Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Astrophysics and Astronomy

Institution
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 8161 - 8190 of 9206

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

A Search For Lithium-Rich Giants Among Stars With Infrared Excesses, Francis C. Fekel, Lyndon C. Watson Nov 1998

A Search For Lithium-Rich Giants Among Stars With Infrared Excesses, Francis C. Fekel, Lyndon C. Watson

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

The unusual nature of the single, rapidly rotating, lithium-rich K giant HDE 233517, which is currently undergoing significant mass loss, prompted a search for giants with similar properties. High-dispersion spectroscopic observations were obtained of HD 219025, a known lithium-rich infrared-excess giant, plus 39 stars from a list of G and K giants with excess far-infrared emission. The projected rotational velocities of the vast majority of infrared-excess giants appear to be similar to those of normal G and K giants. Six giants have lithium abundances at or above theoretical upper envelope values. The percentage of such stars in the sample of …


Development Of A Hard X-Ray Polarimeter For Astrophysics, Mark L. Mcconnell, John R. Macri, M Mcclish, James M. Ryan, D J. Forrest, W T. Vestrand Nov 1998

Development Of A Hard X-Ray Polarimeter For Astrophysics, Mark L. Mcconnell, John R. Macri, M Mcclish, James M. Ryan, D J. Forrest, W T. Vestrand

Space Science Center

We have been developing a Compton scatter polarimeter for measuring the linear polarization of hard X-rays (100-300 keV) from astrophysical sources. A laboratory prototype polarimeter has been used to successfully demonstrate the reliability of our Monte Carlo simulation code and to demonstrate our ability to generate a polarized photon source in the lab. Our design concept places a self-containedpolarimeter module on the front-end of a a 5-inch position sensitive PMT (PSPMT). We are currently working on the fabrication of a science model based on this PSPMT concept. Although the emphasis of our development effort is towards measuring hard X-rays from …


Quasars As Cosmological Probes: The Ionizing Continuum, Gas Metallicity, And The WΛ-L Relation, Kirk Korista, Jack Baldwin, Gary J. Ferland Nov 1998

Quasars As Cosmological Probes: The Ionizing Continuum, Gas Metallicity, And The WΛ-L Relation, Kirk Korista, Jack Baldwin, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Using a realistic model for line emission from the broad emission line regions of quasars, we are able to reproduce the previously observed correlations of emission-line ratios with the shape of the spectral energy distribution (SED). In agreement with previous studies, we find that the primary driving force behind the Baldwin effect (Wλ ~ Lβ, β < 0) is a global change in the SED with quasar luminosity, in that more luminous quasars must have characteristically softer ionizing continua. This is completely consistent with observations that show (1) a correlation between Luv, αox, and αuvx (2) correlations of SED shape-sensitive line ratios with αox, αuvx, and Luv; and (3) correlations between line equivalent widths and αox, αuvx …


A Photometric And Kinematic Study Of Awm 7, Daniel M. Koranyi, Margaret Geller, Joseph J. Mohr, Gary Wegner Nov 1998

A Photometric And Kinematic Study Of Awm 7, Daniel M. Koranyi, Margaret Geller, Joseph J. Mohr, Gary Wegner

Dartmouth Scholarship

We have measured redshifts and Kron-Cousins R-band magnitudes for a sample of galaxies in the poor cluster AWM 7. We have measured redshifts for 172 galaxies; 106 of these are cluster members. We determine the luminosity function (LF) from a photometric survey of the central 1.2 × 1.2 h-1 Mpc. The LF has a bump at the bright end and a faint-end slope of α = -1.37 ± 0.16, populated almost exclusively by absorption-line galaxies. The cluster velocity dispersion is lower in the core (~530 km s-1) than at the outskirts (~680 km s-1), …


Molecular Gas In The Z = 2.8 Submillimeter Galaxy Smm 02399-0136, D T. Frayer, R J. Ivison, N Z. Scoville, Min S. Yun, A S. Evans, Ian Smail, A W. Blain, J P. Kneib Oct 1998

Molecular Gas In The Z = 2.8 Submillimeter Galaxy Smm 02399-0136, D T. Frayer, R J. Ivison, N Z. Scoville, Min S. Yun, A S. Evans, Ian Smail, A W. Blain, J P. Kneib

Min S. Yun

We report the detection of CO (3→2) emission from the submillimeter-selected hyperluminous galaxy SMM 02399-0136. This galaxy is the brightest source detected in the recent Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array surveys of the submillimeter sky. The optical counterpart of the submillimeter source has been identified as a narrow-line active galactic nucleus/starburst galaxy at z=2.8. The CO emission is unresolved, θlesssim5'', and is coincident in redshift and position with the optical counterpart. The molecular gas mass derived from the CO observations is 8×1010 h−275 M_{{\odot}}, after correcting for a lensing amplification factor of 2.5. The large CO luminosity suggests that a significant …


Time Series Energy Production In Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Accretion Disks: Superhumps In The Am Canum Venaticorum Stars, James C. Simpson, Matt A. Wood Oct 1998

Time Series Energy Production In Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Accretion Disks: Superhumps In The Am Canum Venaticorum Stars, James C. Simpson, Matt A. Wood

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

The energy production time series of our purely hydrodynamic accretion disk simulations display remarkable similarities with the observed light curves of dwarf novae superhumps in general and the AM CVn stars in particular. The superhump period excess as a function of mass ratio agrees well with earlier theoretical and numerical results, and the amplitudes and relative phases of the harmonics in the power spectra agree well with the observations. The morphology of the mean pulse profile appears to be a useful predictor of system mass ratio. Our modified smoothed particle hydrodynamics code time symmetrizes the interparticle forces when individual time …


Temperature Fluctuations In Photoionized Nebulae. Ii. The Effect Of Inhomogeneous Abundances, J. B. Kingdon, Gary J. Ferland Oct 1998

Temperature Fluctuations In Photoionized Nebulae. Ii. The Effect Of Inhomogeneous Abundances, J. B. Kingdon, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Recent abundance determinations based on recombination lines in several emission-line nebulae yield ionic abundances several times larger than those derived from forbidden lines. These results cast uncertainty over all abundance determinations in such objects. One possible explanation for these discrepancies frequently cited in the literature is the presence of chemical inhomogeneities. We have run a series of photoionization models to examine what effect such inhomogeneities will have on the resulting temperature structure of nebulae. We then derive abundances from these models, utilizing Peimbert's t2 formalism. Our results suggest that, although chemical inhomogeneities may produce nonnegligible biases in abundance determinations …


Cross Sections Fall 1998, Department Of Physics And Astronomy Oct 1998

Cross Sections Fall 1998, Department Of Physics And Astronomy

Cross Sections

No abstract provided.


Peculiar Velocity Dipoles Of Field Galaxies, Riccardo Giovanelli, Martha P. Haynes, Wolfram Freudling, Luiz N. Da Costa, John J. Salzer, Gary Wegner Oct 1998

Peculiar Velocity Dipoles Of Field Galaxies, Riccardo Giovanelli, Martha P. Haynes, Wolfram Freudling, Luiz N. Da Costa, John J. Salzer, Gary Wegner

Dartmouth Scholarship

The Tully-Fisher (TF) relation is applied to obtain peculiar velocities of field spiral galaxies and to calculate dipoles of the peculiar velocity field to cz8000 km s-1. The field galaxy sample is spatially coextensive with and completely independent of a cluster sample, for which dipole characteristics are given in a separate paper. Dipoles of the peculiar velocity field are obtained separately by applying (1) an inverse version of the TF relation and selecting galaxies by redshift windowing and (2) a direct TF relation, with velocities corrected for the inhomogeneous Malmquist bias and windowing galaxies by TF distance. …


Wiyn Open Cluster Study. I. Deep Photometry Of Ngc188, Ted Von Hippel, Ata Sarajedini Oct 1998

Wiyn Open Cluster Study. I. Deep Photometry Of Ngc188, Ted Von Hippel, Ata Sarajedini

Publications

We have employed precise and carefully calibrated V - and I - band photometry of NGC 188 at WIYN Observatory to explore the cluster luminosity function (LF) and study the cluster white dwarfs. Our photometry is offset by V = 0.052 (fainter) from that of Sandage and Eggen & Sandage. All published photometry for the past three decades has been based on these two calibrations, which are in error by 0.05 ± 0.01. We employ the Pinsonneault et al. fiducial open cluster main sequence to derive a distance modulus of 11.43 ± 0.08 and E(B - V )=0.09, with …


Hubble Space Telescope Images And Spectra Of The Remnant Of Sn 1885 In M31, Robert A. Fesen, Christopher L. Gerardy, Kevin M. Mclin, Andrew J. S. Hamilton Oct 1998

Hubble Space Telescope Images And Spectra Of The Remnant Of Sn 1885 In M31, Robert A. Fesen, Christopher L. Gerardy, Kevin M. Mclin, Andrew J. S. Hamilton

Dartmouth Scholarship

Near-UV Hubble Space Telescope images of the remnant of SN 1885 (S And) in M31 show a 070±005 diameter absorption disk silhouetted against M31's central bulge, at SN 1885's historically reported position. The disk's size corresponds to a linear diameter of 2.5±0.4 pc at a distance of 725±70 kpc, implying an average expansion velocity of 11,000±2000 km s-1 over 110 yr. Low-dispersion Faint Object Spectrograph spectra over 3200-4800 Å reveal that the absorption arises principally from Ca II H and K (equivalent width 215 Å), with weaker absorption features of Ca I 4227 Å and Fe I 3720 Å. The …


"Wcfields": A Magnetic Rotating Stellar Wind Model From Wind Compression Theory., R. Ignace, J. P. Cassinelli, J. E. Bjorkman Sep 1998

"Wcfields": A Magnetic Rotating Stellar Wind Model From Wind Compression Theory., R. Ignace, J. P. Cassinelli, J. E. Bjorkman

Richard Ignace

A stellar wind model for a magnetic rotating star is presented. We use the semianalytic wind compression model that predicts the two-dimensional geometry of outflows from rotating stars and consider the addition of a magnetic field. In the limit of weak magnetic fields, in such a way that the fields are unimportant in accelerating the flow, the wind compression model can be used to predict the magnetic field distribution throughout the wind, which is shown to follow the mass flux distribution. A compression of field lines near the equator results as the flow of material from higher latitudes brings magnetic …


A Zero Point And Accidental Errors For Published Values Of [Fe/H] For Cool Giants, B. J. Taylor Sep 1998

A Zero Point And Accidental Errors For Published Values Of [Fe/H] For Cool Giants, B. J. Taylor

Faculty Publications

This paper is one of a series based on published values of [Fe/H] for late-type evolved stars. Only values of [Fe/H] from high-dispersion spectroscopy or related techniques are used. The narrative in this paper begins at a point where mean values of [Fe/H] have been derived for xiVir, alphaBoo, betaGem, and the Hyades giants. By using these stars as standard stars when necessary, a zero-point data base is assembled. This data base is then expanded into its final version by correcting and adding additional data in a step-by-step process. As that process proceeds, data comparisons are used to establish rms …


An Analysis Of Temperature Dependent Photoluminescence Line Shapes In Ingan, John S. Colton, K. L. Teo, P. Y. Yu, E. R. Weber, M. F. Li, W. Lui, K. Uchida, H. Tokunaga, N. Akutsu, K. Matsumoto Sep 1998

An Analysis Of Temperature Dependent Photoluminescence Line Shapes In Ingan, John S. Colton, K. L. Teo, P. Y. Yu, E. R. Weber, M. F. Li, W. Lui, K. Uchida, H. Tokunaga, N. Akutsu, K. Matsumoto

Faculty Publications

Photoluminescence (PL) line shapes in InGaN multiple quantum well structures have been studied experimentally and theoretically between 10 and 300 K. The higher temperature PL spectra can be fitted qualitatively with a thermalized carrier distribution and a broadened joint-density-of-states. The low temperature PL line shapes suggest that carriers are not thermalized, as a result of localization by band-gap fluctuations. We deduce a localization energy of ~7 meV as compared with an activation energy of ~63 meV from thermal quenching of the PL intensity. We thus conclude that this activation energy and the band-gap fluctuation most likely have different origins.


Near-Infrared Galaxy Counts To J And K ∼ 24 As A Function Of Image Size, Matthew A. Bershady, James D. Lowenthal, David C. Koo Sep 1998

Near-Infrared Galaxy Counts To J And K ∼ 24 As A Function Of Image Size, Matthew A. Bershady, James D. Lowenthal, David C. Koo

Astronomy: Faculty Publications

We have used the Keck 10 m telescope to count objects as a function of image size in two high Galactic latitude Ðelds covering 1.5 arcmin2 and reaching 50% completeness depths of K \ 24 and J \ 24.5 for stellar sources. Our counts extend D1 mag deeper in K than those of surveys with other telescopes; complement other Keck surveys in the K-band that provide counts at comparable or shallower depths but that have not utilized image structure; and extend by several magnitudes the J-band counts from brighter surveys using smaller telescopes that cover larger areas. We Ðnd the …


Catalogs Of Temperatures And [Fe/H] Averages For Evolved G And K Stars, B. J. Taylor Sep 1998

Catalogs Of Temperatures And [Fe/H] Averages For Evolved G And K Stars, B. J. Taylor

Faculty Publications

A catalog of mean values of [Fe/H] for evolved G and K stars is described. The zero point for the catalog entries has been established by using differential analyses. Literature sources for those entries are included in the catalog. The mean values are given with rms errors and numbers of degrees of freedom, and a simple example of the use of these statistical data is given. For a number of the stars with entries in the catalog, temperatures have been determined. A separate catalog containing those data is briefly described.


Polarization Of Astronomical Maser Radiation. Iv. Circular Polarization Profiles, Moshe Elitzur Sep 1998

Polarization Of Astronomical Maser Radiation. Iv. Circular Polarization Profiles, Moshe Elitzur

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Profile comparison of the Stokes parameters V and I is a powerful tool for maser data analysis, which provides the first direct methods for unambiguous determination of (1) the maser saturation stage, (2) the amplification optical depth and intrinsic Doppler width of unsaturated masers, and (3) the comparative magnitudes of Zeeman splitting and Doppler line width. Circular polarization recently detected in OH 1720 MHz emission from the Galactic center appears to provide the first direct evidence for maser saturation.


Maintenance Of Circulation Anomalies During The 1988 Drought And 1993 Floods Over The United States, Alan Z. Liu, Mingfang Ting, Hailan Wang Sep 1998

Maintenance Of Circulation Anomalies During The 1988 Drought And 1993 Floods Over The United States, Alan Z. Liu, Mingfang Ting, Hailan Wang

Physical Sciences - Daytona Beach

The large-scale circulation anomalies associated with the 1988 drought and the 1993 floods are investigated with the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Reanalysis data and a linear stationary wave model. The transient vorticity and thermal forcings are explicitly calculated and the diabatic heating is derived as a residual in the thermodynamic energy equation. Using the April–June (AMJ) data for 1988, and June–August (JJA) data for 1993, the linear stationary wave model is able to reproduce the main features of the geopotential height anomaly for the two seasons when all forcings are included. This provides a basis for further investigation of …


Comparison Of The Sfi Peculiar Velocities With The Iras 1.2-Jy Gravity Field, L. N. Da Costa, A. Nusser, W. Freudling, R. Giovanelli, M. P. Haynes, J J. Salzer, G. Wegner Sep 1998

Comparison Of The Sfi Peculiar Velocities With The Iras 1.2-Jy Gravity Field, L. N. Da Costa, A. Nusser, W. Freudling, R. Giovanelli, M. P. Haynes, J J. Salzer, G. Wegner

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present a comparison between the peculiar velocity fields measured from a recently completed I-band Tully-Fisher survey of field spirals (SFI) and that derived from the IRAS 1.2-Jy redshift survey galaxy distribution. The analysis is based on the expansion of these data in redshift space using smooth orthonormal functions, and is performed using low- and high-resolution expansions, with an effective smoothing scale which increases almost linearly with redshift. The effective smoothing scales at 3000 km s−1 are 1500 and 1000 km s−1 for the low- and high-resolution filters. The agreement between the high- and low-resolution SFI velocity …


Emission Line Profile Shapes From Anisotropic Scattering In Planar Equatorial Disks., R. Ignace Aug 1998

Emission Line Profile Shapes From Anisotropic Scattering In Planar Equatorial Disks., R. Ignace

Richard Ignace

The consequences of anisotropic resonance line scattering for the emission profiles of equatorial disks are considered. In particular the opportunity to infer the disk velocity field owing to the anisotropic scattering is discussed. Analytic expressions for the profile shapes are derived for the cases of constant expansion and rotation, and numerical results are given for more realistic disk velocity fields of linear expansion and Keplerian rotation. The essential result is that the anisotropic line scattering produces a different profile signature in expanding disks as compared to rotating disks, owing to the difference in the isovelocity pattern of the two cases …


Inference Of Steady Stellar Wind V(R) Laws From Optically Thin Emission Lines Iii. Inversion Of Total Line Intensity Distributions., R. Ignace, J. C. Brown, J. E. Milne, J. P. Cassinelli Aug 1998

Inference Of Steady Stellar Wind V(R) Laws From Optically Thin Emission Lines Iii. Inversion Of Total Line Intensity Distributions., R. Ignace, J. C. Brown, J. E. Milne, J. P. Cassinelli

Richard Ignace

The variation with wavelength for a sequence of total intensities of stellar wind lines is considered as a basis for deriving the wind velocity law v(r). In particular, we focus on the case where the continuum formation in the wind is dominated by the free-free opacity so that the inner radius increases with wavelength, as is realized in some massive winds like those of the Wolf-Rayet stars. The line emission in the wind occurs exterior to the continuum photosphere, hence lines observed at different wavelengths probe different regions of the wind acceleration. A major consequence of these physical conditions is …


Detection Of Intergalactic Red-Giant-Branch Stars In The Virgo Cluster, Henry C. Ferguson, Ted Von Hippel, Nial R. Tanvir Aug 1998

Detection Of Intergalactic Red-Giant-Branch Stars In The Virgo Cluster, Henry C. Ferguson, Ted Von Hippel, Nial R. Tanvir

Publications

It has been suspected for nearly 50 years that clusters of galaxies contain a population of intergalactic stars, ripped from galaxies during cluster formation or when the galaxies’ orbits take them through the cluster center. Support for the existence of such a population of free-floating stars comes from measurements of the diffuse light in clusters and from recent detections of planetary nebulae with positions and/or velocities far removed from any observed cluster galaxy. 10 , 11 But estimates for the mass of the diffuse population and its distribution relative to the galaxies are still highly uncertain. Here we report the …


Semi-Automated Extraction Of Digital Objective Prism Spectra, Coryn A.L. Bailer-Jones, Ted Von Hippel, Mike Irwin Aug 1998

Semi-Automated Extraction Of Digital Objective Prism Spectra, Coryn A.L. Bailer-Jones, Ted Von Hippel, Mike Irwin

Publications

We describe a method for the extraction of spectra from high dispersion objective prism plates. Our method is a catalogue driven plate solution approach, making use of the Right Ascension and Declination coordinates for the target objects. In contrast to existing methods of photographic plate reduction, we digitize the entire plate and extract spectra off-line. This approach has the advantages that it can be applied to CCD objective prism images, and spectra can be re-extracted (or additional spectra extracted) without having to re-scan the plate. After a brief initial interactive period, the subsequent reduction procedure is completely automatic, resulting in …


Measured Stark Widths And Shifts Of Several Niii Sectral Lines: Temperature Dependence, Stevan Djenize, Vladimir Milosavljevic Aug 1998

Measured Stark Widths And Shifts Of Several Niii Sectral Lines: Temperature Dependence, Stevan Djenize, Vladimir Milosavljevic

Articles

Stark parameters (width and shift) of four doubly ionized nitrogen spectral lines, that belong to 3s-3p and 3p-3d transitions (lower multiplets), have been measured in a linear pulsed, low pressure, arc discharge in the nitrogen-oxygen and helium-nitrogen-oxygen plasmas in a (30 000 - 54 000) K electron temperature and a (0.75 1023 - 2.8 1023) electron density ranges. The measured values have been compared to the existing experimental and calculated data.


Production Of Energy-Dependent Time Delays In Impulsive Solar Flare Hard X-Ray Emission By Short-Duration Spectral Index Variations, Ted N. La Rosa, Steven N. Shore Aug 1998

Production Of Energy-Dependent Time Delays In Impulsive Solar Flare Hard X-Ray Emission By Short-Duration Spectral Index Variations, Ted N. La Rosa, Steven N. Shore

Faculty Articles

Cross-correlation techniques have been used recently to study the relative timing of solar flare hard X-ray emission at different energies. These studies find that for the majority of the impulsive flares observed with BATSE there is a systematic time delay of a few tens of milliseconds between low (approximate to 50 keV) and higher energy emission (approximate to 100 keV). These time delays have been interpreted as energy-dependent time-of-flight differences for electron propagation from the corona, where they are accelerated, to the chromosphere, where the bulk of the hard X-rays are emitted. We show in this paper that crosscorrelation methods …


Hot White Dwarfs In The Extreme ‐ Ultraviolet Explorer Survey. Iv. Da White Dwarfs With Bright Companions, Stephane Vennes, Damian J. Christian, John R. Thorstensen Aug 1998

Hot White Dwarfs In The Extreme ‐ Ultraviolet Explorer Survey. Iv. Da White Dwarfs With Bright Companions, Stephane Vennes, Damian J. Christian, John R. Thorstensen

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present an analysis of optical, ultraviolet, and X-ray spectral properties of a sample of 13 hot hydrogen-rich (DA) white dwarfs, each paired with a luminous unresolved companion. Using low-dispersion International Ultraviolet Explorer spectra, ROSAT photometry, and Extreme-Ultraviolet Explorer photometry and spectroscopy, we estimate the effective temperature, mass, and distance of the white dwarfs. Additionally, we examine the question of their atmospheric composition. We establish orbital properties for most binaries by means of high-dispersion optical spectroscopy obtained with the Hamilton echelle spectrograph at Lick Observatory; the same data help uncover evidence of activity in some of the secondary …


Statistics Of Active Galactic Nuclei In Rich Clusters Revisited, M. Way, R. Flores, H. Quintana Jul 1998

Statistics Of Active Galactic Nuclei In Rich Clusters Revisited, M. Way, R. Flores, H. Quintana

Physics Faculty Works

Using the spectrophotometry of a large sample of galaxies in 19 Abell clusters, we have selected 42 candidate active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using the criteria used by Dressler and coworkers in their analysis of the statistics of 22 AGNs in 14 rich cluster fields, which are based on the equivalent width of [O II] 3727 Å, Hβ, and [O III] 5007 Å emission. We have then discriminated AGNs from H II region-like galaxies (hereafter H II galaxies) in the manner developed by Veilleux & Osterbrock using the additional information provided by Hα and [N II] 6583 Å or Hα and …


Physical Properties Of The Binary Star 12 Persei, David J. Barlow, Colin D. Scarfe, Francis C. Fekel Jun 1998

Physical Properties Of The Binary Star 12 Persei, David J. Barlow, Colin D. Scarfe, Francis C. Fekel

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

We have obtained new radial velocities of the double-lined spectroscopic binary star 12 Persei, whose period is 331 days, and which has been resolved in recent years by speckle interferometry. We derive a solution for the orbital elements from the speckle and radial velocity data simultaneously, and find from that solution masses of 1.306 ± 0.035 and 1.172 ± 0.030 M☉ for the components, and an orbital parallax of 0farcs04224 ± 0farcs00056. We also determine spectroscopically the difference in magnitude between the components and, hence, their absolute magnitudes. We estimate their spectral types and individual colors by fitting standard-star colors …


Permitted Iron Emission Lines In The Classical T Tauri Star Dr Tauri, Georgina Beristain, Suzan Edwards, John Kwan Jun 1998

Permitted Iron Emission Lines In The Classical T Tauri Star Dr Tauri, Georgina Beristain, Suzan Edwards, John Kwan

Astronomy: Faculty Publications

We present a study of permitted emission lines of Fe I and Fe II in the spectrum of the high-accretion rate classical T Tauri star DR Tau. Echelle spectra collected at the 4 m Mayall telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory between 1988 and 1992 include four epochs with red spectral coverage (~5000-6800 Å) and three with blue spectral coverage (~4000-4950 Å). A total of 62 unblended Fe I and Fe II lines are identified, their profiles are examined, and ratios of line pairs that are sensitive to column density or temperature are analyzed.

The unblended Fe profiles exhibit a …


Broadband Optical Observations Of Bl Lacertae During The 1997 Outburst, Terry D. Oswalt, Daniel Marshall, Tim Robishaw Jun 1998

Broadband Optical Observations Of Bl Lacertae During The 1997 Outburst, Terry D. Oswalt, Daniel Marshall, Tim Robishaw

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

We present BVRI observations of BL Lacertae during its recent outburst. These observations, made during a 3 month period, cover a significant portion of the optical flare. The reduced data are displayed as light curves and broadband spectra. Changes in the spectral index are analyzed, and the results are compared with previous BL Lac observations. We find that the variations are simultaneous in the optical bands, but the higher frequency bands show a higher amplitude of variability. The spectral index is variable during the active period, and there is marginal evidence that the spectrum flattens as the source gets brighter.