Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy Commons^™

Photometric Study Of The Short-Period Eclipsing Binary V441 Lac, Daimei Wang, Liyun Zhang, Xianming Han, Franz Agerer, Qingfeng Pi, Shuai Wang

Xianming Han

We present the first multi-color VRI CCD light curves of a short-period eclipsing binary star v441 Lac in this paper. We obtained our light curves on Oct. 4 and 8, 2013 at Xinglong station of National Astronomical Observatories, China. We updated the ephemeris of V441 Lac based on three new minima derived by our new observational data together with previously available light curve minima. By fitting the O−C (observed minus calculated) values of the minima, we found that the orbital period of V441 Lac exhibits an increasing trend of Ṗ=5.67(0.35)×10^-7 days/year, which might be explained by mass transfer from the …

The First Multi-Color Photometric Study Of The Short-Period Contact Eclipsing Binary Gk Aqr, Liyun Zhang, Qingfeng Pi, Xianming Han, Tongan Li, Xiliang Zhang, Hongyan Sang, Daimei Wang, Shuai Wang

Xianming Han

We made the first VRI CCD light curves of the short-period contact eclipsing binary GK Aqr, which was observed on October 5 and 8, 2013 at Xinglong station of National Astronomical Observatories, China. The ephemeris of GK Aqr was calculated based on our two newly obtained minima and the minima that other observers obtained previously. We discovered that the orbital period of GK Aqr exhibits an increasing trend of Ṗ=2.8(0.1)×10^-7 days/year by means of fitting the O-C values of the minima. This phenomenon might be explained by mass transfer from the primary (less massive) component to the secondary (more massive) …

Dr. Linda French: Don’T Limit Yourself (Interview With Kelsi Singer), Linda French

Linda French

Dr. Linda French is Professor of Physics and past Chair of the Physics Department at Illinois Wesleyan University, where she has been a professor since 2002. She received her A.B. in astronomy from Indiana University and a Ph. D. in planetary astronomy from Cornell University. Her scientific research, funded by the National Science Foundation, concerns the study of the shapes and surfaces of asteroids and comets. She is a frequent guest observer at Lowell Observatory in Arizona and at Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory in Chile, and is often accompanied by students on these research trips.

A Coordinated X-Ray And Optical Campaign Of The Nearest Massive Eclipsing Binary, Δ Orionis Aa: Ii. X-Ray Variability., J. Nichols, D. P. Huenemoerder, M. F. Corcoran, W. Waldron, Y. Nazé, A. M. T. Pollock, A. F. J. Moffat, J. Lauer, T. Shenar, C. M. P. Russell, N. D. Richardson, H. Pablo, N. R. Evans, K. Hamaguchi, T. Gull, W.-R. Hamann, L. Oskinova, R. Ignace, Jennifer L. Hoffman, K. T. Hole, J. R. Lomax

Richard Ignace

We present time-resolved and phase-resolved variability studies of an extensive X-ray high-resolution spectral data set of the δ Ori Aa binary system. The four observations, obtained with Chandra ACIS HETGS, have a total exposure time of ≈ 479 ks and provide nearly complete binary phase coverage. Variability of the total X-ray flux in the range of 5–25 Å is confirmed, with a maximum amplitude of about ±15% within a single ≈ 125 ks observation. Periods of 4.76 and 2.04 days are found in the total X-ray flux, as well as an apparent overall increase in the flux level throughout the …

A Coordinated X-Ray And Optical Campaign Of The Nearest Massive Eclipsing Binary, Δ Ori Aa: I. Overview Of The X-Ray Spectrum., M. F. Corcoran, J. S. Nichols, H. Pablo, T. Shenar, A. M. T. Pollock, W. L. Waldron, A. F. J. Moffat, N. D. Richardson, C. M. P. Russell, K. Hamaguchi, D. P. Huenemoerder, L. Oskinova, W.-R. Hamann, Y. Nazé, R. Ignace, N. R. Evans, J. R. Lomax, J. L. Hoffman, K. Gayley, S. P. Owocki, M. Leutenegger, T. R. Gull, K. T. Hole, J. Lauer, R. C. Iping

Richard Ignace

A Coordinated X-Ray And Optical Campaign Of The Nearest Massive Eclipsing Binary, Δ Orionis Aa. Iii. Analysis Of Optical Photometric (Most) And Spectroscopic (Ground Based) Variations., Herbert Pablo, Noel D. Richardson, Anthony F. J. Moffat, Michael Corcoran, Tomer Shenar, Omar Benvenuto, Jim Fuller, Yaël Nazé, Jennifer L. Hoffman, Anatoly Miroshnichenko, Jesús Maíz Apellániz, Nancy Evans, Thomas Eversberg, Ken Gayley, Ted Gull, Kenji Hamaguchi, Wolf-Rainer Hamann, Huib Henrichs, Tabetha Hole, Richard Ignace, Rosina Iping, Jennifer Lauer, Maurice Leutenegger, Jamie Lomax, Joy Nichols, Lida Oskinova, Stan Owocki, Andy Pollock, Christopher M. P. Russell, Wayne Waldron, Christian Buil, Thierry Garrel, Keith Graham, Bernard Heathcote, Thierry Lemoult, Dong Li, Benjamin Mauclaire, Mike Potter, Jose Ribeiro, Jaymie Matthews, Chris Cameron, David Guenther, Rainer Kuschnig, Jason Rowe, Slavek Rucinski, Dimitar Sasselov, Werner Weiss

Richard Ignace

Polarimetric Modeling Of Corotating Interaction Regions (Cirs) Threading Massive-Star Winds., Richard Ignace, N. St-Louis, F. Proulx-Giraldeau

Richard Ignace

Massive star winds are complex radiation-hydrodynamic (sometimes magnetohydrodynamic) outflows that are propelled by their enormously strong luminosities. The winds are often found to be structured and variable, but can also display periodic or quasi-periodic behavior in a variety of wind diagnostics. The regular variations observed in putatively single stars, especially in UV wind lines, have often been attributed to corotating interaction regions (CIRs) like those seen in the solar wind. We present light curves for variable polarization from winds with CIR structures. We develop a model for a time-independent CIR based on a kinematical description. Assuming optically thin electron scattering, …

New Multiwavelength Observations Of The Of?P Star Cpd -28◦ 2561., S. Hubrig, M. Schöller, A. F. Kholtygin, H. Tsumura, A. Hoshino, S. Kitamoto, L. Oskinova, R. Ignace, H. Todt, I. Ilyin

Richard Ignace

A rather strong mean longitudinal magnetic field of the order of a few hundred gauss was detected a few years ago in the Of?p star CPD −28° 2561 using FORS2 (FOcal Reducer low dispersion Spectrograph 2) low-resolution spectropolarimetric observations. In this work, we present additional low-resolution spectropolarimetric observations obtained during several weeks in 2013 December using FORS 2 mounted at the 8-m Antu telescope of the Very Large Telescope (VLT). These observations cover a little less than half of the stellar rotation period of 73.41 d mentioned in the literature. The behaviour of the mean longitudinal magnetic field is consistent …

On X-Ray Pulsations In Beta Cephei-Type Variables., L. M. Oskinova, H. Todt, D. P. Huenemoerder, S. Hubrig, Richard Ignace, W.-R. Hamann, L. Balona

Richard Ignace

Beta Cephei-type variables are early B-type stars that are characterized by oscillations observable in their optical light curves. At least one Beta Cep-variable also shows periodic variability in X-rays. Here we study the X-ray light curves in a sample of beta Cep-variables to investigate how common X-ray pulsations are for this type of stars. We searched the Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray archives and selected stars that were observed by these telescopes for at least three optical pulsational periods. We retrieved and analyzed the X-ray data for kappa Sco, beta Cru, and alpha Vir. The X-ray light curves of these objects …