We study the variability of the cataclysmic variable DO Dra, on time-scales of between minutes and decades. The observations were obtained at the Korean 1m telescope at the Mt. Lemmon in 2006-2007, 14 observational runs cover 45h. Additionally, we have used 1509 patrol observations from the international AFOEV and VSOLJ databases.
We study the variability of the nova-like cataclysmic variable TT Ari, on time-scales of between minutes and months. The observations in the filter R were obtained at the 40-cm telescope of the Chungbuk National University (Korea), 51 observational runs cover 226 hours. In our analysis, we applied several methods: periodogram, wavelet, and scalegram analysis. TT Ari remained in a "negative superhump" state after its return from the "positive superhump" state, which lasted for 8 years. The ephemeris for 12 of the best pronounced minima is T_min_=BJD 2453747.0700(47)+0.132322(53)E, where numbers in digits are errors in units of the last digit. The phases of minima may reach 0.2, which reflects the non-eclipse nature of these minima. The quasi-periodic oscillations (QPO) are present with a mean "period" of 21.6min and mean semi-amplitude of 36mmag.This value is consistent with the range 15-25min reported for previous "negative superhump" states and does not support the hypothesis of secular decrease in the QPO period. Either the period, or the semi-amplitude show significant night-to-night variations. According to the position at the two-parameter diagrams (i.e. diagrams of pairs of parameters: time, mean brightness of the system, brightness of the source of QPO, amplitude, and timescale of the QPOs), the interval of observations was divided into 5 parts, showing different characteristics: 1) the "pre-outburst" stage, 2) the "rise to outburst", 3) "top of the outbursts", 4) "post- outburst QPO" state, and 5) "slow brightening". The the QPO source was significantly brighter during the 10-day outburst, than during the preceding interval. However, after the outburst, the large brightness of the QPO source still existed for about 30 days, producing the stage "4". The diagram for m_QPO_({bar}{m}) exhibits two groups in the brightness range 10.6-10.8, which correspond to larger and smaller amplitudes of the QPO. For the group "5" only, statistically significant correlations were found, for which, with increasing mean brightness, the period, amplitude, and brightness of the of QPO source also increase. The mean brightness at the "negative superhump state" varies within 10.3-11.2, so the system is brighter than at the "positive superhump" (11.3), therefore the "negative superhump" phenomenon may be interpreted by a larger accretion rate. The system is an excellent laboratory for studying processes resulting in variations on timescales of between seconds and decades and needs further monitoring at various states of activity.
We monitored five active galactic nuclei in the R optical band with a CCD mounted on the 1-m Zeiss-1000 telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory from April 2001 to August 2003. Three sources displayed intraday variability on several nights. Stronger variability was detected on time scales from two days to a week. The two-year light curves are presented for four of the observed objects.
We present results of an extensive world-wide observing campaign of MN Draconis. MN Draconis is a poorly known active dwarf nova in the period gap and is one of the only two known cases of period gap SU UMa objects showing the negative superhumps. Photometric behaviour of MN Draconis poses a challenge for existing models of the superhump and superoutburst mechanisms. Therefore, thorough investigation of peculiar systems, such as MN Draconis, is crucial for our understanding of evolution of the close binary stars. To measure fundamental parameters of the system, we collected photometric data in October 2009, June-September 2013 and June-December 2015. Analysis of the light curves, O-C diagrams and power spectra was carried out. During our three observational seasons we detected four superoutburts and several normal outbursts. Based on the two consecutive superoutbursts detected in 2015, the supercycle length was derived P_sc_=74+/-0.5-days and it has been increasing with a rate of P_dot_=3.3x10^-3^ during last twelve years. Based on the positive and negative superhumps we calculated the period excess {epsilon}=5.6%+/-0.1%, the period deficit {epsilon}_=2.5%+/-0.6%, and in result, the orbital period P_orb_=0.0994(1)days (143.126+/-0.144min). We updated the basic light curve parameters of MN Draconis. MN Draconis is the first discovered SU UMa system in the period gap with increasing supercycle length.
This work presents the first high-precision variability survey in the field of the intermediate-age, metal-rich open cluster NGC 6253. We discovered 595 variables and we also characterized most of them providing their variability classes, periods and amplitudes. The sample is complete at short periods: we classified 20 pulsating variables, 225 contact systems, 99 eclipsing systems (22 Beta Lyr type, 59 Beta Per type, 18 RS CVn type), and 77 rotational variables. The time-baseline hampered the precise characterization of 173 variables with periods longer than 4-5days. Moreover, we found a cataclysmic system undergoing an outburst of about 2.5mag.
As part of our continuing effort to identify new, low-mass members of nearby, young moving groups (NYMGs), we present a list of young, low-mass candidates in the northern hemisphere. We used our proven proper-motion selection procedure and ROSAT X-ray and GALEX-UV activity indicators to identify 204 young stars as candidate members of the {beta} Pictoris and AB Doradus NYMGs. Definitive membership assignment of a given candidate will require a measurement of its radial velocity and distance. We present a simple system of indices to characterize the young candidates and help prioritize follow-up observations. New group members identified in this candidate list will be high priority targets for (1) exoplanet direct imaging searches, (2) the study of post-T-Tauri astrophysics, (3) understanding recent local star formation, and (4) the study of local galactic kinematics. Information available now allows us to identify eight likely new members in the list. Two of these, a late-K and an early-M dwarf, we find to be likely members of the {beta} Pic group. The other six stars are likely members of the AB Dor moving group. These include an M dwarf triple system, and three very cool objects that may be young brown dwarfs, making them the lowest-mass, isolated objects proposed in the AB Dor moving group to date.
Ophiuchus is one of the most massive clusters known, but due to its low Galactic latitude its optical properties remain poorly known. We investigate the optical properties of Ophiuchus to obtain clues on the formation epoch of this cluster, and compare them to those of the Coma cluster, which is comparable in mass to Ophiuchus but much more dynamically disturbed. Based on a deep image of the Ophiuchus cluster in the r' band obtained at the Canada France Hawaii Telescope with the MegaCam camera, we have applied an iterative process to subtract the contribution of the numerous stars that, due to the low Galactic latitude of the cluster, pollute the image, and have obtained a photometric catalogue of 2818 galaxies fully complete at r'=20.5mag and still 91% complete at r'=21.5mag. We use this catalogue to derive the cluster Galaxy Luminosity Function (GLF) for the overall image and for a region (hereafter the "rectangle" region) covering exactly the same physical size as the region in which the GLF of the Coma cluster was previously studied. We then compute density maps based on an adaptive kernel technique, for different magnitude limits, and define three circular regions covering 0.08, 0.08, and 0.06 deg^2^, respectively, centred on the cluster (C), on northwest (NW) of the cluster, and southeast (SE) of the cluster, in which we compute the GLFs. The GLF fits are much better when a Gaussian is added to the usual Schechter function, to account for the excess of very bright galaxies. Compared to Coma, Ophiuchus shows a strong excess of bright galaxies. The properties of the two nearby very massive clusters Ophiuchus and Coma are quite comparable, though they seem embedded in different large-scale environments. Our interpretation is that Ophiuchus was built up long ago, as confirmed by its relaxed state (see paper I, Durret et al., 2015, Cat. J/A+A/583/A124) while Coma is still in the process of forming.
The tables present a R-band CCD photometric sequence of stars for calibrating ESO/SERC(R) survey plates in the region of the Shapley supercluster of galaxies. The observations were carried out on 1993 Ferbruary 17 to 22 at the 0.6m telescope of the University of Toronto at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, using a 513x516pix CCD with a resolution of 0.46''.
We present optical R-band light curves of five SDSS double QSOs (SDSS J0903+5028, SDSS J1001+5027, SDSS J1206+4332, SDSS J1353+1138, SDSS J1335+0118) obtained from monitoring at the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) between September 2005 and September 2007. We also present analytical and pixelated modeling of the observed systems. For SDSS J1206+4332, we measured the time delay to be {Delta}{tau}=116^+4^_-5_days, which, for a Singular Isothermal Ellipsoid model, corresponds to a Hubble constant of 73^+3^_-4_km/s/Mpc. Simultaneous pixelated modeling of five other systems for which a time delay has now been previously measured at the NOT leads to H_0_=61.5^+8^_-4_km/s/Mpc. Finally, by comparing lightcurves of the two images of each system, suitably shifted by the predicted or observed time-delays, we found no evidence for microlensing variability over the course of the monitoring period.
Near-infrared H- and K-band spectra are presented for 247 objects, selected from the Red MSX Source (RMS) survey as potential young stellar objects (YSOs). 195 (~80%) of the targets are YSOs, of which 131 are massive YSOs (L_BOL_>5x10^3^L_{sun}_, M>8M_{sun}_). This is the largest spectroscopic study of massive YSOs to date, providing a valuable resource for the study of massive star formation. In this paper, we present our exploratory analysis of the data. The YSOs observed have a wide range of embeddedness (2.7<A_V_<114), demonstrating that this study covers minimally obscured objects right through to very red, dusty sources. Almost all YSOs show some evidence for emission lines, though there is a wide variety of observed properties. The most commonly detected lines are Br{gamma}, H_2_, fluorescent FeII, CO bandhead, [FeII] and HeI 2-1 1S-1P, in order of frequency of occurrence. In total, ~40% of the YSOs display either fluorescent FeII 1.6878{mu}m or CO bandhead emission (or both), indicative of a circumstellar disc; however, no correlation of the strength of these lines with bolometric luminosity was found. We also find that ~60% of the sources exhibit [FeII] or H_2_ emission, indicating the presence of an outflow. Three quarters of all sources have Br{gamma} in emission. A good correlation with bolometric luminosity was observed for both the Br{gamma} and H_2_ emission line strengths, covering 1<L_BOL_<3.5x10^5^L_{sun}_. This suggests that the emission mechanism for these lines is the same for low-, intermediate- and high-mass YSOs, i.e. high-mass YSOs appear to resemble scaled-up versions of low-mass YSOs.