A QSO survey via optical variability and zero proper motion in the M92 field.III. Narrow emission line galaxies

We study a sample of 23 narrow-emission line galaxies (NELGs) which were selected by their strong variability as QSO candidates in the framework of a variability-and-proper motion QSO survey on digitised Schmidt plates. In previous work, we have shown that variability is an efficient method to find AGNs. The variability properties of the NELGs are however significantly different from those of the QSOs. The main aim of this paper is to clarify the nature of this variability and to estimate the fraction of AGN-dominated NELGs in this sample. New photometric and spectroscopic observations are presented, along with revised data from the photographic photometry. The originally measured high variability indices could not be confirmed. The diagnostic line-ratios of the NELG spectra are consistent with HII region-like spectra. No AGN could be proved, yet we cannot rule out the existence of faint low-luminosity AGNs masked by HII regions from intense star formation.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

A QSO survey via optical variability and zero proper motion in the M92 field. IV. More QSOs due to improved photometry

We continue the QSO search in the 10 square degrees Schmidt field around M92 based on variability and proper motion (VPM) constraints. We have re-reduced 162 digitised B plates with a time-baseline of more than three decades and have considerably improved both the photometric accuracy and the star-galaxy separation at B>19. QSO candidates are selected and marked with one out of three degrees of priority based on the statistical significance of their measured variability and zero proper motion. Spectroscopic follow-up observations of 84 new candidates with B>19 revealed an additional 37 QSOs and 7 Seyfert1s. In particular, all 92 high-priority candidates are spectroscopically classified now; among them are 70 QSOs and 9 Seyfert1s (success rate 86%). We expect that 87% (55%) of all QSOs with B<19.0 (19.8) are contained in this high-priority subsample. For the combined sample of high-priority and medium-priority objects, a completeness of 89% is estimated up to B_lim=19.5. The sample of all AGNs detected in the framework of the VPM search in the M92 field contains now 95 QSOs and 14 Seyfert1s with B<19.9. Although the VPM QSOs were selected by completely different criteria, their properties do not significantly differ from those of QSOs found by more traditional optical survey techniques. In particular, the spectra and the optical broad band colours do not provide any hints on a substantial population of red QSOs up to the present survey limit.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

The reddest ISO-2MASS quasar

In the course of the NIR/MIR AGN search combining the 6.7 mu ISOCAM Parallel Survey and 2MASS we have discovered 24 type-1 quasars about a third of which are too red to be discriminated by optical/UV search techniques. Here we report on a detailed case study of the reddest type-1 quasar of our sample (J2341) at redshift z=0.236 with M_K=-25.8 and J-K=1.95. We performed spectroscopy in the optical with VLT/FORS1 and in the MIR with Spitzer as well as NIR imaging with ISPI at CTIO. The optical and NIR observations reveal a star forming emission-line galaxy at the same redshift as the quasar with a projected linear separation of 1.8 arcsec (6.7 kpc). The quasar and its companion are embedded in diffuse extended continuum emission. Compared with its companion the quasar exhibits redder optical-NIR colours, which we attribute to hot nuclear dust. The MIR spectrum shows only few emission lines superimposed on a power-law spectral energy distribution. However, the lack of strong FIR emission suggests that our potentially interacting object contains much less gas and dust and is in a stage different from dust reddened ULIRG-AGN like Mrk 231. The optical spectrum shows signatures for reddening in the emission-lines and no post-starburst stellar population is detected in the host galaxy of the quasar. The optical continuum emission of the active nucleus appears absorbed and diluted. Even the combination of absorption and host dilution is not able to match J2341 with standard quasar templates. While the BLR shows only a rather moderate absorption of E_(B-V)=0.3, the continuum shorter than 4500 AA requires strong obscuration with E_(B-V)=0.7, exceeding the constraints from the low upper limit on the 9.7 mu silicate absorption. This leads us to conclude that the continuum of J2341 is intrinsically redder than that of typical quasars.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

Chemical Evolution of the Galaxy Based on the Oscillatory Star Formation History

We model the star formation history (SFH) and the chemical evolution of the Galactic disk by combining an infall model and a limit-cycle model of the interstellar medium (ISM). Recent observations have shown that the SFH of the Galactic disk violently variates or oscillates. We model the oscillatory SFH based on the limit-cycle behavior of the fractional masses of three components of the ISM. The observed period of the oscillation ($\sim 1$ Gyr) is reproduced within the natural parameter range. This means that we can interpret the oscillatory SFH as the limit-cycle behavior of the ISM. We then test the chemical evolution of stars and gas in the framework of the limit-cycle model, since the oscillatory behavior of the SFH may cause an oscillatory evolution of the metallicity. We find however that the oscillatory behavior of metallicity is not prominent because the metallicity reflects the past integrated SFH. This indicates that the metallicity cannot be used to distinguish an oscillatory SFH from one without oscillations.Comment: 21 pages LaTeX, to appear in Ap

Memberships and CM Diagrams of the Open Cluster NGC 7243

The results of astrometric and photometric investigations of the open cluster NGC 7243 are presented. Proper motions of 2165 stars with root-mean-square error of 1.1 mas/yr were obtained by means of PDS scanning of astrometric plates covering the time interval of 97 years. A total of 211 cluster members down to V=15.5 mag have been identified. V and B magnitudes have been determined for 2118 and 2110 stars respectively. Estimations of mass (348Mo < M < 522Mo), age (t=2.5x10^8 yr), distance (r=698 pc) and reddening (E(B-V)=0.24) of the cluster NGC 7243 have been made.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures. Submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysic

UKIRT follow-up observations of the old open cluster FSR0358 (Kirkpatrick1)

We aim to characterise the properties of the stellar clusters in the Milky Way. Utilising an expectation-maximisation method we determined that the cluster FSR0358, originally discovered by J.D.Kirkpatrick, is the most likely real cluster amongst the cluster candidates from Froebrich et al.. Here we present new deep high resolution near infrared imaging of this object obtained with UKIRT. The analysis of the data reveals that FSR0358 (Kirkpatrick1) is a 5+-2Gyr old open cluster in the outer Milky Way. Its age, metallicity of Z=0.008 and distance from the Galactic Centre of 11.2kpc are typical for the known old open galactic clusters. So far six of the FSR cluster candidates have been identified as having an age above 5Gyr. This shows the significance of this catalogue in enhancing our knowledge of the oldest open clusters in the Galaxy.Comment: 8 pages, 1 table, 5 figures, accepted for publication by MNRAS, a version with higher resolution figures can be found at http://astro.kent.ac.uk/~df

Membership and Multiplicity among Very Low-Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs in the Pleiades Cluster

We present near-infrared photometry and optical spectroscopy of very low-mass stars and brown dwarf candidates in the Pleiades open cluster. The membership status of these objects is assessed. Eight objects out of 45 appear to be non-members. A search for companions among 34 very low-mass Pleiades members (M$\le$0.09 M$_\odot$) in high-spatial resolution images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope and the adaptive optics system of the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope produced no resolved binaries with separations larger than 0.2 arcsec (a ~ 27 AU; P ~ 444 years). Nevertheless, we find evidence for a binary sequence in the color-magnitude diagrams, in agreement with the results of Steele & Jameson (1995) for higher mass stars. We compare the multiplicity statistics of the Pleiades very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs with that of G and K-type main sequence stars in the solar neighborhood (Duquennoy & Mayor 1991). We find that there is some evidence for a deficiency of wide binary systems (separation >27 AU) among the Pleiades very low-mass members. We briefly discuss how this result can fit with current scenarios of brown dwarf formation. We correct the Pleiades substellar mass function for the contamination of cluster non-members found in this work. We find a contamination level of 33% among the brown dwarf candidates identified by Bouvier et al. (1998). Assuming a power law IMF across the substellar boundary, we find a slope dN/dM ~ M^{-0.53}, implying that the number of objects per mass bin is still rising but the contribution to the total mass of the cluster is declining in the brown dwarf regime.Comment: to be published in The Astrophysical Journa

A near-infrared variability study in the cloud IC1396W: low star-forming efficiency and two new eclipsing binaries

Identifying the population of young stellar objects (YSOs) in high extinction regions is a prerequisite for studies of star formation. This task is not trivial, as reddened background objects can be indistinguishable from YSOs in near-infrared colour-colour diagrams. Here we combine deep JHK photometry with J- and K-band lightcurves, obtained with UKIRT/WFCAM, to explore the YSO population in the dark cloud IC1396W. We demonstrate that a colour-variability criterion can provide useful constraints on the star forming activity in embedded regions. For IC1396W we find that a near-infrared colour analysis alone vastly overestimates the number of YSOs. In total, the globule probably harbours not more than ten YSOs, among them a system of two young stars embedded in a small (~10000 AU) reflection nebula. This translates into a star forming efficiency SFE of ~1%, which is low compared with nearby more massive star forming regions, but similar to less massive globules. We confirm that IC1396W is likely associated with the IC1396 HII region. One possible explanation for the low SFE is the relatively large distance to the ionizing O-star in the central part of IC1396. Serendipitously, our variability campaign yields two new eclipsing binaries, and eight periodic variables, most of them with the characteristics of contact binaries.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, MNRAS, in pres

The initial stellar mass function from random sampling in hierarchical clouds II: statistical fluctuations and a mass dependence for starbirth positions and times

Observed variations in the slope of the initial stellar mass function are shown to be consistent with a model in which the protostellar gas is randomly sampled from hierarchical clouds at a rate proportional to the square root of the local density. RMS variations in the IMF slope around the Salpeter value are +/- 0.4 when only 100 stars are observed, and +/- 0.1 when 1000 stars are observed. The hierarchical-sampling model also reproduces the tendency for massive stars to form closer to the center of a cloud, at a time somewhat later than the formation time of the lower mass stars. The assumed density dependence for the star formation rate is shown to be appropriate for turbulence compression, magnetic diffusion, gravitational collapse, and clump or wavepacket coalescence. The low mass flattening in the IMF comes from the inability of gas to form stars below the thermal Jeans mass at typical temperatures and pressures. Consideration of heating and cooling processes indicate why the thermal Jeans mass should be nearly constant in normal environments, and why it might increase in some starburst regions. The steep IMF in the extreme field is not explained by the model, but other origins are suggested.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, scheduled for ApJ vol. 515, April 10, 199

The Geneva-Copenhagen Survey of the Solar neighbourhood II. New uvby calibrations and rediscussion of stellar ages, the G dwarf problem, age-metallicity diagram, and heating mechanisms of the disk

Ages, metallicities, space velocities, and Galactic orbits of stars in the Solar neighbourhood are fundamental observational constraints on models of galactic disk evolution. We aim to consolidate the calibrations of uvby photometry into Te, [Fe/H], distance, and age for F and G stars and rediscuss the results of the Geneva-Copenhagen Survey (Nordstrom et al. 2004; GCS) in terms of the evolution of the disk. We substantially improve the Te and [Fe/H] calibrations for early F stars, where spectroscopic temperatures have large systematic errors. Our recomputed ages are in excellent agreement with the independent determinations by Takeda et al. (2007), indicating that isochrone ages can now be reliably determined. The revised G-dwarf metallicity distribution remains incompatible with closed-box models, and the age-metallicity relation for the thin disk remains almost flat, with large and real scatter at all ages (sigma intrinsic = 0.20 dex). Dynamical heating of the thin disk continues throughout its life; specific in-plane dynamical effects dominate the evolution of the U and V velocities, while the W velocities remain random at all ages. When assigning thick and thin-disk membership for stars from kinematic criteria, parameters for the oldest stars should be used to characterise the thin disk.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A on June 20, 200