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We present a refined speckle-interferometric orbit of a binary system $\mu$ Cet, with the main component studied based on the analysis of photometric and spectroscopic data, obtained at the SAO RAS 6-m telescope. The object was initially classified as a giant with chemical composition anomalies. As a result of our analysis, we conclude that the star belongs to the Main Sequence, to the class of non-peculiar stars. Analysis of photometric data from the TESS mission indicates that the main component of the system belongs to the $\gamma$ Dor pulsators., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Bulletin

The TESS light curve of the silicon Ap star MX TrA was modelled using the observational surface distribution of silicon, iron, helium, and chromium obtained previously with the Doppler Imaging technique. The theoretical light curve was calculated using a grid of synthetic fluxes from line-by-line stellar atmosphere models with individual chemical abundances. The observational TESS light curve was fitted by synthetic one with an accuracy better than 0.001~mag. The influence of Si and Fe abundance stratification on the amplitude of variability was estimated. Also the wavelength dependence of the photometric amplitude and phase of the maximum light was modelled showing the typical for Ap Si stars behaviour with increased amplitude and anti-phase variability in far ultraviolet caused by the flux redistribution., Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures

We present chemical composition and fundamental parameters (the effective temperature, surface gravity and radius) for four sharp-lined A-type stars ${\gamma}$ Gem (HD 41705), o Peg (HD 214994), ${\theta}$ Vir (HD 114330) and ${\nu}$ Cap (HD 193432). Our analysis is based on a self-consistent model fitting of high-resolution spectra and spectrophotometric observations over a wide wavelength range. We refined the fundamental parameters of the stars with the SME package and verified their accuracy by comparing with the spectral energy distribution and hydrogen line profiles. We found Teff/log g = 9190+/-130 K/3.56+/-0.08, 9600+/-50 K/3.81+/-0.04, 9600+/-140 K/3.61+/-0.12, and 10200+/-220 K/3.88+/-0.08 for ${\gamma}$ Gem, o Peg, ${\theta}$ Vir and ${\nu}$ Cap, respectively. Our detailed abundance analysis employs a hybrid technique for spectrum synthesis based on classical model atmospheres calculated in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) assumption together with the non-LTE (NLTE) line formation for 18 of 26 investigated species. Comparison of the abundance patterns observed in A stars of different types (normal A, Am, Ap) with similar fundamental parameters reveals significant abundance diversity that cannot be explained by the current mechanisms of abundance peculiarity formation in stellar atmospheres. We found a rise of the heavy element (Zn, Sr, Y, Zr, Ba) abundance excess up to +1 dex with Teff increasing from 7200 to 10000 K, with a further decrease down to solar value at Teff = 13000 K, indicating that stars with solar element abundances can be found among late B-type stars., Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Detailed chemical abundances of very metal-poor (VMP, [Fe/H] < -2) stars are important for better understanding the First Stars, early star formation and chemical enrichment of galaxies. Big on-going and coming high-resolution spectroscopic surveys provide a wealth of material that needs to be carefully analysed. For VMP stars, their elemental abundances should be derived based on the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE = NLTE) line formation because low metal abundances and low electron number density in the atmosphere produce the physical conditions favorable for the departures from LTE. The galactic archaeology research requires homogeneous determinations of chemical abundances. For this purpose, we present grids of the 1D-NLTE abundance corrections for the Na I, Mg I, Ca I, Ca II, Ti II, Fe I, Zn I, Zn II, Sr II, and Ba II lines, which are used in the galactic archaeology research. The range of atmospheric parameters represents VMP stars on various evolutionary stages and covers effective temperatures from 4000 to 6500~K, surface gravities from log g = 0.5 to log g = 5.0, and metallicities $-5.0 \le$ [Fe/H] $\le -2.0$. The data is publicly available, and we provide the tools for interpolating in the grids online., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, revised version after the referee's positive report, MNRAS

We present results of the comparative analysis of the two wide binary systems -- 16 Cyg, with a giant gas planet orbiting around 16 Cyg B, and HD 219542 without planet detected. Atmospheric parameters of the binary components and the Sun were determined using their high-resolution spectra and the SME tools for automatic spectral analysis. By applying the synthetic spectrum method, we derived abundances of 29 and 23 chemical elements in 16 Cyg and HD 219542, respectively. For 19 of these elements, our results are based on the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) line formation. For both 16 Cyg and HD 219542, we obtained a small abundance difference between the A and B components: +0.019$\pm$0.012 and -0.014$\pm$0.019, respectively, suggesting only a weak influence of the giant gas planet formation on chemical composition of the host star atmosphere. For HD 219542 A and B, trends of the relative-to-solar abundances with the dust condensation temperature are similar to the literature data for the solar analogues without detected planets. The components of 16 Cyg reveal very similar behaviour of [X/H] with the condensation temperature, however, it is different from that for HD 219542. This indicates a specific chemical composition of the cloud from which the 16 Cyg binary system formed., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, 6 tables. Accepted in MNRAS

We present a homogeneous set of accurate atmospheric parameters for a sample of eleven very metal-poor (-3.32 <= [Fe/H] <= -2.61) stars in the Sextans dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph) and the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) abundances of, at least, seven chemical elements based on high-resolution UVES/VLT and HDS/Subaru spectra. For each star, its effective temperature and surface gravity were derived from the spectral energy distribution and the known distance, and the Fe abundance was obtained as the average from lines of Fe I and Fe II. Based on abundances of Mg, Ca, and Ti, we show that all the investigated stars reveal alpha-enhancements of 0.4~dex to 0.2~dex, and there is a hint of a decline in alpha/Fe for [Fe/H] > -2.8. The Sextans stars are deficient in Ba. The new result is an extremely tight relation between Ba and Mg, suggesting their common origin in massive stars and Ba synthesis in the r-process events on the timescales of standard supernovae. The exception is a C-enhanced star S 15-19 which is strongly enhanced in Ba. This star is unlikely to be a CEMP-s star because of low abundances of Sr and Y ([Y/Fe] < -1) that are produced in the s-process as efficiently as Ba and a non-detection of variation in the radial velocity. No distinctions from the Milky Way halo and the Sculptor and Ursa Minor dSphs were found in a history of early enrichment in Na and Ni, namely, the Sextans stars are deficient in Na and have close-to-solar Ni/Fe., Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, and 8 tables. Accepted by MNRAS

We performed a detailed spectroscopic study of the SB2 system HD 60803 based on high-resolution spectra obtained with the different spectrographs. The analysis was done with two independent methods: a) the direct modelling of the observed binary spectrum by a sum of synthetic spectra varying a set of free parameters and minimizing a difference between the observed and theoretical spectra; b) spectrum disentangling and an independent modelling of the individual components. Being applied to binary spectra from different spectrographs both methods converge to a consistent solution for the fundamental parameters of the HD 60803 components: $T_{\rm eff}$=6055$\pm$70 K, $\log{g}$=4.08$\pm$0.12, $\zeta_{\rm RT}$=1.45$\pm$0.18 km s$^{-1}$, [M/H]=0.03$\pm$0.06 (primary), and $T_{\rm eff}$=6069$\pm$70 K, $\log{g}$=4.14$\pm$0.09, $\zeta_{\rm RT}$=1.48$\pm$0.18 km s$^{-1}$, [M/H]=0.03$\pm$0.06 (secondary). Differential abundance analysis of the components did not reveal any significant difference in their chemical composition. Besides Li both components have solar atmospheric abundances. Li abundance exceeds the solar one by $\sim$2 dex, but it agrees with Li abundance in main-sequence late F-stars. Relative-to-solar abundances in both components slightly correlate with the condensation temperature the same way as was found in the solar analogs with/without detected giant planets. The estimated age of the system is 5.5$\pm$0.5 Gyr., Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables, accepted in MNRAS

We present atmospheric parameters and abundances for chemical elements from carbon to barium in metal-poor stars in Segue 1 (seven stars), Coma Berenices (three stars), and Triangulum II (one star) ultra-faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs). The effective temperatures rely on new photometric observations in the visible and infra-red bands, obtained with the 2.5 m telescope of the SAI MSU Caucasian observatory. Abundances of up to fourteen chemical elements were derived under the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) line formation, and LTE abundances were obtained for up to five more elements. For the first time we present abundance of oxygen in Seg 1 S1 and S4, silicon in ComaBer S2 and Tri II S40, potassium in Seg 1 S1-S6 and ComaBer S1-S3, and barium in Seg 1 S7. Three stars in Segue 1, two stars in Coma Berenices, and Triangulum II star have very low [Na/Mg] of -1.08 to -1.67 dex, which is usually attributed in the literature to an odd-even effect produced by nucleosynthesis in massive metal-free stars. We interpret this chemical property as a footprint of first stars, which is not blurred due to a small number of nucleosynthesis events that contributed to chemical abundance patterns of the sample stars. Our NLTE abundances of Sr and Ba in Coma Berenices, Segue 1, and Triangulum II report on lower [Sr/Ba] abundance ratio in the UFDs compared to that in classical dwarf spheroidal galaxies and the Milky Way halo. However, in UFDs, just as in massive galaxies, [Sr/Ba] is not constant and it can be higher than the pure r-process ratio. We suggest a hypothesis of Sr production in metal-poor binaries at the earliest epoch of galactic evolution., Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS

The Vienna Atomic Line Database (VALD) has been supplemented with new data and new functionality -- the possibility of taking into account the effect of hyperfine splitting (HFS) of atomic levels in the analysis of line profiles. This has been done through the creation of an ancillary SQL database with the HFS constants for atomic levels of 58 isotopes of 30 neutral and singly-ionized atoms. The completeness of the collected data and new opportunities for studies of stars of various spectral types is analyzed. The database enables analysis of splitting of up to 60\%\ of lines with measurable effects in the ultraviolet ($\lambda\gtrsim1000$~\AA), and up to 100\%\ of such lines in the optical and infrared ranges ($\lambda\lesssim25000$~\AA) for A--M stars. In the spectra of hot O--B stars, it is necessary to use laboratory measurements for atoms in the second and higher stages of ionization., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables

We report the discovery of a spiral-like nebula with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and the results of optical spectroscopy of its associated star TYC 8606-2025-1 with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). We find that TYC 8606-2025-1 is a G8 III star of $\approx3$ M$_\odot$, showing a carbon depletion by a factor of two and a nitrogen enhancement by a factor of three. We also derived an excess of s-process elements, most strongly for barium, which is a factor of three overabundant, indicating that TYC 8606-2025-1 is a mild barium star. We thereby add a new member to the small group of barium stars with circumstellar nebulae. Our radial velocity measurements indicate that TYC 8606-2025-1 has an unseen binary companion. The advanced evolutionary stage of TYC 8606-2025-1, together with the presence of a circumstellar nebula, implies an initial mass of the companion of also about 3 M$_\odot$. We conclude that the infrared nebula, due to its spiral shape, and because it has no optical counterpart, was ejected by the companion as a consequence of a very late thermal pulse, during about one orbital rotation., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

For three stars in the ultra-faint dwarf (UFD) galaxy Bootes I we have determined the atmospheric parameters, performed a new reduction of high-resolution spectra from the Subaru archive, and derived the abundances of eight chemical elements without using the LTE assumption. As a result, among the galaxies of its class Bootes I now has the largest sample of stars (11) with a homogeneous set of atmospheric parameters and chemical abundances, and this makes it the most promising for studying the chemical evolution of UFD galaxies. We show that in the range -3<[Fe/H]<-2 for each of the three $\alpha$--process elements, magnesium, calcium, and titanium, a transition from their overabundance relative to iron with [$\alpha$/Fe]$\approx$0.3 to the solar [$\alpha$/Fe] ratio occurs. This most likely suggests the commenced production of iron in type Ia supernovae. The behaviour of the carbon, sodium, nickel, and barium abundances does not differ from that in more massive galaxies, our Galaxy and classical dwarf spheroidal galaxies., Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 7 tables

Based on the multiband (BVRIJHKL) photometric observations of the active red giant PZ Mon performed for the first time in the winter season of 2017-2018, we have determined the main characteristics of the spotted stellar surface in a parametric three-spot model. The unspotted surface temperature is Teff=4730 K, the temperature of the cool spots is Tspot=3500 K, their relative area is about 41%, and the temperature of the warm spots is Twarm=4500 K with a maximum relative area up to 20%. The distribution of spots over the stellar surface has been modeled. The warm spots have been found to be distributed at various longitudes in the hemisphere on the side of the secondary component and are most likely a result of its influence., Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures

Based on our photometric observations in 2015-2016 and archival photometric data for the active red giant PZ Mon, we have found the main characteristics of the stellar surface: the unspotted surface temperature Teff=4730K, the spot temperature Tspot=3500K, and the relative spot area from 30 to 40%. The best agreement with the observations has been achieved in our three-spot model including a cool polar spot with a temperature of about 3500K as well as large and small warm spots with a temperature of about 4500K. The stable polar spot is responsible for the long-period brightness variations. Its presence is confirmed by an analysis of the TiO 7054$~\AA$ molecular band. The small-amplitude 34-day variability is attributable to the warm spots located on the side of the secondary component, which determine the relatively stable active longitude., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, accept in Astromonical Letters, 2018

Today Vienna Atomic Line Database (VALD) is one of main databases of atomic and molecular parameters required for stellar spectra analysis. We present the new features that recently appeared in the VALD3 release, including the effects of isotopic composition and hyperfine splitting. The latest version of VALD contains parameters for several isotopes of Li, Ca, Ti, Cu, Ba, Eu, and hyperfine splitting of 35 isotopes from Li to Eu., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, International Astronomy Conference "Stars: from collapse to collapse"

The program package SME (Spectroscopy Made Easy), designed to perform an analysis of stellar spectra using spectral fitting techniques, was updated due to adding new functions (isotopic and hyperfine splittins) in VALD and including grids of NLTE calculations for energy levels of few chemical elements. SME allows to derive automatically stellar atmospheric parameters: effective temperature, surface gravity, chemical abundances, radial and rotational velocities, turbulent velocities, taking into account all the effects defining spectral line formation. SME package uses the best grids of stellar atmospheres that allows us to perform spectral analysis with the similar accuracy in wide range of stellar parameters and metallicities - from dwarfs to giants of BAFGK spectral classes., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, International Astronomy Conference "Stars: from collapse to collapse"

Analysis of photometric data of the active giant PZ Mon is presented. Using ASAS-3 project data and new more accurate photometry we establish that during 15 years of PZ Mon CCD observations the light curve remains stable, and consequently a longitude of the active spotted area is stable. The small deviations may be explained by differential rotation or inhomogeneous distribution of spots on the active hemisphere of PZ Mon. The stability of the active longitude and it's location on the PZ Mon surface indicates on the secondary component as reason of stellar activity., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, International Astronomy Conference "Stars: from collapse to collapse"

We present the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) abundances of up to 10 chemical species in a sample of 59 very metal-poor (VMP, -4 < [Fe/H] < -2) stars in seven dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) and in the Milky Way (MW) halo. Our results are based on high-resolution spectroscopic datasets and homogeneous and accurate atmospheric parameters determined in PaperI. We show that once the NLTE effects are properly taken into account, all massive galaxies in our sample, that is, the MW halo and the classical dSphs Sculptor, Ursa Minor, Sextans, and Fornax, reveal a similar plateau at [alpha/Fe] ~ 0.3 for each of the alpha-process elements: Mg, Ca, and Ti. We put on a firm ground the evidence for a decline in alpha/Fe with increasing metallicity in the BootesI ultra-faint dwarf galaxy (UFD), that is most probably due to the ejecta of type Ia supernovae. For Na/Fe, Na/Mg, and Al/Mg, the MW halo and all dSphs reveal indistinguishable trends with metallicity, suggesting that the processes of Na and Al synthesis are identical in all systems, independent of their mass. The dichotomy in the [Sr/Ba] versus [Ba/H] diagram is observed in the classical dSphs, similarly to the MW halo, calling for two different nucleosynthesis channels for Sr. We show that Sr in the massive galaxies is well correlated with Mg suggesting a strong link to massive stars and that its production is essentially independent of Ba, for most of the [Ba/H] range. Our three UFDs: BootesI, UMaII, and LeoIV are depleted in Sr and Ba relative to Fe and Mg, with very similar ratios of [Sr/Mg] ~ -1.3 and [Ba/Mg] ~ -1 on the entire range of their Mg abundances. The subsolar Sr/Ba ratios of Bootes I and UMa II indicate a common r-process origin of their neutron-capture elements. Sculptor remains the classical dSph, in which the evidence for inhomogeneous mixing in the early evolution stage, at [Fe/H] < -2, is the strongest., Comment: 29 pages, 5 tables, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

We present a homogeneous set of accurate atmospheric parameters for a complete sample of very and extremely metal-poor stars in the dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) Sculptor, Ursa Minor, Sextans, Fornax, Bo\"otes I, Ursa Major II, and Leo IV. We also deliver a Milky Way (MW) comparison sample of giant stars covering the -4 < [Fe/H] < -1.7 metallicity range. We show that, in the [Fe/H] > -3.5 regime, the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) calculations with non-spectroscopic effective temperature (Teff) and surface gravity (log~g) based on the photometric methods and known distance provide consistent abundances of the Fe I and Fe II lines. This justifies the Fe I/Fe II ionisation equilibrium method to determine log g for the MW halo giants with unknown distance. The atmospheric parameters of the dSphs and MW stars were checked with independent methods. In the [Fe/H] > -3.5 regime, the Ti I/Ti II ionisation equilibrium is fulfilled in the NLTE calculations. In the log~g - Teff plane, all the stars sit on the giant branch of the evolutionary tracks corresponding to [Fe/H] = -2 to -4, in line with their metallicities. For some of the most metal-poor stars of our sample, we hardly achieve consistent NLTE abundances from the two ionisation stages for both iron and titanium. We suggest that this is a consequence of the uncertainty in the Teff-colour relation at those metallicities. The results of these work provide the base for a detailed abundance analysis presented in a companion paper., Comment: 25 pages, 7 tables, 7 figures, A&A, accepted

For the first time, we present an extensive study of stars with individual non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) abundances for 17 chemical elements from Li to Eu in a sample of stars uniformly distributed over the $-2.62 \le$ [Fe/H] $\le +0.24$ metallicity range that is suitable for the Galactic chemical evolution research. The star sample has been kinematically selected to trace the Galactic thin and thick disks and halo. We find new and improve earlier results as follows. (i) The element-to-iron ratios for Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti form a MP plateau at a similar height of 0.3~dex, and the knee occurs at common [Fe/H] $\simeq -0.8$. The knee at the same metallicity is observed for [O/Fe], and the MP plateau is formed at [O/Fe] = 0.61. (ii) The upward trend of [C/O] with decreasing metallicity exists at [Fe/H] $< -1.2$, supporting the earlier finding of Akerman et al. (iii) An underabundance of Na relative to Mg in the [Fe/H] $< -1$ stars is nearly constant, with the mean [Na/Mg] $\simeq -0.5$. (iv) The K/Sc, Ca/Sc, and Ti/Sc ratios form well-defined trends, suggesting a common site of the K-Ti production. (v) Sr follows the Fe abundance down to [Fe/H] $\simeq -2.5$, while Zr is enhanced in MP stars. (vi) The comparisons of our results with some widely used Galactic evolution models are given. The use of the NLTE element abundances raises credit to the interpretation of the data in the context of the chemical evolution of the Galaxy., Comment: 43 pages, 17 figures

We performed extensive tests of the accuracy of atmospheric parameter determination for FGK stars based on the spectrum fitting procedure Spectroscopy Made Easy (SME). Our stellar sample consists of 13 objects, including the Sun, in the temperature range 5000--6600~K and metallicity range -1.4 -- +0.4. The analysed stars have the advantage of having parameters derived by interferometry. For each star we use spectra obtained with different spectrographs and different signal-to-noise ratios (S/N). For the fitting we adopted three different sets of constraints and test how the derived parameters depend upon the spectral regions (masks) used in SME. We developed and implemented in SME a new method for estimating uncertainties in the resulting parameters based on fitting residuals, partial derivatives, and data uncertainties. For stars in the 5700--6600 K range the best agreement with the effective temperatures derived by interferometry is achieved when spectrum fitting includes the H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ lines, while for cooler stars the choice of the mask does not affect the results. The derived atmospheric parameters do not strongly depend on spectral resolution and S/N of the observations, while the uncertainties in temperature and surface gravity increase with increasing effective temperature, with minima at 50~K in Teff and 0.1~dex in log g, for spectra with S/N=150--200. A NLTE analysis of the TiI/TiII and FeI/FeII ionisation equilibria and abundances determined from the atomic CI (NLTE) and molecular CH species supports the parameters we derived with SME by fitting the observed spectra including the hydrogen lines., Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables, accepted in MNRAS

Based on high-resolution (R=60000) spectra taken with the NES spectrograph (the 6-m BTA telescope, the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Science), we have determined the abundances of 26 elements, from lithium to europium, in the atmosphere of the active red giant PZ Mon, which belongs to the class of RS CVn variable stars, by the method of model stellar atmospheres. We have taken into account the hyperfine splitting, the isotopic shift, and the departure from local thermodynamic equilibrium. Analysis of our data has revealed an overabundance of lithium and neutron-capture elements compared to normal red giants. For lithium, this is explained by the activity of the star, while the overabundance of s-elements is presumably similar in nature to that in moderate barium stars., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, accepted in Astronomy Letters

We present solution of the problem of wavelength calibration for Hamilton Echelle spectrograph using hollow cathode lamp, which was operated at Lick Observatory Shane telescope before June 9, 2011. The spectrum of the lamp claimed to be thorium-argon, contains, in addition to the lines of thorium and argon, a number of the unrecognized lines identified by us with tantalum. Using atomic data for measured lines of tantalum and thorium, we estimated the temperature of the gas in the lamp as T=3120+/-60 K. From the atomic line database VALD3 we selected all lines of TaI and TaII which can be seen in the spectrum of the lamp and compiled a list for the use in the processing of spectral observations. We note a limitation of the accuracy of calibration due to the influence of the hyperfine line splitting., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted in the Astronomy Reports

We present atmospheric parameters for 51 nearby FG dwarfs uniformly distributed over the -2.60 < [Fe/H] < +0.20 metallicity range that is suitable for the Galactic chemical evolution research. Lines of iron, Fe I and Fe II, were used to derive a homogeneous set of effective temperatures, surface gravities, iron abundances, and microturbulence velocities. We used high-resolution (R>60000) Shane/Hamilton and CFHT/ESPaDOnS observed spectra and non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) line formation for Fe I and Fe II in the classical 1D model atmospheres. The spectroscopic method was tested with the 20 benchmark stars, for which there are multiple measurements of the infrared flux method (IRFM) Teff and their Hipparcos parallax error is < 10%. We found NLTE abundances from lines of Fe I and Fe II to be consistent within 0.06 dex for every benchmark star, when applying a scaling factor of S_H = 0.5 to the Drawinian rates of inelastic Fe+H collisions. The obtained atmospheric parameters were checked for each program star by comparing its position in the log g-Teff plane with the theoretical evolutionary track in the Yi et al. (2004) grid. Our final effective temperatures lie in between the T_IRFM scales of Alonso et al. (1996) and Casagrande et al. (2011), with a mean difference of +46 K and -51 K, respectively. NLTE leads to higher surface gravity compared with that for LTE. The shift in log g is smaller than 0.1 dex for stars with either [Fe/H] > -0.75, or Teff < 5750 K, or log g > 4.20. NLTE analysis is crucial for the VMP turn-off and subgiant stars, for which the shift in log g between NLTE and LTE can be up to 0.5 dex. The obtained atmospheric parameters will be used in the forthcoming papers to determine NLTE abundances of important astrophysical elements from lithium to europium and to improve observational constraints on the chemo-dynamical models of the Galaxy evolution., Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

We use original spectra and available photometric data to recover parameters of the stellar atmosphere of PZ Mon, formerly referred as an active red dwarf. The derived effective temperature Teff=4700K and gravity lgg=2.8 suggest that PZ Mon is a K2III giant. Stellar atmosphere parameters (Teff and lgg) alongside with the evolutionary tracks are used to estimate the stellar mass of ~1.5Mo and the radius of ~7.7Ro. The angular radius derived by the infrared flux method when combined with the linear radius suggests the distance of 250+/-70 pc, a factor 2.5 smaller than that suggested by the Hipparcos parallax. The red giant status of PZ Mon is confirmed by the carbon and nitrogen abundance. The spectrum reveals pronounced HeI 5876 A absorption and Halpha emission indicating the robust chromosphere. The IUE spectrum is found to contain transition layer emission line of CIV 1550 A. The CIV and X-ray luminosities turn out typical of RS CVn stars. The extended set of available photometric data confirms the period of 34.14 days presumably related to the stellar rotation. We found variations of the radial velocity with the amplitude of ~8 kms which could be caused by the orbital motion., Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, 4 tables. Accepted in MNRAS

We evaluate non-local thermodynamical equilibrium (non-LTE) line formation for neutral sodium in model atmospheres of the 79 red giants using the model atom that incorporates the best available atomic data. The non-LTE abundances of Na were determined from Na I 6154, 6161 \AA\ for the 38 stars of the thin disk (15 of them the BaII stars), 15 stars of the thick disk, 13 stars of Hercules stream and 13 transition stars which can be identified with neither thin disk nor thick disk. For Na I 6154, 6161 \AA\ non-LTE abundance corrections amount to -0.06 to -0.24 dex depending on stellar parameters. We found no difference in [Na/Fe] abundance between the thick disk and thin disk and the obtained abundances are close to the solar one. We confirmed a weak excess of [Na/Fe] in BaII stars. Stars of the Hercules stream reveal [Na/Fe] abundances close to the solar one. The obtained results can be used to constrain the nucleosynthesis models for Na., Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures. Accepted to Astronomy Letters

Influence of the meteoroid bombardment on properties of the lunar exosphere has been confirmed. Quick increase in the zenith column density of Na atoms above the lunar north pole on August 13, 2009 at 0-1 UT is detected and explained by numerous collisions of relatively small Perseid meteoroids (< 1 kg) with the Moon during maximum of the Perseid meteor shower. New stringent upper limits of the column densities for Ca, Ba, and Ti atoms in the lunar exosphere are obtained as 5*10^7, 2.2*10^6, and 6.9*10^8 cm^-2, respectively. It is found that the content of impact-produced Ca and Al atoms in the lunar exosphere is depleted as compared to that of Na atoms., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables; accepted in Planetary and Space Science

The results of a comparative analysis of the elemental abundances in the atmospheres of 14 red giants with high Galactic space velocities are presented. For almost all of the chemical elements considered, the their abundance trends with metallicity correspond to those constructed for thick-disk dwarfs. In the case of sodium, the main factor affecting the [Na/Fe] abundance in the stellar atmosphere for red giants is the surface gravity that characterizes the degree of development of the convective envelope. The difference between the [Na/Fe] abundances in the atmospheres of thin-and thick-disk red giants has been confirmed., Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1311.5040

The parameters and elemental abundances of atmospheres for ten thick-disk red giants was determined from high-resolution spectra by the method of model stellar atmospheres. The results of a comparative analysis of the [Na/Fe] abundances in the atmospheres of the investigated stars and thin disk red giants are presented. Sodium in the atmospheres of thick-disk red giants is shown to have no overabundances typical of thin-disk red giants., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, published in Astronomical Letters 2013AstL...39...54P

We present the wavelength calibration of the Hamilton echelle spectrograph (the Lick observatory). The main problem of the calibration arises from the fact that thorium lines are absent in the spectrum of "ThAr" hollow-cathode lamp now under the operation. On the other hand, numerous unknown strong lines are present in the spectrum. These lines was identified with titanium. We estimate the temperature of the lamp gas which permits us to calculate the intensities of the lines, and to select a large number of relevant Ti I and Ti II lines. The titanium line list for the Lick hallow-cathode lamp is presented. The wavelength calibration using this line list was made with accuracy about 0.006A., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, 1 external table; accepted in Astronomical Journal

We present results of survey of interstellar absorptions towards supernova remnant (SNR) RX J0852.0-4622. The distribution of KI absorbers along the distance of the background stars is indicative of a local region (d<600pc) strongly depopulated by KI line-absorbing clouds. This fact is supported by the behavior of the interstellar extinction. We find four high-velocity CaII components with velocities of >100km/s towards three stars and identify them with shocked clouds of Vela SNR. We reveal and measure acceleration of two shocked clouds at the approaching and receding sides of Vela SNR along the same sight line. The clouds acceleration, velocity, and CaII column density are used to probe cloud parameters. The total hydrogen column density of both accelerating clouds is found to be similar (~6*10^{17} cm$^{-2}$) which indicates that possibly there is a significant amount of small-size clouds in the vicinity of Vela SNR., Comment: accepted in MNRAS

Supernova remnant (SNR) RX J0852.0-4622 is one of the youngest and is most likely the closest among known galactic supernova remnants (SNRs). It was detected in X-rays, the 44Ti gamma-line, and radio. We obtain and analyze medium-resolution spectra of 14 stars in the direction towards the SNR RX J0852.0-4622 in an attempt to detect broad absorption lines of unshocked ejecta against background stars. Spectral synthesis is performed for all the stars in the wavelength range of 3740-4020AA to extract the broad absorption lines of Ca II related to the SNR RX J0852.0-4622. We do not detect any broad absorption line and place a 3-sigma upper limit on the relative depths of <0.04 for the broad Ca II absorption produced by the SNR. We detect narrow low and high velocity absorption components of Ca II. High velocity |V(LSR)|=100-140 km/s components are attributed to radiative shocks in clouds engulfed by the old Vela SNR. The upper limit to the absorption line strength combined with the width and flux of the 44Ti gamma-ray line 1.16 MeV lead us to conclude that SNR RX J0852.0-4622 was probably produced by an energetic SN Ic explosion., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted in A&A