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Observations of Hα, iron, and oxygen lines in B, Be, and shell stars
We carried out a spectroscopic survey of several B, Be, and shell starsin optical and near-infrared regions. Line profiles of the Hα lineand of selected Fe II and O I lines are presented.

On the evolutionary status of Be stars. I. Field Be stars near the Sun
A sample of 97 galactic field Be stars were studied by taking intoaccount the effects induced by the fast rotation on their fundamentalparameters. All program stars were observed in the BCDspectrophotometric system in order to minimize the perturbationsproduced by the circumstellar environment on the spectral photosphericsignatures. This is one of the first attempts at determining stellarmasses and ages by simultaneously using model atmospheres andevolutionary tracks, both calculated for rotating objects. The stellarages (τ) normalized to the respective inferred time that eachrotating star can spend in the main sequence phase (τ_MS) reveal amass-dependent trend. This trend shows that: a) there are Be starsspread over the whole interval 0  τ/τ_MS  1 of themain sequence evolutionary phase; b) the distribution of points in the(τ/τMS,M/Mȯ) diagram indicates thatin massive stars (M  12~Mȯ) the Be phenomenon ispresent at smaller τ/τ_MS age ratios than for less massive stars(M  12~Mȯ). This distribution can be due to: i)higher mass-loss rates in massive objets, which can act to reduce thesurface fast rotation; ii) circulation time scales to transport angularmomentum from the core to the surface, which are longer the lower thestellar mass.

Binary Star Speckle Interferometry: Measurements and Orbits
Results of our second observational run of binary star interferometricmeasurements with an ICCD speckle camera attached to the 1.52 mtelescope of the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional at Calar Alto(Almería, Spain) in 2000 June-July are presented. The measuredangular separations range from 0.096" to 6.558". With the use of the newspeckle data, the orbits of the visual binaries WDS 14369+4813 and WDS21597+4908 are improved.

Classical Be Stars
Recent results for classical Be stars are reviewed and links to generalastrophysics are presented. Classical Be stars are B-type stars close tothe main sequence that exhibit line emission over the photosphericspectrum. The excess is attributed to a circumstellar gaseous componentthat is commonly accepted to be in the form of an equatorial disk. Since1988, when the last such review was published, major progress has beenmade. The geometry and kinematics of the circumstellar environment canbe best explained by a rotationally supported relatively thin disk withvery little outflow, consistent with interferometric observations. Thepresence of short-term periodic variability is restricted to the earliertype Be stars. This variation for at least some of these objects hasbeen shown to be due to nonradial pulsation. For at least one star,evidence for a magnetic field has been observed. The mechanismsresponsible for the production and dynamics of the circumstellar gas arestill not constrained. Observations of nonradial pulsation beatingphenomena connected to outbursts point toward a relevance of pulsation,but this mechanism cannot be generalized. Either the evidence that Bestars do not form a homogeneous group with respect to disk formation isgrowing or the short-term periodic variability is less important thanpreviously thought. The statistics of Be stars investigated in openclusters of the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds has reopened thequestion of the evolutionary status of Be stars. The central B star is afast rotator, although theoretical developments have revived thequestion of how high rotational rates are, so the commonly quoted meanvalue of about 70%-80% of the critical velocity may just be a lowerlimit. Be stars are in a unique position to make contributions toseveral important branches of stellar physics, e.g., asymmetricmass-loss processes, stellar angular momentum distribution evolution,astroseismology, and magnetic field evolution.

Stromgren Photometry of the Be Star theta CrB: Variable Again in 2003
Stromgren uvby differential photometry from the Four College AutomatedPhotoelectric Telescope of the Be star Theta CrB obtained in the firsthalf of 2003 show that this star after being photometrically constantbetween 1993 and 2002 is now variable.

Catalogue of averaged stellar effective magnetic fields. I. Chemically peculiar A and B type stars
This paper presents the catalogue and the method of determination ofaveraged quadratic effective magnetic fields < B_e > for 596 mainsequence and giant stars. The catalogue is based on measurements of thestellar effective (or mean longitudinal) magnetic field strengths B_e,which were compiled from the existing literature.We analysed the properties of 352 chemically peculiar A and B stars inthe catalogue, including Am, ApSi, He-weak, He-rich, HgMn, ApSrCrEu, andall ApSr type stars. We have found that the number distribution of allchemically peculiar (CP) stars vs. averaged magnetic field strength isdescribed by a decreasing exponential function. Relations of this typehold also for stars of all the analysed subclasses of chemicalpeculiarity. The exponential form of the above distribution function canbreak down below about 100 G, the latter value representingapproximately the resolution of our analysis for A type stars.Table A.1 and its references are only available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/407/631 and Tables 3 to 9are only available in electronic form at http://www.edpsciences.org

Quantitative Stellar Spectral Classification. II. Early Type Stars
The method developed by Stock & Stock (1999) for stars of spectraltypes A to K to derive absolute magnitudes and intrinsic colors from theequivalent widths of absorption lines in stellar spectra is extended toB-type stars. Spectra of this type of stars for which the Hipparcoscatalogue gives parallaxes with an error of less than 20% were observedwith the CIDA one-meter reflector equipped with a Richardsonspectrograph with a Thompson 576×384 CCD detector. The dispersionis 1.753 Å/pixel using a 600 lines/mm grating in the first order.In order to cover the spectral range 3850 Å to 5750 Å thegrating had to be used in two different positions, with an overlap inthe region from 4800 Å to 4900 Å . A total of 116 stars wasobserved, but not all with both grating positions. A total of 12measurable absorption lines were identified in the spectra and theirequivalent widths were measured. These were related to the absolutemagnitudes derived from the Hipparcos catalogue and to the intrinsiccolors (deduced from the MK spectral types) using linear and secondorder polynomials and two or three lines as independent variables. Thebest solutions were obtained with polynomials of three lines,reproducing the absolute magnitudes with an average residual of about0.40 magnitudes and the intrinsic colors with an average residual of0.016 magnitudes.

Autocorrelation Analysis of Hipparcos Photometry of Short-Period Be Stars
We have used Hipparcos epoch photometry and a form of autocorrelationanalysis to investigate the amplitude and timescale of the short-periodvariability of 82 Be stars, including 46 Be stars that were analyzed byHubert & Floquet using Fourier and CLEAN analysis and 36 other Bestars that were suspected of short-period variability. Our method hasgiven useful information for about 84% of these stars; for the rest, thetime distribution of the Hipparcos epoch photometry limits thecapability of our technique.

The latitude and epoch for the formation of the southern Greek constellations
Not Available

Stromgren Differential Photometry of the Be Star theta CrB: 1999-2002
Stromgren uvby differential photometry from the Four College AutomatedPhotoelectric Telescope of the Be star Theta CrB for 1999-2002 and forfive previous years show that this star has remained photometricallyconstant between 1993 and 2002. Data from other observers show constancyfor an additional four years. This is the longest well documentedperiod of inactivity for this star.

Koordinierte Zusammenarbeit zwischen den VdS-FG 'BAV' und 'Spektroskopie' ?
Not Available

Rotational Velocities of B Stars
We measured the projected rotational velocities of 1092 northern B starslisted in the Bright Star Catalogue (BSC) and calibrated them againstthe 1975 Slettebak et al. system. We found that the published values ofB dwarfs in the BSC average 27% higher than those standards. Only 0.3%of the stars have rotational velocities in excess of two-thirds of thebreakup velocities, and the mean velocity is only 25% of breakup,implying that impending breakup is not a significant factor in reducingrotational velocities. For the B8-B9.5 III-V stars the bimodaldistribution in V can be explained by a set of slowly rotating Ap starsand a set of rapidly rotating normal stars. For the B0-B5 III-V starsthat include very few peculiar stars, the distributions in V are notbimodal. Are the low rotational velocities of B stars due to theoccurrence of frequent low-mass companions, planets, or disks? Therotational velocities of giants originating from late B dwarfs areconsistent with their conservation of angular momentum in shells.However, we are puzzled by why the giants that originate from the earlyB dwarfs, despite having 3 times greater radii, have nearly the samerotational velocities. We find that all B-type primaries in binarieswith periods less than 2.4 days have synchronized rotational and orbitalmotions; those with periods between 2.4 and 5.0 days are rotating withina factor 2 of synchronization or are ``nearly synchronized.'' Thecorresponding period ranges for A-type stars are 4.9 and 10.5 days, ortwice as large. We found that the rotational velocities of the primariesare synchronized earlier than their orbits are circularized. The maximumorbital period for circularized B binaries is 1.5 days and for Abinaries is 2.5 days. For stars of various ages from 107.5 to1010.2 yr the maximum circularized periods are a smoothexponential function of age.

Photometric Monitoring of Bright Be Stars. IV. 1996-1999
We report long-term UBV observations of 15 bright, active Be stars,namely: X Persei, EW Canis Majoris, θ Coronae Borealis, 4 (V839)Herculis, 88 (V744) Herculis, 66 (V2048) Ophiuchi, NW Serpentis, CXDraconis, 12 (V395) Vulpeculae, 28 (V1624) Cygni, QR Vulpeculae, 59(V832) Cygni, EW Lacertae, ο Andromedae, and KX Andromedae. Theobservations were made in 1996-1999 through the Automatic PhotometricTelescope Service in Arizona and through the American Association ofVariable Star Observers (AAVSO) photoelectric photometry program andhave been added to a database extending back 20 years. We describe thestars' recent behavior and also comment on the long-term behavior ofsome of them. They vary photometrically on timescales ranging from abouta day to many years.

A Search for High-Velocity Be Stars
We present an analysis of the kinematics of Be stars based uponHipparcos proper motions and published radial velocities. We findapproximately 23 of the 344 stars in our sample have peculiar spacemotions greater than 40 km s-1 and up to 102 kms-1. We argue that these high-velocity stars are the resultof either a supernova that disrupted a binary or ejection by closeencounters of binaries in young clusters. Be stars spun up by binarymass transfer will appear as high-velocity objects if there wassignificant mass loss during the supernova explosion of the initiallymore massive star, but the generally moderate peculiar velocities of BeX-ray binaries indicate that the progenitors lose most of their massprior to the supernova (in accordance with model predictions). Binaryformation models for Be stars predict that most systems bypass thesupernova stage (and do not receive runaway velocities) to createultimately Be+white dwarf binaries. The fraction of Be stars spun up bybinary mass transfer remains unknown, since the post-mass transfercompanions are difficult to detect.

Evolution in circumstellar envelopes of Be stars: From disks to rings?
New series of echelle spectra were obtained to study the medium- andlong-term evolution of the disks of several Be stars. Subtle variationsin the wings of optically thin and thick emission lines suggest that theconventional, static picture of the disk being in quasi-contact with thecentral star is justified primarily (or perhaps only) after an outburstevent. Some weeks to months later, a low-density region seems to developabove the star and slowly grows outwards. A subsequent outburst maylater replenish this cavity. In fact, in two stars this more ring-likestructure is apparently at times detached far enough from the star toallow for the formation of a secondary inner disk from the ejecta of alater outburst. This behaviour is not necessarily representative of Bestars in general because in the later spectral sub-types, discrete massloss events have not so far been observed to play a major role. In thelight of the apparent life cycle of such disks, a brief discussion isgiven of the differences in strength and variability between the windsof Be and normal B stars. It seems possible to attribute thesedifferences to matter that was initially in the disk and thereforelargely shielded from the stellar radiation, but that during the courseof the inner excavation (or even complete distruction) of the diskbecomes exposed. Based on observations collected at the EuropeanSouthern Observatory at La Silla, Chile, ESO proposal No. 64.H-0548 andon observations with the Wendelstein 80-cm and the Ondřejov 2-mtelescopes, both equipped with the HEROS spectrograph provided by theLandessternwarte Heidelberg.

CCD measurements of visual double stars made with the 74 cm and 50 cm refractors of the Nice Observatory (2nd series)
We present 619 measurements of 606 visual double stars made by CCDimaging from 1996 to 1999 with the 74 cm and 50 cm refractors of theNice observatory. Angular separation, position angle and magnitudedifference are given. Magnitude differences estimated from CCD imagesare compared with magnitude differences given in the Hipparcos catalog.The residuals in angular separation and position angle are computed forbinaries with known orbit. Table 2 is only available in electronic format the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) orvia http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/378/954

Statistical analysis of intrinsic polarization, IR excess and projected rotational velocity distributions of classical Be stars
We present the results of statistical analyses of a sample of 627 Bestars. The parameters of intrinsic polarization (p*),projected rotational velocity (v sin i), and near IR excesses have beeninvestigated. The values of p* have been estimated for a muchlarger and more representative sample of Be stars (~490 objects) thanpreviously. We have confirmed that most Be stars of early spectral typehave statistically larger values of polarization and IR excesses incomparison with the late spectral type stars. It is found that thedistributions of p* diverge considerably for the differentspectral subgroups. In contrast to late spectral types (B5-B9.5), thedistribution of p* for B0-B2 stars does not peak at the valuep*=0%. Statistically significant differences in the meanprojected rotational velocities (/line{vsin i}) are found for differentspectral subgroups of Be stars in the sense that late spectral typestars (V luminosity class) generally rotate faster than early types, inagreement with previously published results. This behaviour is, however,not obvious for the III-IV luminosity class stars. Nevertheless, thecalculated values of the ratio vt/vc of the truerotational velocity, vt, to the critical velocity forbreak-up, vc, is larger for late spectral type stars of allluminosity classes. Thus, late spectral type stars appear to rotatecloser to their break-up rotational velocity. The distribution of nearIR excesses for early spectral subgroups is bi-modal, the position ofthe second peak displaying a maximum value E(V-L)~ 1 . m 3for O-B1.5 stars, decreasing to E(V-L)~0. m8 for intermediatespectral types (B3-B5). It is shown that bi-modality disappears for latespectral types (B6-B9.5). No correlations were found betweenp* and near IR excesses and between E(V-L) and vsin i for thedifferent subgroups of Be stars. In contrast to near IR excesses, arelation between p* and far IR excesses at 12 mu m is clearlyseen. A clear relation between p* and vsin i (as well asbetween p* and /line{vsin i}/vc) is found by thefact that plots of these parameters are bounded by a ``triangular"distribution of p*: vsin i, with a decrease of p*towards very small and very large vsin i (and /line{vsini}/vc) values. The latter behaviour can be understood in thecontext of a larger oblateness of circumstellar disks for the stars witha rapid rotation. From the analysis of correlations between differentobservational parameters we conclude that circumstellar envelopes forthe majority of Be stars are optically thin disks with the range of thehalf-opening angle of 10degr

Catalogue of Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (CADARS) - Third edition - Comments and statistics
The Catalogue, available at the Centre de Données Stellaires deStrasbourg, consists of 13 573 records concerning the results obtainedfrom different methods for 7778 stars, reported in the literature. Thefollowing data are listed for each star: identifications, apparentmagnitude, spectral type, apparent diameter in arcsec, absolute radiusin solar units, method of determination, reference, remarks. Commentsand statistics obtained from CADARS are given. The Catalogue isavailable in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcar?J/A+A/367/521

The proper motions of fundamental stars. I. 1535 stars from the Basic FK5
A direct combination of the positions given in the HIPPARCOS cataloguewith astrometric ground-based catalogues having epochs later than 1939allows us to obtain new proper motions for the 1535 stars of the BasicFK5. The results are presented as the catalogue Proper Motions ofFundamental Stars (PMFS), Part I. The median precision of the propermotions is 0.5 mas/year for mu alpha cos delta and 0.7mas/year for mu delta . The non-linear motions of thephotocentres of a few hundred astrometric binaries are separated intotheir linear and elliptic motions. Since the PMFS proper motions do notinclude the information given by the proper motions from othercatalogues (HIPPARCOS, FK5, FK6, etc.) this catalogue can be used as anindependent source of the proper motions of the fundamental stars.Catalogue (Table 3) is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strastg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/365/222

Importance of Small Telescopes in the Understanding of Active Hot Stars Physics
Active hot stars (Be stars) have been observed and studied for more thantwo decades. They exhibit hydrogen emission lines in the visible domainand often some emission lines of singly ionized metals. These emissionsoriginate in a circumstellar envelope produced by a strong radiativestellar wind. Since the discovery of the prototype star of this class(γ Cas) by Father A. Secchi in 1866, the basic physical propertiesof these objects are still poorly known. These stars are also verybright (most of them can be found in the Bright Star Catalogue) whichmake them good targets for small telescopes studies. In the following Iwill focus on some studies that can be done using a 40 cm telescopeclass. Then I will explain how small telescopes can be combined in aninterferometric network in order to reach one milliarcsecond (mas)angular resolution even if each telescope's aperture can be smaller thanten centimeters. With this technics it becomes possible to measure verysmall and faint structures on the stellar surface of stars other thanour sun.

Speckle Interferometry at the US Naval Observatory. V.
The results of 1544 speckle interferometric observations of 637 binarystars, ranging in separation from 0.25" to 5.25", are tabulated. Theseobservations were obtained using the 66 cm refractor at the US NavalObservatory in Washington, DC, with an intensified CCD detector. This isthe fifth in a series of papers presenting measures obtained with thissystem and covers the period 1998 January 1 through December 31. Randomerrors for all measures are estimated to be 17.6 mas in separation and0.55d/ρ in position angle, where ρ is the separation inarcseconds.

Hα observations of Be stars
We present here the Hα spectra of 44 Be stars taken at aresolution of 0.5 Å. From the spectra, different emission lineparameters have been deduced. A study of the correlations betweendifferent pairs of these parameters has been made with a view tounderstanding the mechanisms of line formation and shaping in Be stars.

Feasibility study of an absolute energy calibration of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes by starlight
A new method is presented for an absolute energy calibration of imagingatmospheric Cherenkov telescopes as a whole instrument at all relevantwavelengths. For this study the Cherenkov telescope #1 of the HEGRAexperiment was used. The calibration was carried out by detecting thelight of different selected stars during one night. From the data asimple linear correlation was derived between the anode current of theCherenkov camera photomultiplier tubes and the incident photon flux.This result is important for the imaging air Cherenkov technique inseveral aspects: The method enables to determine the response functionof Cherenkov telescopes in the energetic range of Cherenkov lightquickly and reliably. Therefore it can be used as an atmosphericcalorimeter by measuring the absolute integrated flux of Cherenkovphotons. Moreover, the signal of a point run can be predicted and asimulation of the apparatus response can be carried out more reliably.The High Energy Gamma Ray Astronomy experiment is operated on La Palma(Canary Island) by the HEGRA collaboration formed by the University ofHamburg, Max-Planck Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Universityof Kiel, University of Madrid, Max-Planck Institut für Physik,Munich, University of Wuppertal and the Yerevan Physics Institute.

Two-colour photometry for 9473 components of close Hipparcos double and multiple stars
Using observations obtained with the Tycho instrument of the ESAHipparcos satellite, a two-colour photometry is produced for componentsof more than 7 000 Hipparcos double and multiple stars with angularseparations 0.1 to 2.5 arcsec. We publish 9473 components of 5173systems with separations above 0.3 arcsec. The majority of them did nothave Tycho photometry in the Hipparcos catalogue. The magnitudes arederived in the Tycho B_T and V_T passbands, similar to the Johnsonpassbands. Photometrically resolved components of the binaries withstatistically significant trigonometric parallaxes can be put on an HRdiagram, the majority of them for the first time. Based on observationsmade with the ESA Hipparcos satellite.

Six intermediate-mass stars with far-infrared excess: a search for evolutionary connections
We present the results of high-resolution spectroscopic, low-resolutionspectrophotometric and spectropolarimetric and broad-band multicolourobservations of four B-type stars (HD 4881, 5839, 224648 and 179218) andtwo A-type stars (HD 32509 and 184761) with strong far-infrared (IR)excesses. The excess in HD 184761, which is located at a distance of 65pc from the Sun, was recognized for the first time. Double-peakedHα emission line profiles are found in HD 4881 and HD 5839, whileHD 184761, HD 224648 and HD 32509 display no emission in Hα. Theremarkable variations observed in the Hα profile of HD 179218 arealso observed in some classical Be and Herbig Ae/Be stars. An intrinsiccomponent of polarization is clearly present in HD 179218, only aninterstellar component is detected in HD 4881 and HD 224648, and HD184761 was found to be unpolarized. Improved effective temperatures forall six objects were derived. Parallaxes measured by the Hipparcossatellite were used to determine positions of the stars in the HRdiagram. HD 4881 and HD 5839 are an order of magnitude more luminousthan main-sequence stars of similar temperatures and are most likelynewly discovered classical Be stars. Study of the high-resolution IRASmaps and modelling of the spectral energy distributions of HD 4881, HD5839 and HD 224648 suggest that the observed large IR excesses arecaused by radiation from circumstellar dust rather than free--freeradiation or infrared cirrus, so they may be higher mass counterparts ofbeta Pictoris stars. HD 32509, HD 224648 and HD 184761, which have verysmall near-IR excesses, are probably young main-sequence stars. HD179218, which exhibits the largest near- and far-IR excess in thesample, is an isolated pre-main-sequence Herbig Be star.

Modeling Visual Photometry I: Preliminary Determination of Visual Bandpass
This paper addresses the issue of spectral sensitivity as part of theoverall visual model. A mathematical theory and observational method arepresented for the determination of color coefficient with error term foran individual observer.

Stromgren photometry of the Be star theta CrB: 1996-1999
Stromgren uvby differential photometry from the Four College AutomatedPhotoelectric Telescope of the Be star CrB for for 1996-99 and for twoprevious years show that this star has remained photometrically constantfor the last six years. Results of other observers show constancy for anadditional four years. This is the longest well documented period ofinactivity for this star.

Speckle Interferometry at the US Naval Observatory. III.
Position angles and separations resulting from 2578 speckleinterferometric observations of 590 binary stars are tabulated. This isthe third in a series of papers presenting measures obtained using the66 cm refractor at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, andcovers the period from 1995 June through 1996 December. Program starsrange in separation from 0.2" to 4.3", with a limiting magnitude ofV=11. Random errors are estimated to be 17.0 mas in separation and0.56d/rho in position angle, where rho is the separation in arcseconds.These are the first results acquired using an improved intensified CCDdetector. The new detector, in concert with an intensity-filteringtechnique applied in software, has permitted a 1 mag increase in dynamicrange, to 3.5 mag, for pairs separated by about 2". The instrumentationand calibration are briefly described, with an emphasis on thecharacteristics of the new detector. The software filter used toincrease the dynamic range is also described.

Photometric and polarimetric observations of double and multiple stars.
Not Available

Measurements of double stars 1993.67 - 1998.13
624 Micrometer Measurements of 224 pairs with a 32.5 cm Cassegrain, 719Measurements of 310 double stars with a 360 mm Newtonian are given.Tables 1 to 4 are available in electronic form only at the CDS130.79.128.5 or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html

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Observation and Astrometry data

Constellation:Nördliche Krone
Right ascension:15h32m55.80s
Declination:+31°21'33.0"
Apparent magnitude:4.14
Distance:95.329 parsecs
Proper motion RA:-19.6
Proper motion Dec:-6.2
B-T magnitude:4.003
V-T magnitude:4.143

Catalogs and designations:
Proper NamesBrainan
  (Edit)
Bayerθ CrB
Flamsteed4 CrB
HD 1989HD 138749
TYCHO-2 2000TYC 2564-1629-1
USNO-A2.0USNO-A2 1200-07581392
BSC 1991HR 5778
HIPHIP 76127

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