No Arabic abstract
The data of 8,852 and 2,927 variable stars detected by OGLE survey in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are presented. They are cross-identified with the SIRIUS JHK survey data, and their infrared properties are discussed. Variable red giants are well separated on the period-J - K plane, suggesting that it could be a good tool to distinguish their pulsation mode and type.
We present results of our study of the infrared properties of massive stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, which are based on the Spitzer SAGE surveys of these galaxies. We have compiled catalogs of spectroscopically confirmed massive stars in each galaxy, as well as photometric catalogs for a subset of these stars that have infrared counterparts in the SAGE database, with uniform photometry from 0.3 to 24 microns in the UBVIJHKs+IRAC+MIPS24 bands. These catalogs enable a comparative study of infrared excesses of OB stars, classical Be stars, yellow and red supergiants, Wolf-Rayet stars, Luminous Blue Variables and supergiant B[e] stars, as a function of metallicity, and provide the first roadmaps for interpreting luminous, massive, resolved stellar populations in nearby galaxies at infrared wavelengths.
A very long term near-infrared variable star survey towards the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds was carried out using the 1.4m InfraRed Survey Facility at the South African Astronomical Observatory. This project was initiated in December 2000 in the LMC, and in July 2001 in the SMC. Since then an area of 3 square degrees along the bar in the LMC and an area of 1 square degree in the central part of the SMC have been repeatedly observed. This survey is ongoing, but results obtained with data taken until December 2017 are reported in this paper. Over more than 15 years we have observed the two survey areas more than one hundred times. This is the first survey that provides near-infrared time-series data with such a long time baseline and on such a large scale. This paper describes the observations in the SMC and publishes a point source photometric catalogue, a variable source catalogue, and time-series data.
We have carried out an infrared search for obscured AGB stars in the Magellanic Clouds. The survey uncovered a number of obscured AGB stars as well as some supergiants with infrared excess. We present photometry of the sources and discuss the colour diagrams and bolometric luminosities. Most of the AGB stars are luminous, often close to the classical limit of $M_{rm bol}=-7.1$. To determine whether the stars are oxygen-rich or carbon-rich, we have acquired narrow-band mid-infrared photometry with the ESO TIMMI camera for several sources. All but one are found to show the silicate feature and therefore to have oxygen-rich dust: the colours of the remaining source are consistent with either an oxygen-rich or a carbon-rich nature. A method to distinguish carbon and oxygen stars based on H$-$K versus K$-$[12] colours is presented. We discuss several methods of calculating the mass-loss rate: for the AGB stars the mass-loss rates vary between approximately 5 times 10**-4 and 5 times 10**-6 solar masses per year, depending on assumed dust-to-gas mass ratio. We present a new way to calculate mass-loss rates from the OH-maser emission. We find no evidence for a correlation of the mass-loss rates with luminosity in these obscured stars. Neither do the mass-loss rates for the LMC and SMC stars differ in any clear systematic way from each other. Expansion velocities appear to be slightly lower in the LMC than in the Galaxy. Period determinations are discussed for two sources: the periods are comparable to those of the longer-period galactic OH/IR stars. All of the luminous stars for which periods are available, have significantly higher luminosities than predicted from the period--luminosity relations.
A recent data analysis of the far-infrared (FIR) map of the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds has shown that there is a tight correlation between two FIR colours: the 60 um-100 um and 100 um-140 um colours. This FIR colour relation called ``main correlation can be interpreted as indicative of a sequence of various interstellar radiation fields with a common FIR optical property of grains. In this paper, we constrain the FIR optical properties of grains by comparing the calculated FIR colours with the observational main correlation. We show that neither of the ``standard grain species (i.e. astronomical silicate and graphite grains) reproduces the main correlation. However, if the emissivity index at ~ 100--200 um is changed to ~ 1--1.5 (not ~ 2 as the above two species), the main correlation can be successfully explained. Thus, we propose that the FIR emissivity index is ~ 1--1.5 for the dust in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds at ~ 100--200 um. We also consider the origin of the minor correlation called ``sub-correlation, which can be used to estimate the Galactic star formation rate.
We present a study of the infrared properties of 4922 spectroscopically confirmed massive stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, focusing on the active OB star population. Besides OB stars, our sample includes yellow and red supergiants, Wolf-Rayet stars, Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) and supergiant B[e] stars. We detect a distinct Be star sequence, displaced to the red, and find a higher fraction of Oe and Be stars among O and early-B stars in the SMC, respectively, when compared to the LMC, and that the SMC Be stars occur at higher luminosities. We also find photometric variability among the active OB population and evidence for transitions of Be stars to B stars and vice versa. We furthermore confirm the presence of dust around all the supergiant B[e] stars in our sample, finding the shape of their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to be very similar, in contrast to the variety of SED shapes among the spectrally variable LBVs.