No Arabic abstract
We present a list of weak emission lines (WELs) observed in a sharp-lined B3 V star {iota} Her (HD 160762) using high resolution (R = 65000) and high SN (~1300) spectral data. The list covers a spectral region between 4900A and 10000A. We register 207 WELs in this star and identified 190 lines including ten ions (nine elements). Emission lines of C II, N I, Cr II, Mn II, and Ni II have been identified among normal B-type stars for the first time. 17 emission lines remain unidentified. We compare our list with the published list of WELs for 3 Cen A (Wahlgren and Hubrig 2004) and found that numbers of detected emission lines reflect differences in abundance between these two stars. We detect 13 C I emission lines in iota Her (normal in C), while only one C I emission line is found in 3 Cen A (deficient in C). Many emission lines of P II and Cu II have been detected in 3 Cen A (overabundant in both P and Cu), while no emission line of these ions has been found in {iota} Her. Many emission lines of Fe II are visible in the shorter wavelength side of 6000 A in iota Her, while these emission lines are missing in 3 Cen A. Close inspections of spectral data of 3 Cen A reveal that apparently missing Fe II lines appear as absorption lines in this star. Because these two stars have nearly the same atmospheric parameters (Teff and log g), a physical interpretation which is independent on these two parameters is needed to account for this observation.
Previously unrecognized weak emission lines originating from high excitation states of Si II (12.84 eV) and Al II (13.08 eV) are detected in the red region spectra of slowly rotating early B-type stars. We surveyed high resolution spectra of 35 B-type stars covering spectral sub-types between B1 and B7 near the main sequence and found the emission line of SiII at 6239.6 A in all 13 stars having spectral sub-types B2 and B2.5. There are 17 stars belonging to sub-type B3 and seven stars among them are found to show the emission line of Si II. The emission line of Al II at 6243.4 A is detected in a narrower temperature range (Teff between 19000K and 23000 K) in nine stars. Both of these emission lines are not detected in cooler (Teff < 16000 K) stars in our sample. The emission line of Si II at 6239.6 A shows a single-peaked and symmetric profile and the line center has no shift in wavelength with respect to those of low excitation absorption lines of Si II. Measured half width of the emission line is the same as those of rotationally broadened low excitation absorption lines of Si II. These observations imply that the emitting gas is not circumstellar origin, but is located at the outermost layer of the atmosphere, covering the whole stellar surface and co-rotates with the star.
On the basis of an extensive new spectroscopic survey of Galactic O stars, we introduce the Ofc category, which consists of normal spectra with C III lambdalambda4647-4650-4652 emission lines of comparable intensity to those of the Of defining lines N III lambdalambda4634-4640-4642. The former feature is strongly peaked to spectral type O5, at all luminosity classes, but preferentially in some associations or clusters and not others. The relationships of this phenomenon to the selective C III lambda5696 emission throughout the normal Of domain, and to the peculiar, variable Of?p category, for which strong C III lambdalambda4647-4650-4652 emission is a defining characteristic, are discussed. Magnetic fields have recently been detected on two members of the latter category. We also present two new extreme Of?p stars, NGC 1624-2 and CPD -28^{circ}2561, bringing the number known in the Galaxy to five. Modeling of the behavior of these spectral features can be expected to better define the physical parameters of both normal and peculiar objects, as well as the atomic physics involved.
A small subset of optically selected radio-quiet quasars showing weak or no emission lines may turn out to be the elusive radio-quiet BL Lac objects, or simply be radio-quiet QSOs with a still-forming/shielded broad line region (BLR). High polarisation ($p$ $>$ 3$-$4$%$), a hallmark of BL Lacs, can be used to test whether some optically selected `radio-quiet weak emission line quasars (RQWLQs) show a fractional polarisation high enough to qualify as radio-quiet analogs of BL Lac objects. Out of the observed six RQWLQs candidates showing an insignificant proper motion, only two are found to have $p$ $>$ 1$%$. For these two RQWLQs, namely J142505.59$+$035336.2, J154515.77+003235.2, we found polarisation of 1.03$pm$0.36$%$, 1.59$pm$0.53$%$ respectively, which again is too modest to justify a (radio-quiet) BL Lac classification. We also present here a statistical comparison of the optical spectral index, for a set of 40 RQWLQs with redshift-luminosity matched control sample of 800 QSOs and an equivalent sample of 120 blazars. The spectral index distribution of RQWLQs is found to differ, at a high significance level, from that of blazars and is consistent with that of the ordinary QSOs. Likewise, a structure-function analysis of photometric light curves presented here suggests that the mechanism driving optical variability in RQWLQs is similar to that operating in QSOs and different from that of blazars. These findings are consistent with the common view that the central engine in RQWLQs, as a population, is akin to that operating in normal QSOs and the primary differences between them might be related to differences in the BLR.
So far, only one rotating disk has been clearly identified and studied in AGB or post-AGB objects (in the Red Rectangle), by means of observations with high spectral and spatial resolution. However, disks are thought to play a key role in the late stellar evolution and are suspected to surround many evolved stars. We aim to extend our knowledge on these structures. We present interferometric observations of CO J=2-1 emission from the nebula surrounding the post-AGB star AC Her, a source belonging to a class of objects that share properties with the Red Rectangle and show hints of Keplerian disks. We clearly detect the Keplerian dynamics of a second disk orbiting an evolved star. Its main properties (size, temperature, central mass) are derived from direct interpretation of the data and model fitting. With this we confirm that there are disks orbiting the stars of this relatively wide class of post-AGB objects
The mass, origin and evolutionary stage of the binary system LB-1 has been the subject of intense debate, following the claim that it hosts an $sim$70$M_{odot}$ black hole, in stark contrast with the expectations for stellar remnants in the Milky Way. We conducted a high-resolution, phase-resolved spectroscopic study of the near-infrared Paschen lines in this system, using the 3.5-m telescope at Calar Alto Observatory. We find that Pa$beta$ and Pa$gamma$ (after proper subtraction of the stellar absorption component) are well fitted with a standard double-peaked model, typical of disk emission. We measured the velocity shifts of the red and blue peaks at 28 orbital phases: the line center has an orbital motion in perfect antiphase with the stellar motion, and the radial velocity amplitude ranges from 8 to 13 km/s for different choices of lines and profile modelling. We interpret this curve as proof that the disk is tracing the orbital motion of the primary, ruling out the circumbinary disk and the hierarchical triple scenarios. The phase-averaged peak-to-peak half-separation (proxy for the projected rotational velocity of the outer disk) is $sim$70 km s$^{-1}$, larger than the stellar orbital velocity and also inconsistent with a circumbinary disk. From those results, we infer a primary mass 4--8 times higher than the secondary mass. Moreover, we show that the ratio of the blue and red peaks (V/R intensity ratio) has a sinusoidal behaviour in phase with the secondary star, which can be interpreted as the effect of external irradiation by the secondary star on the outer disk. Finally, we briefly discuss our findings in the context of alternative scenarios recently proposed for LB-1. Definitive tests between alternative solutions will require further astrometric data from $Gaia$.