New CCD photometric observations of the chromospherically active binary XY Ursae Majoris (XY UMa) were obtained every year since 2006. The light curves obtained in the late Spring of 2006 show obvious variations on a short timescale, while the light curves obtained in 2008 December do not. But both sets of light curves are markedly asymmetric, and were analyzed using the 2003 version of the Wilson-Devinney code with spot model. New absolute physical parameters are obtained.
This is a completely revised and enlarged edition of the General Catalogue of Trigonometric Stellar Parallaxes containing 15,994 parallaxes for 8,112 stars published before the end of 1995. In this Fourth Edition, 1,722 (27%) new stars have been added to those contained in the previous edition by Jenkins (1963). The mode of the parallax accuracy for the newly added stars (0.004" s.e.) is considerably better than in the previous editions (about 0.016"). Approximately 2300 stars are not in the Hipparcos Catalog. The catalog contains equatorial coordinates in the system of the FK4 for 1900, the total proper motion and its position angle, the weighted average absolute parallax and its standard error, the number of parallax observations, quality of interagreement of the different values, the visual magnitude and various cross identifications with other catalogs. Auxiliary information is listed, including UBV photometry, MK spectral types, data on the variability and binary nature of the stars, and miscellaneous information to aid in determining the reliability of the data.
The Yarkovsky effect is a thermal process acting upon the orbits of small celestial bodies, which can cause these orbits to slowly expand or contract with time. The effect is subtle (<da/dt>~10^-4^au/My for a 1km diameter object) and is thus generally difficult to measure. We analyzed both optical and radar astrometry for 600 Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) for the purpose of detecting and quantifying the Yarkovsky effect. We present 247 NEAs with measured drift rates, which is the largest published set of Yarkovsky detections. This large sample size provides an opportunity to examine the Yarkovsky effect in a statistical manner. In particular, we describe two independent population-based tests that verify the measurement of Yarkovsky orbital drift. First, we provide observational confirmation for the Yarkovsky effect's theoretical size dependence of 1/D, where D is diameter. Second, we find that the observed ratio of negative to positive drift rates in our sample is 2.34, which, accounting for bias and sampling uncertainty, implies an actual ratio of 2.7_-0.7_^+0.3^. This ratio has a vanishingly small probability of occurring due to chance or statistical noise. The observed ratio of retrograde to prograde rotators is two times lower than the ratio expected from numerical predictions from NEA population studies and traditional assumptions about the sense of rotation of NEAs originating from various main belt escape routes. We also examine the efficiency with which solar energy is converted into orbital energy and find a median efficiency in our sample of 12%. We interpret this efficiency in terms of NEA spin and thermal properties.
Rapid advancements in light-curve and radial-velocity curve modelling, as well as improvements in the accuracy of observations, allow more stringent tests of the theory of stellar evolution. Binaries with rapid apsidal advance are particularly useful in this respect since the internal structure of the stars can also be tested. Thanks to its long and rich observational history and rapid apsidal motion, the massive eclipsing binary Y Cyg represents one of the cornerstones of critical tests of stellar evolutionary theory for massive stars. Nevertheless, the determination of the basic physical properties is less accurate than it could be given the existing number of spectral and photometric observations. Our goal is to analyse all these data simultaneously with the new dedicated series of our own spectral and photometric observations from observatories widely separated in longitude.
We compare patterns of variation for the Sun and 72 Sun-like stars by combining total and spectral solar irradiance measurements between 2003 and 2017 from the SORCE satellite, Stromgren b, y stellar photometry between 1993 and 2017 from Fairborn Observatory, and solar and stellar chromospheric CaII H+K emission observations between 1992 and 2016 from Lowell Observatory. The new data and their analysis strengthen the relationships found previously between chromospheric and brightness variability on the decadal timescale of the solar activity cycle. Both chromospheric H+K and photometric b, y variability among Sun-like stars are related to average chromospheric activity by power laws on this timescale. Young active stars become fainter as their H+K emission increases, and older, less active, more Sun-age stars tend to show a pattern of direct correlation between photometric and chromospheric emission variations. The directly correlated pattern between total solar irradiance and chromospheric Ca ii emission variations shown by the Sun appears to extend also to variations in the Stromgren b, y portion of the solar spectrum. Although the Sun does not differ strongly from its stellar age and spectral class mates in the activity and variability characteristics that we have now studied for over three decades, it may be somewhat unusual in two respects: (1) its comparatively smooth, regular activity cycle, and (2) its rather low photometric brightness variation relative to its chromospheric activity level and variation, perhaps indicating that facular emission and sunspot darkening are especially well-balanced on the Sun.
Uncovering the occurrence rate of terrestrial planets within the habitable zone (HZ) of their host stars has been a particular focus of exoplanetary science in recent years. The statistics of these occurrence rates have largely been derived from transiting planet discoveries, and have uncovered numerous HZ planets in compact systems around M-dwarf host stars. Here we explore the width of the HZ as a function of spectral type, and the dynamical constraints on the number of stable orbits within the HZ for a given star. We show that, although the Hill radius for a given planetary mass increases with larger semimajor axis, the width of the HZ for earlier-type stars allows for more terrestrial planets in the HZ than late-type stars. In general, dynamical constraints allow ~6 HZ Earth-mass planets for stellar masses >~0.7M{sun}, depending on the presence of farther out giant planets. As an example, we consider the case of Beta CVn, a nearby bright solar-type star. We present 20yr of radial velocities (RV) from the Keck/High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) and Automated Planet Finder (APF) instruments and conduct an injection-recovery analysis of planetary signatures in the data. Our analysis of these RV data rule out planets more massive than Saturn within 10 au of the star. These system properties are used to calculate the potential dynamical packing of terrestrial planets in the HZ and show that such nearby stellar targets could be particularly lucrative for HZ planet detection by direct imaging exoplanet missions.
Gaia DR2 offers unparalleled precision on stars' parallaxes and proper motions. This allows the prediction of microlensing events for which the lens stars (and any planets they possess) are nearby and may be well studied and characterised. We identify a number of potential microlensing events that will occur before the year 2035.5, 20 years from the Gaia DR2 reference epoch. We query Gaia DR2 for potential lenses within 100pc, extract parallaxes and proper motions of the lenses and background sources, and identify potential lensing events. We estimate the lens masses from Priam effective temperatures, and use these to calculate peak magnifications and the size of the Einstein radii relative to the lens stars' habitable zones. We identify 7 future events with a probability >10% of an alignment within one Einstein radius. Of particular interest is DR2 5918299904067162240 (WISE J175839.20-583931.6), magnitude G=14.9, which will lens a G=13.9 background star in early 2030, with a median 23% net magnification. Other pairs are typically fainter, hampering characterisation of the lens (if the lens is faint) or the ability to accurately measure the magnification (if the source is much fainter than the lens). Of timely interest is DR2 4116504399886241792 (2MASS J17392440-2327071), which will lens a background star in July 2020, albeit with weak net magnification (0.03%). Median magnifications for the other 5 high-probability events range from 0.3% to 5.3%. The Einstein radii for these lenses are 1-10 times the radius of the habitable zone, allowing these lensing events to pick out cold planets around the ice line, and filling a gap between transit and current microlensing detections of planets around very low-mass stars. We provide a catalogue of the predicted events to aid future characterisation efforts. Current limitations include a lack of many high-proper motion objects in Gaia DR2 and often large uncertainties on the proper motions of the background sources (or only 2-parameter solutions). Both of these deficiencies will be rectified with Gaia DR3 in 2020. Further characterisation of the lenses is also warranted to better constrain their masses and predict the photometric magnifications.
Deneb is often considered the prototypical A-type supergiant and is one of the visually most luminous stars in the Galaxy. A-type supergiants are potential extragalactic distance indicators, but the variability of these stars needs to be better characterized before this technique can be considered reliable. We analyzed 339 high-resolution echelle spectra of Deneb obtained over the five-year span of 1997 through 2001 as well as 370 Stroemgren photometric measurements obtained during the same time frame. Our spectroscopic analysis included dynamical spectra of the H{alpha} profile, H{alpha} equivalent widths, and radial velocities measured from SiII {lambda}{lambda} 6347, 6371.
The FU Orionis type of variable star (FUor), V1057 Cygni, underwent a nova-like outburst in 1969-1970. Among the FUors, V1057 Cyg is notable for having the most dramatic post-maximum decrease in brightness. Thus, photometric monitoring of this object is important for interpretations of the cause of this event. Here, we study the behaviour of V1057 Cyg over the last 25 years on the basis of our optical and infrared observations. The optical and near-infrared observations of V1057 Cyg started in 1974, and we present all our data (up to the end of 2011), including 1085 and 167 nights of optical and infrared photometry, respectively. The UBVRIJHKLM light curves for 1985-2011 show that despite the increased photometric activity, after a rapid decrease in brightness in the mid-1990s, the average level of brightness remained practically constant. After the object becomes fainter than V~11.5mag, a swerve appears in the track of the colour-magnitude diagram. The light variability shows a different periodicity in different spectral regions. We have discovered a period of 1631+/-60d in the BVR bands (1995-2011) and 523+/-40d in the RIJHK bands (2002-2011) with amplitudes of 0.5-0.3mag. The 523-d period is presumably correlated with the changes in the radial velocity of an emission component in LiI. We conclude that the observed properties of the FUor star V1057 Cyg are in accordance with current models of FUors involving binary or multiple systems.
The orbits of eight systems with low-mass components (HIP14524, HIP16025, HIP28671, HIP46199, HIP47791, HIP60444, HIP61100, and HIP73085) are presented. Speckle interferometric data were obtained at the 6m Big Telescope Alt-azimuth Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences (BTA SAO RAS) from 2007 to 2019. New data, together with measures already in the literature, made it possible to improve upon previous orbital solutions in six cases and to construct orbits for the first time in the two remaining cases (HIP14524 and HIP60444). Mass sums are obtained using both Hipparcos and Gaia parallaxes, and a comparison with previously published values is made. Using the Worley & Heintz criteria, the classification of the orbits constructed is carried out.
