 edition (catalogue I/194) of the Bright Stars Supplement which inadvertently contained 46 duplicates of stars already contained in the main parts of PPM.
The upcoming NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will obtain space-based uninterrupted light curves for a large sample of bright white dwarfs distributed across the entire sky, providing a very rich resource for asteroseismological studies and the search for transits from planetary debris. We have compiled an all-sky catalogue of ultraviolet, optical and infrared photometry as well as proper motions, which we propose as an essential tool for the preliminary identification and characterization of potential targets. We present data for 1864 known white dwarfs and 305 high-probability white dwarf candidates brighter than 17mag. We describe the spectroscopic follow-up of 135 stars, of which 82 are white dwarfs and 25 are hot subdwarfs. The new confirmed stars include six pulsating white dwarf candidates (ZZ Cetis), and nine white dwarf binaries with a cool main- sequence companion. We identify one star with a spectroscopic distance of only 25pc from the Sun. Around the time TESS is launched, we foresee that all white dwarfs in this sample will have trigonometric parallaxes measured by the ESA Gaia mission next year.
We cross-correlate several sources of archival photometry for 1265 bright (V~16mag) white dwarfs (WDs) with available high signal-to-noise spectroscopy. We find 381 WDs with archival Spitzer+IRAC data and investigate this subsample for infrared excesses due to circumstellar dust. This large data set reveals 15 dusty WDs, including three new debris discs and the hottest WD known to host dust (WD 0010+280). We study the frequency of debris discs at WDs as function of mass. The frequency peaks at 12.5 per cent for 0.7-0.75M_{sun}_ WDs (with 3M_{sun}_ main-sequence star progenitors) and falls off for stars more massive than this, which mirrors predicted planet occurrence rates for stars of different masses.
We present X-ray spectra of 185 bright sources detected in the XMM-Newton deep survey of the Chandra Deep Field South, combining the three EPIC cameras. The 2-10keV flux limit of the sample is 2x10^-15^erg/s/cm^2^. The sources are distributed over a redshift range of z=0.1-3.8. Eleven new X-ray redshift measurements are included. A spectral analysis was performed using a simple model to obtain absorbing column densities, rest-frame 2-10keV luminosities and Fe K line properties of 180 sources at z>0.4. Obscured AGN are found to be more abundant toward higher redshifts. Using the XMM-Newton data alone, seven Compton-thick AGN candidates are identified, which makes the Compton-thick AGN fraction to be ~=4%. An exploratory spectral inspection method with two rest-frame X-ray colours and an Fe line strength indicator is introduced and tested against the results from spectral fitting. This method works reasonably well to characterise a spectral shape and can be useful for a pre-selection of Compton-thick AGN candidates.We found six objects exhibiting broad Fe K lines out of 21 unobscured AGN of best data quality, implying a detection rate of 30%. Five redshift spikes, each of which has more than six sources, are identified in the redshift distribution of the X-ray sources. Contrary to the overall trend, the sources at the two higher-redshift spikes at z=1.61 and z=2.57 have puzzlingly low obscuration.
The star 1SWASP J022727.03+115641.7 was reported as a contact binary with a period shorter than the empirical limit of such systems. Our study shows the star not to be variable. Instead, it is the nearby star, 2MASS 02272637+1156494, that exhibits variability. The BRI CCD light curves of 2MASS 02272637+1156494 show the system to be a moderate mass ratio (2.154_-0.074_^+0.008^), and shallow contact (10.4_-1.9_^+1.4^%) W-type contact binary. The masses, radii, and luminosities of the binary components are, respectively, M_1_=0.25_-0.01_^+0.05^M_{sun}_, M_2_=0.54_-0.04_^+0.11^M_{sun}_, R_1_=0.45_-0.01_^+0.02^R_{sun}_, R_2_=0.63_-0.02_^+0.04^R_{sun}_, L_1_=0.038_-0.005_^+0.018^L_{sun}_, and L_2_=0.071_-0.010_^+0.037^L_{sun}_, with an estimated distance 326_-46_^+127^ pc. These uncertainties mainly come from the errors of the colors used to estimate the temperature of the primary star. A dark spot was introduced on the massive component in the final solution.
III Zw 2 is the prototype of radio-intermediate quasars. Although there is the evidence of possessing strong jet, significant {gamma}-ray emission has not been reported before. In this work, we carry out a detailed analysis of the latest Fermi-LAT Pass 8 data. No significant {gamma}-ray signal has been detected in the time-averaged 7-year Fermi-LAT data of III Zw 2; however, we have identified two distinct {gamma}-ray flares with isotropic luminosities of ~10^45^erg/s. Multiwavelength data analysis (also including the optical photometric observations from Yunnan Observatories) are presented and the main finding is simultaneous optical and {gamma}-ray flares of III Zw 2 appearing in 2009 November. Violent {gamma}-ray variability with a doubling timescale of 2.5hr was detected in another {gamma}-ray flare in May 2010, for which the 3-hr {gamma}-ray peak flux is ~250 times of the average flux in 7 years. Rather similar behaviors are observed in blazars and the blazar model can reasonably reproduce the spectral energy distribution of III Zw 2 in a wide energy range, strongly suggesting that its central engine resembles that of blazars. In view of its core, which shares radio similarities with young radio sources, together with weak extended radio lobe emission, we suggest that III Zw 2 harbors a recurrent activity core and thus serves as a valuable target for investigating the fueling and triggering of the activity in radio-loud active galactic nuclei.
