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Herbig Ae/Be Stars in nearby OB Associations
We have carried out a study of the early-type stars in nearby OBassociations spanning an age range of ~3-16 Myr, with the aim ofdetermining the fraction of stars that belong to the Herbig Ae/Be class.We studied the B, A, and F stars in the nearby (<=500 pc) OBassociations Upper Scorpius, Perseus OB2, Lacerta OB1, and Orion OB1,with membership determined from Hipparcos data. We also included in ourstudy the early-type stars in the Trumpler 37 cluster, part of the CepOB2 association. We obtained spectra for 440 Hipparcos stars in theseassociations, from which we determined accurate spectral types, visualextinctions, effective temperatures, luminosities and masses, usingHipparcos photometry. Using colors corrected for reddening, we find thatthe Herbig Ae/Be stars and the classical Be (CBe) stars occupy clearlydifferent regions in the JHK diagram. Thus, we use the location on theJHK diagram, as well as the presence of emission lines and of strong 12μm flux relative to the visual, to identify the Herbig Ae/Be stars inthe associations. We find that the Herbig Ae/Be stars constitute a smallfraction of the early-type stellar population even in the youngerassociations. Comparing the data from associations with different agesand assuming that the near-infrared excess in the Herbig Ae/Be starsarises from optically thick dusty inner disks, we determined theevolution of the inner disk frequency with age. We find that the innerdisk frequency in the age range 3-10 Myr in intermediate-mass stars islower than that in the low-mass stars (<1 Msolar) inparticular, it is a factor of ~10 lower at ~3 Myr. This indicates thatthe timescales for disk evolution are much shorter in theintermediate-mass stars, which could be a consequence of more efficientmechanisms of inner disk dispersal (viscous evolution, dust growth, andsettling toward the midplane).
| The primordial binary population. I. A near-infrared adaptive optics search for close visual companions to A star members of Scorpius OB2
We present the results of a near-infrared adaptive optics survey withthe aim to detect close companions to Hipparcos members in the threesubgroups of the nearby OB association Sco OB2: Upper Scorpius (US),Upper Centaurus Lupus (UCL) and Lower Centaurus Crux (LCC). We havetargeted 199 A-type and late B-type stars in the KS band, anda subset also in the J and H band. We find 151 stellar components otherthan the target stars. A brightness criterion is used to separate thesecomponents into 77 background stars and 74 candidate physical companionstars. Out of these 74 candidate companions, 41 have not been reportedbefore (14 in US; 13 in UCL; 14 in LCC). The angular separation betweenprimaries and observed companion stars ranges from 0.22'' to 12.4''. Atthe mean distance of Sco OB2 (130 pc) this corresponds to a projectedseparation of 28.6 AU to 1612 AU. Absolute magnitudes are derived forall primaries and observed companions using the parallax andinterstellar extinction for each star individually. For each object wederive the mass from KS, assuming an age of 5 Myr for the USsubgroup, and 20 Myr for the UCL and LCC subgroups. Companion starmasses range from 0.10 Mȯ to 3.0 Mȯ. Themass ratio distribution follows f(q) = q-Γ withΓ=0.33, which excludes random pairing. No close (ρ ≤3.75'') companion stars or background stars are found in the magnituderange 12 mag≤ KS ≤ 14 mag. The lack of stars withthese properties cannot be explained by low-number statistics, and mayimply a lower limit on the companion mass of 0.1Mȯ. Close stellar components with KS >14mag are observed. If these components are very low-mass companion stars,a gap in the companion mass distribution might be present. The smallnumber of close low-mass companion stars could support theembryo-ejection formation scenario for brown dwarfs. Our findings arecompared with and complementary to visual, spectroscopic, andastrometric data on binarity in Sco OB2. We find an overall companionstar fraction of 0.52 in this association. This is a lower limit sincethe data from the observations and from literature are hampered byobservational biases and selection effects. This paper is the first steptoward our goal to derive the primordial binary population in Sco OB2.Full Table 1 is only available in electronic form athttp://www.edpsciences.orgBased on observations collected with the ADONIS instrument at theEuropean Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile (65.H-0568(A) and67.D-0220(A)).
| Evidence for high accretion rates in weak-line T Tauri stars?
We have discovered T Tauri stars which show startling spectralvariability between observations separated by 20 yr. In spectrapublished approximately 20 years ago these objects showed very weakHα emission, broad Ca II absorption and so-called `compositespectra', where the spectral type inferred from the blue region isearlier than that inferred from the red. We present here newspectroscopy which shows that all four stars now exhibit strong Hαemission, narrow Ca II emission and a spectral type which is consistentat all wavelengths.We propose a scheme to understand these changes whereby the compositespectra of these stars can be explained by a period of active accretionon to the central, young star. In this scheme the composite spectrumconsists of a contribution from the stellar photosphere and acontribution from a hot, optically thick, accretion component. Theoptically thick nature of the accretion flow explains the weakness ofthe Hα emission during this phase. Within this scheme, the changeto a single spectral type at all wavelengths and the emergence of strongHα emission are consistent with the accretion columns becomingoptically thin, as the accretion rate drops. There is a strong analogyhere with the dwarf novae class of interacting binaries, which showsimilar behaviour during the decline from outbursts of high masstransfer rate.The most important consequence of this interpretation is that theseobjects bring into question the association of weak-line T Tauri starswith non-accreting or discless objects. In light of this result weconsider the justification for this paradigm.
| Formation scenarios for the young stellar associations between galactic longitudes l = 280degr - 360degr
We investigate the spatial distribution, the space velocities and agedistribution of the pre-main sequence (PMS) stars belonging toOphiuchus, Lupus and Chamaeleon star-forming regions (SFRs), and of theyoung early-type star members of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association.These young stellar associations extend over the galactic longituderange from 280degr to 360degr , and are at a distance interval ofaround 100 and 200 pc. This study is based on a compilation ofdistances, proper motions and radial velocities from the literature forthe kinematic properties, and of basic stellar data for the constructionof Hertzsprung-Russel diagrams. Although there was no well-known OBassociation in Chamaeleon, the distances and the proper motions of agroup of 21 B- and A-type stars, taken from the Hipparcos Catalogue,lead us to propose that they form a young association. We show that theyoung early-type stars of the OB associations and the PMS stars of theSFRs follow a similar spatial distribution, i.e., there is no separationbetween the low and the high-mass young stars. We find no difference inthe kinematics nor in the ages of these two populations studied.Considering not only the stars selected by kinematic criteria but thewhole sample of young early-type stars, the scattering of their propermotions is similar to that of the PMS stars and all the young starsexhibit a common direction of motion. The space velocities of theHipparcos PMS stars of each SFR are compatible with the mean values ofthe OB associations. The PMS stars in each SFR span a wide range of ages(from 1 to 20 Myr). The ages of the OB subgroups are 8-10 Myr for UpperScorpius (US), and 16-20 Myr for Upper Centaurus Lupus (UCL) and forLower Centaurus Crux (LCC). Thus, our results do not confirm that UCL isolder than the LCC association. Based on these results and theuncertainties associated with the age determination, we cannot say thatthere is indeed a difference in the age of the two populations. Weanalyze the different scenarios for the triggering of large-scalestar-formation that have been proposed up to now, and argue that mostprobably we are observing a spiral arm that passes close to the Sun. Thealignment of young stars and molecular clouds and the average velocityof the stars in the opposite direction to the Galactic rotation agreewith the expected behavior of star formation in nearby spiral arms.Tables 1 to 4 are only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/404/913
| Astrometric radial velocities. III. Hipparcos measurements of nearby star clusters and associations
Radial motions of stars in nearby moving clusters are determined fromaccurate proper motions and trigonometric parallaxes, without any use ofspectroscopy. Assuming that cluster members share the same velocityvector (apart from a random dispersion), we apply a maximum-likelihoodmethod on astrometric data from Hipparcos to compute radial and spacevelocities (and their dispersions) in the Ursa Major, Hyades, ComaBerenices, Pleiades, and Praesepe clusters, and for theScorpius-Centaurus, alpha Persei, and ``HIP 98321'' associations. Theradial motion of the Hyades cluster is determined to within 0.4 kms-1 (standard error), and that of its individual stars towithin 0.6 km s-1. For other clusters, Hipparcos data yieldastrometric radial velocities with typical accuracies of a few kms-1. A comparison of these astrometric values withspectroscopic radial velocities in the literature shows a good generalagreement and, in the case of the best-determined Hyades cluster, alsopermits searches for subtle astrophysical differences, such as evidencefor enhanced convective blueshifts of F-dwarf spectra, and decreasedgravitational redshifts in giants. Similar comparisons for the ScorpiusOB2 complex indicate some expansion of its associations, albeit slowerthan expected from their ages. As a by-product from the radial-velocitysolutions, kinematically improved parallaxes for individual stars areobtained, enabling Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams with unprecedentedaccuracy in luminosity. For the Hyades (parallax accuracy 0.3 mas), itsmain sequence resembles a thin line, possibly with wiggles in it.Although this main sequence has underpopulated regions at certaincolours (previously suggested to be ``Böhm-Vitense gaps''), suchare not visible for other clusters, and are probably spurious. Futurespace astrometry missions carry a great potential for absoluteradial-velocity determinations, insensitive to the complexities ofstellar spectra. Based on observations by the ESA Hipparcos satellite.Extended versions of Tables \ref{tab1} and \ref{tab2} are available inelectronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.125.8) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/381/446
| 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
| A HIPPARCOS Census of the Nearby OB Associations
A comprehensive census of the stellar content of the OB associationswithin 1 kpc from the Sun is presented, based on Hipparcos positions,proper motions, and parallaxes. It is a key part of a long-term projectto study the formation, structure, and evolution of nearby young stellargroups and related star-forming regions. OB associations are unbound``moving groups,'' which can be detected kinematically because of theirsmall internal velocity dispersion. The nearby associations have a largeextent on the sky, which traditionally has limited astrometricmembership determination to bright stars (V<~6 mag), with spectraltypes earlier than ~B5. The Hipparcos measurements allow a majorimprovement in this situation. Moving groups are identified in theHipparcos Catalog by combining de Bruijne's refurbished convergent pointmethod with the ``Spaghetti method'' of Hoogerwerf & Aguilar.Astrometric members are listed for 12 young stellar groups, out to adistance of ~650 pc. These are the three subgroups Upper Scorpius, UpperCentaurus Lupus, and Lower Centaurus Crux of Sco OB2, as well as VelOB2, Tr 10, Col 121, Per OB2, alpha Persei (Per OB3), Cas-Tau, Lac OB1,Cep OB2, and a new group in Cepheus, designated as Cep OB6. Theselection procedure corrects the list of previously known astrometricand photometric B- and A-type members in these groups and identifiesmany new members, including a significant number of F stars, as well asevolved stars, e.g., the Wolf-Rayet stars gamma^2 Vel (WR 11) in Vel OB2and EZ CMa (WR 6) in Col 121, and the classical Cepheid delta Cep in CepOB6. Membership probabilities are given for all selected stars. MonteCarlo simulations are used to estimate the expected number of interloperfield stars. In the nearest associations, notably in Sco OB2, thelater-type members include T Tauri objects and other stars in the finalpre-main-sequence phase. This provides a firm link between the classicalhigh-mass stellar content and ongoing low-mass star formation. Detailedstudies of these 12 groups, and their relation to the surroundinginterstellar medium, will be presented elsewhere. Astrometric evidencefor moving groups in the fields of R CrA, CMa OB1, Mon OB1, Ori OB1, CamOB1, Cep OB3, Cep OB4, Cyg OB4, Cyg OB7, and Sct OB2, is inconclusive.OB associations do exist in many of these regions, but they are eitherat distances beyond ~500 pc where the Hipparcos parallaxes are oflimited use, or they have unfavorable kinematics, so that the groupproper motion does not distinguish it from the field stars in theGalactic disk. The mean distances of the well-established groups aresystematically smaller than the pre-Hipparcos photometric estimates.While part of this may be caused by the improved membership lists, arecalibration of the upper main sequence in the Hertzsprung-Russelldiagram may be called for. The mean motions display a systematicpattern, which is discussed in relation to the Gould Belt. Six of the 12detected moving groups do not appear in the classical list of nearby OBassociations. This is sometimes caused by the absence of O stars, but inother cases a previously known open cluster turns out to be (part of) anextended OB association. The number of unbound young stellar groups inthe solar neighborhood may be significantly larger than thoughtpreviously.
| The Scorpius OB2 Complex
The Sco OB2 complex is a member of the Local Association. Theassociation contains pre-main-sequence stars in addition to objects some3 x 10^7 yr old. If it is assumed that stars in wide binaries arecoeval, then the He-weak variables in the supercluster arepre-main-sequence, elevated above that sequence by an amount similar tothat of the 3 x 10^7 yr old, normal stars but contracting toward thesequence, not evolving from it. The apparent great depth of theassociation is probably a result of some foreground superclustermembers, superposed on Sco OB2, and a rift in the absorption cloudbetween Scorpius and Ophiuchus. The adjoining Chamaeleon complex alsoappears to be a member of the supercluster.
| Investigation of the stellar population of dark clouds associated with Rho OPH
Results of UBVR photoelectric photometry for 32 stars in Rho Oph darkclouds (RSF 1 Oph) are presented. Mean magnitudes and colors aredetermined on the basis of 30-70 observations of 12 known variables inthis region. The H-R diagram of the Rho Oph star aggregate is discussed.The main sequence dwarfs are present on the H-R diagram up to +8 m. Themain sequence extension of 1 Oph is a least 11 mag. The RSF 1 Ophluminosity function is discussed and a deficit of stars in the range of+2 m to +5 m is found.
| A homogeneous catalog of new UBV and H-beta photometry of B- and A-type stars in and around the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association
B- and A-type stars in and near the Sco-Cen OB association areinvestigated with UBV and H-beta photometry to acquire data relevant tothe luminosity function of Sco-Cen. The measurements generally consistof two 10-s integrations of U, B, V, (W, N) filters, and theobservations are corrected iteratively for atmospheric extinction andinstrumental response. The data presented give the mean V magnitude,mean B-V, mean U-B, and the estimated uncertainties for these values.The catalog provides a homogeneous catalog of data for a large fieldwith stellar objects delineating membership to the association Sco-Cenand that affect the luminosity function of the aggregate.
| A magnitude-limited spectroscopic and photometric survey of Rho Ophiuchus X-ray sources
A total of 47 optical-counterpart candidates of X-ray sources in the RhoOphiuchus (RO) dark cloud are investigated with low- andmedium-resolution spectrograms and visual and near-IR photometry. Thespectra of 27 stars demonstrate H-alpha emission above the continuumwith an equivalent width of 10 A. The emission-line stars arecharacterized by Li-I 6707 absorption which along with the H-alpha datasuggests that these are pre-main-sequence cloud members. Opticalcounterparts of the 24 X-ray sources are identified and total 30pre-main-sequence stars, and the average age and mass range are found tobe 10 exp 6 to 10 exp 7 yr and 0.3-2.5 solar mass, respectively. The ROdark cloud X-ray sources are considered to have optical counterpartsthat are T Tauri stars with weak emission lines. The opticalcounterparts are theorized to be similar to T Tauri objects in otherstellar-formation regions in terms of evolutionary status.
| Walraven photometry of nearby southern OB associations
Homogeneous Walraven (VBLUW) photometry is presented for 5260 stars inthe regions of five nearby southern OB associations: Scorpio Centaurus(Sco OB2), Orion OB1, Canis Major OB1, Monoceros OB1, and Scutum OB2.Derived V and (B - V) in the Johnson system are included.
| The spectral energy distribution of early-type stars. II - The extinction law towards O-type stars
Photometric measurements through different pass-bands are used todetermine the color-excess E(B-V) for O-type stars in the UV and IRspectral regions. The results are used to examine the extinctioncharacter of the stars. It is found that, in the UV, each O-type starhas its own extinction character. In general, the visual and NIRextinction in the direction of O-type stars are normal.
| Physical parameters of stars in the Scorpio-Centaurus OB association
Walraven photometry is presented of established and probable members ofthe Scorpio-Centaurus OB association. For each star, effectivetemperature and surface gravity are derived using Kurucz (1979)atmosphere models. From the Straizys and Kuriliene (1981) tables,absolute magnitudes are calculated. Distance moduli and visualextinctions are determined for all stars. From a comparison of theHR-diagrams of the stars in each subgroup with theoretical isochrones,the ages of the three subgroups are derived. The distances to the threesubgroups are shown to be different; there is a general trend (alsowithin each subgroup) for the distances to be larger at higher galacticlongitudes. The visual extinction in the youngest subgroupUpper-Scorpius, is well correlated with the IRAS 100-micron map. Thedistance toward the Ophiuchus dark clouds is found to be 125 pc, basedon the photometric distances to the stars. Most of the early-type starsin Upper-Scorpius are located at the far side of the dark clouds.
| The spectral energy distribution of early type stars. I - A catalogue of photometric data of 259 stars from 0.15 to 4.8 microns
For the derivation of physical parameters (e.g., effective temperatureand radius) of early-type stars from their intrinsic spectral-energydistribution, and for the study of foreground interstellar and/orcircumstellar matter, a sample of 237 O, B, and A stars was chosen fromthe ANS catalog (Wesselius et al., 1982). The ANS ultraviolet and theJohnson UBV data (mostly from Nicolet's catalog, 1978) of these starswere supplemented with visual Walraven WULBV, red VRI, and near-infraredJHKLM measurements. All these data are given in the present catalog.Data for 22 stars of spectral type later than A are also included.
| Einstein observations of the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud - an X-ray Christmas tree
The results obtained by an extensive Einstein Observatory investigationof the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud region, emphasizing the findingspertaining to the densest part of the cloud. The observations andspecific features of the data analysis are briefly described, and thespace distribution of the sources in the cloud is discussed, emphasizingthe specific nature of the sources as highly variable X-ray objects.Observations of one remarkably variable source are discussed in detail,and the time variability of the source is interpreted as due to strongand widespread flare activity. One extreme case may be the strongeststellar X-ray flare ever recorded. Several implications bearing on earlystages of stellar evolution are discussed, as are some consequences ofthe presence of active X-ray objects within dark clouds.
| An ultraviolet extinction study of the rho Ophiuchi dark cloud
Five-band ultraviolet spectrophotometry has been carried out for 54stars in the upper Scorpius complex. Of these, 14 stars in the rhoOphiuchi dark cloud and 13 in the surrounding area are found to be freeof spectral peculiarities and contamination by scattered light fromnearby bright stars. The dark cloud stars give extinction curves whichare significantly lower than the average extinction curves derived byother investigators and also those observed for localized regions suchas the area around Cygnus X-1 and the Cepheus OB III cluster. Thisimplies that the dust in the upper Scorpius region, especially that inthe rho Ophiuchi dark cloud has larger average size than the normalinterstellar medium. R, the ratio of total-to-selective extinction, isfound to be 4.2. The effects of a lower extinction curve on thechemistry of a dark cloud is also briefly discussed.
| Prediction of spectral classification from photometric observations - Application of the UVBY beta photometry and the MK spectra classification. II - General case
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1980A&A....85...93M&db_key=AST
| Prediction of spectral classification from photometric observations-application to the UVBY beta photometry and the MK spectral classification. I - Prediction assuming a luminosity class
An algorithm based on multiple stepwise and isotonic regressions isdeveloped for the prediction of spectral classification from photometricdata. The prediction assumes a luminosity class with reference touvbybeta photometry and the MK spectral classification. The precisionattained is about 90 percent and 80 percent probability of being withinone spectral subtype respectively for luminosity groups I and V and forluminosity groups III and IV. A list of stars for which discrepanciesappear between photometry and spectral classification is given.
| The ratio of total to selective absorption in the rho OPH cloud.
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1974MNRAS.168..371W&db_key=AST
| Possible new members of a subgroup of the Scorpio-Centaurus association.
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1972AJ.....77..474G&db_key=AST
| Some Characteristics of the B and A Stars in the Upper Scorpius Complex
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1967ApJ...147.1003G&db_key=AST
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Observation and Astrometry data
| Constellation: | Scorpion |
| Right ascension: | 16h29m54.59s |
| Declination: | -24°58'46.1" |
| Apparent magnitude: | 7.843 |
| Distance: | 112.36 parsecs |
| Proper motion RA: | -17.7 |
| Proper motion Dec: | -25 |
| B-T magnitude: | 8.031 |
| V-T magnitude: | 7.859 |
Catalogs and designations:
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