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- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/365/471
- Title:
- Planetary nebulae as standard candles. VI.
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/365/471
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We have measured the [O III] {lambda}5007 fluxes of the brightest planetaries in the LMC (102 objects) and SMC (31 objects) using narrow-band imaging at the CTIO 0.9m telescope. Our fluxes agree to -5% with photoelectric measurements available in the literature (31 objects); agreement is much worse for objects with only spectrophotometric observations. Using the fluxes for the complete sample of bright LMC planetaries, we derive a distance using the planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF).
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/671/2040
- Title:
- Polarisation of candidates Be stars
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/671/2040
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present the first detailed imaging polarization observations of six SMC and six LMC clusters, known to have large populations of B-type stars that exhibit excess H{alpha} emission from 2-CD photometric studies, to constrain the evolutionary status of these stars and hence better establish links between the onset of disk formation in classical Be stars and cluster age and/or metallicity. We parameterize and remove the interstellar polarization (ISP) associated with each line of sight, thereby isolating the presence of any intrinsic polarization. We use the wavelength dependence of this intrinsic polarization to discriminate pure gas disk systems, i.e., classical Be stars, from composite gas-plus-dust disk systems, i.e., Herbig Ae/Be or B[e] stars.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/641/A142
- Title:
- Post-AGB candidates in LMC and SMC SALT spectra
- Short Name:
- J/A+A/641/A142
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We selected a sample of post-AGB candidates in the Magellanic Clouds on the basis of their near- and mid-infrared colour characteristics. Fifteen of the most optically bright post-AGB candidates were observed with the South African Large Telescope in order to determine their stellar parameters and thus to validate or discriminate their nature as post-AGB objects in the Magellanic Clouds. The spectral types of absorption-line objects were estimated according to the MK classification, and effective temperatures were obtained by means of stellar atmosphere modelling. Emission-line objects were classified on the basis of the fluxes of the emission lines and the presence of the continuum. Out of 15 observed objects, only 4 appear to be genuine post-AGB stars (27%). In the SMC, 1 out of 4 is post-AGB, and in the LMC, 3 out 11 are post-AGB objects. Thus, we can conclude that the selected region in the colour-colour diagram, while selecting the genuine post-AGB objects, overlaps severely with other types of objects, in particular young stellar objects and planetary nebulae. Additional classification criteria are required to distinguish between post-AGB stars and other types of objects. In particular, photometry at far-IR wavelengths would greatly assist in distinguishing young stellar objects from evolved ones. On the other hand, we showed that the low-resolution optical spectra appear to be sufficient to determine whether the candidates are post-AGB objects.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/439/2211
- Title:
- Post-AGB/RGB and YSOs in SMC
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/439/2211
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We have carried out a search for optically visible post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) candidates in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). First, we used mid-IR observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope to select optically visible candidates with excess mid-IR flux and then we obtained low-resolution optical spectra for 801 of the candidates. After removing poor-quality spectra and contaminants, such as M-stars, C-stars, planetary nebulae, quasi-stellar objects and background galaxies, we ended up with a final sample of 63 high-probability post-AGB/RGB candidates of A-F spectral type. From the spectral observations, we estimated the stellar parameters: effective temperature (T_eff_), surface gravity (logg) and metallicity ([Fe/H]). We also estimated the reddening and deduced the luminosity using the stellar parameters combined with photometry. For the post-AGB/RGB candidates, we found that the metallicity distribution peaks at [Fe/H]~-1.00dex. Based on a luminosity criterion, 42 of these 63 sources were classified as post-red giant branch (post-RGB) candidates and the remaining 21 as post-AGB candidates. From the spectral energy distributions, we were able to infer that 6 of the 63 post-AGB/RGB candidates have a surrounding circumstellar shell suggesting that they are single stars, while 27 of the post-AGB/RGB candidates have a surrounding disc, suggesting that they lie in binary systems. For the remaining 30 post-AGB/RGB candidates the nature of the circumstellar environment was unclear. Variability is displayed by 38 of the 63 post-AGB/RGB candidates with the most common variability types being the Population II Cepheids (including RV-Tauri stars) and semiregular variables. This study has also revealed a new RV Tauri star in the SMC, J005107.19-734133.3, which shows signs of s-process enrichment. From the numbers of post-AGB/RGB stars in the SMC, we were able to estimate evolutionary rates. We find that the number of post-AGB and post-RGB candidates that we have identified are in good agreement with the stellar evolution models with some mass-loss in the post-AGB phase and a small amount of re-accretion in the lower luminosity post-RGB phase. This study also resulted in a new sample of 40 young stellar objects (YSOs) of A-F spectral type. The 40 YSO candidates for which we could estimate stellar parameters are luminous and of high mass (~3-10M_{sun}_). They lie on the cool side of the usually adopted birthline in the HR-diagram. This line separates visually obscured protostars from optically visible pre-main-sequence stars, meaning that our YSO candidates have become optically visible in the region of the HR diagram usually reserved for obscured protostars. Additionally, we also identified a group of 63 objects whose spectra are dominated by emission lines and in some cases, a significant UV continuum. These objects are very likely to be either hot post-AGB/RGB candidates or luminous YSOs.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/V/13
- Title:
- Probable Members of the SMC
- Short Name:
- V/13
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- An objective prism survey was conducted to discover probable members of the Small Magellanic Cloud. Interference filters were used to restrict the wavelength range and, hence, decrease the background and crowding. The limiting absolute magnitude of the survey is about -4.5. The 1975 paper listed 506 stars that show high luminosity characteristics; 193 of them had been confirmed by other authors. The 1979 paper added 14 additional probable members and photometric observations of 11 stars from the earlier paper that confirmed their membership. For completeness, four new Wolf-Rayet stars detected by Azzopardi and Breysacher (1979) were included. The catalog contains a catalog number in order of right ascension with the suffixes "a" or "b" used for the newer stars interpolated in the original list. Also included are the 1975 position, the MK spectral classification, the V magnitude, the (B-V) and (U-B) color indices, the number of observations, the identification chart number, and remarks indicating previous identifications. A later catalogue of the Small Magellanic Could star members is also published by Azzopardi and Vigneau =1982A&AS...50..291A
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/499/4114
- Title:
- Properties of LMC star clusters
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/499/4114
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The YMCA (Yes, Magellanic Clouds Again) and STEP (The SMC in Time: Evolution of a Prototype interacting late-type dwarf galaxy) projects are deep g, i photometric surveys carried out with the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) and devoted to study the outskirts of the Magellanic System. A main goal of YMCA and STEP is to identify candidate stellar clusters and complete their census out to the outermost regions of the Magellanic Clouds. We adopted a specific overdensity search technique coupled with a visual inspection of the colour-magnitude diagrams to select the best candidates and estimate their ages. To date, we analysed a region of 23 square degrees in the outskirts of the Large Magellanic Cloud, detecting 85 candidate cluster candidates, 16 of which have estimated ages falling in the so-called age gap. We use these objects together with literature data to gain insight into the formation and interaction history of the Magellanic Clouds.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/807/127
- Title:
- Properties of 70 RR Lyrae stars in the LMC bar
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/807/127
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present results of the analysis of 70 RR Lyrae stars located in the bar of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Combining the spectroscopically determined metallicity of these stars from the literature with precise periods from the OGLE III catalog (Soszynski et al. 2009, J/AcA/59/1) and multi-epoch K_s_ photometry from the VISTA survey of the Magellanic Clouds system, we derive a new near-infrared period-luminosity-metallicity (PL_Ks_Z) relation for RR Lyrae variables. In order to fit the relation we use a fitting method developed specifically for this study. The zero-point of the relation is estimated two different ways: by assuming the value of the distance to the LMC and by using Hubble Space Telescope parallaxes of five RR Lyrae stars in the Milky Way (MW). The difference in distance moduli derived by applying these two approaches is ~0.2 mag. To investigate this point further we derive the PL_Ks_Z relation based on 23 MW RR Lyrae stars that had been analyzed in Baade-Wesselink studies. We compared the derived PL_Ks_Z relations for RR Lyrae stars in the MW and LMC. Slopes and zero-points are different, but still consistent within the errors. The shallow slope of the metallicity term is confirmed by both LMC and MW variables. The astrometric space mission Gaia is expected to provide a huge contribution to the determination of the RR Lyrae PL_Ks_Z relation; however, calculating an absolute magnitude from the trigonometric parallax of each star and fitting a PL_Ks_Z relation directly to period and absolute magnitude leads to biased results. We present a tool to achieve an unbiased solution by modeling the data and inferring the slope and zero-point of the relation via statistical methods.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/155/183
- Title:
- Properties of variables in the NGC 1846 field
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/155/183
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Intermediate-age (IA) star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) present extended main-sequence turn-offs (MSTO) that have been attributed to either multiple stellar populations or an effect of stellar rotation. Recently it has been proposed that these extended main sequences can also be produced by ill-characterized stellar variability. Here we present Gemini-S/Gemini Multi-Object Spectrometer (GMOS) time series observations of the IA cluster NGC 1846. Using differential image analysis, we identified 73 new variable stars, with 55 of those being of the Delta Scuti type, that is, pulsating variables close the MSTO for the cluster age. Considering completeness and background contamination effects, we estimate the number of {delta} Sct belonging to the cluster between 40 and 60 members, although this number is based on the detection of a single {delta} Sct within the cluster half-light radius. This amount of variable stars at the MSTO level will not produce significant broadening of the MSTO, albeit higher-resolution imaging will be needed to rule out variable stars as a major contributor to the extended MSTO phenomenon. Though modest, this amount of {delta} Sct makes NGC 1846 the star cluster with the highest number of these variables ever discovered. Lastly, our results present a cautionary tale about the adequacy of shallow variability surveys in the LMC (like OGLE) to derive properties of its {delta} Sct population.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/155/207
- Title:
- Properties of yellow supergiant stars in the SMC
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/155/207
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We recently discovered a yellow supergiant (YSG) in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) with a heliocentric radial velocity of ~300 km/s, which is much larger than expected for a star at its location in the SMC. This is the first runaway YSG ever discovered and only the second evolved runaway star discovered in a galaxy other than the Milky Way. We classify the star as G5-8 I and use de-reddened broad-band colors with model atmospheres to determine an effective temperature of 4700+/-250 K, consistent with what is expected from its spectral type. The star's luminosity is then log L/L_{sun}_~4.2~0.1, consistent with it being a ~30 Myr 9 M_{sun}_ star according to the Geneva evolution models. The star is currently located in the outer portion of the SMC's body, but if the star's transverse peculiar velocity is similar to its peculiar radial velocity, in 10 Myr the star would have moved 1.6{deg} across the disk of the SMC and could easily have been born in one of the SMC's star-forming regions. Based on its large radial velocity, we suggest it originated in a binary system where the primary exploded as a supernovae, thus flinging the runaway star out into space. Such stars may provide an important mechanism for the dispersal of heavier elements in galaxies given the large percentage of massive stars that are runaways. In the future, we hope to look into additional evolved runaway stars that were discovered as part of our other past surveys.
