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We study the distribution of nearby thick disc and halo stars in subspaces defined by their characteristic orbital parameters. Our aim is to establish the origin of the structure reported in particular, in the $R_{\rm max}-z_{\rm max}$ space. To this end, we compute the orbital parameters and frequencies of stars for a generic and for a St\"ackel Milky Way potential. We find that for both the thick disc and halo populations very similar prominent substructures are apparent for the generic Galactic potential, while no substructure is seen for the St\"ackel model. This indicates that the origin of these features is not merger-related, but due to non-integrability of the generic potential. This conclusion is strengthened by our frequency analysis of the orbits of stars, which reveals the presence of prominent resonances, with $\sim 30\%$ of the halo stars associated to resonance families. In fact, the stars in resonances define the substructures seen in the spaces of characteristic orbital parameters. Furthermore, we find that some stars in our sample and in debris streams are on the same resonance as the Sagittarius dwarf, suggesting this system has also influenced the distribution of stars in the Galactic thick disc and halo components. Our study constitutes a step towards disentangling the imprint of merger debris from substructures driven by internal dynamics. Given their prominence, these resonant-driven overdensities could potentially be useful to constrain the exact form of the Galactic potential., Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, submitted to A&A

In this thesis we study the kinematics and dynamics of our Galaxy, the Milky Way. We use data from the Gaia space telescope, which measures the positions and velocities of the Milky Way stars with unprecedented accuracy.Under assumption of the standard laws of gravity and by using the first data release of Gaia (September 2016), we are able to confirm the need for dark matter near the position of the Sun. More specifically we make a measurement of the local dark matter density.With the second data release of Gaia (April 2018) we characterise the velocity distribution of a large part of the Milky Way disk. We specifically look at the correlations between the velocity components since these are known to be sensitive to the mass distribution of the Galaxy. Within the uncertainties the correlations can be consistent with a spherical symmetric mass distribution.By studying the orbits of the stars available in Gaia DR2, we find that structures in spaces showing orbital parameters are not necessarily due to merger debris from external stellar systems. Instead, we show that typical galaxy mass distributions can naturally cause these structures.The dwarf spheroidal galaxies, satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, are thought to be highly dark matter dominated. Most studies, however, assumed that they are spherical, whereas observations show that they are not. For a specific test case we show that the mass can still be reliably measured. It is, however, not possible to retrieve the shape of the mass distribution.

We investigate the kinematics of stars in the Solar neighbourhood by combining radial velocities from the latest data release of the RAVE survey with the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution presented in Gaia Data Release 1. We use moments of the velocity distribution to characterise the kinematics over a radial distance range of 6-10 kpc and up to 1 kpc away from the plane. Our ultimate goal is to use these to put new constraints on the (local) distribution of mass using the Jeans Equations.

The velocity distribution of stars is a sensitive probe of the gravitational potential of the Galaxy, and hence of its dark matter distribution. In particular, the shape of the dark halo (e.g. spherical, oblate, or prolate) determines velocity correlations, and different halo geometries are expected to result in measurable differences. Here we explore and interpret the correlations in the $(v_R, v_z)$-velocity distribution as a function of position in the Milky Way. We selected a high-quality sample of stars from the Gaia DR2 catalogue and characterised the orientation of the velocity distribution or tilt angle over a radial distance range of $[4-13]~$kpc and up to $3.5~$kpc away from the Galactic plane while taking into account the effects of the measurement errors. We find that the tilt angles change from spherical alignment in the inner Galaxy ($R\sim4~$kpc) towards more cylindrical alignments in the outer Galaxy ($R\sim11~$kpc) when using distances that take a global zero-point offset in the parallax of $-29~\mu$as. However, if the amplitude of this offset is underestimated, then the inferred tilt angles in the outer Galaxy only appear shallower and are intrinsically more consistent with spherical alignment for an offset as large as $-54~\mu$as. We further find that the tilt angles do not seem to strongly vary with Galactic azimuth and that different stellar populations depict similar tilt angles. Therefore we introduce a simple analytic function that describes the trends found over the full radial range. Since the systematic parallax errors in Gaia DR2 depend on celestial position, magnitude, and colour in complex ways, it is not possible to fully correct for them. Therefore it will be particularly important for dynamical modelling of the Milky Way to thoroughly characterise the systematics in astrometry in future Gaia data releases., Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, A&A

We test the ability of Schwarzschild's orbit superposition method in measuring the mass content, scale radius and shape of a flattened dwarf spheroidal galaxy. Until now, most dynamical model efforts have assumed that dwarf spheroidal galaxies and their host halos are spherical. We use an Evans model (1993) to construct an isothermal mock galaxy whose properties somewhat resemble those of the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy. This mock galaxy contains flattened luminous and dark matter components, resulting in a logarithmic profile for the global potential. We have tested how well our Schwarzschild method could constrain the characteristic parameters of the system for different sample sizes, and also if the functional form of the potential was unknown. When assuming the true functional form of the potential, the Schwarzschild modelling technique is able to provide an accurate and precise measurement of the characteristic mass parameter of the system and reproduces well the light distribution and the stellar kinematics of our mock galaxy. When assuming a different functional form for the potential, such as a flattened NFW profile, we also constrain the mass and scale radius to their expected values. However in both cases, we find that the flattening parameter remains largely unconstrained. This is likely because the information content of the velocity dispersion on the geometric shape of the potential is too small, since $\sigma$ is constant across our mock dSph. Our results using Schwarzschild's method indicate that the mass enclosed can be derived reliably, even if the flattening parameter is unknown, and already for samples containing 2000 line-of-sight radial velocities, such as those currently available. Further applications of the method to more general distribution functions of flattened systems are needed to establish how well the flattening of dSph dark halos can be determined., Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures. Comments are welcome

The CARMENES radial velocity (RV) survey is observing 324 M dwarfs to search for any orbiting planets. In this paper, we present the survey sample by publishing one CARMENES spectrum for each M dwarf. These spectra cover the wavelength range 520¿1710 nm at a resolution of at least R >80 000, and we measure its RV, H¿ emission, and projected rotation velocity. We present an atlas of high-resolution M-dwarf spectra and compare the spectra to atmospheric models. To quantify the RV precision that can be achieved in low-mass stars over the CARMENES wavelength range, we analyze our empirical information on the RV precision from more than 6500 observations. We compare our high-resolution M-dwarf spectra to atmospheric models where we determine the spectroscopic RV information content, Q, and signal-to-noise ratio. We find that for all M-type dwarfs, the highest RV precision can be reached in the wavelength range 700¿900 nm. Observations at longer wavelengths are equally precise only at the very latest spectral types (M8 and M9). We demonstrate that in this spectroscopic range, the large amount of absorption features compensates for the intrinsic faintness of an M7 star. To reach an RV precision of 1 m s¿1 in very low mass M dwarfs at longer wavelengths likely requires the use of a 10 m class telescope. For spectral types M6 and earlier, the combination of a red visual and a near-infrared spectrograph is ideal to search for low-mass planets and to distinguish between planets and stellar variability. At a 4 m class telescope, an instrument like CARMENES has the potential to push the RV precision well below the typical jitter level of 3-4 m s-1. © ESO 2018., We thank an anonymous referee for prompt attention and helpful comments that helped to improve the quality of this paper. CARMENES is an instrument for the Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman de Calar Alto (CAHA, Almeria, Spain). CARMENES is funded by the German Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), the Spanish Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), the European Union through FEDER/ERF FICTS-2011-02 funds, and the members of the CARMENES Consortium (Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie, Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, Landessternwarte Konigstuhl, Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai, Insitut fur Astrophysik Gottingen, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Thuringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Hamburger Sternwarte, Centro de Astrobiologia and Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman), with additional contributions by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, the German Science Foundation through the Major Research Instrumentation Programme and DFG Research Unit FOR2544 >Blue Planets around Red Stars>, the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, the states of Baden-Wurttemberg and Niedersachsen, and by the Junta de Andalucia. This work has made use of the VALD database, operated at Uppsala University, the Institute of Astronomy RAS in Moscow, and the University of Vienna. We acknowledge the following funding programs: European Research Council (ERC-279347), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (RE 1664/12-1, RE 2694/4-1), Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (BMBF-05A14MG3, BMBF-05A17MG3), Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO, grants AYA2015-68012-C2-2-P, AYA2016-79425-C3-1,2,3-P, AYA2015-69350-C3-2-P, AYA2014-54348-C03-01, AYA2014-56359-P, AYA2014-54348-C3-2R, AYA2016-79425-C3-3-P and 2013 Ramon y Cajal program RYC-2013-14875), Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, grant ESP2016-80435-C2-1-R, ESP2015-65712-C5-5-R), Generalitat de Catalunya/CERCA programme, Spanish Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte, programa de Formacion de Profesorado Universitario (grant FPU15/01476), Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (grants 50OW0204 and 50OO1501), Office of Naval Research Global (award no. N62909-15-1-2011), Mexican CONACyT grant CB-2012-183007.

K2-18 is a nearby M2.5 dwarf, located at 34 pc and hosting a transiting planet that was first discovered by the K2 mission and later confirmed with Spitzer Space Telescope observations. With a radius of ∼2 R and an orbital period of ∼33 days, the planet lies in the temperate zone of its host star and receives stellar irradiation similar to that of Earth. Here we perform radial velocity follow-up observations with the visual channel of CARMENES with the goal of determining the mass and density of the planet. We measure a planetary semi-amplitude of K ∼ 3.5 and a mass of M ∼ 9 M , yielding a bulk density around . This indicates a low-mass planet with a composition consistent with a solid core and a volatile-rich envelope. A signal at 9 days was recently reported using radial velocity measurements taken with the HARPS spectrograph. This was interpreted as being due to a second planet. We see a weaker, time- and wavelength-dependent signal in the CARMENES data set and thus favor stellar activity for its origin. K2-18 b joins the growing group of low-mass planets detected in the temperate zone of M dwarfs. The brightness of the host star in the near-infrared makes the system a good target for detailed atmospheric studies with the James Webb Space Telescope.K2-18 is a nearby M2.5 dwarf, located at 34 pc and hosting a transiting planet that was first discovered by the K2 mission and later confirmed with Spitzer Space Telescope observations. With a radius of similar to 2 R-circle plus and an orbital period of similar to 33 days, the planet lies in the temperate zone of its host star and receives stellar irradiation similar to that of Earth. Here we perform radial velocity follow-up observations with the visual channel of CARMENES with the goal of determining the mass and density of the planet. We measure a planetary semi-amplitude of K-b similar to 3.5 m s(-1). and a mass of M-b similar to 9 M-circle plus, yielding a bulk density around rho(b) similar to 4 g cm(-3). This indicates a low-mass planet with a composition consistent with a solid core and a volatile-rich envelope. A signal at 9 days was recently reported using radial velocity measurements taken with the HARPS spectrograph. This was interpreted as being due to a second planet. We see a weaker, time-and wavelength-dependent signal in the CARMENES data set and thus favor stellar activity for its origin. K2-18 b joins the growing group of low-mass planets detected in the temperate zone of M dwarfs. The brightness of the host star in the near-infrared makes the system a good target for detailed atmospheric studies with the James Webb Space Telescope.© 2018. The American Astronomical Society., CARMENES is an instrument for the Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman de Calar Alto (CAHA, Almeria, Spain). CARMENES is funded by the German Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), the Spanish Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), the European Union through FEDER/ERF FICTS-2011-02 funds, and the members of the CARMENES Consortium (Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie, Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, Landessternwarte Konigstuhl, Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai, Insitut fur Astrophysik Gottingen, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Thuringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Hamburger Sternwarte, Centro de Astrobiologia, and Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman), with additional contributions by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, the German Science Foundation (DFG), the states of Baden-Wurttemberg and Niedersachsen, and the Junta de Andalucia. P.S. would like to thank Christoph Mordasini for his helpful comments on an early draft and Sudeshna Boro-Saikia for her help on calculating the calcium indices of the HARPS data set. I.R. and J.C.M. acknowledge support by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) through grant ESP2016-80435-C2-1-R, as well as the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya/CERCA program. A.P.H. acknowledges the support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) grant HA 3279/11-1. J.A.C., P.J.A. and D.M. acknowledge support by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) from projects AYA2016-79425-C3-1, 2, 3-P. V.J.S.B. is supported by program AYA2015-69350-C3-2-P from Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO). We thank the anonymous referee for useful comments that improved the paper.

The design and construction of CARMENES has been presented at previous SPIE conferences. It is a next-generation radial-velocity instrument at the 3.5m telescope of the Calar Alto Observatory, which was built by a consortium of eleven Spanish and German institutions. CARMENES consists of two separate échelle spectrographs covering the wavelength range from 0.52 to 1.71¿m at a spec-tral resolution of R < 80,000, fed by fibers from the Cassegrain focus of the telescope. CARMENES saw ¿First Light¿ on Nov 9, 2015. During the commissioning and initial operation phases, we established basic performance data such as throughput and spectral resolution. We found that our hollow-cathode lamps are suitable for precise wavelength calibration, but their spectra contain a number of lines of neon or argon that are so bright that the lamps cannot be used in simultaneous exposures with stars. We have therefore adopted a calibration procedure that uses simultaneous star / Fabry Pérot etalon exposures in combination with a cross-calibration between the etalons and hollow-cathode lamps during daytime. With this strategy it has been possible to achieve 1-2 m/s precision in the visible and 5-10 m/s precision in the near-IR; further improvements are expected from ongoing work on temperature control, calibration procedures and data reduction. Comparing the RV precision achieved in different wavelength bands, we find a ¿sweet spot¿ between 0.7 and 0.8¿m, where deep TiO bands provide rich RV information in mid-M dwarfs. This is in contrast to our pre-survey models, which predicted comparatively better performance in the near-IR around 1¿m, and explains in part why our near-IR RVs do not reach the same precision level as those taken with the visible spectrograph. We are now conducting a large survey of 340 nearby M dwarfs (with an average distance of only 12pc), with the goal of finding terrestrial planets in their habitable zones. We have detected the signatures of several previously known or suspected planets and also discovered several new planets. We find that the radial velocity periodograms of many M dwarfs show several significant peaks. The development of robust methods to distinguish planet signatures from activity-induced radial velocity jitter is therefore among our priorities. Due to its large wavelength coverage, the CARMENES survey is generating a unique data set for studies of M star atmospheres, rotation, and activity. The spectra cover important diagnostic lines for activity (H alpha, Na I D1 and D2, and the Ca II infrared triplet), as well as FeH lines, from which the magnetic field can be inferred. Correlating the time series of these features with each other, and with wavelength-dependent radial velocities, provides excellent handles for the discrimination between planetary companions and stellar radial velocity jitter. These data are also generating new insight into the physical properties of M dwarf atmospheres, and the impact of activity and flares on the habitability of M star planets. © 2018 SPIE., CARMENES is an instrument for the Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman de Calar Alto (CAHA, Almeria, Spain). CARMENES is funded by the German Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), the Spanish Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), the European Union through FEDER/ERF FICTS-2011-02 funds, and the members of the CARMENES Consortium (Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie, Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, Landessternwarte Konigstuhl, Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai, Insitut fur Astrophysik Gottingen, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Thuringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Hamburger Sternwarte, Centro de Astrobiologia and Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman), with additional contributions by the Spanish Ministry of Science, the German Science Foundation through the Major Research Instrumentation Program and DFG Research Unit FOR2544 "Blue Planets around Red Stars", the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, the states of Baden-Wurttemberg and Niedersachsen, and by the Junta de Andalucia.

We investigate the kinematics of red clump stars in the Solar Neighbourhood by combining data from TGAS and RAVE to constrain the local dark matter density. After calibrating the absolute magnitude of red clump stars, we characterize their velocity distribution over a radial distance range of $6$-$10$ kpc and up to $1.5$ kpc away from the Galactic plane. We then apply the axisymmetric Jeans equations on subsets representing the thin and thick disks to determine the (local) distribution of mass near the disk of our Galaxy. Our kinematic maps are well-behaved permitting a straightforward local determination of the vertical force, which we find to be $K_z^{\rm thin} = -2454 \pm 619$ and $K_z^{\rm thick} = -2141 \pm 774$ $(\mathrm{km/s})^2 \! /\mathrm{kpc}$ at $1.5$ kpc away from the Galactic plane for the thin and thick disk samples and for thin and thick disk scale heights of 0.28 kpc and 1.12 kpc respectively. These measurements can be translated into a local dark matter density $\rho_\textrm{DM} \sim 0.018 \pm 0.002 M_\odot/\textrm{pc}^3$. The systematic error on this estimate is much larger than the quoted statistical error, since even a 10% difference in the scale height of the thin disk leads to a 30% change in the value of $\rho_\textrm{DM}$, and a nearly equally good fit to the data., Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to A&A

The CARMENES instrument is a pair of high-resolution (R greater than or similar to 80, 000) spectrographs covering the wavelength range from 0.52 to 1.71 mu m, optimized for precise radial velocity measurements. It was installed and commissioned at the 3.5 m telescope of the Calar Alto observatory in Southern Spain in 2015. The first large science program of CARMENES is a survey of similar to 300 M dwarfs, which started on Jan 1, 2016. We present an overview of all subsystems of CARMENES (front end, fiber system, visible-light spectrograph, near-infrared spectrograph, calibration units, etalons, facility control, interlock system, instrument control system, data reduction pipeline, data flow, and archive), and give an overview of the assembly, integration, verification, and commissioning phases of the project. We show initial results and discuss further plans for the scientific use of CARMENES.

CARMENES is a fiber-fed high-resolution Echelle spectrograph for the Calar Alto 3.5m telescope. The instrument is built by a German-Spanish consortium under the lead of the Landessternwarte Heidelberg. The search for planets around M dwarfs with a radial velocity of 1 m/s is the main focus of the planned science. Two channels, one for the visible, another for the near-infrared, will allow observations in the complete wavelength range from 550 to 1700 nm. To ensure the stability, the instrument is working in vacuum in a thermally controlled environment. The VIS channel spectrograph is covering the visible wavelength range from 0.55 to 0.95 μm with a spectral resolution of R=93,400 in a thermally and pressure-wise very stable environment. The VIS channel spectrograph started science operation in January 2016. Here we present the opto-mechanical and system design of the channel with the focus on the (re-)integration phase at the observatory and the measured performance during the testing and commissioning periods, including the lessons learned.

The main goal of the CARMENES instrument is to perform high-accuracy measurements of stellar radial velocities (1 m/s) with long-term stability. CARMENES is installed at the 3.5 m telescope in the Calar Alto Observatory (Spain) and it is equipped with two spectrographs covering from the visible to the near-infrared. We present the software packages that are included in the instrument control layer. The coordination and management of CARMENES is handled by the Instrument Control System (ICS), which is responsible for carrying out the operations of the different subsystems providing a tool to operate the instrument in an integrated manner from low to high user interaction level. The ICS interacts with the following subsystems: the near-infrared (NIR) and visible channels, composed by the detectors and exposure meters; the calibration units; the environment sensors; the front-end electronics; the acquisition and guiding module; the interfaces with telescope and dome; and, finally, the software subsystems for operational scheduling of tasks, data processing, and data archiving. The software control framework and all the software modules and layers for the different subsystems contribute to maximize the scientific return of the instrument. The CARMENES workflow covers from the translation of the survey strategy into a detailed schedule to the data processing routines that extract radial velocity data from the observed targets. The control suite is integrated in the instrument since the end of 2015.

CARMENES, the new Calar Alto spectrograph especially built for radial-velocity surveys of exoearths around M dwarfs, is a very complicated system. For reaching the goal of 1 m/s radial-velocity accuracy, it is appropriate not only to monitor stars with the best observing procedure, but to monitor also the parameters of the CARMENES subsystems and safely store all the engineer and science data. Here we describe the CARMENES data flow from the different subsystems, through the instrument control system and pipeline, to the virtual-observatory data server and astronomers.

The Antares nebula is a peculiar emission nebula seen in numerous Fe II lines and in radio free-free emission, probably associated with the H II region caused by alpha Sco B in the wind of alpha Sco A. High-resolution spectra with spatial resolution were used to study the emission line spectrum, the physical nature of the nebula and to determine the mass-loss rate of the M supergiant alpha Sco A.

We present the SAO 6m telescope spectroscopy of a blue compact galaxy (BCG) HS 2134+0400 discovered in frame of the dedicated Hamburg/SAO survey for Low Metallicity BCGs (HSS-LM). Its very low abundance of oxygen (12+log(O/H) = 7.44), as well as other heavy elements (S, N, Ne, Ar), assigns this dwarf galaxy to the group of BCGs with the lowest metal content. There are only eight that low metallicity among several thousand known BCGs in the nearby Universe. The abundance ratios for the heavy elements (S/O, Ne/O, N/O, and Ar/O) are well consistent with the typical values of other very metal-poor BCGs. The global environment of HS 2134+0400 is atypical of the majority of BCGs. The object falls within the Pegasus void, the large volume with the very low density of galaxies with the normal (M_B* = -19.6) or high luminosity. Since we found in voids a dozen more the very metal-poor galaxies, we discuss the hypothesis that such objects can be representative of a substantial fraction of the void dwarf galaxy population., 6 pages, including 2 tables and 2 postscript figures. Submitted to Astronomy Letters

The Byurakan/Hamburg/ROSAT Catalogue (BHRC) of the optical identifications of X-ray sources is presented. The BHRC includes all 2791 sources from the ROSAT-FSC with $|b|\ge30\degr$, $\delta\ge0\degr$ and ROSAT count rate $CR>0.04$ cts s -1 . For the optical identifications, we used the Hamburg Quasar Survey (HQS) digitized spectroscopic plates, the DSS1 and DSS2 (blue, red, and IR) images, the MAPS photometric data, the USNO-B1.0 (for proper motions), the NVSS and FIRST radio, and the IRAS and 2MASS infrared catalogues. From the DSS images we obtained positional, brightness, color, extension, variability, proper motion information, and measured the optical-to-X-ray distance. Based on the DSS images, a morphological classification was made. Available SIMBAD and NED data were used as well. Cross-correlations were made with AGN, white dwarf, and cataclysmic variable catalogues (322/8/7 associations, respectively). We managed to identify 97% of sources (2696 sources) that are associated with 3202 optical objects. 2248 X-ray sources have a single optical counterpart, 144 have a double or multiple optical counterpart (binaries, galaxy groups etc.), and 304 have ambiguous identifications. We find that some of the latest might actually be blends of two X-ray sources that were not resolved by ROSAT. The QSOs and AGN represent the largest group of X-ray counterparts (56.2%); bright stars (including late type stars, but excluding WDs and CVs) are counterparts for 33.2% of sources, and the bright galaxies and groups of galaxies comprise 9.2%. We found a number of close galaxy pairs (possibly interacting/merging galaxies) that are counterparts for X-ray sources (3.0%), as well as 1.0% WDs and 0.4% CVs. The BHRC may be used for selection and for studies of samples of various classes of X-ray emitters.

We present time-resolved optical spectroscopy and photometry of four relatively bright (V~14.0-15.5) long-period cataclysmic variables (CVs) discovered in the Hamburg Quasar Survey: HS0139+0559, HS0229+8016, HS0506+7725 and HS0642+5049. Their respective orbital periods, 243.69+-0.49min, 232.550+-0.049min, 212.7+-0.2min and 225.90+-0.23min are determined from radial velocity and photometric variability studies. HS0506+7725 is characterised by strong Balmer and He emission lines, short-period (~10-20min) flickering and weak X-ray emission in the ROSAT All Sky Survey. The detection of a deep low state (~18.5) identifies HS0506+7725 as a member of the VY Scl stars. HS0139+0559, HS0229+8016 and HS0642+5049 display thick-disc like spectra and no or only weak flickering activity. HS0139+0559 and HS0229+8016 exhibit clean quasi-sinusoidal radial velocity varations of their emission lines but no or very little orbital photometric variability. In contrast, we detect no radial velocity variation in HS0642+5049 but a noticeable orbital brightness variation. We identify all three systems either as UX UMa-type novalike variables or as Z Cam-type dwarf novae. Our identification of these four new systems underlines that the currently known sample of CVs is rather incomplete even for bright objects. The four new systems add to the clustering of orbital periods in the 3-4h range found in the sample of HQS selected CVs, and we discuss the large incidence of magnetic CVs and VY Scl/SW Sex stars found in this period range among the known population of CVs., 12 pages, 17 figures, Astronomy and Astrophysics in press, low-quality figures to comply with astro-ph size limit

We present time-resolved optical spectroscopy and photometry, and far-ultraviolet spectroscopy of HS 0728+6738, a cataclysmic variable discovered in the Hamburg Quasar Survey. We show that the system is a new eclipsing member of the SW Sex class of CVs with an orbital period of 3.21 hours. We derive an orbital inclination of ~85 +- 4 degrees from the average eclipse profile, making HS 0728+6738 the highest inclination SW Sex star known. The optical and far-ultraviolet emission lines are not or only weakly occulted during the eclipse, indicating the presence of line-emission sites either far outside the Roche lobe of the primary or, more likely, above the orbital plane of the binary. The photometric light curves exhibit fast variability with a period of \~7 min, which might be related to the spin of the white dwarf., Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

We present the Hamburg/RASS Catalogue (HRC) of optical identifications of X-ray sources at high-galactic latitude. The HRC includes all X-ray sources from the ROSAT Bright Source Catalogue (RASS-BSC) with galactic latitude |b| >= 30 degr and declination delta >= 0 degr. In this part of the sky covering ~10 000 deg^2 the RASS-BSC contains 5341 X-ray sources. For the optical identification we used blue Schmidt prism and direct plates taken for the northern hemisphere Hamburg Quasar Survey (HQS) which are now available in digitized form. The limiting magnitudes are 18.5 and 20, respectively. For 82% of the selected RASS-BSC an identification could be given. For the rest either no counterpart was visible in the error circle or a plausible identification was not possible. With ~42% AGN represent the largest group of X-ray emitters, \~31% have a stellar counterpart, whereas galaxies and cluster of galaxies comprise only ~4% and ~5%, respectively. In ~3% of the RASS-BSC sources no object was visible on our blue direct plates within 40 arcsec around the X-ray source position. The catalogue is used as a source for the selection of (nearly) complete samples of the various classes of X-ray emitters., 20 pages, 23 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

This paper gives an overview of the CARMENES instrument and of the survey that will be carried out with it during the first years of operation. CARMENES (Calar Alto high-Resolution search for M dwarfs with Exoearths with Near-infrared and optical Echelle Spectrographs) is a next-generation radial-velocity instrument under construction for the 3.5m telescope at the Calar Alto Observatory by a consortium of eleven Spanish and German institutions. The scientific goal of the project is conducting a 600-night exoplanet survey targeting ∽ 300 M dwarfs with the completed instrument. The CARMENES instrument consists of two separate echelle spectrographs covering the wavelength range from 0.55 to 1.7 μm at a spectral resolution of R = 82,000, fed by fibers from the Cassegrain focus of the telescope. The spectrographs are housed in vacuum tanks providing the temperature-stabilized environments necessary to enable a 1 m/s radial velocity precision employing a simultaneous calibration with an emission-line lamp or with a Fabry-Perot etalon. For mid-M to late-M spectral types, the wavelength range around 1.0 μm (γ band) is the most important wavelength region for radial velocity work. Therefore, the efficiency of CARMENES has been optimized in this range. The CARMENES instrument consists of two spectrographs, one equipped with a 4k x 4k pixel CCD for the range 0.55 -1.05 μm, and one with two 2k x 2k pixel HgCdTe detectors for the range from 0.95 -1.7 μm. Each spectrograph will be coupled to the 3.5m telescope with two optical fibers, one for the target, and one for calibration light. The front end contains a dichroic beam splitter and an atmospheric dispersion corrector, to feed the light into the fibers leading to the spectrographs. Guiding is performed with a separate camera; on-axis as well as off-axis guiding modes are implemented. Fibers with octagonal cross-section are employed to ensure good stability of the output in the presence of residual guiding errors. The fibers are continually actuated to reduce modal noise. The spectrographs are mounted on benches inside vacuum tanks located in the coude laboratory of the 3.5m dome. Each vacuum tank is equipped with a temperature stabilization system capable of keeping the temperature constant to within ±0.01ºC over 24 hours. The visible-light spectrograph will be operated near room temperature, while the near-IR spectrograph will be cooled to ∽ 140 K. The CARMENES instrument passed its final design review in February 2013. The MAIV phase is currently ongoing. First tests at the telescope are scheduled for early 2015. Completion of the full instrument is planned for the fall of 2015. At least 600 useable nights have been allocated at the Calar Alto 3.5m Telescope for the CARMENES survey in the time frame until 2018. A data base of M stars (dubbed CARMENCITA) has been compiled from which the CARMENES sample can be selected. CARMENCITA contains information on all relevant properties of the potential targets. Dedicated imaging, photometric, and spectroscopic observations are underway to provide crucial data on these stars that are not available in the literature.

STIS Echelle observations at a resolution of 10 km/s and UVES/VLT spectroscopy at a resolution of 7 km/s of the luminous QSO HE 0515-4414 (z_em = 1.73, B = 15.0) reveal four intervening O VI absorption systems in the redshift range 1.2 < z_abs < 1.7 (1.38503, 1.41601, 1.60175, 1.67359). In addition two associated systems at z = 1.69707 and z = 1.73585 are present. For the first time high resolution observations allow to measure radial velocities of H I, C IV and O VI simultaneously in several absorption systems (1.385, 1.674, 1.697) with the result that significant velocity differences (up to 18 km/s) are observed between H I and O VI, while smaller differences (up to 5 km/s) are seen between C IV and O VI. We tentatively conclude that H I, O VI, and C IV are not formed in the same volumes and that therefore implications on ionization mechanisms are not possible from observed column density ratios O VI/H I or O VI/C IV. The number density of O VI absorbers with W_rest > 25 mA is dN/dz < 10, roughly a factor of 5 less than what has been found by Tripp at al. (2000) at low redshift. An estimate of the cosmological mass-density of the O VI-phase yields Omega_b(O VI) = 0.0003 h^{-1}_{75} for [O/H] = -1 and an assumed ionization fraction O VI/O = 0.2. This corresponds to an increase by roughly a factor of 15 between z = 1.5 (this work) and the value found by Tripp et al. (2000) at z = 0.21, if the same oxygen abundance [O/H] = -1 is assumed. Agreement with the simulations by Dave et al. (2001) can be obtained, if the oxygen abundance increases by a factor of 3 over the same redshift interval., Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in A&A

We present the second part of the Hamburg/SAO Survey for Emission-Line Galaxies (HSS therein, SAO – Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russia) which is based on the digitized objective-prism photoplates database of the Hamburg Quasar Survey (HQS). The main goal of the project is the search for emission-line galaxies (ELG) in order to create a new deep sample of blue compact/Hii galaxies (BCG) in a large sky area. Another important goal of this work is to search for new extremely low-metallicity galaxies. In this paper we present new results of spectroscopy obtained with the 6 m Russian telescope. The main ELG candidate selection criteria applied are blue or flat enough continuum (near λ4000 A) and the presence of strong or moderate [Oiii]λλ4959, 5007 A emission lines recognized on digitized prism spectra of galaxies with the survey estimated B-magnitudes in the range 16 − 19. 5. No other criteria were applied. The spectroscopy resulted in detection and quantitative spectral classification of 134 emission-line objects. For 121 of them the redshifts are determined for the first time. For 13 ELGs known before emission line ratios are presented at first time. 108 of 134 emission-line objects are classified as BCG/Hii galaxies and probable BCGs, 6 – as QSOs, 1 – as Seyfert galaxy, 1 – as super-association in a dwarf spiral galaxy, 2 – as probable LINERs, 14 are low excitation objects – either of starburst nuclei (SBN), or dwarf amorphous nuclei Send offprint requests to: sap@sao.ru ? Deceased September 22, 1996. 1 Tables 2 to 6 are only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html. Figures A1 to A13 will be made available only in the electronic version of the journal. Appendix A is only available at http://www.edpsciences.com starburst galaxy (DANS) type, and 2 – nonclassified. 23 galaxies did not show significant emission lines. The five most metal-deficient BCGs discovered have oxygen abundances log(O/H)+12 in the range 7.4 to 7.7, similar to the most metal-deficient BCGs known before.

The lattice-Boltzmann method is a technique for simulating the time-dependent motions of a simple fluid. Introducing rigid particles and imposing the correct boundary conditions at the solid/fluid interface allows the many-body, time-dependent hydrodynamic interactions between particles to be computed. Rather than simulating truly solid particles, a computationally convenient method for doing this uses hollow objects filled with the model fluid. We propose a simple modification of this “internal fluid” method. For computational convenience our method keeps the fluid inside the object. Its behaviour is modified, however, in such a way that it does not perturb the dynamics of the particle. The equations of motion for the solid particles are then modified in such a way that the microscopic conservation laws for mass and momentum are satisfied. Comparing both the time-dependent (rotational and translational) motion of an isolated spherical particle and the viscosity of a concentrated suspension of hard spheres against known results for solid particles, we examine artifacts attributable to the “internal” fluid. Using our modified approach, we show that these artifacts are no longer present and the behaviour of truly solid particles is recovered.

We present the second part of the Hamburg/SAO Survey for Emission-Line Galaxies (HSS therein, SAO – Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russia) which is based on the digitized objective-prism photoplates database of the Hamburg Quasar Survey (HQS). The main goal of the project is the search for emission-line galaxies (ELG) in order to create a new deep sample of blue compact/Hii galaxies (BCG) in a large sky area. Another important goal of this work is to search for new extremely low-metallicity galaxies. In this paper we present new results of spectroscopy obtained with the 6 m Russian telescope. The main ELG candidate selection criteria applied are blue or flat enough continuum (near λ 4000 A) and the presence of strong or moderate [Oiii] 4959, 5007 A emission lines recognized on digitized prism spectra of galaxies with the survey estimated B -magnitudes in the range . No other criteria were applied. The spectroscopy resulted in detection and quantitative spectral classification of 134 emission-line objects. For 121 of them the redshifts are determined for the first time. For 13 ELGs known before emission line ratios are presented at first time. 108 of 134 emission-line objects are classified as BCG/Hii galaxies and probable BCGs, 6 – as QSOs, 1 – as Seyfert galaxy, 1 – as super-association in a dwarf spiral galaxy, 2 – as probable LINERs, 14 are low excitation objects – either of starburst nuclei (SBN), or dwarf amorphous nuclei starburst galaxy (DANS) type, and 2 – nonclassified. 23 galaxies did not show significant emission lines. The five most metal-deficient BCGs discovered have oxygen abundances log(O/H)+12 in the range 7.4 to 7.7, similar to the most metal-deficient BCGs known before.

We present rst results 1 of the Hamburg/SAO Survey for Emission-Line Galaxies (HSS therein, SAO { Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russia) which is based on the digitized objective-prism photoplates database of the Hamburg Quasar Survey (HQS). The main goal of this survey is the search for emission-line galaxies (ELG) in order to create a new deep sample of blue compact galax- ies (BCG) in a large sky area. Another important goal of this work is to search for new extremely low-metallicity galaxies. We present the rst results of spectroscopy ob- tained with the 2.2 m telescope at the German-Spanish Observatory at Calar Alto, and with the 6 m telescope at the Russian Special Astrophysical Observatory. The primary ELG candidate selection criteria applied were a blue continuum (near 4000 A) and the presence of emission lines close to 5000 A recognized on digitized prism spectra of galaxies with magnitudes in the range B =1 6 : 0 19: m 5. The spectroscopy resulted in the de- tection or/and quantitative spectral classication of 74 emission-line objects. Of them 55 are newly discovered, and 19 were already known as galaxies before. 11 of the latter have redshifts and are known ELGs. For most of the known galaxies emission line ratios were measured for the rst time and an improved classication is pre- sented. 47 objects are classied as BCGs, one as Sy2 galaxy, six as possible LINERs, and four as new QSOs.

We present a further list of 274 bright QSOs, 106 (195) of which have (17.5), selected semiautomatically from objective prism plates taken with the Calar Alto 80 cm Schmidt telescope. All QSOs have been confirmed by follow-up spectroscopy and we display their flux-calibrated spectra. We also discuss the completeness of our search technique and demonstrate that for and we have been able to recover roughly 85% of known QSOs; 10% were lost due to overlaps while 5% were lost during the selection process. In particular the bright QSOs (17 with ) are potential targets for follow-up spectroscopy both at high-resolution from the ground and in the ultraviolet from space.

We study a dense solution of an amphiphilic species using the dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) algorithm, focussing on the smectic mesophase. Since DPD is locally momentum-conserving, it gives at large length scales a faithful representation of the isothermal hydrodynamics of the system. Results are presented for the phase diagram of a minimal amphiphile model, consisting of rigid AB dimers in a solution of C monomers, for the coarsening dynamics of a polydomain smectic phase, and for the formation of a monodomain smectic when shear is applied.

We have computed the rotational diffusion coefficient for a suspension of hard spheres. We find excellent agreement with experimental results over a density range up to, and including, the colloidal crystal. However, we find that theories derived to second order in the volume fraction overestimate the rotational diffusion coefficient for volume fractions exceeding 25%. To investigate the sensitivity of the rotational diffusion coefficient to the pair distribution function we also consider a perfect FCC crystal with negligible thermal motion. We show that, in line with theoretical predictions, the first term in the expansion of the rotational diffusion coefficient in powers of the volume fraction becomes quadratic. Relative to the random distribution, the rotational diffusion coefficient in this case is significantly larger. By studying the decay of angular velocity fluctuations, we examined the time dependence of the rotational diffusion coefficient. We find that for rotation the situation is similar to that reported for translation. The suspension behaves like an “effective fluid”, i.e. the rotational dynamics of a particle in the suspension can be described by the isolated particle result, but with the suspension viscosity replacing the fluid viscosity. As with translation, this picture only holds for times long compared to the time it takes transverse momentum to diffuse over a distance of the order of a particle radius.

We present a second list of emission-line galaxies (ELGs) discovered during our survey of nearby voids. The project aims to answer the question of whether the giant galaxies are fair tracers of the large scale structure and whether the voids are really empty. This paper is the third of a series of papers dedicated to this project. The survey was based on a sample selected from the HQS (Hamburg Quasar Survey) - IIIa-J digitised objective prism plates and the main selection criteria was the presence of emission-lines, mainly of the [OIII] 5007 line. Positions, heliocentric redshifts, detected emission-lines and finding charts are provided for ELGs in a region North of the Coma Supercluster, , centred around . Most of the galaxies presented here are from the extreme faint candidates, close to the detection limit of the photographic plates. Brighter galaxies detected among the candidates of the same region were discussed in Popescu et al. (1996) (Paper I). A few redshifts of other emission line galaxies observed since the publication of Paper I are also included; in total, we present new redshifts for a total of 47 galaxies.

The Hamburg Quasar Survey is a wide-angle objective prism survey for finding bright QSOs in the northern extragalactic sky ($|b| > 20^{\circ}$; $\delta > 0^{\circ}$). The taking of the prism plates for 567 fields covering this area was completed in 1997. Including direct plates for fields with $\delta > 20^{\circ}$ the plate archive contains now 1871 plates. In this paper we present a first list of 121 quasars, which were verified by slit spectroscopy in the years 1986-1991, while experiments to develop efficient selection techniques were made. The sample contains objects with brightnesses $15\leq B \leq 19.5$ and redshifts $z\leq 2.8$ collected over various parts of the sky, for which objective prism plates were available at that time.

(Abridged) Aims. To probe the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the ionizing background radiation at z ~ 2 and to specify the sources contributing to the intergalactic radiation field. Methods. The spectrum of a bright quasar HS1103+6416 (zem = 2.19) contains five successive metal-line absorption systems at zabs = 1.1923, 1.7193, 1.8873, 1.8916, and 1.9410. The systems are optically thin and reveal multiple lines of different metal ions with the ionization potentials lying in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) range (1 Ryd to 0.2 keV). For each system, the EUV SED of the underlying ionization field is reconstructed by means of a special technique developed for solving the inverse problem in spectroscopy. For the zabs = 1.8916 system, the analysis also involves the HeI resonance lines of the Lyman series and the HeI 504 A continuum, which are seen for the first time in any cosmic object except the Sun. Results. From one system to another, the SED of the ionizing continuum changes significantly, indicating that the intergalactic ionization field at z ~ 2 fluctuates at the scale of at least Delta_z ~ 0.004. This is consistent with Delta_z ~ 0.01 estimated from HeII and HI Lyman-alpha forest measurements between the redshifts 2 and 3., 29 pages, 18 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in A\&A

We compute the stress autocorrelation function in a two- and three-dimensional system by using the lattice-Boltzmann method. The algebraic long-time behavior ∼t-d/2 in the stress correlation function is clearly observed. The amplitude of this tail is compared with the mode-coupling expression for the long-time tail in the stress correlation function. Agreement is found between the mode-coupling theory and simulation in both two and three dimensions.

The overall purpose of the CARMENES instrument is to perform high-precision measurements of radial velocities of late-type stars with long-term stability. CARMENES will be installed in 2014 at the 3.5 m telescope in the German- Spanish Astronomical Center at Calar Alto observatory (CAHA, Spain) and will be equipped with two spectrographs in the near-infrared and visible windows. The technology involved in such instrument represents a challenge at all levels. The instrument coordination and management is handled by the Instrument Control System (ICS), which is responsible of carrying out the operations of the different subsystems and providing a tool to operate the instrument from low to high user interaction level. The main goal of the ICS and the CARMENES control layer architecture is to maximize the instrument efficiency by reducing time overheads and by operating it in an integrated manner. The ICS implements the CARMENES operational design. A description of the ICS architecture and the application programming interfaces for low- and high-level communication is given. Internet Communications Engine is the technology selected to implement most of the interface protocols.

In their paper, Cichocki and Felderhof re-analyse our numerical data for the angular velocity autocorrelation function (AVACF), CR(t), for colloidal hard spheres [1] in a concentrated suspension. They treat the normalized correlation function as a response function R(), where =t=M and M is the integral over all times of the normalized AVACF. For a single colloidal sphere, the Laplace transform of R() can be calculated analytically [2]. The denominator can be written in terms of the transform variable and the inverse of a polynomial involving the square root of the transform variable. In the time domain, the latter gives rise to the long time behaviour of the correlation function. Cichocki and Felderhof make the ad hoc approximation that, in a suspension, the Laplace transform of the AVACF takes a similar form. However, the inverse polynomial is replaced by the ratio of two polynomials whose coecients are treated as adjustable parameters. They determine these parameters by tting to our numerical data. At zero frequency their relaxation function is constructed to have a value of unity. In the time domain, this means that the integral over time of their t is constrained to be equal to M. Their tting procedure therefore requires a value for M as input. This value can nonetheless be calculated from the numerical data. Having carried out this procedure, Cichocki and Felderhof’s t appears rather poor at short times (t

Context. We present time-resolved spectroscopy and photometry of HS 0218+3229, a new long-period cataclysmic variable discovered within the Hamburg Quasar Survey. It is one of the few systems that allow a dynamical measurement of the masses of the stellar components. Aims. We combine the analysis of time-resolved optical spectroscopy and R-band photometry with the aim of measuring the mass of the white dwarf and the donor star and the orbital inclination. Methods. Cross-correlation of the spectra with K-type dwarf templates is used to derive the radial velocity curve of the donor star. An optimal subtraction of the broadened templates is performed to measure the rotational broadening and constrain the spectral type of the donor. Finally, an ellipsoidal model is fitted to the R-band light curve to obtain constraints upon the orbital inclination of the binary system. Results. The orbital period of HS 0218+3229 is found to be 0.297229661 +- 0.000000001 d (7.13351186 +- 0.00000002 h), and the amplitude of the donor's radial velocity curve is K2 = 162.4 +- 1.4 km/s. Modelling the ellipsoidal light curves gives an orbital inclination in the range i = 59 +- 3 deg. A rotational broadening between 82.4 +- 1.2 km/s and 89.4 +- 1.3 km/s is found when assuming zero and continuum limb darkening, respectively. The secondary star has most likely a spectral type K5 and contributes ~ 80-85% to the R-band light. Our analysis yields a mass ratio of 0.52 < q < 0.65, a white dwarf mass of 0.44 < M1(Msol) < 0.65, and a donor star mass of 0.23 < M2(Msol) < 0.44. Conclusions. We find that the donor star in HS 0218+3229 is significantly undermassive for its spectral type. It is therefore very likely that it has undergone nuclear evolution prior to the onset of mass transfer., 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

The Hamburg Robotic Telescope (HRT) is a fully automatic 1.2m telescope designed for high resolution spectroscopy of active stars. It uses the Heidelberg Extended Range Optical Spectrograph (HEROS) which is fed by a 50μm fiber connected to the Nasmyth focus of the telescope through an adapter. Here we present the software that controls the whole system of the HRT. This software works both in fully automatic and interactive mode. It organizes the interaction between the Central Control System (CCS: the core of the system) and the subsystems: building, telescope, spectrograph, adapter, environmental sensors (weather station and sky monitor) and scheduler. The CCS performs its operation by sending commands (ASCII messages through TCP/IP sockets) to the different subsystems. The robotic operation is divided into discrete procedures, such as "Initialization", "Observation" or "Calibration". Each procedure consists of a set of commands which will be carried out (sequentially or even in parallel) if a set of conditions is met: e.g. only when one command is successfully accomplished, the next will be sent. Furthermore, the Error Handler takes the necessary actions when a problem inhibits the normal progress of the observation (e.g. bad weather, non-detection of the target or technical problems. The scheduler selects the target from a primary list in a manner which combines the scientific priority with observational feasibility and the history of observations. Finally, we present the Automatic Reduction Pipeline developed on the basis of REDUCE, an IDL reduction package, to obtain the final spectrum from the raw data.

The algebraic long time tail of the stress correlation function is observed in a simple lattice Boltzmann model. The amplitude of this tail is compared with the mode coupling expression for the long time tail in the stress correlation function. Agreement is found between mode coupling theory and simulation in both two and three dimensions.

We present time-series optical photometry of five new cataclysmic variables (CVs) identified by the Hamburg Quasar Survey (HQS). The deep eclipses observed in HS 0129+2933 (= TT Tri), HS 0220+0603 and HS 0455+8315 provided very accurate orbital periods of 3.35129827(65), 3.58098501(34) and 3.56937674(26) h, respectively. HS 0805+3822 shows grazing eclipses and has a likely orbital period of 3.2169(2) h. Time-resolved optical spectroscopy of the new CVs (with the exception of HS 0805+3822) is also presented. Radial velocity studies of the Balmer emission lines provided an orbital period of 3.55 h for HS 1813+6122, which allowed us to identify the observed photometric signal at 3.39 h as a negative superhump wave. The spectroscopic behaviour exhibited by all the systems clearly identifies them as new SW Sextantis (SW Sex) stars. HS 0220+0603 shows unusual N ii and Si ii emission lines suggesting that the donor star may have experienced nuclear evolution via the CNO cycle. These five new additions to the class increase the number of known SW Sex stars to 35. Almost 40 per cent of the total SW Sex population do not show eclipses, invalidating the requirement of eclipses as a defining characteristic of the class and the models based on a high orbital inclination geometry alone. On the other hand, as more SW Sex stars are identified, the predominance of orbital periods in the narrow 3–4.5 h range is becoming more pronounced. In fact, almost half the CVs which populate the 3–4.5 h period interval are definite members of the class. The dominance of SW Sex stars is even stronger in the 2–3 h period gap, where they make up 55 per cent of all known gap CVs. These statistics are confirmed by our results from the HQS CVs. Remarkably, 54 per cent of the Hamburg nova-like variables have been identified as SW Sex stars with orbital periods in the 3–4.5 h range. The observation of this pile-up of systems close to the upper boundary of the period gap is difficult to reconcile with the standard theory of CV evolution, as the SW Sex stars are believed to have the highest mass-transfer rates among CVs. Finally, we review the full range of common properties that the SW Sex stars exhibit. Only a comprehensive study of this rich phenomenology will prompt to a full understanding of the phenomenon and its impact on the evolution of CVs and the accretion processes in compact binaries in general.

We report the discovery of a new white dwarf/M dwarf binary, HS1857+5144, identified in the Hamburg Quasar Survey (HQS). Time-resolved optical spectroscopy and photometry were carried out to determine the properties of this new cataclysmic variable progenitor pre-CV). The light curves of HS1857+5144 display a sinusoidal variation with a period of Porb=383.52 min and peak-to-peak amplitudes of 0.7 mag and 1.1 mag in the B-band and R-band, respectively. The large amplitude of the brightness variation results from a reflection effect on the heated inner hemisphere of the companion star, suggesting a very high temperature of the white dwarf. Our radial velocity study confirms the photometric period as the orbital period of the system. A model atmosphere fit to the spectrum of the white dwarf obtained at minimum light provides limits to its mass and temperature of Mwd=~0.6-1.0 Msun and Twd=~70000-100000 K, respectively. The detection of HeII 4686 absorption classifies the primary star of HS1857+5144 as a DAO white dwarf. Combining the results from our spectroscopy and photometry, we estimate the mass of the companion star and the binary inclination to be Msec=~0.15-0.30 Msun and i=~45-55 deg, respectively. We classify HS1857+5144 as one of the youngest pre-CV known to date. The cooling age of the white dwarf suggests that the present system has just emerged from a common envelope phase ~10^5 yr ago. HS1857+5144 will start mass transfer within or below the 2-3h period gap., accepted for publication in A&A, 10 pages, 9 figures

We report the discovery of five new dwarf novae from the Hamburg Quasar Survey (HQS), and discuss the properties of the sample of dwarf novae in the HQS. The orbital periods of the new dwarf novae are ~105.1 min or ~109.9 min, 114.3+-2.7 min, 92.66+-0.17 min, 272.317+-0.001 min, 258.02+-0.56 min for HS0417+7445, HS1016+3412, HS1340+1524, HS1857+7127, and HS2214+2845, respectively. HS1857+7127 is found to be partially eclipsing. In HS2214+2845 the secondary star of spectral type M3+-1 is clearly detected, and we estimate the distance to the system to be d=390+-40 pc. We recorded one superoutburst of the SU UMa system HS0417+7445. HS1016+3412 and HS1340+1524 have rare outbursts, and their subtype is yet undetermined. HS1857+7127 frequently varies in brightness and may be a Z Cam-type dwarf nova. HS2214+2845 is a U Gem-type dwarf nova with a most likely cycle length of 71 d. To date, 14 new dwarf novae have been identified in the HQS. The ratio of short-period (3 h) systems of this sample is 1.3, much smaller compared to the ratio of 2.7 found for all known dwarf novae. The HQS dwarf novae display typically infrequent or low-amplitude outburst activity, underlining the strength of spectroscopic selection in identifying new CVs independently of their variability. The spectroscopic properties of short-period CVs in the HQS suggest that most of them are still evolving towards the minimum period. Their total number agrees with the predictions of population models within an order of magnitude. However, the bulk of all CVs is predicted to have evolved past the minimum period, and those systems remain unidentified. Those post-bounce systems may have markedly weaker Hbeta emission lines compared to the average known short-period CVs, and probably undergo no or extremely rare outbursts., accepted for publication in A&A, 17 pages, 18 figures, low-quality figures to comply with astro-ph size limit

We report on a large survey for double degenerate (DD) binaries as potential progenitors of type Ia supernovae with the UVES spectrograph at the ESO VLT (SN Ia Progenitor surveY - SPY). About 560 white dwarfs were checked for radial velocity variations until now. Ninety new DDs have been discovered, including short period systems with masses close to the Chandrasekhar mass.

We report the discovery of a further line of sight allowing detection of HeII Ly alpha absorption by the intergalactic medium. A HST/STIS survey of 32 bright z ~ 3 quasars selected from the Hamburg Quasar Surveys yielded one detection toward QSO 1157+3143 (z ~ 3, B ~ 17). A 10 orbit follow-up spectrum reveals a UV spectrum significantly supressed by two intervening Lyman limit systems at z=2.77 and 2.94, but with the continuum flux recovering sufficiently shortward of ~ 1700 A to allow study of the HeII absorption spectrum in the redshift range 2.75 < z < 2.97. The absorption is characterized by alternating voids and dense filament structures seen in both HeII and HI. Attempts to model the HeII opacity in terms of HI Ly alpha forest absorption are not successful in the voids, suggesting that HeII reionization is not complete between z=2.77 and 2.97 or that an optically thin Lyman limit system with z ~ 0.3 is responsible for the additional opacity., 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted by A&A

We have identified a new intermediate polar, HS 0943+1404, as part of our ongoing search for cataclysmic variables in the Hamburg Quasar Survey. The orbital and white dwarf spin periods determined from time-resolved photometry and spectroscopy are Porb ~= 250 min and Pspin = 69.171 +- 0.001 min, respectively. The combination of a large ratio Pspin/Porb ~= 0.3 and a long orbital period is very unusual compared to the other known intermediate polars. The magnetic moment of the white dwarf is estimated to be mu1 ~ 10^{34} G cm^3, which is in the typical range of polars. Our extensive photometry shows that HS 0943+1404 enters into deep (~ 3 mag) low states, which are also a characteristic feature of polars. We therefore suggest that the system is a true ``intermediate'' polar that will eventually synchronise, that is, a transitional object between intermediate polars and polars. The optical spectrum of HS 0943+1404 also exhibits a number of unusual emission lines, most noticeably NII 5680, which is likely to reflect enhanced nitrogen abundances in the envelope of the secondary., LaTeX, 10 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

We report on the first observations of variations in UV (intrinsic EUV 330 A) flux of the luminous QSO HS 1700+6416 (z=2.72) over a decade. The amplitude of variations increases from +/-0.1 mag in the optical (R) to up to a factor of 3 at 1250 A. This is apparently an extension of the increase in amplitude of variations towards shorter wavelengths observed with IUE in low z AGN (Paltani & Courvoisier, 1996) to the EUV. The time-scale for variations with the largest amplitudes is >= 1/2 yr to years. We briefly discuss the consequences of the observed variations on the ionizing metagalactic UV background., 4 pages, 3 figures

We present the sixth list with results of the Hamburg/SAO Survey for Emission-Line Galaxies. The final list resulted from follow-up spectroscopy conducted with the 4.5m MMT telescope in 1996, and with 2.2m CAHA and 6m SAO telescopes in 2000 to 2003. The data of this snap-shot spectroscopy survey confirmed 134 emission-line objects out of 182 observed candidates and allowed their quantitative spectral classification and redshift determination. We classify 73 emission-line objects as definite or probable blue compact or HII galaxies (BCG), 8 as QSOs, 4 as Seyfert 1 and 2 galaxies. 30 low-excitation objects were classified as definite or probable starburst nuclei (SBN), 3 as dwarf amorphous nuclei starburst galaxies (DANS) and 2 as LINERs. Due to the low signal-to-noise ratio we could not classify 14 ELGs (NON). For another 9 galaxies we did not detect any significant emission lines. For 98 emission-line galaxies, the redshifts and/or line intensities are determined for the first time. For the remaining 28 previously-known ELGs we give either improved data the line intensities or some independent measurements. The detection rate of ELGs is ~70%. This paper completes the classification of strong-lined ELGs found in the zone of the Hamburg/SAO survey. Together with previously known BCG/HII galaxies in this zone, this sample of ~500 objects is the largest to date in a well bound region., Comment: 18 pages, including 8 tables and 1 figure. Plots of the spectra of 126 ELGs are in a separate 13-page Appendix. Accepted for publication in Astron.Astrophys. Full paper with full-resolution figures is available at http://www.eso.org/~akniazev

We report follow-up observations of a new white dwarf/red dwarf binary HS2237+8154, identified as a blue variable star from the Hamburg Quasar Survey. Ellipsoidal modulation observed in the R band as well as the Halpha radial velocity variations measured from time-resolved spectroscopy determine the orbital period to be Porb=178.10+-0.08min. The optical spectrum of HS2237+8154 is well described by a combination of a Teff=11500+-1500K white dwarf (assuming log g=8) and a dM3.5+-0.5 secondary star. The distance implied from the flux scaling factors of both stellar components is d=105+-25pc. Combining the constraints obtained from the radial velocity of the secondary and from the ellipsoidal modulation, we derive a binary inclination of i~50deg-70deg and stellar masses of Mwd=0.47-0.67Msun and Msec=0.2-0.4Msun. All observations imply that the secondary star must be nearly Roche-lobe filling. Consequently, HS2237+8154 may be either a pre-cataclysmic variable close to the start of mass transfer, or (considering its orbital period) a cataclysmic variable that terminated mass transfer and entered the period gap, or a hibernating nova., Accepted for publication in A&A, 6 pages