We have obtained VR photometry of 205 Cepheid variable star candidates that were discovered in a small section of the Northern Sky Variability Survey. Given their locations and apparent magnitudes, any stars in this sample that are Cepheids are very likely to be type II Cepheids. On the basis of the regularity of variation, revised periods, light-curve morphology, slope of the color-magnitude relation, and color, we have identified 97 probable Cepheids and 17 possible Cepheids. While some of the photometric properties, particularly the colors, are consistent with the identification of these stars as Cepheids, the amplitudes are small compared to known type II Cepheids and the period distribution does not match that of known type II Cepheids.
We present 668 new photometric observations for 24 Cepheids with periods less than 3 days. Most of the stars are probable type II Cepheids, but we have included some type I Cepheids for comparison. A discussion of the Fourier parameters of the light curves leads to the conclusion that they can be used to distinguish among the several types of light curves found among the type II stars but are of limited usefulness for distinguishing between type I and type II Cepheids.
We report observations of two nearby Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) for which observations of Cepheid variables in the host galaxies have been obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope: SN 1994ae in NGC 3370 and SN 1998aq in NGC 3982. For NCG 3370, we used the Advanced Camera for Surveys to observe 64 Cepheids that yield a distance of 29 Mpc, the farthest direct measurement of Cepheids.
Photometry in B, V (down to V~26mag) is presented for two 23'x23' fields of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) that were observed with the blue channel camera of the Large Binocular Telescope during the Science Demonstration Time. Each field covers an area of about 5.1x5.1kpc^2^ at the distance of M31 ({mu}_M31_~24.4mag), sampling, respectively, a northeast region close to the M31 giant stream (field S2) and an eastern portion of the halo in the direction of the galaxy minor axis (field H1). The stream field spans a region that includes Andromeda's disk and giant stream, and this is reflected in the complexity of the color-magnitude diagram of the field. One corner of the halo field also includes a portion of the giant stream. Even though these demonstration time data were obtained under non-optimal observing conditions, the B photometry, which was acquired in time-series mode, allowed us to identify 274 variable stars (among which 96 are bona fide and 31 are candidate RR Lyrae stars, 71 are Cepheids, and 16 are binary systems) by applying the image subtraction technique to the selected portions of the observed fields. Differential flux light curves were obtained for the vast majority of these variables. Our sample mainly includes pulsating stars that populate the instability strip from the Classical Cepheids down to the RR Lyrae stars, thus tracing the different stellar generations in these regions of M31 down to the horizontal branch of the oldest (t~10Gyr) component.
The Chinese Small Telescope ARray carried out high-cadence time-series observations of 27 square degrees centered on the South Celestial Pole during the Antarctic winter seasons of 2008-2010. Aperture photometry of the 2008 and 2010 i-band images resulted in the discovery of over 200 variable stars. Yearly servicing left the array defocused for the 2009 winter season, during which the system also suffered from intermittent frosting and power failures. Despite these technical issues, nearly 800000 useful images were obtained using g, r, and clear filters. We developed a combination of difference imaging and aperture photometry to compensate for the highly crowded, blended, and defocused frames. We present details of this approach, which may be useful for the analysis of time-series data from other small-aperture telescopes regardless of their image quality. Using this approach, we were able to recover 68 previously known variables and detected variability in 37 additional objects. We also have determined the observing statistics for Dome A during the 2009 winter season; we find the extinction due to clouds to be less than 0.1 and 0.4mag for 40% and 63% of the dark time, respectively.
We present results from a season of observations with the Chinese Small Telescope ARray, obtained over 183 days of the 2010 Antarctic winter. We carried out high-cadence time-series aperture photometry of 9125 stars with i{<~}15.3mag located in a 23deg^2^ region centered on the south celestial pole. We identified 188 variable stars, including 67 new objects relative to our 2008 observations, thanks to broader synoptic coverage, a deeper magnitude limit, and a larger field of view. We used the photometric data set to derive site statistics from Dome A. Based on two years of observations, we find that extinction due to clouds at this site is less than 0.1 and 0.4mag during 45% and 75% of the dark time, respectively.
B and V CCD photometry from 1984 through 1994 is presented for 50 RR Lyrae stars and two red variable stars in the globular cluster NGC 7006. New determinations of pulsation periods and period change rates are given and used to plot B light curves. The new photometry is combined with previously published photometry obtained from photographic plates taken in the 1930s, the 1950s and 1984 and used to derive O - C diagrams and new period change rates. V light curves based on the CCD data are also displayed, and colors derived from mean values of B and V are given. Period-amplitude diagrams and the color-magnitude diagram for the variables are shown.
The results of coordinated Crimea-Dodaira simultaneous multi-bands photometric and polarimetric observations of the classical Herbig Ae/Be star RR Tau which cover fully the observed interval of its brightness changes are presented. Within the observed interval of its light variations the linear polarization of RR Tau anti-correlates with its brightness changes.
The results of the eleven-years (1987-98) photopolarimetric patrol observations of Herbig Ae star SV Cep are presented. Only one deep brightness minimum of star were observed during this time interval. The decrease of the SV Cep brightness during this minimum was accompanied by increase of its linear polarization. The similar behaviour of linear polarization with the brightness changes was found earlier in other young stars with the non-periodic Algol-type minima. The most probable interpretation of this phenomenon is based on the model in which the source of intrinsic linear polarization is the scattered radiation of circumstellar disk-like dust envelope (probably the proto-planetary disk). The deposition of this source increases during the brightness minima when the direct (non-polarized) stellar radiation are absorbed in the CS dust clouds intersected the line-of-sight.
