Search

We have computed a grid of hydrostatic spherical COMARCS models for C stars covering metallicities from [ Z /H] = 0 to −2 and values of the carbon excess [C−O] from 6.41 to 9.15, plus some temperature sequences, where the amount of oxygen and nitrogen is increased relative to a scaled solar element mixture. Such abundance variations may appear during the late stages of stellar evolution. Our study covers changes of [O/ Z ] and [N/ Z ] going up to +0.5. Based on the atmospheric structures we have calculated synthetic spectra and photometry for all of the models in a consistent way. The sequences with changed [O/ Z ] and [N/ Z ] can be used to derive correction terms, which are applied to the colours predicted for a certain combination of effective temperature, surface gravity, metallicity, and carbon excess. If one neglects these shifts in case of a variable oxygen amount, taking [C−O] instead of C/O gives much better results, since the first quantity dominates the formation of many important molecular species. For the warmer C giants with weaker pulsation it is in principle possible to determine [C−O], [O/ Z ], or [N/ Z ] from high-resolution spectra, when the opacities in the radiative transfer calculations for the models and observable properties are treated consistently. The corresponding changes due to the abundances often become significantly larger than the deviations caused by uncertainties of the stellar parameters or by an optically thin dust shell. Photometric data and low- or medium-resolution spectra are not sufficient to derive the mentioned quantities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a grid of hydrostatic spherical COMARCS models for cool stars, we have calculated observable properties of these objects, which will be mainly used in combination with stellar evolution tracks and population synthesis tools. The high-resolution opacity sampling and low-resolution convolved spectra as well as bolometric corrections for a large number of filter systems are made electronically available. We exploit those data to study the effect of mass, C/O ratio and nitrogen abundance on the photometry of K and M giants. Depending on effective temperature, surface gravity and the chosen wavelength ranges, variations of the investigated parameters cause very weak to moderate and, in the case of C/O values close to 1, even strong shifts of the colours. For the usage with stellar evolution calculations, they will be treated as correction factors applied to the results of an interpolation in the main quantities. When we compare the synthetic photometry to observed relations and to data from the Galactic bulge, we find in general a good agreement. Deviations appear for the coolest giants showing pulsations, mass-loss and dust shells, which cannot be described by hydrostatic models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Observations from the Heliospheric Imagers (HI-1) on both the STEREO spacecrafts have been analysed to search for very long period large amplitude stellar variability, finding six new candidates. A total of 85 objects, mostly previously known Mira variables, were found to show convincing variability on time-scales of over a 100 days. These objects range in peak brightness from about fourth magnitude to 10th magnitude in R and have periods between about 170 and 490 d. There is a period gap between 200 and 300 d where no objects were found and this is discussed. 15 of the Miras in the sample are previously recorded as having variable periods and the possibility for these and two other stars to have undergone a period change or to be irregular is discussed. In addition to the six stars in the sample not previously recorded as variable, another seven are recorded as variable but with no classification. Our period determination is the first to be made for 19 of these 85 stars. The sample represents a set of very long period variables that would be challenging to monitor from the Earth, or even from Earth orbit, owing to their position on the ecliptic plane and that their periods are often close to a year or an integer fraction thereof. The possibility for the new candidates to possess circumstellar shells is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]