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 Reliability Checks on the Indo-US Stellar Spectral Library Using Artificial Neural Networks and Principal Component AnalysisThe Indo-US coudé feed stellar spectral library (CFLIB) madeavailable to the astronomical community recently by Valdes et al. (2004,ApJS, 152, 251) contains spectra of 1273 stars in the spectral region3460 to 9464Å at a high resolution of 1Å (FWHM) and a widerange of spectral types. Cross-checking the reliability of this databaseis an important and desirable exercise since a number of stars in thisdatabase have no known spectral types and a considerable fraction ofstars has not so complete coverage in the full wavelength region of3460-9464Å resulting in gaps ranging from a few Å to severaltens of Å. We use an automated classification scheme based onArtificial Neural Networks (ANN) to classify all 1273 stars in thedatabase. In addition, principal component analysis (PCA) is carried outto reduce the dimensionality of the data set before the spectra areclassified by the ANN. Most importantly, we have successfullydemonstrated employment of a variation of the PCA technique to restorethe missing data in a sample of 300 stars out of the CFLIB. Bisectors of the cross-correlation function applied to stellar spectra. Discriminating stellar activity, oscillations and planetsContext: .Bisectors of strong, single spectral lines, usually the Fe I6252 line, have traditionally been used to examine the velocity fieldsin stellar atmospheres. This requires high S/N often achieved by summingmany individual spectra. Aims: .We investigate whether bisectorsderived from cross-correlation functions (CCF) of single-exposurespectra can be used to provide information on stellar atmospheres, andwhether they can be used to discriminate between radial velocity changescaused by planets, magnetic activity and oscillations. Methods:.Using a sample of bright stars observed with the HARPS spectrograph, weexamine the shapes of the bisectors of individual strong spectral linesin summed spectra, comparing with similar studies in the literature.Moreover, we examine four different quantitative CCF bisector measuresfor correlations with radial velocity and stellar parameters.Results: .We show that CCF bisector measures can be used forquantitative analysis, employing both the absolute values and thevariations. From absolute values, log g and absolute magnitude can beapproximated, and from the correlations with radial velocity one candistinguish between magnetic activity, oscillations and orbiting planetsas the probable cause of radial velocity variations. We confirm thatdifferent isolated spectral lines show different bisector shapes, evenbetween lines of the same element, calling for caution in trying toderive global stellar properties from the bisector of a CCF. For theactive star HR 1362 we suggest from the bisector shape an extraphotospheric heating caused by the chromosphere of several hundreddegrees. We confirm the fill-in of spectral lines of the Sun taken onthe daylight sky caused by Rayleigh-Brillouin and aerosol scattering,and we show for the first time that the fill-in has an asymmetriccomponent. Shapes of Spectral Line Bisectors for Cool StarsThe shape of the line bisector for the prototype spectral line Fe Iλ6253 was measured for an array of 54 stars on the cool half ofthe HR diagram. These bisectors are given in tables along with theirerrors. The classic C shape is shown by only a rather restricted rangein effective temperature and luminosity. The detailed change in bisectorshape with effective temperature and luminosity is documented moreprecisely than in previous work. The most blueward point on the bisectorchanges its height systematically with luminosity and can be used as aluminosity or gravity discriminant. The wide range of bisector shapescontains significant information about the velocity fields in theatmospheres of these stars, but extracting that information may requireextensive modeling. Predicting accurate stellar angular diameters by the near-infrared surface brightness techniqueI report on the capabilities of the near-infrared (near-IR) surfacebrightness technique to predict reliable stellar angular diameters asaccurate as <~2 per cent using standard broad-band Johnson photometryin the colour range -0.1 <= (V-K)O<= 3.7 includingstars of A, F, G, K spectral type. This empirical approach is fast toapply and leads to estimated photometric diameters in very goodagreement with recent high-precision interferometric diametermeasurements available for non-variable dwarfs and giants, as well asfor Cepheid variables. Then I compare semi-empirical diameters predictedby model-dependent photometric and spectrophotometric (SP) methods withnear-IR surface brightness diameters adopted as empirical referencecalibrators. The overall agreement between all these methods is withinapproximately +/-5 per cent, confirming previous works. However, on thesame scale of accuracy, there is also evidence for systematic shiftspresumably as a result of an incorrect representation of the stellareffective temperature in the model-dependent results. I also comparemeasurements of spectroscopic radii with near-IR surface brightnessradii of Cepheids with known distances. Spectroscopic radii are found tobe affected by a scatter as significant as >~9 per cent, which is atleast three times greater than the formal error currently claimed by thespectroscopic technique. In contrast, pulsation radii predicted by theperiod-radius (PR) relation according to the Cepheid period result aresignificantly less dispersed, indicating a quite small scatter as aresult of the finite width of the Cepheid instability strip, as expectedfrom pulsation theory. The resulting low level of noise stronglyconfirms our previous claims that the pulsation parallaxes are the mostaccurate empirical distances presently available for Galactic andextragalactic Cepheids. Spectral analysis of red clump giants and their use as standard candles in the wavebands I and KUsing high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio observational data,we determined the stellar atmospheric parameters of 19 metal-poor redclump giants and their chemical abundances of the four α elements(i.e., O, Mg, Ca, Si). We discuss the variations, with the ironabundance, of the atmospheric parameters and of the α elementsabundances. We examined the absolute stellar magnitudes of 58 red clumpgiants in the I and K wavebands as well as their relations with the ironabundance, and found that for the analysed range of iron abundance, thecorrelation with the iron abundance is weaker for the absolute magnitudein the K band than that in the I band, in agreement with theoreticalexpectations. CHARM2: An updated Catalog of High Angular Resolution MeasurementsWe present an update of the Catalog of High Angular ResolutionMeasurements (CHARM, Richichi & Percheron \cite{CHARM}, A&A,386, 492), which includes results available until July 2004. CHARM2 is acompilation of direct measurements by high angular resolution methods,as well as indirect estimates of stellar diameters. Its main goal is toprovide a reference list of sources which can be used for calibrationand verification observations with long-baseline optical and near-IRinterferometers. Single and binary stars are included, as are complexobjects from circumstellar shells to extragalactic sources. The presentupdate provides an increase of almost a factor of two over the previousedition. Additionally, it includes several corrections and improvements,as well as a cross-check with the valuable public release observationsof the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). A total of 8231entries for 3238 unique sources are now present in CHARM2. Thisrepresents an increase of a factor of 3.4 and 2.0, respectively, overthe contents of the previous version of CHARM.The catalog is only available in electronic form at the CDS viaanonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/431/773 The European Large Area ISO Survey - VIII. 90-μm final analysis and source countsWe present a re-analysis of the European Large Area Infrared SpaceObservatory (ISO) Survey (ELAIS) 90-μm observations carried out withISOPHOT, an instrument on board the ISO of the European Space Agency.With more than 12 deg2, the ELAIS survey is the largest areacovered by ISO in a single programme and is about one order of magnitudedeeper than the IRAS 100-μm survey. The data analysis is presentedand was mainly performed with the PHOT interactive analysis software butusing the pairwise method of Stickel et al. for signal processing fromedited raw data to signal per chopper plateau. The ELAIS 90-μmcatalogue contains 237 reliable sources with fluxes larger than 70 mJyand is available in the electronic version of this article. Numbercounts are presented and show an excess above the no-evolution modelprediction. This confirms the strong evolution detected at shorter (15μm) and longer (170 μm) wavelengths in other ISO surveys. TheELAIS counts are in agreement with previous works at 90 μm and inparticular with the deeper counts extracted from the Lockman holeobservations. Comparison with recent evolutionary models show that themodels of Franceschini et al. and Guiderdoni et al. (which includes aheavily extinguished population of galaxies) give the best fit to thedata. Deeper observations are nevertheless required to discriminatebetter between the model predictions in the far-infrared, and arescheduled with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which has already startedoperating, and will also be performed by ASTRO-F. Improved Baade-Wesselink surface brightness relationsRecent, and older accurate, data on (limb-darkened) angular diameters iscompiled for 221 stars, as well as BVRIJK[12][25] magnitudes for thoseobjects, when available. Nine stars (all M-giants or supergiants)showing excess in the [12-25] colour are excluded from the analysis asthis may indicate the presence of dust influencing the optical andnear-infrared colours as well. Based on this large sample,Baade-Wesselink surface brightness (SB) relations are presented fordwarfs, giants, supergiants and dwarfs in the optical and near-infrared.M-giants are found to follow different SB relations from non-M-giants,in particular in V versus V-R. The preferred relation for non-M-giantsis compared to the earlier relation by Fouqué and Gieren (basedon 10 stars) and Nordgren et al. (based on 57 stars). Increasing thesample size does not lead to a lower rms value. It is shown that theresiduals do not correlate with metallicity at a significant level. Thefinally adopted observed angular diameters are compared to thosepredicted by Cohen et al. for 45 stars in common, and there isreasonable overall, and good agreement when θ < 6 mas.Finally, I comment on the common practice in the literature to average,and then fix, the zero-point of the V versus V-K, V versus V-R and Kversus J-K relations, and then rederive the slopes. Such a commonzero-point at zero colour is not expected from model atmospheres for theV-R colour and depends on gravity. Relations derived in this way may bebiased. The Indo-US Library of Coudé Feed Stellar SpectraWe have obtained spectra for 1273 stars using the 0.9 m coudéfeed telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. This telescope feedsthe coudé spectrograph of the 2.1 m telescope. The spectra havebeen obtained with the no. 5 camera of the coudé spectrograph anda Loral 3K×1K CCD. Two gratings have been used to provide spectralcoverage from 3460 to 9464 Å, at a resolution of ~1 Å FWHMand at an original dispersion of 0.44 Å pixel-1. For885 stars we have complete spectra over the entire 3460 to 9464 Åwavelength region (neglecting small gaps of less than 50 Å), andpartial spectral coverage for the remaining stars. The 1273 stars havebeen selected to provide broad coverage of the atmospheric parametersTeff, logg, and [Fe/H], as well as spectral type. The goal ofthe project is to provide a comprehensive library of stellar spectra foruse in the automated classification of stellar and galaxy spectra and ingalaxy population synthesis. In this paper we discuss thecharacteristics of the spectral library, viz., details of theobservations, data reduction procedures, and selection of stars. We alsopresent a few illustrations of the quality and information available inthe spectra. The first version of the complete spectral library is nowpublicly available from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory(NOAO) via ftp and http. Classification of Spectra from the Infrared Space Observatory PHT-S DatabaseWe have classified over 1500 infrared spectra obtained with the PHT-Sspectrometer aboard the Infrared Space Observatory according to thesystem developed for the Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS) spectra byKraemer et al. The majority of these spectra contribute to subclassesthat are either underrepresented in the SWS spectral database or containsources that are too faint, such as M dwarfs, to have been observed byeither the SWS or the Infrared Astronomical Satellite Low ResolutionSpectrometer. There is strong overall agreement about the chemistry ofobjects observed with both instruments. Discrepancies can usually betraced to the different wavelength ranges and sensitivities of theinstruments. Finally, a large subset of the observations (~=250 spectra)exhibit a featureless, red continuum that is consistent with emissionfrom zodiacal dust and suggest directions for further analysis of thisserendipitous measurement of the zodiacal background.Based on observations with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), aEuropean Space Agency (ESA) project with instruments funded by ESAMember States (especially the Principle Investigator countries: France,Germany, Netherlands, and United Kingdom) and with the participation ofthe Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Synthetic Lick Indices and Detection of α-enhanced Stars. II. F, G, and K Stars in the -1.0 < [Fe/H] < +0.50 RangeWe present an analysis of 402 F, G, and K solar neighborhood stars, withaccurate estimates of [Fe/H] in the range -1.0 to +0.5 dex, aimed at thedetection of α-enhanced stars and at the investigation of theirkinematical properties. The analysis is based on the comparison of 571sets of spectral indices in the Lick/IDS system, coming from fourdifferent observational data sets, with synthetic indices computed withsolar-scaled abundances and with α-element enhancement. We useselected combinations of indices to single out α-enhanced starswithout requiring previous knowledge of their main atmosphericparameters. By applying this approach to the total data set, we obtain alist of 60 bona fide α-enhanced stars and of 146 stars withsolar-scaled abundances. The properties of the detected α-enhancedand solar-scaled abundance stars with respect to their [Fe/H] values andkinematics are presented. A clear kinematic distinction betweensolar-scaled and α-enhanced stars was found, although a one-to-onecorrespondence to thin disk'' and thick disk'' components cannot besupported with the present data. A far-infrared view of the Lockman Hole from ISO 95-μm observations - I. A new data reduction methodWe report results from a new analysis of a deep 95-μm imaging surveywith the photopolarimeter ISOPHOT on-board the Infrared SpaceObservatory, over a 40 × 40 arcmin2 area within theLockman Hole. To this end we exploit a newly developed parametricalgorithm able to identify and clean spurious signals induced by cosmicrays impacts and by transient effects and non-linearities in thedetectors. These results provide us with the currently deepest - to ourknowledge - far-infrared (far-IR) image of the extragalactic sky. Withinthe survey area, we detect 36 sources with signal-to-noise ratio S/N> 3 (corresponding to a flux of 16 mJy), making up a completeflux-limited sample for S95μm>= 100 mJy. Reliablesources are detected, with decreasing but well-controlled completeness,down to S95μm~= 20 mJy. The source extraction process andthe completeness, the photometric and astrometric accuracies of thiscatalogue have been tested by us with extensive simulations accountingfor all the details of the procedure. We estimate source counts down toa flux of ~30 mJy, at which limit we evaluate that 10-20 per cent of thecosmic IR background (CIRB) has been resolved into sources (contributingto the CIRB intensity ~=2.0 × 10-9 W m-2sr-1).The 95-μm galaxy counts reveal a steep slope atS95μm<= 100 mJy (α~= 1.6), in excess of thatexpected for a non-evolving source population. The shape of these countsagrees with those determined by ISO at 15 and 175 μm, and startssetting strong constraints on the evolution models for the far-IR galaxypopulations. Angular Diameters of Stars from the Mark III Optical InterferometerObservations of 85 stars were obtained at wavelengths between 451 and800 nm with the Mark III Stellar Interferometer on Mount Wilson, nearPasadena, California. Angular diameters were determined by fitting auniform-disk model to the visibility amplitude versus projected baselinelength. Half the angular diameters determined at 800 nm have formalerrors smaller than 1%. Limb-darkened angular diameters, effectivetemperatures, and surface brightnesses were determined for these stars,and relationships between these parameters are presented. Scatter inthese relationships is larger than would be expected from themeasurement uncertainties. We argue that this scatter is not due to anunderestimate of the angular diameter errors; whether it is due tophotometric errors or is intrinsic to the relationship is unresolved.The agreement with other observations of the same stars at the samewavelengths is good; the width of the difference distribution iscomparable to that estimated from the error bars, but the wings of thedistribution are larger than Gaussian. Comparison with infraredmeasurements is more problematic; in disagreement with models, coolerstars appear systematically smaller in the near-infrared than expected,warmer stars larger. Contributions to the Nearby Stars (NStars) Project: Spectroscopy of Stars Earlier than M0 within 40 Parsecs: The Northern Sample. I.We have embarked on a project, under the aegis of the Nearby Stars(NStars)/Space Interferometry Mission Preparatory Science Program, toobtain spectra, spectral types, and, where feasible, basic physicalparameters for the 3600 dwarf and giant stars earlier than M0 within 40pc of the Sun. In this paper, we report on the results of this projectfor the first 664 stars in the northern hemisphere. These resultsinclude precise, homogeneous spectral types, basic physical parameters(including the effective temperature, surface gravity, and overallmetallicity [M/H]), and measures of the chromospheric activity of ourprogram stars. Observed and derived data presented in this paper arealso available on the project's Web site. Lithium and rotation in F and G dwarfs and subgiantsLithium abundances have been determined in 127 F and G Pop I stars basedon new measurements of the equivalent width of the lambda 6707 ÅLi I line from their high resolution CCD spectra. Distances and absolutemagnitudes of these stars have been obtained from the HipparcosCatalogue and their masses and ages derived, enabling us to investigatethe behaviour of lithium as a function of these parameters. Based ontheir location on the HR diagram superposed on theoretical evolutionarytracks, the sample of the stars has been chosen to ensure that they havemore or less completed their Li depletion on the main sequence. A largespread in the Li abundances is found at any given effective temperatureespecially in the already spun down late F and early G stars. Thisspread persists even if the Li-dip'' stars that have evolved from themain sequence temperature interval 6500-6800 K are excluded. Stars inthe mass range up to 2 M/Msun when divided into threemetallicity groups show a linear correlation between Li abundance andmass, albeit with a large dispersion around it which is not fullyaccounted for by age either. The large depletions and the observedspread in Li are in contrast to the predictions of the standard stellarmodel calculations and suggest that they are aided by non-standardprocesses depending upon variables besides mass, age and metallicity.The present study was undertaken to examine, in particular, the effectsof rotation on the depletion of Li. No one-to-one correlation is foundbetween the Li abundance and the present projected rotational velocity.Instead the observed abundances seem to be dictated by the rotationalhistory of the star. However, it is noted that even this interpretationis subject to the inherent limitation in the measurement of the observedLi EQW for large rotational velocities.Table 1 is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymousftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/409/251 Line Absorption as a Metallicity Index for Giant StarsThe fraction of light removed from a star's spectrum by the spectrallines, the line absorption, is shown to be a precise empirical indicatorof metallicity. We measured the line absorption in 89 class III giantstars in a 42.5 Å window between 6219.0 and 6261.5 Å andthen calibrated these values against published metallicities. We showthat the line absorption can be measured precisely enough to improve themetallicity precision about fivefold over the original calibrationmetallicities, reaching a precision of 0.01 dex in favorable cases. Infrared spectral classification of normal stars.Moderate resolution (~400) 2.38-45.2 mu m infrared spectra of starswithout dust features were obtained with the Short WavelengthSpectrometer (SWS) on board the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). Theobservations are part of a larger program with the objective to extendand refine the current infrared classification schemes. In particular,our data provide the basis for a more detailed classification of the1.N-1.NO sources (ordinary and oxygen rich naked stars) as defined byKraemer et al. (\cite{kraemer}) in a comprehensive classification of theISO-SWS spectra. For our analysis, the continuum was determined byfitting Engelke's function (Engelke \cite{engelke}) to the SWS data. Thestellar angular diameters derived from these estimates of the continuumare in good agreement with values obtained by other methods. Analysis ofthe equivalent widths of the CO fundamental and first overtone molecularbands, the SiO fundamental and first overtone, as well as theH2O bending mode band as a function of MK class, reveals thatthere is sufficient information in the SWS spectra to distinguishbetween hot (B, A, F) and cool stars. Furthermore, it is possible todetermine the spectral type for the G, K and M giants, and subtyperanges in a sequence of K and M giants. The equivalent widths of the COand SiO bands are found to be well correlated in K and M stars, suchthat the equivalent widths of the CO fundamental, the SiO first overtoneand the SiO fundamental can be reasonably well extrapolated from thedepth of the CO first overtone. We have identified two stars,HR 365 and V Nor, whosemid-infrared spectrum does not correspond to their respective opticalclassification. HR 365 may have a late M companion,which dominates the observed infrared spectrum while VNor is a late type giant that was included because itsspectrum was classified as featureless under the IRAS LRS scheme.According to Kraemer et al. (\cite{kraemer}), V Norhas a thin dust shell, which distorts the analysis of its mid-infraredabsorption bands. Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project withinstruments funded by ESA Member States (especially the PI countries:France, Germany, The Netherlands and the UK) and with the participationof ISAS and NASA. Infrared emission towards SN 1987A 11 years after outburst: Measurements with ISOCAMWe present measurements of the mid-infrared (MIR) emission from SN1987A, made using the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) 11 years afteroutburst. They are the only late epoch detections of this source in thethermal IR regime. The position of the source, determined from an offsetto an IR-emitting star, suggests that the emission is associated with SN1987A or its extended supernova remnant (SNR). A predominantlycircumstellar origin is however suggested by the size and orientation ofthe IR-emitting region, which is comparable with the extension of theinner ring seen with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The emission ismost probably from collisionally-heated circumstellar grains embedded inshocked gas downstream of the blast wave. The MIR extent is consistentwith the hypothesis that the blast wave was propagating into material ofmoderate density interior to the thick inner ring at the epoch of theISOCAM observations. Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project withinstruments funded by ESA member states (especially the P/I countriesFrance, Germany, The Netherlands and the UK) with participation of ISASand NASA. CHARM: A Catalog of High Angular Resolution MeasurementsThe Catalog of High Angular Resolution Measurements (CHARM) includesmost of the measurements obtained by the techniques of lunaroccultations and long-baseline interferometry at visual and infraredwavelengths, which have appeared in the literature or have otherwisebeen made public until mid-2001. A total of 2432 measurements of 1625sources are included, along with extensive auxiliary information. Inparticular, visual and infrared photometry is included for almost allthe sources. This has been partly extracted from currently availablecatalogs, and partly obtained specifically for CHARM. The main aim is toprovide a compilation of sources which could be used as calibrators orfor science verification purposes by the new generation of largeground-based facilities such as the ESO Very Large Interferometer andthe Keck Interferometer. The Catalog is available in electronic form atthe CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/386/492, and from theauthors on CD-Rom. Line-Depth Ratios: Temperature Indices for Giant StarsRatios of the depths of appropriately chosen spectral lines are shown tobe excellent indicators of stellar temperatures for giant stars in theG3 to K3 spectral type range. We calibrate five line-depth ratiosagainst B-V and R-I color indices and then translate these intotemperatures. Our goal is to set up line-depth ratios to (1) accuratelymonitor any temperature variations of a few degrees or less that mayoccur during magnetic cycles or oscillations and (2) rank giantsprecisely on a temperature coordinate. This is not an absolutecalibration of stellar temperatures. We show how giant spectra can bemisleading because of the complex dependences of spectral lines onmetallicity and absolute magnitude as well as temperature, and it isessential to make corrections to accommodate these complications. Thefive line-depth ratios we use yield precision for monitoring, i.e.,detecting temperature variations, of 4 K from a single exposure. Rankinggiants by temperature can be done with errors of ~25 K but could beimproved with better determinations of the metallicity andabsolute-magnitude corrections. Absolute spectrophotometry of late-type stars.Not Available Comparison of Stellar Angular Diameters from the NPOI, the Mark III Optical Interferometer, and the Infrared Flux MethodThe Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI) has been used tomeasure the angular diameters of 41 late-type giant and supergiant starspreviously observed with the Mark III optical interferometer. Sixteen ofthese stars have published angular diameters based on model atmospheres(infrared flux method, IRFM). Comparison of these angular diametersshows that there are no systematic offsets between any pair of datasets. Furthermore, the reported uncertainties in the angular diametersmeasured using both interferometers are consistent with the distributionof the differences in the diameters. The distribution of diameterdifferences between the interferometric and model atmosphere angulardiameters are consistent with uncertainties in the IRFM diameters of1.4%. Although large differences in angular diameter measurements areseen for three stars, the data are insufficient to determine whetherthese differences are due to problems with the observations or are dueto temporal changes in the stellar diameters themselves. On the Wilson-Bappu relationship in the Mg II k lineAn investigation is carried out on the Wilson-Bappu effect in the Mg Iik line at 2796.34 Å. The work is based on a selection of 230 starsobserved by both the IUE and HIPPARCOS satellites, covering a wide rangeof spectral types (F to M) and absolute visual magnitudes (-5.4<=MV <=9.0). A semi-automatic procedure is used to measurethe line widths, which applies also in the presence of strong centralabsorption reversal. The Wilson-Bappu relationship here provided isconsidered to represent an improvement over previous recent results forthe considerably larger data sample used, as well as for a properconsideration of the measurement errors. No evidence has been found fora possible dependence of the WB effect on stellar metallicity andeffective temperature. Catalogue of Apparent Diameters and Absolute Radii of Stars (CADARS) - Third edition - Comments and statisticsThe Catalogue, available at the Centre de Données Stellaires deStrasbourg, consists of 13 573 records concerning the results obtainedfrom different methods for 7778 stars, reported in the literature. Thefollowing data are listed for each star: identifications, apparentmagnitude, spectral type, apparent diameter in arcsec, absolute radiusin solar units, method of determination, reference, remarks. Commentsand statistics obtained from CADARS are given. The Catalogue isavailable in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp tocdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcar?J/A+A/367/521 The European Large Area ISO Survey - III. 90-μm extragalactic source countsWe present results and source counts at 90μm extracted from thepreliminary analysis of the European Large Area ISO Survey (ELAIS). Thesurvey covered about 12deg2 of the sky in four main areas andwas carried out with the ISOPHOT instrument onboard the Infrared SpaceObservatory (ISO). The survey is at least an order of magnitude deeperthan the IRAS 100-μm survey and is expected to provide constraints onthe formation and evolution of galaxies. The majority of the detectedsources are associated with galaxies on optical images. In some casesthe optical associations are interacting pairs or small groups ofgalaxies, suggesting that the sample may include a significant fractionof luminous infrared galaxies. The source counts extracted from areliable subset of the detected sources are in agreement with stronglyevolving models of the starburst galaxy population. K-Band Calibration of the Red Clump LuminosityThe average near-infrared (K-band) luminosity of 238 Hipparcos red clumpgiants is derived and then used to measure the distance to the Galacticcenter. These Hipparcos red clump giants have been previously employedas I-band standard candles. The advantage of the K-band is a decreasedsensitivity to reddening and perhaps a reduced systematic dependence onmetallicity. In order to investigate the latter, and also to refer ourcalibration to a known metallicity zero point, we restrict our sample ofred clump calibrators to those with abundances derived fromhigh-resolution spectroscopic data. The mean metallicity of the sampleis [Fe/H]=-0.18 dex (σ=0.17 dex). The data are consistent with nocorrelation between MK and [Fe/H] and only weakly constrainthe slope of this relation. The luminosity function of the sample peaksat MK=-1.61+/-0.03 mag. Next, we assemble published opticaland near-infrared photometry for ~20 red clump giants in a Baade'swindow field with a mean metallicity of [Fe/H]=-0.17+/-0.09 dex, whichis nearly identical to that of the Hipparcos red clump. Assuming thatthe average (V-I)0 and (V-K)0 colors of these twored clumps are the same, the extinctions in the Baade's window field arefound to be AV=1.56, AI=0.87, andAK=0.15, in agreement with previous estimates. We derive thedistance to the Galactic center: (m-M)0=14.58+/-0.11 mag, orR=8.24+/-0.42 kpc. The uncertainty in this distance measurement isdominated by the small number of Baade's window red clump giantsexamined here. Evolution of X-ray activity of 1-3 Msun late-type stars in early post-main-sequence phasesWe have investigated the variation of coronal X-ray emission duringearly post-main-sequence phases for a sample of 120 late-type starswithin 100 pc, and with estimated masses in the range 1-3Msun, based on Hipparcos parallaxes and recent evolutionarymodels. These stars were observed with the ROSAT/PSPC, and the dataprocessed with the Palermo-CfA pipeline, including detection andevaluation of X-ray fluxes (or upper limits) by means of a wavelettransform algorithm. We have studied the evolutionary history of X-rayluminosity and surface flux for stars in selected mass ranges, includingstars with inactive A-type progenitors on the main sequence and lowermass solar-type stars. Our stellar sample suggests a trend of increasingX-ray emission level with age for stars with masses M > 1.5Msun, and a decline for lower-mass stars. A similar behaviorholds for the average coronal temperature, which follows a power-lawcorrelation with the X-ray luminosity, independently of their mass andevolutionary state. We have also studied the relationship between X-rayluminosity and surface rotation rate for stars in the same mass ranges,and how this relationships departs from the Lx ~vrot2 law followed by main-sequence stars. Ourresults are interpreted in terms of a magnetic dynamo whose efficiencydepends on the stellar evolutionary state through the mass-dependentchanges of the stellar internal structure, including the properties ofenvelope convection and the internal rotation profile. Photometric Measurements of the Fields of More than 700 Nearby StarsIn preparation for optical/IR interferometric searches for substellarcompanions of nearby stars, we undertook to characterize the fields ofall nearby stars visible from the Northern Hemisphere to determinesuitable companions for interferometric phase referencing. Because theKeck Interferometer in particular will be able to phase-reference oncompanions within the isoplanatic patch (30") to about 17th magnitude atK, we took images at V, r, and i that were deep enough to determine iffield stars were present to this magnitude around nearby stars using aspot-coated CCD. We report on 733 fields containing 10,629 measurementsin up to three filters (Gunn i, r and Johnson V) of nearby stars down toabout 13th magnitude at V. Spectral Irradiance Calibration in the Infrared. X. A Self-Consistent Radiometric All-Sky Network of Absolutely Calibrated Stellar SpectraWe start from our six absolutely calibrated continuous stellar spectrafrom 1.2 to 35 μm for K0, K1.5, K3, K5, and M0 giants. These wereconstructed as far as possible from actual observed spectral fragmentstaken from the ground, the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, and the IRAS LowResolution Spectrometer, and all have a common calibration pedigree.From these we spawn 422 calibrated spectral templates'' for stars withspectral types in the ranges G9.5-K3.5 III and K4.5-M0.5 III. Wenormalize each template by photometry for the individual stars usingpublished and/or newly secured near- and mid-infrared photometryobtained through fully characterized, absolutely calibrated,combinations of filter passband, detector radiance response, and meanterrestrial atmospheric transmission. These templates continue ourongoing effort to provide an all-sky network of absolutely calibrated,spectrally continuous, stellar standards for general infrared usage, allwith a common, traceable calibration heritage. The wavelength coverageis ideal for calibration of many existing and proposed ground-based,airborne, and satellite sensors, particularly low- tomoderate-resolution spectrometers. We analyze the statistics of probableuncertainties, in the normalization of these templates to actualphotometry, that quantify the confidence with which we can assert thatthese templates truly represent the individual stars. Each calibratedtemplate provides an angular diameter for that star. These radiometricangular diameters compare very favorably with those directly observedacross the range from 1.6 to 21 mas. A catalog of rotational and radial velocities for evolved starsRotational and radial velocities have been measured for about 2000evolved stars of luminosity classes IV, III, II and Ib covering thespectral region F, G and K. The survey was carried out with the CORAVELspectrometer. The precision for the radial velocities is better than0.30 km s-1, whereas for the rotational velocity measurementsthe uncertainties are typically 1.0 km s-1 for subgiants andgiants and 2.0 km s-1 for class II giants and Ib supergiants.These data will add constraints to studies of the rotational behaviourof evolved stars as well as solid informations concerning the presenceof external rotational brakes, tidal interactions in evolved binarysystems and on the link between rotation, chemical abundance and stellaractivity. In this paper we present the rotational velocity v sin i andthe mean radial velocity for the stars of luminosity classes IV, III andII. Based on observations collected at the Haute--Provence Observatory,Saint--Michel, France and at the European Southern Observatory, LaSilla, Chile. Table \ref{tab5} also available in electronic form at CDSvia anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Abstract.html
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