No Arabic abstract
We present the results of a photometric survey for variable stars in the nearby globular cluster M5. A 14.8x22.8 arcmin^2 field centered on the cluster was monitored for a total of 37 hours with a CCD camera mounted on the 1.0-m Swope telescope. Five new variables were identified: four blue stragglers which are SX Phe pulsating variables, and an eclipsing binary with an orbital period of 0.466 d. The eclipsing binary lies near the main-sequence turnoff on the cluster color-magnitude diagram. We do not confirm the variability of any of the 10 eclipsing binaries identified in the cluster field by Reid (1996) and Yan & Reid (1996). The dwarf nova M5-V101 exhibited two outbursts with full amplitudes of about 2.7 mag during our observations. A V/B-V color-magnitude diagram of the surveyed field was obtained, and a possible extreme HB star located 2 mag below cutoff of the blue HB was identified.
We present a CCD investigation of the galactic globular M5 aimed to increase the statistical relevance of the available sample of evolving bright stars. Previous investigations, limited to the outer cluster region, have been extended toward the cluster center, more than doubling the number of observed luminous stars. On this basis, we discuss a statistically relevant sample, rich of 415 HB stars. The occurrence of a gap in the blue side of the HB is suggested. Comparison to the current evolutionary scenario discloses a good agreement concerning both the C-M diagram location and the relative abundance of stars in the advanced evolutionary phases, supporting our present knowledge of the evolution of low mass stars. Determination of the amount of the original helium content through the ratio R N(HB)/N(RGB) gives $Y = 0.22 pm 0.02$.
We present a new search for variable stars in the Galactic globular cluster M28 (NGC 6626). The search is based on a series of BVI images obtained with the SMARTS Consortiums 1.3m telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile. The search was carried out using the ISIS v2.2 image subtraction package. We find a total of 25 variable stars in the field of the cluster, 9 being new discoveries. Of the newly found variables, 1 is an ab-type RR Lyrae star, 6 are c-type RR Lyrae, and 2 are long-period/semi-regular variables. V22, previously classified as a type II Cepheid, appears as a bona-fide RRc in our data. In turn, V20, previously classified as an ab-type RR Lyrae, could not be properly phased with any reasonable period. The properties of the ab-type RR Lyrae stars in M28 appear most consistent with an Oosterhoff-intermediate classification, which is unusual for bona-fide Galactic globulars clusters. However, the clusters c-type variables do not clearly support such an Oosterhoff type, and a hybrid Oosterhoff I/II system is accordingly another possibility, thus raising the intriguing possibility of multiple populations being present in M28. Coordinates, periods, and light curves in differential fluxes are provided for all the detected variables.
We present results of time series photometry to search for variable stars in the field of metal-poor globular cluster NGC 4590 (M68). Periods have been revised for 40 known variables and no significant changes were found. A considerable change in Blazhko effect for V25 has been detected. Among nine newly discovered variable candidates, 5 stars are of RRc Bailey type variables while 4 stars are unclassified. The variable stars V10, V21, V50 and V51 are found to be cluster members based on the radial velocity data taken from literature.
We present the preliminary results of an image-subtraction analysis of the Galactic globular cluster M79 (NGC 1904), as well as a new investigation of the variable star population in NGC 1851. Both M79 and NGC 1851 have been previously associated with the Canis Major overdensity, which has been suggested to have an extragalactic origin. We found 6 new RR Lyrae in M79, and also recovered 3 previously known RR Lyrae. The average period of the 5 ab-type RR Lyrae is 0.68 ~ d, corresponding to an Oosterhoff II classification -- which is unusual, though not unprecedented, for systems of extragalactic origin. We also report on the discovery of at least 4 previously unknown variables in NGC 1851.
We present the results of a search for variable stars in the globular cluster NGC 5286, which has recently been suggested to be associated with the Canis Major dwarf spheroidal galaxy. 57 variable stars were detected, only 19 of which had previously been known. Among our detections one finds 52 RR Lyrae (22 RRc and 30 RRab), 4 LPVs, and 1 type II Cepheid of the BL Herculis type. Periods are derived for all of the RR Lyrae as well as the Cepheid, and BV light curves are provided for all the variables. The mean period of the RRab variables is <Pab> = 0.656 days, and the number fraction of RRc stars is N(c)/N(RR) = 0.42, both consistent with an Oosterhoff II (OoII) type -- thus making NGC 5286 one of the most metal-rich ([Fe/H] = -1.67; Harris 1996) OoII globulars known to date. The minimum period of the RRabs, namely Pab,min = 0.513 d, while still consistent with an OoII classification, falls towards the short end of the observed Pab,min distribution for OoII globular clusters. As was recently found in the case of the prototypical OoII globular cluster M15 (NGC 7078), the distribution of stars in the Bailey diagram does not strictly conform to the previously reported locus for OoII stars. We provide Fourier decomposition parameters for all of the RR Lyrae stars detected in our survey, and discuss the physical parameters derived therefrom. The values derived for the RRcs are not consistent with those typically found for OoII clusters, which may be due to the clusters relatively high metallicity -- the latter being confirmed by our Fourier analysis of the ab-type RR Lyrae light curves. We derive for the cluster a revised distance modulus of (m-M)V = 16.04 mag. (ABRIDGED)