No Arabic abstract
Optical high-resolution spectra of the R Coronae Borealis star V CrA at light maximum and during minimum light arediscussed. Abundance analysis confirms previous results showing that V CrA has the composition of the small subclass of R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars know as `minority RCBs, i.e., the Si/Fe and S/Fe ratios are 100 times their solar values. A notable novel result for RCBs is the detection of the 1-0 Swan system $^{12}$C$^{13}$C bandhead indicating that $^{13}$C is abundant: spectrum synthesis shows that $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C is about 3 to 4. Absorption line profiles are variable at maximum light with some lines showing evidence of splitting by about 10 km s$^{-1}$. A spectrum obtained as the star was recovering from a deep minimum shows the presence of cool C$_2$ molecules with a rotational temperature of about 1200K, a temperature suggestive of gas in which carbon is condensing into soot. The presence of rapidly outflowing gas is shown by blue-shifted absorption components of the Na {sc i} D and K {sc i} 7698 AA resonance lines.
High-resolution spectroscopy is a very important tool for studying stellar physics, perhaps, particularly so for such enigmatic objects like the R Coronae Borealis and related Hydrogen deficient stars that produce carbon dust in addition to their peculiar abundances. Examples of how high-resolution spectroscopy is used in the study of these stars to address the two major puzzles are presented: (i) How are such rare H-deficient stars created? and (ii) How and where are the obscuring soot clouds produced around the R Coronae Borealis stars?
Neutral fluorine (F I) lines are identified in the optical spectra of several R Coronae Borealis stars (RCBs) at maximum light. These lines provide the first measurement of the fluorine abundance in these stars. Fluorine is enriched in some RCBs by factors of 800 to 8000 relative to its likely initial abundance. The overabundances of fluorine are evidence for the synthesis of fluorine. These results are discussed in the light of the scenario that RCBs are formed by accretion of an He white dwarf by a C-O white dwarf. Sakurais object (V4334 Sgr), a final He-shell flash product, shows no detectable F I lines.
The R CrA region was observed in the 3.5 and 6.2 cm continuum with high angular resolutions (0.6--1.7 arcseconds) using the Very Large Array. Archival data sets were also analyzed for comparison, which provided angular resolutions up to 0.3 arcseconds. A cluster of young stellar objects was detected, and a rich array of star forming activities was revealed. IRS 7A showed an enhanced outflow activity recently. The main peak of IRS 7A positionally coincides with an X-ray source, which suggests that the X-ray emission is directly related to the central protostar. The Class 0 source SMA 2 is associated with a double radio source, B 9a and 9b, and seems to be driving two outflows. The B 9 complex is probably a multiple-protostar system. Both B 9a and 9b are nonthermal radio sources with negative spectral indices. IRS 7B is a compact radio source surrounded by an extended structure. The compact source corresponds to the Class 0/I source SMA 1, and it is also closely associated with an X-ray source, suggesting that magnetic activities start early in the protostellar stage of evolution. The extended structure of IRS 7B may be a bipolar outflow. IRS 5 was resolved into two sources with a separation of 0.9 arcseconds. Both IRS 5a and 5b display radio flares and X-ray emission, suggesting that energetic magnetic processes are active in both members. The month-scale active phase of IRS 5b implies that the flare activity must involve large-scale magnetic fields. During the strong flare event of IRS 5b in 1998, IRS 5a also showed an enhanced level of radio emission. This concurrent activity suggests that IRS 5 may be an interacting young binary system, but the interaction mechanism is unknown. Alternatively, what was seen in the radio images could be a circumbinary halo.
Circularly polarized 3.5 cm continuum emission was detected toward three radio sources in the R CrA region using the Very Large Array. The Class I protostar IRS 5b persistently showed polarized radio emission with a constant helicity over 8 yr, which suggests that its magnetosphere has a stable configuration. There is a good correlation between the Stokes I and Stokes V fluxes, and the fractional polarization is about 0.17. During active phases the fractional polarization is a weakly decreasing function of Stokes I flux, which suggests that IRS 5b is phenomenologically similar to other types of flare stars such as RS CVn binaries. The variability timescale of the polarized flux is about a month, and the magnetosphere of IRS 5b must be very large in size. The Class I protostar IRS 7A was detected once in circularly polarized radio emission, even though IRS 7A drives a thermal radio jet. This detection implies that the radio emission from the magnetosphere of a young protostar can escape the absorption by the partially ionized wind at least once in a while. The properties of IRS 7A and IRS 5b suggests that Class I protostars have organized peristellar magnetic fields of a few kilogauss and that the detectability of magnetospheric emission may depend on the evolutionary status of protostar. Also reported is the detection of circularly polarized radio emission toward the variable radio source B5.
NSV 11154 has been confirmed as a new member of the rare hydrogen deficient R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars based on new photometric and spectroscopic data. Using new photometry, as well as archival plates from the Harvard archive, we have constructed the historical lightcurve of NSV 11154 from 1896 to the present. The lightcurve shows the sudden, deep, irregularly spaced declines characteristic of RCB stars. The visible spectrum is typical of a cool (Teff < 5000 K) RCB star showing no hydrogen lines, strong C2 Swan bands, and no evidence of 13C. In addition, the star shows small pulsations typical of an RCB star, and an infrared excess due to circumstellar dust with a temperature of ~800 K. The distance to NSV 11154 is estimated to be ~14.5 kpc. RCB stars are very rare in the Galaxy so each additional star is important to population studies leading to a better understanding the origins of these mysterious stars. Among the known sample of RCB stars, NSV 11154 is unusual in that it lies well above the Galactic plane (5 kpc) and away from the Galactic Center which suggests that its parent population is neither thick disk nor bulge.